English, BA (Hons), with industry placement

Course summary

Engage with English literature across six centuries, from Shakespearean drama to the graphic novel. Choose from modules exploring literature in relation to history, genre, culture – and, if you wish, sample creative writing. English is a degree highly valued by employers, so take advantage of our many opportunities for work experience and prepare for a rewarding career.

• Personalise your degree by choosing from a wide variety of optional modules in literary studies and creative writing, or widen your horizons by taking specialist modules in other subjects in the school.

• Learn from internationally recognised research-active staff.

• Receive free set texts for all core modules throughout the three years.

• Benefit from assessment through coursework, with no written exams.

• Make the most of a rich cultural life with The Arts Institute programme and the University’s links with local cultural organisations, like The Box and Theatre Royal.

• We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return – 94% of students agreed staff are good at explaining things, and 94% said that the course is intellectually stimulating.

In your first year, you'll study historical, theoretical, and aesthetic approaches to literary analysis. You’ll read literature which investigates the making of the modern world; engage with exciting theories of reading such as eco-criticism, psychoanalysis and Marxism; and, if you choose, try your hand at creative writing in a wide range of genres including prose, poetry, drama and professional writing. You will also learn key research and essay-writing skills. In your second year, you’ll take core modules in Romantic and Victorian literature, studying these key periods from an interdisciplinary perspective, and engaging with debates in philosophy, science, psychology, politics, art, gender and race. You will then select from a wide range of specialist modules, including a range of specialist literary, creative, and work-based options. You’ll also have the opportunity to branch out beyond literary studies, if you wish, and take specialist modules in other subjects in the School. Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking a 48-week optional placement year. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world. In your final year, you’ll complete your period studies core with the ground-breaking literature of early 20th-century Modernism. You’ll also choose from a range of specialist modules, mostly with a focus on 20th-century and contemporary literature. There will be a further opportunity to choose a module from another subject in the school if you wish to branch out. You’ll also design and develop your own year-long dissertation project on a topic of your choice, which you'll work on with focused support from your personal supervisor. The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.