Welcome!
School of English
Our School is organised internally across four sections, covering:
Drama and Creative Writing
English Language and Applied Linguistics
Literature 1500 to the present
Medieval Languages and Literatures
Our undergraduate degrees are taught across these academic disciplines ensuring that Nottingham students have the opportunity for the widest possible education in English language, linguistics, literature and culture. This broad, rich coverage is a strong characteristic of our teaching ethos.
We have a proud history at Nottingham and were one of the first departments to be established when the University was formally opened in 1881. We are located in the Trent Building at the heart of the beautiful University Park Campus.
We offer both Single and Joint Honours courses at BA level, a range of taught postgraduate Masters courses (including through web-based Distance Learning) and research supervision in all areas.
We have approximately 900 undergraduate students, 150 undertaking on-site Masters programmes and 200 distance learning Masters students. There are approximately 70 full- and part-time research students working towards the higher degrees of PhD within a range of topics, with most members of our academic staff engaged in postgraduate supervision. At present, there are currently 65 staff in the research and teaching job family.
The Schools of English in Ningbo and in Malaysia are an integral part of our English provision, with many specific courses in common and a joint undergraduate degree taught between Nottingham and China.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the School of English
We endeavour to create an environment that allows our staff and students to thrive and excel in their education and career alike. We support equality, diversity and inclusivity in the school and are working hard to ensure a better representation of staff and students across all of our activities.
We are engaged in a number of EDI initiatives including decolonising the curriculum in English studies.
We welcome candidates who are interested in equality, diversity and inclusion and supporting the School in this work.
Teaching in the School
Creative Writing
Drama and Performance
English Language and Applied Linguistics
Literature from 1500 to the present day (including literary theory)
Medieval Studies (including the history of the language)
Our curriculum emphasises a wide range of disciplines within the general areas of English, in which Year 1 operates as a foundation year introducing the students to these disciplines, while in Years 2 and 3 students progressively select a range of specialist modules.
Masters Programmes - onsite
We offer a number of specialist on-campus taught Masters programmes including:
Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching
Creative Writing
English Literature
English Studies
Viking and Early Medieval English Studies
The MA in English Studies allows our students to combine modules from different areas, particularly language, literature and medieval studies.
We also have a joint Masters programmes with the Nottingham University Business School, the MSc in Communication and Entrepreneurship.
Masters Programmes - online
Over the last few years, we have invested in the development of web-based learning materials. We currently have over 200 distance students based in over 40 countries studying Masters programmes via our
MA English programme with the following specialist pathways:
Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching
English Literature
Language and Linguistics
Literary Linguistics
Medieval Englishes
Modern and Contemporary Literature
Name-Studies
Norse and Viking Studies
Professional Communication
World Literatures
Research in the School
We were delighted to retain our place in the top 10 universities for English in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. Our exceptionally diverse research has placed us 10th for GPA among 92 universities and 7th in the Russell Group. We were placed highly on all three main criteria of assessment. 63% of our research was ranked as ‘world leading’ and a further 30% as ‘internationally excellent’. This result recognises outstanding expertise and commitment to excellence across our School and is a measure of the research and engagement partnerships we have developed nationally and internationally.
The following research groupings in our School form a focus for lectures, conferences, seminars, grant applications and other collaborative activities:
Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics (CRAL)
is an interdepartmental research unit with colleagues from English and Computer Science, Mathematics, Psychology, and Education. We house a number of spoken and multimodal corpora, the development of which has been funded by Research Councils and industry partners. Our academic and research staff form part of a professional communication research and business unit, Linguistic Profiling for Professionals (LiPP), based in CRAL to provide bespoke consultancy and training.
Centre for Literary Creativity, Community and Place (LCCP)
The Centre for Literary Culture, Community, and Place (LCCP) brings together researchers and creative writers in the School of English working on diverse aspects of literary history, criticism, and production, with a particular focus on the intersection of literature in all its forms with local, regional and national cultures.
LCCP provides a hub for literary-critical and creative activities of staff and post-graduate researchers.
Centre for the Study of the Viking Age (CSVA)
fosters, develops and coordinates research into all aspects of the Viking Age, with special emphasis on Scandinavian contacts with the British Isles, and on literary and linguistic sources for the period.
Institute for Name-Studies (INS)
is an umbrella for the various research activities of the English Place-Name Society (founded 1923) and the Centre for English Name-Studies (established 1992). The Institute for Name-Studies houses the library and research resources of the English Place-Name Society.
We have been successful in attracting funding from The Leverhulme Trust, the AHRC, the British Academy, ESRC, EPSRC, the Wellcome Institute, JISC and other external bodies. The University has a number of internal research funding schemes and support for both internal and external funding applications is provided by the Faculty of Arts based research development staff.
Find out more about research and teaching in all sections of the School:
Careers and Employability
Our Director of Employability oversees our work to develop placements, volunteering and employability opportunities for all our students. The School’s volunteering programme includes community and dementia reading groups, and the Literacy Support Project and the Viking and Anglo Saxons for Schools projects working with local secondary and primary schools.
Back to top
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia and hosts a truly global academic community in all three countries. The University was placed 100 in the world (2024 QS World University Rankings) and placed 7th in the UK for research power (REF2021).
The Faculty of Arts is a large and diverse Faculty encompassing three schools:
School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies (CLAS)
School of English
School of Humanities
The Faculty is home to associated Centres and Institutes, is a lead member of the Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership and the Midlands Graduate School ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership.
REF2021 recognised the quality, range, and depth of research and impact across our Faculty. Overall, 48.1% of the Faculty’s research was graded as 4* (‘world-leading in terms of originality, significance, and rigour’) with a further 40.3% classified as 3* (‘internationally excellent’). Five of the Faculty's nine Units of Assessment are in the top ten by GPA for their subject areas nationally.
We place a high value on research-led teaching and are committed to excellence in education and student experience. For further information about the University, see: For campus maps and other information, see:
Back to top
City of Nottingham
Nottingham is an attractive, vibrant and prosperous city, that attracts people from all over the UK. Culturally, it was awarded UNESCO City of Literature status and has great theatres, an arena which attracts both national and international performers and a range of historical interests including those related to the lace industry, Lord Byron and DH Lawrence.
Nottingham is also known for sport, being the home of Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham Forest and Notts County Football Clubs, Nottingham Panthers, the National Water Sports Centre and the Nottingham Tennis Centre. There is excellent public transport with buses and a tram service, a good network of roads with easy access to the M1 and the A1, a fast frequent rail service to London and other major cities. East Midlands Airport is 18 miles away.
The city is set within a county of outstanding natural beauty which includes Sherwood Forest, Wollaton Park, lively market towns and wonderful historic buildings, and is close to the southern Peak District. In addition to the two Universities, there are excellent local schools and colleges.
Back to top