University undergraduate student studying in Nightingale Hall accommodation's library, University Park

English Language and Literature BA

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

Course overview

Do you love nothing more than a good book? Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to know how language works, or how it changes over time?

If you love literature and are interested in the inner workings of your favourite texts, this is the course for you. We'll study English literature throughout history and learn how the language developed. This includes thinking about the uses and the themes, principles, techniques, values and significance of literary works in their contexts. There’s also chance to develop your creative writing, learning from expert staff who are published poets and authors themselves.

Indicative modules

Mandatory

Year 1

Beginnings of English

Mandatory

Year 1

Drama, Theatre, Performance

Mandatory

Year 1

Studying Language

Mandatory

Year 1

Studying Literature

Mandatory

Year 1

Academic Community

Optional

Year 1

Creative Writing Practice

Optional

Year 1

Writing and Place

Optional

Year 1

Shakespeare's Histories: Critical Approaches

Mandatory

Year 2

Literary Linguistics

Optional

Year 2

Chaucer and his Contemporaries

Optional

Year 2

From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700-1830

Optional

Year 2

Literature and Popular Culture

Optional

Year 2

Modern and Contemporary Literature

Optional

Year 2

Old English: Reflection and Lament

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page

Optional

Year 2

Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North

Optional

Year 2

Victorian and Fin de Siècle Literature: 1830-1910

Optional

Year 2

Language Development

Optional

Year 2

Language in Society

Optional

Year 2

Names and Identities

Optional

Year 2

Old English: Reflection and Lament

Optional

Year 2

The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage

Optional

Year 2

From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance

Optional

Year 2

Twentieth-Century Plays

Optional

Year 2

Fiction: Forms and Conventions

Optional

Year 2

Poetry: Forms and Conventions

Optional

Year 3

English Dissertation: Full Year

Optional

Year 3

Project-based dissertation

Optional

Year 3

Old English Heroic Poetry

Optional

Year 3

Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England

Optional

Year 3

The Self and the World: Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Optional

Year 3

Contemporary British Fiction

Optional

Year 3

Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics

Optional

Year 3

Single-Author Study

Optional

Year 3

The Gothic Tradition

Optional

Year 3

The Viking Mind

Optional

Year 3

Songs and Sonnets: Lyric poetry from Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne

Optional

Year 3

Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama 1588-1688

Optional

Year 3

One and Unequal: World Literatures in English

Optional

Year 3

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Optional

Year 3

English Place-Names

Optional

Year 3

Old English Heroic Poetry

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Stylistics

Optional

Year 3

The Viking Mind

Optional

Year 3

Discourse and Power: Health and Business Communication

Optional

Year 3

Language and Feminism

Optional

Year 3

Language and the Mind

Optional

Year 3

Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama 1588-1688

Optional

Year 3

Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art

Optional

Year 3

Modern Irish Literature and Drama

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Writing Practice: Fiction

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Writing Practice: Poetry

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About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Thursday 22 August 2024. Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.

When you begin studying at university, you will probably find that you cover material much more quickly than you did while studying for your A levels. The key to success is preparing well for classes and then taking the ideas you encounter further in your own time.

Lectures – provide an overview of what you are studying, using a variety of audio and visual materials to support your learning.

Seminars and workshops – give you the chance to explore and interact with the material presented in lectures in a friendly and informal environment. You will be taught in a smaller group of students, with discussion focusing on a text or topic you've previously prepared.

Workshops are more practical, perhaps through exploring dramatic texts, working with digital materials, or developing presentations.

Tutorials – individual and small-group tutorials let you explore your work with your module tutor, perhaps discussing plans for an essay or presentation, or following up on an area of a module which has interested you.

eLearning – our virtual-learning system, Moodle, offers 24-hour access to teaching materials and resources.

Peer mentoring

All new undergraduate students can opt into our peer mentoring scheme. Your peer mentor will help you settle into life at Nottingham, provide advice on the transition to university-level study and help you access support if needed.

Teaching quality

Over 95% of our class of 2020 graduated with a 1st or 2:1 degree classification. Source: UoN student outcomes data, Annual Monitoring (QDS) Analyses 2020.

Tutor's contributions to high quality teaching and learning are recognised through our annual Lord Dearing Awards. View the full list of recipients.

Teaching methods

  • Field trips
  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Placements
  • Workshops

Our courses are modular, with mainly full-year modules in the first year and mainly semester-long modules in the second and final years. Assessment for most modules takes place at two points, around the middle and end of the module.

Assessment methods – this is based on a combination of coursework, including essays, close-reading exercises, research projects and dissertation, oral and performance presentations, and formal examinations. The precise assessments vary from one module to another and across the years of your degree.

Project-based dissertation – on this course you can choose to do a project-based dissertation, for a more hands-on approach to your research.

More about the project-based dissertation

Feedback – the opportunity to discuss ideas and coursework with your tutor is an integral part of your studies at Nottingham. Whether by giving feedback on an essay plan or discussing the results of an assessment, we help you work to the best of your ability. There are appointed days in each semester to get feedback from tutors, as well as other opportunities to discuss pieces of work.

Assessment methods

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

You’ll have at least the following hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and workshops, tutorials and supervisions.

  • Year one: minimum of 13 hours
  • Year two: minimum of 10 hours
  • Final year: minimum of 8 hours

Your tutors will also be available outside these times to discuss issues and develop your understanding. In the latest National Student Survey (2022), 92% of students agreed that "I have been able to contact staff when I needed to".

We reduce your contact hours as you work your way through the course. As you progress, we expect you to assume greater responsibility for your studies and work more independently.

Your tutors will all be qualified academics. The largest first year lectures are typically attended by up to 300 students, whereas the corresponding seminars are of 16 students. In years two and three, lectures may include up to 170 students, and seminar groups may range from 12 to 24.

As well as scheduled teaching, you’ll carry out extensive self-study such as:

  • reading books and journal articles
  • doing preparation work for seminars
  • researching your assignments in the library
  • collaborating with fellow students

As a guide, 20 credits (a typical module) is approximately 200 hours of work (combined teaching and self-study).

Studying part-time

This course is also available part-time. Ordinarily you will study 50% of the modules each year, taking 6 years to complete your course. It may be possible to complete within 4-5 years by taking more modules each year.

Teaching ordinarily takes place on University Park campus Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm. Timetables are normally available shortly before the start of each term, when you can commence module selection. Up until that point we will only be able to give you an indication using a 'typical' timetable.

You will receive the same teaching and learning support as a full-time student, and the same timeframes to complete each module's work.

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

Read our student and alumni profiles for more about the range of skills you will gain, as well as the careers which our graduates go into.

You can also learn more about subject-related careers opportunities from our Careers and Employability Service.

Average starting salary and career progression

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.

HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017 to 2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.

Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

Academically, essay writing and reading critically are the main skills I've gained. But I feel like, sort of more importantly, there’s confidence. It’s definitely made me more confident and taught me how to articulate my ideas.

Nina Slater

English Language and Literature BA

Course data

Open Day June 2022