Texts are all around us – from books and magazines to TV, email and the internet. The ability to analyse them and their often subtle meanings is a skill that can open doors in a wide range of professional fields.

English Studies at the University of Stirling offers you the perfect chance to dedicate yourself to reading and enjoying a range of great novels, plays and poems from across the world. Your own creative writing can form part of this degree, too – as we believe it aids your understanding of literary style and technique and develops your imagination. It’s just one of the factors that makes our BA a little different from other English courses.

You’ll study literary works from the medieval period to the present day, as well as learn about linguistics, creative writing and the history of the English language. Along the way, you’ll benefit from top-rated teaching, visits from outside experts and the annual staging of the Booker Prize Initiative on campus – giving you the opportunity to meet world-renowned contemporary authors and discuss their work.

You also have the freedom to take English Studies with one of 12 other courses and earn a combined honours degree tailored to your unique ambitions.

From publishing to digital and editorial work, an English literature degree opens up a broad range of opportunities. Jobs directly related to a BA English include, but are definitely not limited to:

• Newspaper, magazine or online journalist
• Copywriter
• Writer
• Editorial Assistant
• Secondary school teacher / English as a foreign language teacher
• Publishing copy-editor/proof-reader
• Academic

An English degree is also ideally suited to areas such as: Public Relations, Broadcasting, Marketing, Social Media, Advertising and the Arts.

The ability to write clearly and think analytically is valued in a host of professions. English Studies graduates leave the University of Stirling with vital transferrable skills that are always in demand, and our students have an excellent success rate in finding rewarding employment.

The freedom to combine your studies in English with a range of other courses also makes a Stirling degree unique. You could graduate with a qualification that combines English Studies with Politics, Business Studies, Professional Education and more – ensuring your university education is as flexible as your ambitions. Former English Studies graduates from the University of Stirling include novelists Iain Banks and Alan Bissett, journalist Grace Dent and Scottish poet laureate Jackie Kay MBE.