About the School of English

The School of English was one of the first departments to be established when the University was formally opened (as The Nottingham University College) in June 1881.  The School is located in the Trent Building, University Park Campus. 

 

Teaching

Our Teaching Quality was assessed during an institutional audit of The University of Nottingham in March 2005 by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education.  The standard of student achievement in the programmes was deemed appropriate to the titles of the awards and their location within QAA's Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ). The quality of learning opportunities available to students was suitable and appropriate for programmes of study leading to the awards.

The School of English has a range of Undergraduate, Masters and Distance Learning courses and opportunities for postgraduate research in the following areas:

• literatures in English from the Anglo-Saxons to the present day (including the local authors Byron and Lawrence and the literary and coterie practices of the Cavendish family;
• drama of all periods, with a particular focus on drama as performance;
• English language and applied linguistics;
• historical language study including place-names;
• Old Norse and Viking Studies.

 

Research

All staff are research-active and involved in advanced teaching and supervision, with many academic staff are internationally renowned authorities in their fields.  The School of English is ranked in the top 5 departments of English nationally, in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, by Grade Point Average and out of 87 units of assessment. 95% of the School's research was judged to be of international quality and 35% world-leading.   

 

Diverse Community

The School has students from all over the world including international and exchange students from from Spain, Italy, Germany, the USA, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Brazil and across the Middle East.

 

International Reputation

The School has an international reputation, and has attracted staff from across Europe, North America and the UK - we can promise that you will be taught by some interesting people.  Teaching on final-year undergraduate modules and Masters courses is informed by the research interests of staff members. More details about our staff and their areas of teaching are available here.

 

Student Societies

The School has its own creative writing magazine, edited and published by our students. Many of our students also work on the University's award-winning student newspaper and campus radio station. There is also a University-wide drama society and the English Society is very lively, with theatre trips, outside speakers, and social events taking place throughout the year, all organised by students. 

 

Student Support

The School offers a very supportive environment for students with a well-established personal tutor system.  The School has a Senior Tutor, who co-ordinates the personal tutor system and Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Staff Feedback Committees which meet regularly . The School also has an Undergraduate School Council which meets regularly for student representatives to discuss academic issues with staff. 

 

Library resources

The University of Nottingham has rich library resources in the early and medieval periods, with a large collection of manuscripts from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries and extensive book holdings in Old and Middle English, Old Icelandic, Viking Studies, and runology. The School is, in addition, home to the English Place-Name Society library and archive.  

In English Literature the University's Hallward Library has an exceptional D H Lawrence archive, containing Lawrence family papers, manuscripts, first editions, and books owned by Lawrence. It has also recently acquired the famous Lazarus collection. Other internationally renowned collections include the Portland Literary Collection (seventeenth and eithteenth century materials), the Cambridge Drama Collection (a printed collection of over 1,500 items, comprising plays and works about the British theatre from 1750-1850), and a rich collection of 1930s theatre materials. Additional resources are offered by the locally held Byron collections and the Tennyson Research Centre.

 

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