We are in the process of finalising our postgraduate taught courses for 2026/27 entry. In the meantime, you can view our 2025/26 courses.
With our BA Art and English Literature programme, you’ll engage in practical studio work, discover ideas and theories in contemporary art, and explore literature from every era and corner of the globe.
At the University of Reading, you’ll investigate how debates across the creative arts are reflected in dynamic ways across both art and literature, guided by staff from Reading School of Art and the Department of English Literature.
This four-year joint degree is designed to develop your expertise in both subjects, supporting your learning through:
Throughout your studies, you'll acquire skills in close reading of texts and artworks, critical analysis and experimentation, and become adept at articulating ideas creatively and persuasively.
These skills will allow you to engage with confidence in professional and public discourse. In your personal and working life, they will enable you to look beyond immediate tasks and problems to wider social, cultural, civic, and global contexts.
At Reading School of Art, you'll have access to a dedicated studio space, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and you’ll be assigned a studio tutor to help develop your individual and professional practice. There's always a high level of activity in the studios with events, screenings, performances and exhibitions taking place regularly. Our teaching staff are all artists and curators highly connected with tthe creative world beyond the University, and strongly encourage regular exhibitions and open debate.
Our new School of Art building opened in September 2023 and is the perfect spot for exploring different media in our workshops and exhibiting your work whist being near the centre of our Whiteknights campus.
Studying at the Reading School of Art allows you to explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms.
Studying at the Reading School of Art allows you to explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms.
Over the course of your four years of study, you will:
You will complement your practical art with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art. Through the lectures, seminars and studio teaching – as well as weekly visiting artist talks – you will be exposed to the language, vocabulary and debates that have emerged historically and evolved to forge contemporary art.
For your art modules, you will have access to our range of facilities. These include:
In Art, you’ll explore a vast range of media, experimenting with emerging art forms and developing as an artist. You will complement your practical art with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art.
Trips to museums and art galleries will help prompt thoughts on how art is displayed and received, and you’ll gain professional experience by taking part in your own exhibitions, public art commissions and events. Your teaching staff are artists, curators and researchers of international standing and will encourage regular exhibitions and open debate.
Through the lectures, seminars and studio teaching – as well as weekly visiting artist talks – you will be exposed to the language, vocabulary and debates that have emerged historically and evolved to forge contemporary art.
For your art modules, you will have access to our range of facilities. These include:
In English Literature, you will focus on authors and genres that you may already know (from Tragedy to Gothic, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Plath and Beckett). You’ll also explore aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to you, from Children’s Literature to Publishing Studies and the History of the Book, with your module choices becoming more diverse and specialised as you progress through your degree.
You’ll be taught in small groups through a mix of lectures and seminars in a friendly and supportive environment. Everyone in the English Department, from new lecturers to professors, teaches at every level of the degree: this gives you the benefit of our expertise and makes you part of the conversation about our research and its impact outside the classroom.
Our course plays a vital role in connecting how people understand and shape the world. As such, sustainability, accessibility and social engagement are embedded throughout your studies.
You may have the opportunity to undertake a placement forming all or part of an optional module.
Past students have:
You may have the chance to experience life in another country and apply to study abroad for a semester during your third year. To see which institutions participate in this scheme please use our “Find a University” tool. Please note our partners may change and the tool is updated each year.
