Offering more than 40 undergraduate courses from across a thousand years of English, American and global literature, English at Royal Holloway is a particularly wide-ranging subject which allows you to follow your individual passions.
Within the department, our students can choose from a diverse and extensive range of courses covering works across time, cultures, genres, media and geographies. You will explore and debate cutting-edge ideas and, if you wish, pursue your own creative writing.
The Department of English has internationally acclaimed experts on our academic staff and yet we are a close, inclusive community which offers you:
- An environment that helps you to flourish. You will have a Personal Tutor, small group tutorials, essay writing skills sessions, library and IT skills sessions, and a special course to help you make the transition to university. In addition to the state-of-the-art study facilities on campus, you can access central London resources, including Senate House Library, and develop your literary passions through a variety of inspiring events.
- Award-winning teaching staff. We write ground-breaking books, feature in the national media, advise national and international bodies, and have won numerous national prizes for teaching. You will have the opportunity to be taught by our senior scholars, who are both outstanding researchers and committed teachers.
- Inspirational creative writing community. With seven Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature, two winners of the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction, prize winning poets, and a BBC National Short Story judge for 2018 on our teaching staff, you will be taught by some of the best writers in the UK today. When you graduate, you will join the ranks of notable alumni, including the winner of the International Dylan Thomas Prize 2018, Kayo Chingonyi, and author of the British Book Awards Book of the Year 2017, Sarah Perry.
- Courses in other departments. In years two and three of your degree, we encourage you to take a course in history, drama, politics, or media arts, where it will support your literary studies. You will also have the flexibility to choose course from unrelated departments, like Management and business, where availability allows.
- Research centres. The department is home to two internationally-renowned research centres: the Centre for Victorian Studies, and the Poetics Research Centre. While our postgraduate students are heavily invested in these centres, undergraduate students also reap the benefits of having access to the centres' events, resources and networks.
- Study abroad options. You can choose to study for an extra integral year at one of our partner universities in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand or the USA. Students reading English and Modern Languages will spend their third year in a country appropriate to their chosen foreign language, and return to Royal Holloway for their fourth year.
- Our support for your future, plus our NEW Year in Industry. English is a traditional 'premier league' subject, valued by employers for the skills it develops in communication, critical thought and research. Our department prioritises employability, developing your skills with our central Careers and Employability Service, while upholding the academic integrity of your prestigious University of London degree. From September 2019, students entering our undergraduate degree programmes will be eligible to participate in our Year in Industry scheme on completion of their second year of study.
We currently offer a Single Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Joint Honours Bachelor of Arts degrees, Master of Arts degrees in a range of theoretical and practical subjects, Doctor of Philosophy degrees, and a Practice-based PhD.
Select your degree from the tiles below for more information, or browse our undergraduate and Masters courses by clicking the 'Find Your Course' link below.
