English Literature

English literature is the close study of the full range of literary texts in the English language, developing your ability to read with attention, interpret with rigour and write with precision about how literature creates meaning, what it reveals of its cultural and historical contexts, and why it continues to matter. It is a discipline that ranges from medieval poetry and early modern drama through Romantic, Victorian and modernist writing to the most contemporary fiction and poetry, and it engages with the theoretical frameworks, from feminist and postcolonial criticism to narrative theory and ecocriticism, that have expanded and enriched literary interpretation.

At the University of Leeds, this three-year full-time programme is taught within one of the UK's most active and research-rich schools of English, with particular strengths across many periods and movements in English and world literature in English. The programme includes a sandwich year with embedded work placement opportunities and a year abroad, giving you sustained professional experience and international academic exposure. The structure means you will leave with both the depth of a rigorous literary education and the breadth of professional and international experience that employers value.

The typical entry tariff is around 152 UCAS points.

You will study the history of English literature from its earliest texts to the contemporary moment, developing your analytical and critical writing through close engagement with primary texts and scholarly secondary literature. Seminars, tutorials and seminar papers develop your ability to argue precisely and persuasively in both speech and writing. The School of English at Leeds also has a strong creative writing tradition that runs alongside the critical curriculum.

Graduates of English literature programmes from Leeds work across publishing, journalism, education, the civil service, law, marketing, public relations, broadcasting, arts administration and a wide range of other sectors where communication, critical thinking and writing ability are valued. The work placement and year abroad give Leeds English graduates a professional distinction that helps them in competitive graduate markets. Postgraduate study in English literature, creative writing, publishing, journalism or education is a natural and well-supported continuation.