English Literature [with Placement year]

Explore how literature has reflected and influenced different societies over the centuries and prepare for many careers – some you might not even have thought about yet.

Study a range of texts including classic literary forms such as the novel, poetry, and plays, but also theatrical performances, films, essays, reviews, and critical and cultural works, developing your ability to read and respond critically.

Studying literature will also develop your understanding of other subjects – like history, politics, philosophy, religion, and psychology – as well as your understanding of written works that have shaped our world.

Our English courses ranked 3rd in the UK for “organisation and management” in the National Student Survey 2024.

Explore topics from other subjects on optional modules, including writing, film, and media.

Expand your network and your knowledge at events with professional writers, publishers and language teachers.

Showcase your work and make new contacts at events organised by our Cambridge Writing Centre.

Boost your employability: learn a language, take a placement year, and solve real-world challenges for local employers through live briefs.

Get support from expert lecturers, including published authors and our Royal Literary Fund Fellows.

Careers

This course will help you gain vital skills particularly valued by business leaders.

These include narrative communication, empathy and perspective taking, critical analysis, creativity and imagination, and digital skills.

You’ll also develop a range of intellectual, research-based and practical skills that give you a combination of flexible thinking and transferable expertise.

Every year, core modules include employability sessions as well as live briefs, which allow you to devise solutions for industry professionals, and gain experience and connections for your future career.

The transferable skills you’ll develop include research and communication, perfect for careers such as journalism and teaching. The course’s emphasis on critical thinking and independent learning will also transfer to professions including (but not limited to) business, law, consultancy, administration, librarianship, publishing and arts management.

Figures from the Department for Education show that English is the joint fourth subject for annual average wage growth at 6.2%, and a key contributor to the creative industries, the fastest growing part of the UK economy. 25% of SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy) graduates work in the creative sector – currently worth £84.1bn to the UK. By 2030, it’s expected that there will be 900,000 new jobs in this sector. (Source: Qualified for the Future (PDF), The British Academy).

Or you might choose to stay at ARU and study a Master’s degree, like our MA English Literature or MA Creative Writing. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship to get 20% off your fees.

Where have our graduates worked?*

Kiera Hewitt works for Cambridge University Press, after completing a placement with them during the course.

Emily White is studying for a Graduate Diploma in Book and Paper Conservation at West Dean College, which includes bookbinding, paper and book repair and preservation, with the aim of progressing onto their MA course.

Teaching

In Year 1 you’ll explore periods of literary history from Old English to contemporary writing, using writing as a tool for thinking and discovering different approaches to critical analyses.

You’ll also examine global myths and how they’ve been adapted into English, and the development of the novel.

In Year 2 you’ll continue building your knowledge of literary history, as well as your own interests on optional modules like online journalism and science fiction.

Finally, you’ll complete a major research project on a topic of your choice, as well as studying early modern drama and contemporary fiction, and exploring more optional modules.

*=optional.

Year 1: Introduction to the Study of Literature and Writing; Myth, Miracle and Magic; Reading Critically, Old English to Enlightenment; The History of the Novel; How Texts Work; Into ARU.

Year 2: Ruskin Module; Nineteenth Century Literature and the Environment; Crocodiles, Pirates and Moon-men: Renaissance Encounters; From Modernism to the Millenium; Nineteenth Century Afterlives and Adaptations *; Professional Placement *; Online Journalism *; Science Fiction *; Performing Shakespeare *; Film Criticism and Reviewing *; Digital Stylistics *; Writing Creative Non-Fiction *; Cult Media *; Writing Short Fiction ; Anglia Language Programme.

Year 3: Placement.

Year 4: Spectacle and Representation in Renaissance Drama; Writing and the Present; Undergraduate Major Project in English; New Media Discourse *; Literature and Exile: Displacement, Identity, Self *; Crime and Detective Fiction *; Renaissance Magic *; Writing Poetry *; Research Communication *; Communication, Flesh, Philosophy *; The Making of Modern Media *; Forbidden Stories: Banned Children's Books *; Life Writing *; Gender and Sexuality in Britain: 1880-2000 *; Film Journalism ; Anglia Language Programme.

You'll show your progress using a combination of critical reflection, essays, portfolios, reviews, oral presentations, exams and discussion boards, as well as your final-year Major Project.