English

is information is for applications with entry in 2024. Please check from end of May 2024 for updates to applications for entry in 2025.

Entry Details

Typical intake per year: 7
Typical offer: A*AA for A Level or 40-42 points with 776 at Higher Level for IB
Required subjects: A Level/IB Higher Level English Literature
Admissions assessment: Yes, required at Queens' - a Cambridge College Registered Assessment
Submitted work: Yes, required at Queens'

Course Details

The Cambridge English course is distinctive for its combination of a solid grounding in the essentials of the discipline, and the opportunity to specialize and to innovate. The course is divided into two parts: Part I (Years 1 and 2) is largely historical in focus and is assessed by coursework and examinations at the end of the first and second years (known as Parts IA and IB). Part II (Year 3) includes more independent work on a range of optional modules.

Information about the course structure, departmental teaching arrangements, offered topics and options can be found on the University of Cambridge website: English Course Outline

English at Queens’

English is a great subject, and Queens' is a great place to explore it. I have loved navigating my way through the challenges and joys of literature. English students at Queens' invariably have a lovely group dynamic and Andrew is an inspiring, encouraging and supportive Director of Studies. English at Queens' gives you the chance to discover and develop your own interests and to share ideas with other people when you're still looking for your own critical voice.
Lydia

In addition to lectures and occasional classes in the Faculty of English, students reading English at Queens’ will be supervised at least once a week on the main Tripos papers and will also take part in weekly classes on Practical Criticism and other topics. Supervisions, in which students are seen either individually or in small groups, provide an opportunity for detailed discussion of topics of a kind not possible within the Faculty context, and they enable the College to keep a careful check on each student's progress. A student usually prepares an essay for each supervision, and these essays form the basis of supervision discussion and teaching.

There is neither orthodoxy nor monotony in English studies at Queens'. We aim to bring students into contact with a wide range of critical approaches to literary study and to encourage them to judge and discriminate for themselves. Queens' has a high reputation for English, and gains very good Tripos results. The Queens' English community is a diverse, inclusive, and experimental one, welcoming to students from all backgrounds and with all manner of interests and enthusiasms; we encourage applications from applicants from all educational backgrounds, and strive to engage students who bring a wide range of personal, intellectual, and political commitments. We only ask that you love to read, and to write.

English at Queens' is supported by the Patterson Fund.

English Subject Prizes

The Queens' College Estelle Prize for English is awarded annually to a student in Year 12, or equivalent, for the best submitted essay on a set question. £500 will be awarded to the best essay and, depending on the strength of the field of submissions, honourable mentions may also be made.

Questions and competition guidelines for the 2024 competition can be found here .