English
Top 15 in the UK for English
11th in the Complete University Guide 2025; 14th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
46th for English Language and Literature in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
Opportunities for study abroad and employment experience in the UK or abroad
Unique on site resources: Exeter’s Special Collections archive and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
Degrees at Streatham Campus, Exeter
Degrees at Penryn Campus, Cornwall
One of the leading English departments in the UK, with excellence in both teaching and research, we cover literature from the Medieval period to the present day, with additional strengths in film studies and creative writing. As a student you will be taught by world-class academics whose expertise spans the whole of the discipline of English.
We offer a curriculum that provides considerable flexibility and choice to encourage you to discover your literary interests. Explore the writings of canonical figures such as Austen, Dickens, Joyce, Shakespeare, Woolf and Wordsworth, and specialise as you progress, by period, genre or theme.
Choose one of our Combined Honours programmes and combine the study of literature with Film Studies, Drama, Classical Studies, Art History & Visual Culture or a Modern Language.
Throughout your studies, you will learn to analyse the literatures of different cultures and periods and to interpret this material within wider contexts of cultural and intellectual history. Our committed and passionate staff will help you to develop your ability to read perceptively and critically and to foster your capacity for creative and original thought. You will develop proficiency in research and analysis, an ability to construct coherent, substantiated arguments and a capacity to propose your own ideas and theories.
We are a substantial department, with staff based at the Streatham Campus in Exeter. You will find enthusiastic, research-active staff who are leaders in their field and are committed to sharing their expertise with you through their teaching.
Whilst my studies here at the University of Exeter have been incredible (I cannot speak highly enough of my English course), my time at Exeter has been defined by what I do away from the books.
I have taken managerial roles within societies, broadening my circle of peers and allowing me to develop my leadership skills. Not only have I been involved in voluntary positions, the University’s broad internship programme has allowed me to take paid work in the Digital Humanities Labs, assisting academics on world leading research and pioneering and fostering new relationships between the University and the rest of the world.
This internship has let me interact with texts like the first edition of William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ (with the rarely seen first chapter) and even taken me to Canada, all of which is incredible experience, and will stand me in good stead for further study. I chose the study abroad option at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, as I believe that having international experience is key to success as work between countries continues to become more globally significant and the world is becoming smaller through communication and travel,’
Connor
BA English with Study Abroad (Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)
