English
As an English student in Cambridge you explore literature in English from across the world and throughout history, with an enormous amount of freedom and flexibility in what you read and how you read it. You are able to cultivate your own passions, as well as being guided through new kinds of materials and new kinds of questions.
At a glance
A Level requirements: A*AA
IB requirements: 41-42 points overall with 7, 7, 6 at Higher Level
Subject requirements: English Literature (if not available, we accept English Language and Literature)
Average students per year: 7
Admissions assessment: None
Written work: 2 pieces
Admissions
Course overview
All the way through your studies at Cambridge, you will be exploring different ways of approaching literature, and honing the skills of close reading that will help you understand how texts produce their often strange and powerful effects. This is done partly through a paper (i.e., a module or course) called Practical Criticism and Critical Practice, taught all the way through the degree. Alongside this, you will also be guided through the varied landscape of English literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. Both coursework and written exams play a role in the course, and you are able to choose, within certain parameters, to take more or less coursework depending on what fits best with your style. In the final year of the course, everybody studies a comparative paper on Tragedy that stretches from Ancient Greece to modernity, as well as choosing from a wide selection of optional papers that address different themes and materials, ranging from Renaissance drama to literatures of the Global South, from the medieval literature of the supernatural to twentieth century cinema.
For more information about the course and its modules, visit the University website.
Written work
Please submit two pieces of work that you have already written and had marked at school or college, ideally in the subject of English Literature or Language. If necessary, a piece of work from another humanities subject could be submitted alongside one from English.
The application process is designed to help us to learn about you, your ideas, and your writing and thinking abilities, and your written work helps to show us how you are working at the time of application. There is no need to write anything specific or to correct or improve work you submit.
What we look for in an applicant
Students of English are all different, but they share certain qualities: curiosity; a strong interest in the arts and humanities (of course you need to be a keen reader of literature, but our students often also love other kinds of writing, film, music, drama, creative writing, and dance, or are also drawn to philosophy, theology, sociology, history, critical thinking, and so on); attention to nuance and to detail; the ability to see patterns and their exceptions, to make connections and to consider implications; and the capacity to build and write arguments in response to different kinds of prompts. Beyond this, we look for an openness to the potentially transformative encounter with the things you read; a willingness to look at things from different angles without losing the sense that your own perspective is valuable; an enjoyment of learning and thinking.
Although we are looking for applicants who are keen readers and thinkers about texts, there is no specific reading that we expect applicants to have completed in order to apply or before the interview. We are interested to hear at interview about your own individual reading interests.
A top tip for applicants
Follow your curiosity. Read widely, and aim to think for yourself about what you read: challenge it, explore it, be inspired or angered by it. If you’re unsure of something, look it up and find out about it. Start to build up your understanding and knowledge by making connections between everything that you encounter, in school or college certainly, but also in your wider lives, hobbies, and communities.
Find out more
You can find out more about English by visiting the University website and the Faculty of English website.
King’s also runs Open Days and the World of Words Residential, in collaboration with Christ’s College, for students who attend UK state schools in Y12/S5/Y13 NI. Students will find out more about life at the University of Cambridge and explore a variety of academic sessions themed around languages, literatures, and cultures.
Life as a King's English student
At King’s College we value the opportunity to learn from each other. With a mix of ‘supervisions’ (one-hour sessions with a supervisor and around two students) and classes, we explore topics and texts together in ways that respond both to people’s individual interests and to new questions in the field of English Studies, as well as those texts and ideas we feel we can’t do without. A typical supervision would consist of the supervisor sending some material to read in advance, which we discuss together in the supervision. Often, you would write a short essay in preparation for the supervision, which is a great opportunity to practise and experiment with the skills of critical writing and analysis. A typical class would consist of a wide-ranging discussion of specified reading, in a group of six or seven students alongside the supervisor. There are also lectures and seminars that take place in the Faculty of English, which introduce you to different critical ideas and perspectives, and help you make the most of the texts and topics you explore in the supervisions.
At King’s College we like to experiment with new ways of exploring English as a subject. In recent years these explorations have included: a visit to a British Library exhibition about medieval women and their books; a trip to a production of The Tempest in the Sam Wanamaker Theatre; a screening and discussion of a documentary about the attempt to stage a production of Hamlet within the video-game Grand Theft Auto. We use events like these to draw the King’s English students together in discussion across the three year-groups.
Part of what makes King’s College an exciting place to think about writing and culture is that there is a lively community of students exploring their own ideas and developing a variety of initiatives outside the bounds of the course, as creative writers, visual artists (making use of the college art room), as well as through their involvement in activities such as student drama, journalism, and activism.
I'd say that the best thing about English is the way that we learn, not just about literature, but about ways of seeing and interacting with the world: we learn how to articulate and defend complicated literary ideas, and thus become good at deconstructing our own opinions, and navigating complicated interactions beyond the literary world.
- Teddy, 3rd year
For me, the best thing about English at King's is its open atmosphere. In supervisions and classes alike, your ideas are thoughtfully engaged with and treated with real seriousness which create discussions that are both open and intellectually stimulating. Of course, there’s a real sense of academic rigour, but also encouragement to challenge yourself and develop your own voice in a supportive environment.
- Gaurika, 2nd year
Careers and graduate opportunities
Studying English opens up exciting prospects for life after university. Studies by the British Academy have shown that Humanities graduates have exactly the same employability as STEM graduates, and many of the skills prized by employers are those that we learn as English students: excellent writing and communication, working with others while also learning independently, thinking critically, and questioning received wisdom. In the age of generative AI, these skills are becoming even more valuable.
Here in King’s we are motivated by curiosity about the texts we read and the world that shaped them, but along the way there are many opportunities to develop the skills, ideas, and commitments that will guide you through your future professional life. As well as the University Careers Service, there are a number of King’s-specific resources to help you think about life after the degree, such as our Futures Tutor and schemes like the Summer Research Internships, which allow King’s students to take on paid summer work as a research assistant on an academic’s project. King’s English graduates have gone on to become, amongst other things, broadcast journalists, theatre directors, political campaigners, entrepreneurs, academics, civil servants, and poets.
I wouldn’t be a writer without King’s, but that is because at King’s I studied 500 years’ worth of literature and that is what made me a writer. (Zadie Smith to Varsity, 2024)
