A Vibrant Intellectual Community

The Department of English has around 600 undergraduate and 140 postgraduate students and an administrative and teaching staff of around 40. The Department aims to provide an unrivalled graduate experience. We have a rich and diverse graduate culture at both Masters and Doctoral level, backed up by strong supervisory and teaching expertise and extensive research resources in a number of areas. Beyond their immediate interests and concerns, our students are encouraged to participate widely in the research culture of the Department, the School and the University by exposure to a stimulating and diverse range of ideas and debates. All of this makes for a very lively, productive and enriching environment, enabling students to get the most out of their studies at Exeter.

The concept of 'English Studies' embraced by the Department is broad and diverse and encompasses a wide range of aesthetic forms - from the novel to film, poetry to television, revolutionary pamphlets to architecture - historical periods, cultural movements and intellectual paradigms. 

The creative writing and arts programme launched in 2002 has extended this scope, covering a variety of forms from prose and poetry to screenwriting. These interests are reflected in the exciting range of subject tracks and individual modules offered in the School in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All of the teaching staff are active researchers and have made important contributions to their various fields through published books and articles.

The international quality of this research was recognised during the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise when Exeter was ranked 1st in the UK for its world-leading research. In all 90% of our research was judged to be world-leading, internationally excellent or internationally recognised and all of our staff were included in the submission. Our support for postgraduates and early career researchers was also judged “impressive”. Find out more in our research section.

The Department has research and teaching links with other disciplines within the School including modern languages, drama and music, history and social sciences. It was rated excellent for teaching in the last Quality Assurance Agency Inspection. We also offer a range of PhD funding and MA funding support.

An Historic and Lively Environment

Exeter is the County Town of Devon and has a population of 100,000. An urban centre since pre-Roman times, the city's history is evident in its Roman remains, Tudor houses and Georgian terraces. It is still dominated by the imposing presence of the cathedral, begun in the twelfth century. Present day Exeter is at the centre of a thriving local economy that has seen a number of major organisations, including the Meteorological Office, relocate to the city.

Consistently rated highly in quality of life surveys, Exeter offers many cultural and leisure activities including museums, galleries, cinemas, theatres, pubs & clubs. Among the major attractions are the Phoenix Arts Centre, which stages plays, recitals, readings and exhibitions and which recently won a major lottery grant to upgrade facilities and build a state of the art media resource centre; the Exeter Picturehouse, a stylish independent cinema screening an excellent mix of mainstream and arthouse films; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery's permanent collection and special exhibitions; and the renowned Northcott Theatre, situated on the University Streatham campus. Live music can be heard throughout the city from pubs, clubs and concern halls to the large Westpoint venue. 

We also offer Postgraduate opportunities at our Cornwall Campus near Falmouth. The £100m campus offers a supportive and close-knit community of students and staff, in a distinctive and attractive research environment. Further information can be found on the Cornwall Campus English Department's website.