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English Literature MA

2025-26

This course is eligible for Master's loan funding. Find out more.

Start date

22 September 2025

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time

About the course

This course introduces you to the excitement of cutting-edge research in the discipline of English Literature. You’ll engage with the latest debates in the field and learn to articulate your own position within these. Exploring different genres and periods, you’ll develop a specialist understanding of key areas and ideas.

You’ll be taught by staff with international reputations in their areas of expertise. We’ll introduce you to emerging academic ideas, and ensure your work reflects the latest research. The department is home to the Ted Hughes Network and the Centre for International Contemporary Poetry. We have close links with the Huddersfield Literature Festival and the Cosmia multi-arts festival of science, speculative and fantasy fiction. You’ll be part of a vibrant and exciting postgraduate and scholarly community, sharing your ideas with fellow researchers at our regular events.

The MA English Literature will teach you to communicate your advanced subject knowledge to a variety of specialist and non-specialist audiences. So you'll be equipped for your future, whether you’re looking to pursue a career in academia or use your subject knowledge and skills in a different context.

Course detail

Research Methods

This module will introduce you to a range of advanced research skills, research methods and approaches appropriate for postgraduate study in English Literature. The module will also support your professional development, helping you to reflect upon the attributes you will develop through postgraduate study and how you might employ these in a range of professional contexts.

Specialist Study

This module will advance your understanding of English Literature through the in-depth study of one key topic. In the process, you'll develop a sophisticated understanding of cutting-edge research in this area and learn to assert your own position within key debates in this field. The topic will be determined by staff research interests and advertised from spring 2023.

Literature and Engagement

This module will introduce you to the process of taking your work beyond academia through detailed study of one key area of English Literature. You will then learn how to rearticulate and present your subject knowledge in the form of a public-facing resource (such as a digital exhibition, online micro-lecture series or study scheme for A level). This module will help you to recognise the value and transferability of your specialist knowledge within wider cultural and professional contexts. The topic will be determined by staff research interests and advertised from spring 2023.

Research for publication

This module will advance your understanding of research for publication in the field of English Literature. You will employ advanced research skills in the study of one key area of the subject. You'll also consider the process of academic publishing and writing for publication, learning to present your work in a format appropriate for publication in an academic journal. The topic will be determined by staff research interests and advertised from spring 2023.

MA Dissertation

The culmination of your MA studies, the MA dissertation offers you the opportunity to exercise your advanced research skills through the development of a significant piece of independent research, culminating in a written dissertation. You will choose the topic in consultation with a supervisor, who will then guide you through the research process.

You will take 180 credits at Master's level: four 30-credit modules and a 60-credit dissertation.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • An Honours degree (2:2 or above) in English, or a cognate subject, usually from within the Humanities.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 7.0 overall with no element lower than 6.5. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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