51cg

English

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Undergraduate Open Day

Register to attend our Undergraduate Open Day on Saturday 3 October.

Introduction

English Studies at Aberdeen gives you all the advantages of an outstanding teaching, research and creative hub where you will be taught by internationally renowned academics, writers and poets. You will be inspired in the wonderful environment of a historic university with an award-winning library, outstanding literary treasures, and a vigorous calendar of literary events.

Our Degrees

We offer a range of English degrees which you can read more about below.

View available degree programmes

Pathway Programmes

The 51cg International Study Centre offers preparation programmes for progression to undergraduate degree study at the university.

Aberdeen is a leading centre for the study of literature, language and creative writing, and assessed as second in the UK for the quality of its research output and third in Scotland for creative writing.

You will study poetry, drama and prose through considering the dynamic relationship between author, reader and literary text, study every period from Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton to contemporary English, Scottish, Irish, European and American writing, and examine the cultural and critical impact of powerful and controversial modern works.

You will gain inspiration and guidance from enthusiastic teachers and researchers who have published internationally recognised literary criticism and award-winning creative works. You will benefit from the presence of several world-class Research Centres located in the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, including the Centre for the Novel, The Grierson Centre and the WORD Centre for Creative Writing.

Our flexible, modular curriculum gives you the core writing, research, computational and presentation skills vital to many careers. You will also be encouraged to pursue your particular interests while ranging widely across the many exciting areas of English studies, with career options as diverse as publishing, teaching, research, journalism, business, or speech therapy.

And you will thrive in our friendly and vibrant international community, on our beautiful medieval campus with great facilities for learning, sports and leisure, and many opportunities to develop extra skills and interests and to broaden your horizons through study abroad.

Why Study English at Aberdeen?

  • An international profile through major literary projects such as the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen and the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott.
  • The WORD Centre for Creative Writing, promoting creative projects in fiction, non-fiction and collaborative mixed-media in all the languages of northeast Scotland (from Doric to Polish).
  • The spectacular, award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library, home to literary treasures collected over 500 years, charting the power of the written word from ancient papyri and medieval manuscripts to contemporary e-books and other media.
  • Historic collections including rare printed books, the 12th century Aberdeen Bestiary, MacBean Stuart and Jacobite Collection, the novels of Sir Walter Scott, and an exceptional collection of Charles Dickens' first editions.
  • A packed campus programme of student and public events, exhibitions, seminars, invited speakers and the annual WayWORD Festival, welcoming internationally acclaimed authors to discuss literature, including European writers.
  • Research centres include the nationally recognised Centre for the Novel, the Centre for Modern Thought, and the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies.

What our Alumni Say

Zoe Kokka

Zoe Kokka

Job Details
MSt Film Aesthetics, University of Oxford
Graduation Year
2022

I had incredible classmates, incredible teaching staff, and the subject just opens up so many different avenues. You get to be creative, you get to discover so many new films, and study so many topics that you wouldn't expect necessarily in an academic context. Since graduating I've gotten to apply those skills [you develop] in volunteering and working in festivals, and now I'm doing a fully funded masters in film at Oxford.

Andrew Cardno

Andrew Cardno

Job Details
Freelance Video Editor
Graduation Year
2024

Aberdeen has a lot to offer students. It teaches you not just the basics of cinema academically, but also practically. Thanks to Aberdeen I've been able to actually start a career in the film industry. Scotland is becoming a bit of a hotspot for film at the minute...with a degree from Aberdeen I've been able to take a lot of the practical skills that I gained there and build upon there, and apply them daily to what I do.

Isabella Maria Engberg

Isabella Maria Engberg

Job Details
Postdoctoral Researcher
Graduation Year
2020

I originally planned to study English Literature and discovered that I could take another language as part of a joint degree. I was very happy in the German Department, where I could explore more than language and literature alone. The programme included history, media, politics, and broader cultural questions about the German-speaking world. I now live and work in Germany. And my German became good enough to teach actual Germans about their literature!

Lauren Thompson

Lauren Thompson

Job Details
Digital Content & Research Officer, One Parent Families Scotland
Graduation Year
2023

Whether you love film already, or you just quite like the creative subjects and you know you're into English and reading and analysis and stuff, I think this is a perfect degree for you. It's just so fun and you learn so much - so many soft skills, so many transferable skills, but also just so much about film.

Aberdeen Global Scholarship

The 51cg is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme.

Get in Touch

Contact Details

Address
Student Recruitment & Admissions
51cg
University Office
Regent Walk
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX

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