English

I’m guessing if you’ve made it this far in exploring English at Cambridge, you’ve probably read the University prospectus and discovered that we spend our first two years studying British Literature from 1300 to the present day.

Don’t worry if this sounds utterly daunting – the simple truth is that for most of us it is. That said, jamming 700 years of literature into just two years is quite exciting, although it does restrict your options. You quite simply have no choice: you do have to study a bit of everything, so be warned!

“ Supervisions let you tailor the course to suit your interests in each of the periods ”

All this doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have any choice as a Cambridge English student. In fact there are lots of choices to be made: when to work and when not to work, how much work to do, which lectures to attend (or not, as is more likely!). Truth is, there’s a lot of flexibility in studying English here; you may have to study everything, but there’s a lot of everything to choose from! And the supervision system puts you in the perfect place to tailor the course to suit you and study what interests you in each of the periods covered in the first two years. And in your third year, the sky is quite simply the limit! In fact, most of us find it too difficult to choose what to study in our final year, as the options really are undeniably vast!

The other great upshot of this flexibility is that it gives you the room to do whatever else it is you want to be doing while in Cambridge. Loads of us seem to find the time to join orchestras, sit on committees, act/produce/direct (quite possibly all at the same time!), write for student newspapers, play for sports teams and still get our weekly essays handed in on time (usually!).

Best thing? Studying a bit of everything from 800 years of literature

The really great thing (that makes us the envy of many another Cambridge undergrad) is that we don’t have proper exams in our first year – most of us just sit what are called prelims, essentially a type of mock exam, which leaves us carefree and reading Shakespeare in the sun for most of the Easter term.

If you’re thinking this all sounds a bit hectic (albeit exhilarating), then you’d be right. The obvious downside of such an amazing course and the freedom it leaves us for doing loads of other stuff as well, is that the pace is unbelievable – you’ll be expected to write an essay on a different work of literature/author (at least!) a week, and that means that by the end of term you’ll be utterly exhausted, fed up of books and will just want to sleep solidly for a week.

Worst thing? Not specialising until your 3rd year

But a week or so into the holidays I always inevitably find myself yearning for Cambridge with the amazing libraries, expert teaching and varied social life. And it’s then that I know for sure that it’s definitely worth it.

Key facts…

Students per year

200

Male : Female ratio

27:73

Length of course

3 years

Quite Interesting fact

The English Faculty won an architectural award. It is salmon pink and ugly.

Ask a student…