English Literature MA - 2026/7
Awarding body
University of Surrey
Teaching institute
University of Surrey
Framework
FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Final award and programme/pathway title
MA English Literature
Subsidiary award(s)
| Award | Title |
|---|---|
| PGDip | English Literature |
| PGCert | English Literature |
Modes of study
| Route code | Credits and ECTS Credits | |
| Full-time | PPG63001 | 180 credits and 90 ECTS credits |
| Part-time | PPG63002 | 180 credits and 90 ECTS credits |
QAA Subject benchmark statement (if applicable)
Other internal and / or external reference points
N/A
Faculty and Department / School
Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences - Literature & Languages
Programme Leader
THOMPSON Carl (Lit & Langs)
Date of production/revision of spec
18/12/2024
Educational aims of the programme
- -This programme aims to: equip students to recognise, explain, and appraise the main principles and challenges of literary studies in the 21st century
- enable students to recognise and evaluate different contemporary approaches to literary studies, and to reflect upon, distil, modify and innovate these diverse methodologies in their own critical practice
- enable students to identify and appraise the connections between literature, literary studies and the wider global, environmental and social concerns of the 21st century
- enable students to formulate and address innovative research questions relating to chosen fields of study within literary studies.
- develop students' research skills for retrieving information crucial for understanding the processes, contexts and impacts of textual production, reception and influence
- enable students to present and articulate complex, abstract ideas and concepts, verbally and in writing, in a clear and appropriate fashion
- prepare graduates to undertake a PhD programme in the relevant field
- provide students with transferable skills (in critical thinking, analysis, humanist reasoning, textual critique and communication) attractive to a wide range of employers, from the creative and culture industries to marketing and advertising to tourism, heritage and leisure to the civil service and public/private partnerships
Programme learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | Awards | Ref. | |
| On completion of the programme students will have: the ability to recognise, explain, and appraise the main principles and challenges of literary studies in the 21st century | KC | PGCert, PGDip, MA | |
| the ability to recognise and evaluate different contemporary approaches to literary studies, and to reflect upon, distil, modify and innovate these diverse methodologies in their own critical practice | KC | PGCert, PGDip, MA | |
| the ability to identify and appraise the connections between literature, literary studies and the wider global, environmental and social concerns of the 21st century | KC | PGCert, PGDip, MA | |
| the ability to formulate and address innovative research questions relating to chosen fields of study within literary studies | KCT | PGCert, PGDip, MA | |
| the ability to retrieve through research information crucial for understanding the processes, contexts and impacts of textual production, reception and influence | CPT | PGCert, PGDip, MA | |
| the ability to present and articulate complex, abstract ideas and concepts, verbally and in writing, in a clear and appropriate fashion | CPT | PGDip | |
| created and carried out a research project of significant complexity and reflected upon the knowledge gained and incorporate this into independent learning strategies | KCPT | MA |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Programme structure
Full-time
This Master's Degree programme is studied full-time over one academic year, consisting of 180 credits at FHEQ level 7*. All modules are semester based and worth 15 credits with the exception of project, practice based and dissertation modules.
Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits)
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
*some programmes may contain up to 30 credits at FHEQ level 6.
Part-time
This Master's Degree programme is studied part-time over two academic years, consisting of 180 credits at FHEQ level 7. All modules are semester based and worth 15 credits with the exception of project, practice based and dissertation modules.
Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits)
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
Programme Adjustments (if applicable)
N/A
Modules
Year 1 (full-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Module Selection for Year 1 (full-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Students choose five of the listed optional modules (two in Semester 1 and three in Semester 2). They also have two compulsory modules in Semester 1 and one compulsory module in Semester 2 to complete, as well as the compulsory English Literature Dissertation module.
Year 1 (part-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Module Selection for Year 1 (part-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Over the course of the two-year Part-Time programme, students choose five of the listed optional modules. By the end of Semester 2, Year 2 students must have completed all three compulsory modules alongside five optional modules. It does not matter which year (or mix of years) the compulsory modules are taken in as long as by the end of Semester 2, Year 2 all three compulsory modules have been completed. Students take the compulsory English Literature Dissertation module in year 2.
Year 2 (part-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Module Selection for Year 2 (part-time) - FHEQ Levels 6 and 7
Over the course of the two-year Part-Time programme, students choose five of the listed optional modules. By the end of Semester 2, Year 2 students must have completed all three compulsory modules alongside five optional modules. It does not matter which year (or mix of years) the compulsory modules are taken in as long as by the end of Semester 2, Year 2 all three compulsory modules have been completed. Students take the compulsory English Literature Dissertation module in year 2.
Opportunities for placements / work related learning / collaborative activity
| Associate Tutor(s) / Guest Speakers / Visiting Academics | N | |
| Professional Training Year (PTY) | N | |
| Placement(s) (study or work that are not part of PTY) | N | |
| Clinical Placement(s) (that are not part of the PTY scheme) | N | |
| Study exchange (Level 5) | N | |
| Dual degree | N |
Other information
Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:
Digital Capabilities
All modules require students to use and navigate Surrey University¿s Virtual Learning Environment, SurreyLearn. The supplementary captured content supplied to them via SurreyLearn requires them to navigate other online resources (for example, YouTube). For assignments, they must draw on a variety of online research tools (for example, the University Library¿s online catalogue and its various databases; Google Scholar; JSTOR) to identify relevant critical and theoretical material. Skills sessions are built into the compulsory Semester 1 module ELIM005 Research and Writing Skills to help all students develop and improve these digital research capabilities; this is especially important for the many students on the MA who are returning to university after long periods away from higher education. Several other modules include similar digital skills training (for example, ELIM045¿s session on archival catalogues). Other modules also focus more directly on various forms of digital text (for example, ELIM051 Writing Gaming with its sessions on narrative in video games, and ELIM047 Travel Writing with its discussions of travel blogs and other online travel media).
Employability
The programme develops a variety of important transferable skills. These include the ability to process quickly large amounts of information and complex ideas, and then to summarize, appraise and critique these ideas both through oral communication (in seminar discussions) and through written assignments of various forms. The latter must also be written, proof-read, formatted and referenced to a high standard appropriate to a professional work-place: training in all these aspects of the assignments is given in ELIM005 Research and Writing Skills. Several modules then develop a range of attributes more directly applicable to the typical career paths taken by our students: these include ELIM051 Writing Gaming, ELIM040 Advanced Screenwriting and TRAM503 Translation for the Creative Industries.
Global and Cultural Capabilities
Every module enhances cultural literacy through offering students a detailed engagement with particular strands or aspects of past or present literary culture. Several modules are specifically concerned with wider global issues and/or literature¿s important role in mediating and influencing both past and present understandings of global concerns: for example, ELIM047 Travel Writing, ELIM040 Geographies of Empire and Nation, ELIM054 Queer Ecologies. Theoretical frameworks for understanding the interaction of local and global cultures are introduced in several modules (for example, ELIM047 and ELIM045), and all modules offer syllabi attuned to both the international dimensions of the subject matter and the very diverse and international cohort that this programme typically recruits. For example, ELIM053 Beyond Tolkien includes session on recent African variants of fantasy fiction, ELIM047 Travel Writing includes work by Indian travel writers, and ELIM049 regularly includes works of speculative fiction by African authors. The diverse student cohort also leads to the sharing of very diverse perspectives on topics and texts.
Sustainability
All modules train students in the techniques of critical thinking, humanist reasoning and cultural analysis which must necessarily underpin all strategic, large-scale thinking about issues of sustainability, environmentalism and their associated societal challenges. Recognition of intersectionality, diversity and questions of social justice is woven into every module: effective responses to environmental challenge will require citizens and innovators alert to these moral and political complexities. Some modules focus more directly and explicitly on environmental issues: notably ELIM054 Queer Ecologies, but also (for example) ELIM047 Travel Writing with its discussion of eco-travelogues and ELIM045 21st Literary Studies with sessions on ecocriticism, geocriticism and theories of space and place.
Resourcefulness and Resilience
All modules require students to work independently on assignments, sourcing for themselves relevant critical and theoretical materials that can supplement and extend the material supplied in their seminars and set reading. Guidance and support to help them in this process is provided in the programme¿s core foundational module, ELIM005 Research and Writing Skills. ELIM005 also requires students to conceive and develop their own original research projects, thereby laying the foundation for the final Dissertation (ELIM009) in which students work independently on an extended, self-conceived (although supervised) project. Students wishing even more independence, flexibility and freedom in their studies may also take one or both of the Open Writing optional modules (ELIM042 and ELIM043): these function as in a sense mini-dissertations, and are one means by which students may explore different facets of a single central topic across multiple modules.
Quality assurance
The Regulations and Codes of Practice for taught programmes can be found at:
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.