Course summary

You will study a wide and exciting range of English texts in one of the country’s top rated teaching and research departments. As well as developing your expertise in subjects ranging from Medieval to contemporary literatures, Single Honours English offers noteworthy options in film studies and creative writing, allowing you to shape your degree around your interests. The first year of study will provide you with a solid foundation for the rest of the programme by providing training in university level research and writing skills. By your second year you will expand your learning and steer your work path through your choice of modules. You also have the option to take a work placement, allowing you to develop a critical understanding of a business or other work environment. In your final year, you will study three optional modules and become an independent researcher yourself, as you write a dissertation of 8,000 words on a topic of your choice. Our programmes at Exeter encourage you to ask challenging questions about the nature of literary and other texts. When you read Troilus and Criseyde and Jane Eyre, or watch movies such as Bicycle Thieves, you will be prompted to ask not only what they mean, but also how they make those meanings. Who were they written or filmed for? How do they compare with other works of the same or different periods? How do they relate to the historical and social conditions in which they were produced? At the end of three years, you will have acquired a wide and detailed knowledge of English. You will also have developed into the sort of independent, self-motivated researcher who is ready for postgraduate study and for a broad range of graduate employment.