English and Film Studies

English and film studies is a combination grounded in the conviction that storytelling, whether on the page or the screen, is one of the most powerful ways human beings make sense of experience. English as an academic discipline develops close reading, critical analysis, and an understanding of how literature creates meaning through language, form, and genre. Film studies examines the moving image with the same rigour, exploring how cinema constructs narrative, represents the world, and operates as an art form, an industry, and a cultural institution.

Studying both enriches your capacity to analyse any text, expanding the range of forms and contexts you bring to questions of meaning and representation.

At Keele University, this full-time, three-year BA includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities, providing extensive professional and international experience alongside your academic study. You will explore stories about people's lives through literary analysis and close reading of film, developing the creative and critical perspectives that both disciplines cultivate. The programme prepares you for careers in the literary, film, and media industries, as well as in education, publishing, and related fields.

The combination of study abroad and professional placement gives you a distinctive graduate profile in a competitive creative sector. The typical entry tariff is 120 UCAS points.

Graduates from English and film studies programmes work across a wide range of creative and cultural careers. Publishing, journalism, screenwriting, editorial work, television and film production, arts administration, education, communications, and cultural policy are all common destinations. The critical thinking, analytical writing, and communication skills developed during the degree are also valued in sectors beyond the creative industries, including law, the civil service, marketing, and public relations.

Many graduates build varied careers that combine creative practice with professional roles. Postgraduate options include creative writing, film studies, journalism, and teacher training.