Studying English at Salford

If you're taking one of our degrees with Creative Writing in the title, our tutor David Savill (a famous published novelist) recommends that you keep working on your writing, so you have a readymade store of work to draw on in your first year workshops.

If you're taking a degree with drama modules, Szilvi Naray-Davey (actress, translator and programme leader for Drama) recommends that you try your best to take in as many plays as you can, whether in person or online.

If you're taking a degree with Literature in the title, you should focus on the reading and writing that makes you happy - there is space for a personal, focused project in the final year dissertation.

If you're taking a degree with Language in the title, listen for the language all around you - whether that's children in your family learning their first words or different accents you encounter. Start noticing language in the world and note down anything you find interesting so your expert tutors can explain it.

Our students go into so many wonderful careers: writing, public relations, teaching, journalism, academia. The exciting thing about English is that it gives you the skills for the jobs of the future. Your communication skills will set you up to be a flexible, independent thinker who can deal with the changing nature of work in the twenty-first century. We also offer an internship at a publishing house as well as other opportunities.

You can find more details of these opportunities here.

We're proud that Greater Manchester's literary and theatrical history is etched on the world map. Greater Manchester has produced iconic writers such as Thomas De Quincey, Howard Jacobson, Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Burgess, Jeanette Winterson and Lemn Sissay. 

Regular live literature events and festivals cover all genres, and there are lots of bookshops, libraries and archives to be explored. 

Greater Manchester is also a thriving hub of theatre and performance, from large scale globally touring productions to fringe theatre and experimental work, with lots of opportunities to experience and share work. 

We offer a free writing course to all of our students called Wordscope, which focuses on helping you to develop your writing skills, easing the transition from college to university. By participating in this course, you can learn to tackle common writing problems such as punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing.

For more information, you can take a look at the Wordscope.

Personalised timetables are sent to students when they register in September. We try our best to keep your timetable sensible and avoid you being in every day of the week. There are no lectures on a Wednesday afternoon then so that students can participate in clubs, societies and extracurricular activities.

You will have nine in-class hours a week, which will be a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops - alongside drop-in office hours and personal tutor meetings.

The English department have a Instagram, Twitter and Facebook account you can follow so you can see the great things our staff get up to.