About this course
If you have a passion for literature, music and experiencing new ideas, this English and Music degree with year abroad is for you. We'll introduce you to a wide range of texts, topics and musical styles and help you explore the many, deep connections between English and Music. A year overseas will enhance your studies and let you experience a new culture.
Our English modules cover writing from around the world and its connection to politics, the arts, identity and more.
In Music, you can study everything from Italian opera to global hip hop, while developing your own musical practice.
With our advice, you can shape your degree to suit your own development. For example, you might learn about the literature of the Harlem Renaissance, while exploring jazz theory in Music.
Our year abroad partner universities in Europe include:
-
Barcelona
-
Prague
-
Frankfurt
-
Lausanne
You can also choose universities outside Europe, including:
-
the United States
-
Canada
-
Australia
-
South Korea
Your lectures will be in English but you will have opportunities to develop your language skills.
As part of this course you can:
-
join one of 40 student-led performing arts groups
-
take part in writing workshops at Nuffield Southampton Theatres
-
use a unique collection of rare books at the Chawton House Library
-
explore experimental writing with our Entropics events
-
get one-to-one tutorials on writing from our Royal Literary Fund Fellows
To explore your passion for Music you can:
-
attend an extensive series of professional concerts and workshops in our acclaimed Turner Sims concert hall
-
join a band, orchestra or choir and take part in a thriving local music scene
Course location
This course is based at Avenue.
Awarding body
This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.
Download the programme specification
The programme specification sets out the learning outcomes of this course and details how the course is taught and assessed.
Entry requirements
For Academic year 202021
A-levels
AAB including Grades AB in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
A-levels additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking.
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of a Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
A-levels with Extended Project Qualification
If you are taking an EPQ in addition to 3 A levels, you will receive the following offer in addition to the standard A level offer:
ABB including Grades AB in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music, and grade A in the EPQ, and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
A-levels contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all applicants with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise an applicant's potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience.
Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme, as follows:
ABB including English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music, and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Pass, with 34 points overall with 17 points at Higher Level, including 6 and 5 at Higher Level in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
International Baccalaureate Diploma additional information
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
International Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
International Baccalaureate Career Programme (IBCP) statement
Offers will be made on the individual Diploma Course subject(s) and the career-related study qualification. The CP core will not form part of the offer. Where there is a subject pre-requisite(s), applicants will be required to study the subject(s) at Higher Level in the Diploma course subject and/or take a specified unit in the career-related study qualification. Applicants may also be asked to achieve a specific grade in those elements.
Please see the University of Southampton International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) Statement for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
BTEC
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Extended Diploma in Music plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
OR
Distinction in the BTEC Extended Diploma plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and A in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma in Music plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
OR
Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and A in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Music plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and A in one further A level and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
OR
Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus A in A level English Literature (or a related subject*) and A in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
BTEC additional information
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
Access to HE Diploma
60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at Level 3, of which 39 must be at Distinction and 6 credits at Merit, to include 6 Distinctions in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Pass in Grade 6 Music Theory, and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Access to HE additional information
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
Irish Leaving Certificate
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2017)
H1 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 including English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2016)
A2 A2 A2 B1 B1 B1 including English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music at A2 and B1, and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Irish certificate additional information
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
Scottish Qualification
Offers will be based on exams being taken at the end of S6. Subjects taken and qualifications achieved in S5 will be reviewed. Careful consideration will be given to an individual’s academic achievement, taking in to account the context and circumstances of their pre-university education.
Please see the University of Southampton’s Curriculum for Excellence Scotland Statement (PDF) for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
Cambridge Pre-U
D3 D3 M2 in three principal subjects including English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Cambridge Pre-U additional information
*English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies.
**Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
Welsh Baccalaureate
AAB from 3 A levels including Grades AB in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
or
AA from two A levels including English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and B from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Welsh Baccalaureate additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. *English Literature related subject includes History, English Language and Literature, English Language or Drama and Theatre Studies. **Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology.
We do not accept Music Technology in lieu of Music Level 3 qualification (A level, BTEC etc). We can accept a pass in Grade 6 Music Theory where Music is not studied as a Level 3 qualification.
We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM.
Welsh Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
European Baccalaureate
80% overall including grade 8.5 and 8 in English Literature (or a related subject*) and Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard**
Other requirements
GCSE requirements
Applicants must hold GCSE English language (or GCSE English) (minimum grade 4/C) and mathematics (minimum grade 4/C)
Find the equivalent international qualifications for our entry requirements.
English language requirements
If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following scores as a minimum:
IELTS score requirements
- overall score
- 6.5
- reading
- 6.0
- writing
- 6.0
- speaking
- 6.0
- listening
- 6.0
We accept other English language tests. Find out which English language tests we accept.
You might meet our criteria in other ways if you do not have the qualifications we need. Find out more about:
-
our Access to Southampton scheme for students living permanently in the UK (including residential summer school, application support and scholarship)
-
skills you might have gained through work or other life experiences (otherwise known as recognition of prior learning)
Find out more about our Admissions Policy.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Course structure
COVID-19: we've made some changes to the structure of the course for this academic year. Download the programme specification addendum in 'About this course' to learn more.
Typically, you’ll take a similar number of modules in English and Music. You can complement your degree with modules in other subjects, such as anthropology or psychology. Your personal academic tutor can help you plan your course.
English at Southampton covers poetry, prose, drama and film from the medieval period to the present day. You’ll explore the connections between literature and areas such as visual culture, science, performance and politics.
In Music you'll:
-
study Western tonal music, including harmony and counterpoint
-
take individual tuition on instruments or voice
-
attend workshops with professional performers
-
submit your own compositions
Year 1 overview
You'll have a free choice of any of our English and Music options, but you’ll keep a roughly equal balance between the subjects. You’ll gain a foundation in critical thinking, essay writing and joint research. This will help you develop your own views and approaches in the study of literature.
You’ll take 8 modules, which usually include:
-
Poetic Language
-
a group research project, including options such as City Writing in the Nineteenth Century, Literature to Save the Planet, or Decadence and Decay at the Fin de Siècle
-
The Novel
-
The Act of the Essay
Year 2 overview
You'll take any 4 music modules from a wide selection, including:
-
Jazz Theory
-
The Operas of Benjamin Britten
-
American Musicals
-
Digital Sound and Songwriting
-
Conducting
English modules include:
-
African Worlds
-
Victorian Feelings
-
Sweatshops, Sex Workers and Asylum Seekers: World Literature and Visual Culture After Globalisation
-
Women Writers Remixed
-
Scriptwriting
Year 3 overview
You’ll study at one of our partner universities or take an approved work placement abroad.
You’ll write a monthly personal blog to document your learning, and record events, activities and intercultural encounters. You’ll write a year abroad report with support from an academic supervisor.
Year 4 overview
You will take a module examining your experiences abroad. This will help you produce an enhanced CV.
You’ll either write a dissertation on a topic of your choice in English, or complete a composition or research project in Music.
In Music you can choose from modules including:
-
Orchestral Arrangements
-
The American Musical
-
Commercial Composition
-
From Teddy Bears to Drag Queens: Music and Subculture
-
Global Hip Hop
You’ll also choose from English modules, including:
-
Sex and the City in Stuart Drama
-
Fantasy Film and Fiction
-
Utopias and Dystopias
-
Animal Forms: Poetry and the Non-Human
-
Literature of Islands and Oceans
-
Narrative Non-Fiction
Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.
Modules
For entry in Academic Year 2021-22
Year 1 modules
You must study the following modules in year 1:
English has always been on the move. As a literary language, it has not only travelled from and back to England; lines of influence between texts, authors, publishers, editors, book technologies, and readers traverse the globe in multiple directions, bet...
Offering a broad overview of European music in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, this module will also allow you to develop your academic writing skills. Lectures introduce styles and genres of the period, including the polyphonic Mass, the sonata, the...
This module introduces music performance skills. You undertake individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (8 hours of lessons) along with a variety of workshops exploring topics from across the performance spectrum. With the help of y...
How do we read poems, and what language can we use to describe our readings? This module will provide a detailed introduction to the particular qualities your ear, eye and brain will need to read poetry more effectively. You will study key features of poe...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:
Composition Fundamentals will introduce you to a range of compositional techniques and principles. We will consider different ways of creating musical ideas and different approaches to structuring, varying and developing musical ideas. In particular, we w...
Reinforcing and developing the skills developed in MUSI1002 Antique Music Roadshow 1: Materials of Music History c.1500-1750, this module aims to introduce you to some of the major musical forms, techniques and styles cultivated between 1750 and 1900. Dur...
This module explores the history of key twentieth and twenty-first musical styles and practices including jazz, popular and art musics. Its scope is global, with the aim of "provincialising" European and North American experiences. In addition the module ...
This module both challenges and enriches the idea of ‘the human’ as an idea for ‘the humanities’. You will reflect upon ‘the human’ as a concept that exceeds the individual person in literary, artistic, historical and political texts. Taking this challe...
Why have some stories gripped the imagination of writers, musicians, and artists across cultures and centuries? And what does the emergence and constant re-emergence of such stories tell us about ourselves and others, past and present? What do readers and...
This module allows you to develop your music performance skills to a new level. A combination of individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (12 hours of lessons) and a variety of workshop and public performance opportunities provide you ...
Both individuals and society attach great importance and value to certain works of art, including poems, novels, films, plays, symphonies, and paintings. Most of us spend a considerable amount of our limited time and resources acquiring, creating, experie...
The module asks big questions. What do we do when we interpret literature and culture, and how can we analyse our practices of interpretation? Can anything be a text, and if so what do we understand by ‘literature’? How does literature shape our identity,...
In this module, you will learn how to approach dramatic texts in a way that takes into consideration their place in the world as a complex political, economic, and cultural network. We will focus on questions such as: • What is the difference between r...
Year 2 modules
You must study the following module in year 2:
This module will prepare you for study abroad. You are required to take out appropriate insurance policies and engage in on-going monitoring of risk and this module will provide professional input in both areas as well as rigorous assessment of the docume...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:
You might watch a stunning film, hear a delightful song, enjoy a beautiful sunset, read a dreadful poem, attend an elegant dance, or see a garish building. Experiences like this can stimulate thoughts and feelings of great depth, and provide pleasure or d...
Africa has produced some of the world's outstanding literary texts, yet its literatures, cultures and people are often placed in opposition to the rest of the world. The module engages with the literary fictions by and about Africans, in order to ask: how...
The figures of King Arthur, Guinevere, his knights and court have exercised a powerful hold over the minds of readers for many centuries. But have you ever wondered about where this legend came from, how it developed, and about the enduring nature of its ...
Many writers begin with the short story. Through writing short stories they are able to experiment, learn the fundamentals of narrative composition, and have the satisfaction of completing something to a high standard in a relatively short period of time....
Children's literature is a rather slippery term encompassing a variety of genres, child/adult concerns, engagement with historical/contextual issues on, for example, gender; class; nonsense; the nature of time; slavery. Other issues addressed are subject...
This module responds to the challenge of making music in uncertain times. In it, you will work with a group to create, rehearse, produce and document a ‘performance’. It could be in one of many guises, including traditional live concerts or gigs, happenin...
This module covers basic gestures used in duple, triple, compound, mixed and asymmetric metres; cueing of players and singers, and introducing expressive gestures for dynamics, phrasing etc.; basic approaches to rehearsal and score-marking technique.
What happens when writing positions itself against communication or expression? How can the form and content of a literary text be determined by chance, constraint or the operations of the unconscious? Can a text ‘perform’ on the page? How might oral perf...
Literary history is often told in epochs. In particular, it can be useful to understand the world in relation to some or other idea of “modernity”: for example, English literary studies is often organised through conceptions of the early modern, the mode...
In this module students prepare two programmes, lasting 20 to 25 minutes, of instrumental, vocal, or mixed-ensemble music of their own choice, which is coached regularly by members of staff. Entry to this course, which extends over a year, is subject to ...
This module focuses on composition that endeavours to innovate within and extend beyond musical conventions through actively exploring new possibilities, taking risks and experimentation. We’ll delve into a wide range of compositional approaches and techn...
This module presents a history of post-war multicultural Britain through the lens of British film and television, considering how our attitudes to 'race', sexuality and British identity more generally have been defined, challenged and changed by film and...
How will the arts get working again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opportunities ...
Cultural representations of women shed important light on notions of female subjectivity, sexuality and racial identity in the modern world. Medical discourses on gender, mental pathology and the rise of modern feminism are just some of the pivotal histor...
In 1831 the philosopher John Stuart Mill struggled to define the ‘Spirit’ of the nineteenth century. ‘It is’, he wrote, ‘an age of transition. Mankind have outgrown old institutions and old doctrines, and have not yet acquired new ones.’ If the nineteenth...
The module aims to develop your critical awareness of Latin American music and dance cultures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the ways that scholars have approached them. Rather than a survey of Latin American music, the course will be th...
What did people do for fun in the years around 1800? Music was a central element of entertainment both within and outside the home. The module uses Jane Austen's fiction, correspondence and personal music collection as a springboard for exploring British...
This module focuses on common jazz harmony as used by jazz musicians and improvisers. It also explores harmonic and rhythmic devices used by some jazz musicians to inform their improvisations. The course will focus predominantly on jazz standards (music f...
What does it mean to make literature new? Why create a revolution of the word? In this module you will study the revolutionary literary transformations of modernism. Modernism responded to the advent of modernity: urbanisation, imperialism, mechanisation,...
This module explores how music therapy uses music very differently to the entertainment industry, introducing you to the unique use of music as a powerful clinical tool in health and education settings. Using clinical music therapy techniques, music can b...
This module allows you to explore basic multi-track recording and production techniques. The module is based in the University’s recording studios and music computing facilities where you will explore a range of techniques and equipment from both theoreti...
The structures that later formed the formal British Empire started to emerge around 1600 and have persisted even in the years since the return of Britain’s last major possession, Hong Kong, to China in 1997. This module engages with the question of how th...
This practical module teaches techniques of songwriting, including creation of original melodic, lyrical, harmonic and accompaniment material. Its focus will be primarily on twentieth and twenty-first century Musical Theatre Songs, supported by occasion...
This module is based partially on lectures and partially on the study of existing scores, together with listening tasks. It is understood that practical experience of hearing your arrangements is the best teacher of all: therefore there is an expectation ...
This module allows you to continue to develop your music performance skills. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improve yo...
Early modern England is a period associated with Elizabeth I and the Tudor court, the plays of Shakespeare, blood and violence on the Jacobean stage, the discovery of new worlds, and the persecution of witches and heretics. The diversity and vitality of t...
What can the voices and narratives of sex workers and asylum seekers depicted in world literature and visual culture tell us about the conditions and pressures of life in the contemporary world? How might considerations of narrative technique, genre, and ...
In this module, students will explore a wealth of different texts and different discourses, from the literary to the scientific, on humanity and the human body in the early modern period. Starting with a glimpse of ancient and modern visions of the body, ...
Blood, violence, terror, raids, pirates, rape and pillage are just some of the words associated with the Vikings in both the medieval and modern imagination. Their fearsome reputation is underlined by nicknames such as ‘Blood Axe' and ‘Skull-splitter', bu...
In 2017, global recorded music revenues totalled $17.3 billion, the majority of which comes from the consumption of what we would classify as songs. This module aims, through lectures and practical work, to investigate & demonstrate how new production...
This module will introduce you to German metropolitan culture and politics in the 20th century with particular reference to Vienna and Berlin, using a wide range of sources which will include literature, film and architecture.
The period 1770-1830 was a pivotal time in the history of women’s writing in Britain. Reacting against slavery and responding to the French Revolution, women assumed a prominent role in debates that would shape the modern world, and lead to modern feminis...
Year 3 modules
You must study the following module in year 3:
This non-credit bearing module is a required element for all Humanities students on a Year Abroad Programme. It builds on the Year Abroad preparation module, HUMA2012. It is taken as a long thin single module whilst on the Year Abroad with a two hour prep...
Year 4 modules
You must study the following modules in year 4:
Students in this module are introduced to a series of techniques that can be applied to a wide range of commercial musics in lectures in the first semester. In the second semester students work closely with course tutor to in one-to-one tutorials to devel...
With a mixture of lectures and individual supervision, Composition Portfolio is the final stage of the undergraduate pathway in concert-music based composition. Building upon the skills gained in first and second year creative music based modules, the lec...
Undertaking independent research into an aspect of literature or creative writing which particularly interests you is a cornerstone of your degree. A dissertation gives you the opportunity to study a subject in much greater depth than usual and, with gui...
This module is based on a topic chosen by the student, completed under the supervision of a member of staff and culminating in a detailed dissertation. The topic may be musical (historical, analytical, critical) or it may relate music to another art or di...
This module is designed to accompany you as you resume your programme of studies in Southampton and grapple with the challenges of re-entry. We will support you as you reflect upon your experience of study abroad, enable you to articulate those experience...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 4:
This module is based on a selection of recent and innovative scholarly writings on music, which challenge the reader to examine their assumptions about the nature of both scholarship and music as cultural practices. It is taught together with MUSI6022 Adv...
What constitutes the experience of being American, or of America itself? This module will explore these questions by examining the aesthetic, social, and political ideas of modern and contemporary American dramatists. The theorist Jean Baudrillard saw Ame...
What can animals teach us about the human and non-human? What do the creative forms we use to describe them show us about human form and the other? In this module, you will read a range of poetic and critical material which explores the porous boundaries ...
This module responds to the challenge of making music in uncertain times. In it, you will work with a group to create, rehearse, produce and document a ‘performance’. It could be in one of many guises, including traditional live concerts or gigs, happenin...
John Milton was a man so famous in his own time that French and Italian tourists tracked down his childhood home to see the chamber in which he had been born. He was even more famous after his death; indeed, his teeth, hair, fingers, and one of leg bones ...
Following on from Composition Workshop (MUSI 2093/3100), this module will explore more technical devices, formal procedures and ways of thinking about composition. You will study key compositional approaches and techniques that have developed during the s...
Fantasy film and fiction spans a wide range of texts, from Gothic 'classics' and feminist fairy tales, to Utopian literature and musicals. Analysing fantasy texts alongside psychoanalytic and cultural theories will enable you to engage with questions conc...
The turbulent history of Austrian and German Jews during the twentieth century was accompanied by the production of a diverse and influential body of German-language literature by Jewish authors. Prior to World War Two, Jews played a crucial role in the c...
How has the Holocaust been represented? We will examine a range of responses to the Holocaust from the 1940s to the present day, including memoirs of camp survivors and experimental texts. Focusing on the limits of representation we will approach question...
This new module studies writing and visual representation in the early years of the republic of the United States. Focusing on the period from shortly before the American Revolution to the early years of the nineteenth century, this module will introduce ...
The module aims to develop your critical awareness of Latin American music and dance cultures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the ways that scholars have approached them. Rather than a survey of Latin American music, the course will be th...
What did people do for fun in the years around 1800? Music was a central element of entertainment both within and outside the home. The module uses Jane Austen's fiction, correspondence and personal music collection as a springboard for exploring British...
One of the socially and culturally most significant consequences of transnational mobility is that urban populations in particular are increasingly multilingual: in global cities such as London, New York and Berlin there are speakers of hundreds of differ...
We tend to assume our world is shaped by the geographies of continents and nation-states. This module allows us to grasp the significance of other spaces. Exploring how islands and oceans, ports and ships, deep water and coastal zones have been imagined, ...
Germany has had a long tradition of immigration and is one of the most multi-cultural countries in Europe today. We will examine the impact of diverse immigration movements on recent German history and notions of German identity. This includes examining b...
The structures that later formed the formal British Empire started to emerge around 1600 and have persisted even in the years since the return of Britain’s last major possession, Hong Kong, to China in 1997. This module engages with the question of how th...
This practical module teaches techniques of songwriting, including creation of original melodic, lyrical, harmonic and accompaniment material. Its focus will be primarily on twentieth and twenty-first century Musical Theatre Songs, supported by occasion...
This module is based partially on lectures and partially on the study of existing scores, together with listening tasks. It is understood that practical experience of hearing your arrangements is the best teacher of all: therefore there is an expectation ...
This module allows you to expand your music performance skills to a high standard. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, impr...
The 1790s was a decade of revolutions abroad and of chaos and state paranoia at home. Britain began its longest continuous war in 1792. In a letter years afterwards to Byron, Percy Shelley declared that the French Revolution was ‘the master theme of the e...
Has Shakespeare aged well? From the boys in wigs on the Elizabethan stage to the digital wizardry of the twenty-first century, the technology as well as the ideology that informs Shakespearean performance keeps evolving—sometimes in unexpected ways. This ...
From Plato’s Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia to Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, utopias have always been haunted by the spectre of the dystopian. If utopias imagine alternative ways of organizing society, dy...
The essential elements of writing a novel include crafting beginnings and endings, constructing characters, manipulating structure and plot, and developing an intimate relationship with language. Writing exercises and discussions of work in progress will ...
Learning and assessment
The learning activities for this course include the following:
- lectures
- classes and tutorials
- coursework
- individual and group projects
- independent learning (studying on your own)
Course time
How you'll spend your course time:
Year 1
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- blogs
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- group essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 1:
Year 2
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 2:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- blogs
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- group essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 2:
Year 3
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 3:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- blogs
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- group essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 3:
Year 4
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 4:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- blogs
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- essays
- group essays
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- self-assessment
- teamwork
- written exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 4:
Academic support
You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.
Course leader
Mary Hammond is the course leader.
Careers
English and Music at Southampton gives you a strong foundation in:
-
research
-
presentation skills
-
project management
-
critical thinking
-
writing
You'll develop skills that are essential for any employer looking for driven, articulate individuals with a passion for learning. You’ll learn how to tell a story - a crucial skill whether you want to write a press release or funding application, or edit a book or podcast.
The year spent abroad will show employers that you‘re independent, curious and resourceful.
Our English and Music graduates have gone on to careers in:
-
broadcasting
-
composition
-
creative writing
-
journalism
-
management
-
music production
-
performance
-
song writing
-
teaching
We offer a series of lectures and seminars given by experts, employers and alumni, which take you through career planning. These are designed for humanities students and cover:
-
careers opportunities for graduates, including digital jobs
-
entrepreneurial and start-up options
-
skills self-assessment to help you discover hidden talents
-
CV and application form writing
Your personal academic tutor can write a reference based on knowledge of you as a student over the 3 years.
Careers services at Southampton
We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:
work experience schemes
CV and interview skills and workshops
networking events
careers fairs attended by top employers
a wealth of volunteering opportunities
study abroad and summer school opportunities
We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.
Work in industry
You can take work placements through our Excel internship scheme or Year in Employment scheme. Placements may include those in art galleries, publishing houses, schools and performing arts organisations. We can help you get placements and employment with local, national and international employers.
Fees, costs and funding
Tuition fees
Fees for a year's study:
- UK students pay £9,250.
- EU and international students pay £18,520.
What your fees pay for
Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.
Find out how to:
Extra costs you might have to pay
You will be responsible for paying certain costs not covered by the tuition fee. These include:
-
maintenance and insurance of musical instruments
-
extra musical tuition or rehearsals
-
hiring session musicians
-
personal computer or laptop and data storage devices
-
equipment and materials used in projects
-
costs related to modules from different courses
Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:
Bursaries, scholarships and other funding
If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.
If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.
Get in touch for advice about student money matters.
Scholarships and grants
You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.
We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Support during your course
The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.
Funding for EU and international students
Find out about funding you could get as an international student.
How to apply
When you apply use:
- UCAS course code: QW34
- UCAS institution code: S27
What happens after you apply?
We will assess your application on the strength of your:
- predicted grades
- academic achievements
- personal statement
- academic reference
Grade 8 equivalence will be determined via audition, which can be done in person or by sending a video.
We aim to respond to you within 2 to 6 weeks with a decision about your application.
Equality and diversity
We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Related courses




















- Courses
-
Student life
- Accommodation
- Halls Filter
- Our campuses
- Our cities
- Student community
- Sports and gyms
- Support and money
- Research
- Business
- Global
- Open days and visits
- About
- Visit
- Alumni
- Departments
- News
- Events
- Contact