English and Philosophy

English and philosophy together form one of the most intellectually ambitious combinations available in the humanities. English literature trains you to read carefully, to attend to language with precision, and to understand how texts produce meaning within their historical and cultural contexts. Philosophy trains you to reason rigorously, to identify assumptions, construct arguments, and examine ideas about knowledge, reality, ethics, and the nature of mind.

Each discipline deepens the other: literary study becomes richer when you bring philosophical questions to texts, and philosophical argument becomes more nuanced when you are alert to the power of language and narrative.

At the University of Nottingham, you will engage with a wide range of literary forms and periods, from medieval poetry to contemporary fiction, alongside the major traditions of Western philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and the philosophy of language. You will explore questions such as what constitutes a reliable interpretation of a literary work, how fiction relates to truth and moral understanding, what the mind is and whether artificial systems could possess it, and how we should navigate moral disagreement. The degree develops close reading, rigorous argumentation, extended writing, and the ability to hold complexity without premature resolution, all skills that are valuable in almost any demanding intellectual or professional context.

This is a three-year full-time programme with a typical entry tariff of 136 UCAS points. All candidates are considered individually, and a wide range of qualifications is accepted.

Graduates from English and philosophy programmes are in demand across a broad spectrum of careers. Publishing, journalism, law, education, the civil service, policy research, ethics consultancy, and the charity sector all recruit graduates who combine cultural literacy with analytical precision. The skills you develop are particularly valued in roles that require persuasive writing, ethical reasoning, or the ability to synthesise complex information and communicate it clearly.

Further study options include postgraduate degrees in either English or philosophy, as well as graduate conversion programmes in law or other professional disciplines.