Develop your skills as a writer, creative thinker and analyst of language, both literary and everyday. Delve into a diverse range of literary works from various cultures and historical periods, and discover how better to understand the world that surrounds us. Build advanced skills applicable to a huge variety of careers and take advantage of the placement opportunities embedded throughout the programme to prepare for your chosen career, benefiting from hands-on insights, work experience with skilled practitioners and collaboration with your peers. And specialise as you advance through the degree, focusing more on authors, periods, genres, and approaches that appeal to you.

With English at Keele you will engage your imagination with texts from near and far and from the past and present, and develop your understanding of the cultures that they are part of and the ways that they reflect, generate or contradict the ideas of their time. This programme ranges from the classics of literature to contemporary writing such as graphic novels and Young Adult and Children’s Fiction: you’ll get the chance to study poetry, drama and fiction from the Medieval period right up to the present day. You’ll become a skilled critic of literature and build key skills in communication, creativity and critical thinking. You’ll be shown how to develop well-evidenced and reasoned arguments that will culminate in your final-year ‘English Project’ where with the support of an academic supervisor, you will either complete an extended piece of research or create your very own scholarly edition of a text of your choosing. Benefit too from Keele’s vibrant Creative Writing culture: you can work on your own creative writing skills if you want to, and regularly hear published poets and novelists reading their work in our lively Keele Hall Readings series.

Just as we encourage you to make the most of your time at Keele, we also prepare you for life after university, and even help you kick-start your own career. You’ll have the opportunity to engage with projects and placements, drawing on our extensive network of existing placement partners or using our support to find your own opportunity. This allows you to combine your degree programme with practical experience, apply your learning to real-world situations, and enhance your CV.

Work Placements

Opportunities to enhance your employability are at the heart of our English programme and you will have the chance to undertake a work placement as part of your degree through modules or an additional work placement year (optional). This allows you to collaborate with professionals and demonstrate your creative expertise in the workplace, building key skills in communication, analytical thinking and problem-solving.

Our placement year option between years two and three of your degree programme, provides preparation for employment after university, through hands-on experience. This will enable you to build confidence and demonstrate your abilities in a professional environment, using the skills you have gained throughout your degree programme.

Our foundation year provides an excellent alternative route to Keele, providing a unique opportunity to better prepare for your chosen degree, and with guaranteed entry onto your undergraduate course once you successfully complete your Foundation Year.

This extra year of study can improve your academic skills, expand your subject knowledge, give you a better understanding of higher education and, perhaps most importantly of all, build your confidence.