This course will develop your knowledge of literature from different periods and across a range of poetry and prose. Alongside expert tutors and fellow enthusiasts, you’ll get to know authors and their works in depth, and discover ideas and debates you may not have encountered before.
Why choose this course with us?
- Access Cambridge teaching in a flexible format: part-time and online
- Gain a credited, Cambridge award: boost your learning and career opportunities
- Join our peer-learning and Cambridge alumni communities: connection and support, for life
Course Dates
Course details
Tutors
Course information
Course highlights
During this part-time online diploma course, you will:
- develop academic skills in research, analysis and critical thinking
- prepare for further study and extend your knowledge of literary history and critical methodologies
You will examine questions of literary influence and form, covering a wide range of topics including modern poetry, nature writing and the contemporary novel.
As part of our learning community, you will:
- trace the development of 20th century poetry from the end of the Victorian period, through the experiments of Modernism and arriving at the contemporary moment, with reference to a wide range of poets from Thomas Hardy and T. S. Eliot to Benjamin Zephaniah and Kae Tempest
- take a long view of the representation of place and space in literature from the 17th to the 21st century, with a particular emphasis on the literature of London and nature writing from the romantics to contemporary ecopoetry
- consider how the novel has developed through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, thinking about how authors have experimented with different ways of telling stories and forming plots, and encountering novels which have addressed topics from imperialism to the disruptions of modern technology
Course breakdown
This course will run from Wednesday 9 October 2026 to 9 June 2027.
After an introduction and welcome session, each term’s teaching will take place in 4 live teaching sessions on Saturdays usually from 1pm to 3pm and 4pm to 6pm (Dates/Times TBC) and 2 open sessions usually on Wednesday evenings, between 7pm and 8pm (Dates/Times TBC) plus pre-recorded lectures (all times UK time). Exact teaching dates and times will be confirmed in the course guide upon enrolment.
Michaelmas term: Contemporary Poetry: Roots to now
This Unit invites you study major poets of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, studying their experiments in style and form. Sessions will also be devoted to the auditory experience of poetry (what changes when a poem is read aloud?) and discussions of how poems emerge through collaboration between poets and editors.
- Introduction and Welcome: TBC
- Course (unit 1) start date: Friday 9 October 2026
- Unit 1 end date: Wednesday 6 January 2027
Lent term: Literature and Place
We will study the history of ‘pastoral’ and the particular importance of the natural world to the Romantics and investigate the literature of walking, from the poetry of John Clare to modernist city literature and then on to contemporary nature-writing. Students will encounter ideas from ecocriticism and critical animal studies alongside their readings in poetry and fiction.
- Unit 2 start date: Monday 4 January 2027
- Unit 2 end date: Wednesday 24 March 2027
Easter term: The Modern Novel: Experiments in narrative
What is it about the novel that has made it such a popular and enduring form? How can it communicate cultural anxieties, excesses, and preoccupations so clearly? Will its success continue? This course will examine these questions with reference to a range of novels written between the very beginning of last century to the 2020s. We’ll think about what is distinctive about novel form, and how a series of different writers have made adaptations and innovations to narrative in their art.
- Unit 3 start date: Monday 29 March 2027
- Unit 3 end date: Friday 9 March 2027
After the course
You may wish to take our other Undergraduate Diploma in English Literature: Literature and Criticism. Students who have successfully completed both Diploma courses can apply to be awarded the Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education in English Literature, worth 120 credits at level 5.
Entry Requirements
To be accepted onto a Diploma course, you will normally have passed a Certificate (level 4) qualification, or international equivalent, in a relevant subject.
We are able to make exceptions, especially if you have evidence of relevant professional experience that demonstrates your suitability for the course.
Please tell us about any previous study or relevant educational and professional experience when you apply.
Your application will be reviewed by PACE Admissions, along with the Course Director or Academic Director who will decide whether to make you an offer of a place.
English language requirements
Our courses are taught in English and require a good level of fluency. If English is not your first language, you’ll need to meet the requirements of one of the language proficiency tests below. You’ll need to complete your test and submit the results to our admissions team by 22 September 2026.
IELTS (Academic), IELTS for UKVI Academic, IELTS One Skill Retake
Overall score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in any component.
TOELF iBT or TOEFL Home Edition
https://www.ets.org/toefl.html
Overall score of 92, with no element below 20.
Cambridge English C2 Proficiency
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/proficiency/
Overall score of 176, with no element lower than 169.
As part of our open and inclusive learning environment, you can enjoy the world-class resources and expertise of the University of Cambridge wherever you are on your academic journey.
Our video-based teaching platforms offer a flexible way to access lectures, while our Virtual Learning Environment makes it easy to study and learn online and interact with your tutor and fellow students.
Our teaching methods include lectures, in-class presentations by tutors, and interactive and experiential learning activities. We will also give you reading and assignments to complete outside of classroom sessions.
You will demonstrate your learning using a range of assignments submitted at the end of each unit. There are more details about how this course is assessed in the course guide we will send you once you have enrolled.
Qualifications
This course is equivalent to half of the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree. It offers 60 CATS credits, which are recognised by higher education institutions and employers.
Hours of study
The award of academic credit is a means of quantifying and recognising learning and within the UK, one credit notionally represents 10 hours of learning. This course attracts 60 credits, so students should expect to need to study for approximately 600 hours in total to complete all units successfully. However, it is recognised that students study at different paces and use a variety of approaches, so this is a recommendation, rather than a hard-and-fast calculation.
SEEC Credit Level Descriptors for Higher Education (2021) here.
Fees
The total fee for this course is shown above in 'Course details'.
To help you manage your finances more comfortably, you can pay the fee in instalments. For more information on payment options, and how to secure your place, see how to pay.
Funding
We're dedicated to reducing and removing financial barriers to learning. Visit financial support before applying to find out what options may be available to help you in your studies. You can explore external funding and stay up to date on our concessions and bursaries.
We're committed to supporting you in your learning journey, and we offer a variety of support opportunities to meet individual needs. Visit student support to find out more about how we can help.
