English Literature

English literature is the study of how writers have used language to create worlds, explore experience and provoke thought. It takes poetry, fiction, drama and prose seriously as forms of knowledge and feeling, asking not just what texts mean but how they achieve their effects and why they matter. Approaching this degree through the Open University means studying in a flexible, part-time, distance learning format, allowing you to engage with the discipline around your existing commitments without sacrificing the intellectual depth of the subject.

You will read widely across periods and forms, from medieval literature through the Renaissance, Romanticism, Victorian writing and modernism to contemporary fiction, poetry and drama. You will develop close reading skills, learning to pay careful attention to language, form and context, and you will practise the art of constructing clear, well-evidenced arguments in writing. The Open University's approach emphasises independent, reflective learning, and you will develop the ability to sustain an extended analysis of a text or a critical question over time.

The study materials, tutor support and online community mean that you are not studying alone, even when working flexibly from home.

The skills developed through English literature are widely transferable. Graduates move into publishing, journalism, education, communications, the civil service, the third sector, management and many other fields where the ability to read carefully, think analytically and write clearly is valued. For those already working in a relevant field, the Open University model allows you to deepen your expertise while continuing in employment.

The degree also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in literature, creative writing, education, library and information science or related disciplines.