English and Scottish Literature

English and Scottish Literature offers a distinctive focus that sets it apart from most literary degrees in the UK. Studying the literatures of both England and Scotland alongside each other means attending to two traditions that have been intertwined for centuries while also remaining genuinely distinct, shaped by different political histories, languages, religious cultures and relationships to empire, nationhood and modernity. Scotland has produced a literary tradition of remarkable range and vitality, from the medieval makars through the Scottish Enlightenment, Burns, Scott and Stevenson to the extraordinary flowering of the twentieth century, and studying it alongside English literature enriches your understanding of both.

At the University of Edinburgh, which sits at the heart of one of the world's great literary cities, you will follow this four-year full-time programme, reading widely across both traditions and developing the close analytical skills, historical knowledge and critical vocabulary that literary study demands. A year abroad is part of the programme, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution and to bring a different perspective back to your final year. Edinburgh's strong research culture in both English and Scottish literature means you are studying in a place where the field is being actively shaped, and the curriculum reflects contemporary critical debates as well as canonical texts.

The degree develops attentiveness to language, the ability to construct sustained arguments from textual evidence and the capacity to understand how literary works engage with and are shaped by their historical and cultural contexts. It also develops the kind of comparative thinking that comes from sustained engagement with more than one literary tradition.

Graduates work across a wide range of careers, including publishing, journalism, broadcasting, education, the arts, the civil service, law and many other fields where strong reading, writing and research skills are valued. The degree is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study in literary studies, Scottish studies, creative writing or related fields.