English

English literature is the study of how human beings use language to imagine, interrogate, and transform their understanding of the world. It asks what literature does, not just what it says: how narrative structures our experience of time, how metaphor allows us to think about things in new ways, how the choices a writer makes in every sentence create meaning that is both precise and inexhaustible. It is a discipline that demands close attention, intellectual courage, and the willingness to read against the grain of familiar interpretations.

At Goldsmiths' College, this three-year, full-time BA takes a bold and flexible approach to English, drawing on the institution's particular strengths in critical theory, creative culture, and interdisciplinary thinking. You will read widely across literary traditions and periods, developing the critical vocabulary to engage with the formal and historical dimensions of texts, alongside the creative and intellectual confidence to develop your own voice as a reader and thinker. Goldsmiths encourages you to speak back to the world with rigour and insight, and the programme reflects the institution's commitment to diversity of perspective and its location in south-east London, one of the most culturally diverse environments for literary and creative study in the country.

English graduates are recognised across many sectors for their analytical intelligence, their ability to write and communicate with precision, and their capacity for sustained critical thought. Careers in publishing, journalism, education, the civil service, broadcasting, marketing, the arts, the charity sector, and law are all common destinations. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in English, creative writing, cultural studies, or journalism, developing their critical and creative practice at a more advanced level.