English BA (International Honours)

The BA (International Honours) in English will provide you with the opportunity to explore a range of historical periods and critical approaches to literature, across a wide variety of genres. Through this course, you will develop your writing skills, sensitivity to language, and awareness of the intellectual challenges and aesthetic pleasures offered by literature, as well as an understanding of the cultural values it reflects. You can also choose to take creative writing classes.

The BA (International Honours) is a joint degree delivered by both the University of St Andrews and the College of William & Mary in Virginia, USA. This joint degree allows you to spend two years at each institution.

Entry requirements

The University offers different entry requirements, depending on your background. Find out more about Standard and Minimum entry requirements using academic entry explained and see which entry requirements you need to look at using the entry requirements indicator.

• Standard entry grades:

  AAAAB, including A in English.

  Minimum entry grades:

  AABB, including A in English.

• Standard entry grades:

  AAA, Including A in English or English Literature.

  Minimum entry grades:

  ABB, Including A in English or English Literature.

• Standard entry grades:

  38 (HL 6,6,6), Including HL6 in English.

  Minimum entry grades:

  36 (HL 6,5,5), Including HL6 in English.

General entry requirements

All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.

• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

Other qualifications

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry on to our programmes. Please see our entry requirements for more information.

More information on how to apply via other entry routes or accreditation of prior learning and experience can be found on the University’s entry requirements web page.

Do I need to have studied this subject before?

Students must have studied English or English Literature at SQA Higher, GCE A-Level or equivalent.

International applicants

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide an English language test score to evidence your English language ability.

Careers

The skills you gain through studying English are marketable in many career areas, and recent graduates in English have pursued a wide variety of career paths.

Perhaps the major strength of all English graduates is communication skills, both in speech and in writing. Other skills you will develop during your degree include:

• critical analysis
• structuring information
• organisation of time and workload
• effective IT skills.

Career destinations for recent St Andrews English graduates include:

• internships with the United Nations
• writing and editing for various publishing houses and magazines
• sales for Waterstones and WHSmith
• charitable organisations
• teaching
• public policy
• the financial sector.

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students to build their employability skills.