Option Subjects (first year)

What is an Option Subject?

Option Subjects are modules from outside the core English syllabus. On the English BA you take one Option Subject throughout your first year.

(If you are a joint degree student, you will already be taking two subjects so you don't choose an 'Option Subject').

Why take a Option Subject?

Taking an option subject will offer you new insights into a subject that interests you. It will help you to develop skills and techniques which are useful in themselves but which will also complement and enhance your abilities as a student of English.

English is, after all, a subject in which interdisciplinary study is highly prized. You will find that knowledge of other disciplines  frequently feeds into English research by both students and academics.

It is a University requirement that you take an Option Subject during the first year and that you obtain the necessary credit-units for this option subject (40 in total) in order to be allowed to continue your studies into the second year. As with all other modules in your first year, however, the marks you achieve in the option subject do not contribute to your final degree classification.

How do I choose my option subject?

In considering your option subject, you have a wide range of courses from which to choose, often with some flexibility as to which modules you can take within those courses.

There are a number of ways of choosing which option subject is the best one for you. You might want to continue with a subject that you studied at either GCSE or A-level and would like to maintain (such as a modern language). Alternatively, you might like to try something completely new (such as History of Art, Film Studies, or a different modern language). Either way, the choice is entirely yours.

Points to consider:

1. Your Option Subject forms an important part of your study as a first-year English BA student at the University of Leicester. For this reason, you should choose a subject that interests you, and that you feel you would enjoy. You need to be able to commit to your Option Subject in just the same way as you'd commit to an English module.

2. Don’t be surprised by the amount of time and work your Option Subject will demand of you!

Your Option Subject will take 1/3 of your study time throughout your first year. Each Option Subject requires you to take a module (or modules) that should involve up to 150 hours of work per semester. While much of this work will involve private study, for each option subject you must attend lectures and seminars, submit both assessed and non-assessed work, and in some cases sit examinations (although modes of assessment vary among the different subjects).

So, when selecting your option subject, choose one that you think will be interesting, stimulating, and enjoyable for you to study.

3. The numbers on some option subjects are capped and we therefore operate a first-come-first-served sign-up system for these modules.

If you want to find out more about particular Option Subjects, please follow the subject links at the top of this page or contact any of the relevant Option Subject departments – they will be more than happy to answer any queries you might have.

If you gain a place on the English BA, we will send you updated information on the Option Subjects and details of how to sign up before the first term starts.