English with Year Abroad

English as a degree is not simply the continuation of studying literature at school. It is a discipline that asks you to read with far greater precision and theoretical awareness, to consider not just what a text means but how it means: how language works, how genre shapes expectation, how historical context determines what can be said and who gets to say it. It is concerned with texts across centuries and across the full range of literary forms, asking how stories, poems and prose have shaped cultures and been shaped by them in return.

This four-year full-time programme at the University of Southampton includes a year abroad, built into the degree to give you the chance to study in a different national and linguistic environment. Through the degree you will discover how literature shapes identity and understanding, learning to see familiar texts and the world around you with fresh analytical eyes. You will study across a range of genres and historical eras, developing skills in close reading, literary argument, independent research and extended writing.

Southampton's English department brings particular strengths to questions of how stories construct meaning, how literature connects to its historical moment, and how the discipline itself has changed over time.

English graduates are among the most versatile of all arts graduates, because the skills the degree develops, close reading, precise writing, sustained argument, the ability to handle complex texts and construct clear communication, apply in almost every professional context. Careers in journalism, publishing, communications, education, the civil service, law, arts administration, broadcasting and the creative industries all draw on English graduates. Many go on to postgraduate study in English literature, creative writing, publishing or education, and the MA (Hons) format allows for genuine depth in a four-year undergraduate programme.