Teaching and Assessment

Methods of Teaching

Although the School of English is large, we are committed to small-group teaching. There are no modules taught solely by lecture, but lectures do make an important contribution to the core modules. Core modules involve weekly seminars (groups of up to twelve students), which are then supplemented by lectures once or twice weekly. Options are sometimes taught by seminars alone, but many options will also involve fortnightly lectures, workshops, or individual consultations -- there's a lot of variety in the way options are taught.

As at all universities, much more of your time is spent reading, and also writing, but each week Single Honours students will average between six and eight contact-hours (between three and five contact-hours in Joint Honours) for discussing English or listening to views about it. Seminars allow you to participate in debate, to exchange ideas, and to respond to views presented by other people.

Methods of Assessment

The Level 1 modules, taken in your first year, are assessed by a mixture of coursework and examination. You must pass Level 1 to be allowed to go to Level 2, but your result at Level 1 does not count towards the class of your final degree. The degree class is determined by the work you undertake in Levels 2 and 3, each module of which counts towards your final result.

The pattern of assessment is varied. Some modules are assessed by examination only. Others are assessed by one or two essays only. Others are assessed by mixtures of essays and examinations. Some modules give the opportunity to work on an extended project. You can also choose to do a dissertation in your final year. Students find this variation helpful, as they are assessed in a range of ways, which distributes the work better, and which allows them to display a range of skills. Students on the English and Theatre Studies scheme also have a considerable amount of assessed practical work in all three years.