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To apply you’ll need to:
- Make note of the Queen Mary institution code: Q50
- Make note of your chosen course UCAS code:
Comparative Literature and Film
- QP24 — BA (Hons)
- QP4Y — BA (Hons) with Year Abroad
- Click on the link below:
Have further questions? How to apply | Entry requirements
Comparative Literature and Film
2 study options
Comparative Literature and Film BA (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 3 years
- Start
- September 2026
- UCAS code
- QP24
- Institution code
- Q50
- Entry Requirements
- Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
- Home fees
- £9,535
- Overseas fees
- Fees for 2025 entry will appear here shortly
*These fees are for the 2024-25 academic year and are provided as a guideline. Fees for 2025-26 have not yet been set.
Comparative Literature and Film with Year Abroad BA (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 4 years
- Start
- September 2026
- UCAS code
- QP4Y
- Institution code
- Q50
- Entry Requirements
- Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
- Home fees
- £9,535
- Overseas fees
- Fees for 2025 entry will appear here shortly
*These fees are for the 2024-25 academic year and are provided as a guideline. Fees for 2025-26 have not yet been set.
Overview
Inspired by page and screen? Join us to expand your cultural and literary horizons while honing your understanding of film.
Stories take us back in time, transport us to different places and let us explore alternative realities. At the same time, their narratives are rooted in the most important issues of history, politics, film, gender studies, and more.
Study at a university on the doorstep of major film studios, post-production houses, and the sought-after resources of the BFI. You’ll also benefit from the endless libraries, galleries, concert halls and theatres where you can challenge your literary perspectives further.
Studying these subjects together is about breaking down existing text while creating new stories for the screen. You might unpick the aftereffects of colonialism, then discuss the importance of children’s literature. Perhaps while unlocking the history and theory behind cinematic image and language.
Taught by internationally acclaimed researchers and film practitioners, you can learn to write, think, analyse, shoot, and direct. And we have the largest literature department in the UK, with research covering storytelling from across the world, from our London East End home to Asian and North African literature.
Few industries can match the exciting career opportunities in film. Meanwhile, comparative literature gives you analytical skills sought after by employers. You could be joining our graduates as directors, screenwriters or editors. Or perhaps you see yourself working in publishing, marketing or journalism.
Structure
You can complete your Comparative Literature and Film Studies degree in three or four years. If you choose to study abroad for a year, this will take place in Year 3, and the Year 3 modules will instead be studied in Year 4.
Year 1
Compulsory
- Knowledge and Power
- Beyond Compare: Literature Across Borders
- Understanding Global Cultures: Exploring the Big Questions
- US Cinema: Key Concepts
- Decolonising Approaches to Film Analysis
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 2
Compulsory
- Adventures in World Literature
- What is Cinema?
- Digital Filmmaking
Choose from a range of modules including
- Literature and Philosophy
- Madness, Past and Present
- Directing Fiction
- Cinema and Disability
- Women's Filmmaking in Latin America
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 3
Compulsory
- Literary Culture in the Digital Age
Choose from a range of modules including:
- Film Philosophy
- Creative Producing
- German Narrative Fiction: Text and Film
- Psychoanalysis: Key Thinkers and Concepts
- Afropean Identities
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Study options
Apply for this degree with any of the following options. Take care to use the correct UCAS code - it may not be possible to change your selection later.
Year abroad
Year abroad
Go global and study abroad as part of your degree – apply for our Comparative Literature and Film Studies BA with a Year Abroad. Queen Mary has links with universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia (partnerships vary for each degree programme).
Find out more about study abroad opportunities at Queen Mary and what the progression requirements are.
Teaching
Teaching and learning
You'll receive approximately eight hours of weekly contact time, in the form of seminars, workshops and group work in the studios or on location.
For every hour spent in class, you’ll complete a further two to three hours of independent study.
Assessment
Assessment typically includes a mixture of exams and coursework, or coursework only. The final year may include the completion of a research project.
Resources and facilities
The School offers excellent on-campus resources to aid your studies, including:
- the Queen Mary library
- our state-of-the-art 65 and 40 seater cinema
- a film production suite, two film studios with professional lighting grids, and two edit suites
- access to a large range of professional and broadcast-standard production and post-production equipment
- events throughout the year such as public debates, film nights and book launches, which attract diverse audiences and offer networking opportunities.
Learn another language
If you’re interested in learning another language, you can sign up for a course at Queen Mary’s Language Centre, where you can choose from Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Japanese, Bengali, Catalan, Italian or Spanish.
Entry requirements
| Contextualised admissions | We consider every application on its individual merits and will take into consideration your individual educational experiences and context. More information on how academic schools and programmes use this information as part of the admissions process, can be found on our contextualised admissions pages. |
Non-UK students
We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications in addition to A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.
If your qualifications are not accepted for direct entry onto this degree, consider applying for a foundation programme.
English language
Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.
You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.
Further information
Funding
Loans and grants
UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England or other government bodies.
Scholarships and bursaries
Queen Mary offers a generous package of scholarships and bursaries, which currently benefits around 50 per cent of our undergraduates.
Scholarships are available for home, EU and international students. Specific funding is also available for students from the local area. International students may be eligible for a fee reduction. We offer means-tested funding, as well as subject-specific funding for many degrees.
Find out what scholarships and bursaries are available to you.
Support from Queen Mary
We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.
Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:
- additional sources of funding
- planning your budget and cutting costs
- part-time and vacation work
- money for lone parents.
Careers
Comparative Literature and Film Studies graduates have a broad range of skills that can take them through to successful careers, such as analytical and critical thinking, as well as practical film production.
Some apply their degree knowledge directly, entering careers such as directing, film production and copywriting, whilst others transfer skills gained during study into areas such as public relations.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Celebrity Chef Consortium
- Heineken UK
- Lateral Film
- Levay Estate
- Mission PR.
Career support
The School of Languages Linguistics and Film offers a range of career support, including for students interested in working during their year abroad. You’re able to get advice on how to gain work experience in the film industry, attend networking or industry events, apply for internships, volunteer and work part-time.
Our careers team can also offer:
- specialist advice on choosing a career path
- support with finding work experience, internships and graduate jobs
- feedback on CVs, cover letters and application forms
- interview coaching.
Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.
Data for these courses
Comparative Literature and Film - BA (Hons)
Comparative Literature and Film with Year Abroad - BA (Hons)
The Discover Uni dataset (formerly Unistats)
About the School
The School of the Arts combines innovation, discovery and excellence in education and research in Drama, Film, Modern Languages, English & Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Linguistics and Liberal Arts. We rank in the top 100 worldwide for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024)
With our commitment to social justice, inclusivity and social mobility, our collaborations with external organisations, prominent writers and performers, and our facilities that support both academic and practice-based learning, an education in the School of the Arts equips our students with critical thinking and practical skills, unleashes their imagination and enables them to reach the levels of excellence needed in today’s industries.
We regularly host prominent writers and performers and collaborate with leading organisations such as the V&A, the Barbican, the Live Art Development Agency and Shakespeare’s Globe.
We are renowned for the depth and impact of research - which leads our teaching. We rank 1st for drama and in the top 10 for film in the UK for the quality of our research (REF2021). Our multilingual community brings together brilliant minds from across the world to share a wealth of expertise combining research excellence with an unrivalled commitment to social justice and social mobility.
