English Literature

Our English Literature degree turns your passion into a practical skill-set.

• Combine professional skills and opportunities with your passion for literature in our innovative English degree course.

• Develop practical and professional skills. Apply both to challenges, issues and debates of the present day.

• Explore the next stage in your career. Our graduates have gone on to work with leading employers.

Literature is diverse. Every text we pick up gives us a different perspective on the world. At Bath Spa, we have another take on the subject – one that we think makes us one of the best universities for English Literature.

Our innovative English Literature degree has been designed to enable you to acquire specialised subject knowledge while developing practical and professional skills that you can apply to contemporary challenges, issues and debates.

English Literature at Bath Spa University introduces you to an incredible range of literary worlds. From classic texts to new and unfamiliar writing, you'll be asked to think differently about what ‘literature’ can be and to explore original ways of reading and analysing it. We’ll ask you to place your reading in wider contexts, and to draw on other disciplines to deepen your understanding and sharpen your insights.

You'll be taught by experts in a wide range of periods, literary genres and approaches to the study of words and writing. Our staff share a commitment to excellent teaching and to offering you the best possible experience during your time with us.

Professional skills
Historical background, philosophical concepts and political debate will all contribute to your ability to read widely and well, and to approach your English Literature degree with confidence.

This approach will help you develop the vital skills of analysis, communication and collaboration that employers look for in English Literature graduates – skills that will open up a diverse range of possible careers. To maximise your potential, we’ll also support you in learning to manage projects, work with your peers and our external partners, evaluate options and respond to a brief.

What can you do with an English Literature degree?
Publishing, PR, teaching and journalism are popular paths, and our English graduates have gone on to work with leading employers including New Scientist, Oxford University Press, Marie Curie, Bristol Museums, Imperial War Museums London, and Barclays Bank.

Course Structure

Year one
Introductions and foundations: develop your skills in reading and analysing selected texts. A broad curriculum allows you to ask questions, challenge your own assumptions and interrogate evidence, data and opinions.

Year two
Practical, applied, relevant: in your second year, you’ll study your chosen topics while gaining professional skills. You'll apply your knowledge and understanding to a defined problem or idea.

Year three
Achievement, consolidation, creativity: your final project in the third year brings all this together. You’ll identify and develop your own proposal and put it into practice. This might be an extended piece of academic writing, an exhibition, a community project, or a digital resource.

Professional Placement Year

A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in multiple placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team.