English Literature and History

English literature and history is a pairing that illuminates each discipline through the other. Literature offers history a texture and intimacy that documents and data alone cannot provide, showing how people felt, imagined, and made sense of their world. History, in turn, gives literary study a grounding in context and causation, helping you understand why particular works emerged when they did, and what they responded to and shaped.

Reading the two together deepens your understanding of both, and it develops a set of skills in close reading, critical argument, and historical analysis that are among the most transferable a degree can offer.

At Cardiff University, part of the Russell Group and a major research institution in Wales, this three-year full-time programme gives you access to both disciplines at a high academic level. You will read widely in literary fiction, poetry, and drama across different periods, while also engaging with the methods and debates of historical enquiry. Cardiff's location means you will study in a city with its own rich literary and historical identity, and the university's strong research traditions in both English and History feed directly into the teaching.

The typical entry tariff of 136 points reflects the analytical expectations of a dual-honours programme at a research-intensive institution. You will develop skills in close reading, comparative analysis, primary source work, and extended written argument, all of which are highly valued beyond the academy.

Graduates of this combination go on to careers in journalism, publishing, teaching, the civil service, law, heritage, arts administration, broadcasting, and communications. The critical thinking and writing skills you develop are prized in any role that involves analysing information and communicating it clearly. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in literature, history, or related fields such as cultural studies, archival science, or education, and the combination provides strong preparation for law conversion programmes and other professional routes that require analytical rigour and written precision.