Program Overview

English BA

Overview

Think you know ‘English’? Think again.

At Nottingham, we go beyond a love of books. Our huge choice of optional modules in everything from Vikings to drama means you can discover new passions, explore what you already love, and tailor your degree to what interests you the most.

You’ll build from a starting point in applied linguistics, drama, and literature (from medieval to present day), exploring what it is to be human through the historical, cultural and social contexts of a text.

Why Choose This Course?

• Get creative - Put your skills into practice and get involved with Impact Magazine, the Creative Writing Society, or the Words on Words blog
• For literature lovers - Unleash your creativity in a UNESCO City of Literature, with opportunities both on campus and in the city
• Student satisfaction - 91% of students agree that ‘staff have made the subject interesting’, and ‘the course is intellectually stimulating’ (2022 National Student Survey results)
• Give something back - Volunteer and share your skills, from delivering Viking workshops at local primary schools, to reading to residents in care homes
• Get workplace-ready - Explore a particular career path with opportunities for a bespoke work placement
• Top 20 for English in the UK (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 and Complete University Guide 2024)

Key Information

• Qualification: BA Hons
• Entry Requirements: AAB
• UCAS Code: Q300
• Duration: 3 years full-time
• Start Date: September 2025
• Fees: £9,535

Course Structure

• Year One:
  • Beginnings of English
  • Drama, Theatre, Performance
  • Studying Literature
  • Studying Language
  • Academic Community
  • Optional modules:
    • Writing and Place
    • Shakespeare's Histories: Critical Approaches
    • Creative Writing Practice
• Year Two:
  • Mandatory modules:
    • Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page
    • From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature
    • Literature and Popular Culture
    • Modern and Contemporary Literature
    • Texts Across Time
    • Literary Linguistics
    • The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning
    • Language Development
    • Language in Society
    • Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North
    • Chaucer and his Contemporaries
    • Names and Identities
    • Old English: Reflection and Lament
    • Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage
    • From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance
    • Twentieth-Century Plays
    • Fiction: Forms and Conventions
    • Poetry: Forms and Conventions
• Year Three:
  • Optional modules:
    • English Dissertation: Full Year
    • Project-based dissertation
    • Contemporary British Fiction
    • The Gothic Tradition
    • Single-Author Study
    • The Self and the World: Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century
    • Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics
    • One and Unequal: World Literatures in English
    • Discourse and Power: Health and Business Communication
    • Language and the Mind
    • Advanced Stylistics
    • Teaching English as a Foreign Language
    • Language and Feminism
    • Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England
    • English Place-Names
    • Songs and Sonnets: Lyric poetry from Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne
    • The Viking Mind
    • Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art
    • Modern Irish Literature and Drama
    • Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama
    • Advanced Writing Practice: Fiction

Assessment Methods

• Commentary
• Dissertation
• Essay
• Portfolio (written/digital)
• Presentation
• Written exam

Contact Time and Study Hours

• Year One: minimum of 13 hours
• Year Two: minimum of 10 hours
• Final Year: minimum of 8 hours

Careers Overview

As an English graduate, you will have gained the following key transferable skills:

• Strong communication, both oral and written
• Presenting ideas and information, including collaboratively
• Text analysis
• Planning and researching written work
• Creativity
• Writing for different audiences

Job Prospects

• 78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation.
• The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.

Library Facilities

The School of English has excellent library facilities, including a dedicated library with a wide range of books, journals, and online resources.