This is a diverse course, that provides a thorough knowledge of English Literature from Early and Middle English to the present day, allowing you to pursue your interests through a range of optional modules. All of our English tutors are active, publishing researchers in their specialist fields, offering expert teaching in subjects ranging from Shakespeare and Victorian literature to contemporary writing.

The course aims to provide you with a comprehensive and thorough understanding of English Literature from Early English and the Renaissance to the present day. It also encourages you to develop your own research interests through a wide range of optional modules (run according to student numbers and staff availability) and a final year dissertation. You will engage with texts through extensive reading and consolidate your own responses by studying intellectual and historical contexts. You will be taught through lectures, seminars and group projects which allow you to share and develop your ideas.

Please see below the 2016 Subject Futures Week video, which highlights just some of the creative industry guests who attended to share knowledge and insights with students about the reality of working and life after University.

Course content

Stage One

Here we set down the foundations of your degree. At this stage we have two period modules. The first is ‘Nineteenth-Century Literature’, where you will encounter important genres such as poetry, drama and fiction, and writers from Charles Dickens and the Brontës to Oscar Wilde. The second is ‘Writing the Present: Post-War and Contemporary British Literature’ where you will explore the development of English Literature from Orwell and the end of the Second World War to the present. Other modules include ‘Language and Creativity’, which examines the English Language in its everyday and creative functions, ‘Creative Reading and Writing 1’, ‘Introduction to American Literature’ and ‘Reading Literary Genres’

Stage Two

Here we build on the knowledge you now possess. In ‘Modernism in Britain’, you will read and discuss a wide range of literature from the first half of the twentieth century. In ‘Eighteenth-Century Literature: Satire and Sensibility’ you will focus on the long eighteenth century, a period of intellectual and cultural progress, but also of wicked wit and violence.  In ‘Thinking English: Reflections, Concepts, Perspectives’ you will be introduced to a range of ways in which literature might be discussed in its wider cultural and theoretical context. There is also a wide range of optional modules to choose from at this stage which are run according to student numbers and staff availability. These include ‘Twenty-First-Century Shakespeares’, ‘Sex, Sexuality and Twentieth-Century Fiction’,  ‘Early English Literature’, ‘Contemporary American Fiction’, ‘Writing Northamptonshire’,  and ‘Creative Reading and Writing 2’.

Stage Three

‘Renaissance Literature’ provides new perspectives on that period, from Renaissance Sexualities to Visions of the New World, whilst the ‘Romanticism’ module examines one of the richest cultural and literary periods through the work of writers such as Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley and Byron. Optional modules include ‘Contemporary Women’s Writing’, ‘Victorian Fantasy and Gothic Writing’, ‘Adaptations’, and ‘Creative Reading and Writing 3’. You will also write an English Dissertation, an independent study of 8-10,000 words in which you learn how to research and write extensively on a topic of your own choice with regular supervisory consultation.

Module information is quoted for 17/18 entry. Please note that modules run subject to student numbers and staff availability, any changes will be communicated to applicants accordingly.

Assessments

English modules are assessed through a variety of methods, including essays, individual and group presentations, blogs, participation in online discussion groups, creative writing and formal examinations.

Facilities and Special Features

You will benefit from:

• core period modules from the Renaissance to the present day
• a wide range of option modules
• opportunities to develop creative writing skills
• opportunities to study American literature
• a diverse range of assessment methods

Reading List

The reading list for first year students is available to download.

Career Opportunities

Students who have studied with us have gone on to a wide range of careers, including:

• journalism
• teaching
• postgraduate study (via MA courses in English or related areas)
• adult education
• marketing
• editorial work with major publishers
• arts administration
• museum and curatorial work
• librarianship
• bookselling
• social work training
• management trainee schemes with large companies
• local government

For application information please see our how to apply page.

Standard entry requirements apply. A typical offer would be BCC at A-Level or DMM at BTEC for single honours English. Applicants would normally be expected to hold an English GCSE, A-level or equivalent qualification. We welcome applications from those with a range of non-traditional educational or professional qualifications.

For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.

Additional Costs

We do ask that you buy the prescribed primary texts for each module. We carefully review the costs of every module each year, so that they do not exceed £100 per module. In practice, by using libraries, freely available online resources and second-hand copies of books, costs are often less than half of this total figure.

You will have the chance to attend a range of research seminars, conferences, field trips and other activities beyond the curriculum for free or at minimal cost.

This course is available to international students.

Full-time international tuition fees

For information on our international tuition fees, please see our Tuition fees for international students page.

Please note that tuition fees for EU students will remain the same as UK fees for 2018/19. For more information, please visit the Gov UK website.

How to apply as an international student

For information on how to apply to study with us, please see our How to apply page.

Scholarships available to international students

For information on the scholarships available to you as an international student, please see our International scholarships page.