Our unique and challenging course provides you with knowledge and skills to move into a variety of careers.

Full entry requirements

English at Leicester

The School of English at the University of Leicester is internationally recognised for excellence in both teaching and research. You will be taught by academics at the forefront of their disciplines who bring their research directly into their teaching. Our courses are challenging and enjoyable, combining the best traditions of the subject with new discoveries and innovative teaching methods. The School is particularly notable for offering courses which allow students to experience the richness of many periods of English literature, while pursuing in-depth specialisations during their third year dissertation and Special Subject options.

The 30 full-time staff in the School have interests in all areas of English Studies, from the development of slang to the works of Salman Rushdie, and from Old English to contemporary post-colonialism. Victorian literature is a particularly strong area of expertise.

The School of English is renowned not only for its academic excellence, but also its members’ accessibility and friendliness. Our pastoral care system is first-rate, and feedback and participation are encouraged through the Student-Staff Committee where lecturers and student representatives from all years meet to discuss issues. The English Society, run by students for students, arranges numerous events, including theatre trips, creative writing workshops and an annual ball for all members of the School.

Why Choose English at Leicester?

National Student Survey Ranking: 90% of students satisfied overall with their course.
Teaching Quality score: ‘Excellent’
Research rating: The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) designated 95% of all research submitted as having international status, with 60% accorded world-leading status.
Places: 180
Applications: 916
Example Jobs: Broadcast Buying Assistant; Business Executive; Campaign Executive; Control and Settlement Associate; Editorial Assistant; Teaching; Human Resources; Youth Worker; Legal Secretary; Library Assistant; Marketing Executive; Media Research Analyst; Production Assistant; Volunteering Events Co-ordinator; Web Consultant; Website Content developer.
Example Employers: British Gas; British School of Kuala Lumpur; Channel 4; Co-operative Bank; Ernest Jones; Fidelity International; Interserve; Kent County Council; Minerva Financial Services; National Trust; Nottinghamshire County Council; The Hertfordshire Regional Partnership; The History Press; Trinity Mirror Group; West Midlands Police; Working Links; BBC.
Example jobs and employers information comes from the University’s ‘Where Did They Go?’ survey, and shows destinations of 2009/10 graduates 6 months after graduation.

The Times Good University Guide 2012 places us in the top ten English departments in England.

The School of English has maintained an outstanding record in the National Student Survey since the survey began in 2005, with ratings of 90% and over for student satisfaction.

All of our lecturers publish on their areas of expertise, with the result that the teaching you receive will incorporate the very latest research.

Students in the School of English benefit from the excellent facilities of the University Library. The research resources range from electronic databases of the latest journals to the rare and antique books held in the ‘Special Collections’.

You will find few English departments in the country that can offer such comprehensive coverage of English literature from its beginnings in the Anglo-Saxon period through to the globalisation of English in the twenty-first century.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Teaching within the School makes use of traditional methods and the latest technology to offer you a variety of learning experiences. Lectures, given by subject specialists, are designed to introduce you to important debates and contexts for understanding an author’s work. Weekly seminars allow you to explore a text or topic in depth. You will be taught in seminar groups of about 12, an ideal size for detailed discussions of the issues raised in lectures and for the close reading of set texts. Each term you will study three modules, attending a minimum of one seminar and one lecture per week for each core module. In a typical week you also attend additional events, such as workshops on research and study skills, learning groups and introduced film screenings. For your third-year dissertation you receive one-to-one tuition across the term from a tutor with an interest in your chosen subject.

Students are assessed through a combination of essays, examinations, group work, oral presentations, review writing and portfolios. Coursework greatly predominates over examination as a form of assessment. The assessments are designed to help you build confidence in a range of skills and to provide prospective employers with evidence that you can work effectively both as an independent researcher and as a team member.

Course Opportunities

At the end of your first year you have the option to transform your three year English course into a four year course involving a year abroad studying at one of our prestigious partner institutions. The School of English has Erasmus exchange programmes with some of the top-ranked universities in Europe, including:

• Paris
• Heidelberg
• Geneva
• Amsterdam (VU)
• Leipzig
• Salzburg
• Helsinki
• Bologna 
• Turin

 A year studying literature abroad gives you experience of a new culture, along with important language skills and international credentials with which to impress employers.

As a member of the School of English, you will have regular opportunities to hear first-hand from famous authors about their works. The annual Literary Leicester festival, organised by the School, and the Creative Writing guest lecture are amongst the events that bring prize-winning writers onto campus to engage with students.

The School and the University offer an assortment of extra-curricular and voluntary activities as ways to build confidence, skills and have fun. English students are particularly strongly represented in student journalism and extremely active in the Leicester University Student Theatre group.

Skills Gained

Graduates of our English courses are skilled in research, analysis, and in communicating findings to different audiences. You will gain considerable experience in delivering oral presentations and, of course, in using the written language clearly and eloquently to argue points. Our English graduates are proficient in independent investigation and in co-operating in group research. The study of English develops wide-ranging intellectual perspectives and entails different forms of social and historical knowledge – this is an understanding of the past and present that enriches not just career prospects, but daily life for our graduates.

Graduate Opportunities

The School provides careers training and opportunities specifically tailored to English students. These include regular visiting speakers, employability workshops at each stage of the degree, an employment preparation course for second years, and optional modules with an employment focus. The School’s Careers Officer works with the University’s Careers Service to arrange work experience and internships in fields such as publishing, teaching and journalism.

The analytical and creative skills taught on our degree courses mean our graduates have an excellent record of securing jobs in diverse, competitive fields.

The School of English at Leicester is among the top English departments in the UK for graduate prospects (The Complete University Guide 2012). We have, for example, graduates working in the national press, publishing, public relations, law, accountancy, and English teaching in the Far East and Europe.

Full entry requirements

Opportunities to Visit and Further Information

Choosing where and what to study at university is an important choice for you. We believe it is important to give you the opportunity to talk to our admissions team, so you can find out whether our programme is the right choice for you.

For further information, please contact:
The Admissions Secretary
0116 252 2624
english@le.ac.uk
www.le.ac.uk/english

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