English

Develop your skills as a writer, creative thinker and analyst of language, both literary and everyday. Delve into a diverse range of literary works from various cultures and historical periods, and discover how better to understand the world that surrounds us. Our English BA enables you to build advanced skills applicable to a huge variety of careers and take advantage of the placement opportunities embedded throughout the programme to prepare for your chosen career, benefiting from hands-on insights, work experience with skilled practitioners and collaboration with your peers. And specialise as you advance through the degree, focusing more on authors, periods, genres, and approaches that appeal to you.

Why choose this course?

• Top 5 in England for English (Guardian University Guide, 2026)

• English ranked Top 10 in England (NSS 2025, broad-based universities)*

• Develop an array of skills in interpretation, communication, and critical thinking and build your confidence as a reader, writer and critic

• Become a skilled analyst of literature of all kinds, from poetry to graphic novels to everyday language such as political speeches and marketing campaigns

• Enhance your career prospects through enriched work placement opportunities

With our English degree at Keele you will engage your imagination with texts from near and far and from the past and present, and develop your understanding of the cultures that they are part of and the ways that they reflect, generate or contradict the ideas of their time. This programme ranges from the classics of literature to contemporary writing such as graphic novels and Young Adult and Children’s Fiction: you’ll get the chance to study poetry, drama and fiction from the Medieval period right up to the present day. You’ll become a skilled critic of literature and build key skills in communication, creativity and critical thinking. You’ll be shown how to develop well-evidenced and reasoned arguments that will culminate in your final-year ‘English Project’ where, with the support of an academic supervisor, you will either complete an extended piece of research or create your very own scholarly edition of a text of your choosing. Benefit too from Keele’s vibrant Creative Writing culture: you can work on your own creative writing skills if you want to, and regularly hear published poets and novelists reading their work in our lively Keele Hall Readings series.

Just as we encourage you to make the most of your time at Keele, we also prepare you for life after university, and even help you kick-start your own career. You’ll have the opportunity to engage with projects and placements, drawing on our extensive network of existing placement partners or using our support to find your own opportunity. This allows you to combine your degree programme with practical experience, apply your learning to real-world situations, and enhance your CV.

*We have compared the positivity ratings of all participating UK institutions using the NSS 2025 sector data to determine Keele's position relative to other broad-based universities (i.e. excluding specialist institutions and further education colleges).

About Keele

Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university.

We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level.

Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.