Studying English at Brunel is your passport to an exciting variety of professional destinations.
Did you know that…
- The creative industries are said by the government, to contribute 10% of the UK’s total GVA (Gross Value Added) or around £200 billion.
- That accounts for nearly 12% of all jobs in the UK.
- The starting salaries for English graduates are, on average, the same as those of psychology, law, chemistry, and business studies graduates.
- Employability rates for English graduates are the same as those of STEM graduates.
- After 10 years, there's no difference between English graduate earnings and those who graduated in any other subject.
- Typical careers for English graduates include media, marketing, PR, teaching, publishing, writing, copywriting, arts, corporate communications, and information management.
- English graduates are not only famed for their excellence in the forever skills – the Four Cs – they are much in demand for their adaptability to changes in the workplace.
- With more than half of British people worried about the impact AI will have on their jobs, English students have the skills and the versatility remain in work whatever happens.
The Four Cs: Preparing you for the workplace of the future
The Four Cs are critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. They're transferable skills, which enable you to adapt to a wide variety of workplaces and ensure that you are always in demand.
The Four Cs are often known as forever skills - but how can we call them 'forever' when, because of AI, we have no idea what the workplace will look like in 2030? Although it has been thought that degrees in STEM or vocational subjects, like psychology and law, are the safest bets when it comes to finding work, this is changing. Many now believe that more general degrees, which develop transferable skills, offer the strongest pathways to employment. Here's why English Literature is the best of these degrees, especially in the age of AI:
Critical thinking
A degree in English is a degree in critical thinking. The development of critical theory, which is at the heart of modern critical thinking practices, was led by English departments in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, critical thinking centres around reading, representation, and interpretation – what texts appear to say, what they really say, and whose perspective they are promoting. Generative AI and online misinformation make critical thinking about text one of the most important skills out there.
Creativity and creative thinking
No subject can compete with English when it comes to creative thinking. Its purpose is to read and debate creativity - novels, poetry, plays, short stories, and other written texts. English assignments offer the most creative freedom. You're actively encouraged to be creative in your arguments, how you think, and how you write. English at Brunel is intrinsically linked to creative writing. Many of our students take English with Creative Writing, which is the best of both worlds. English graduates are the creative thinkers employers are looking for.
Communication
There are no better communicators than English students. You're assessed not just on your ability to research facts and knowledge but on convincing people that your argument or viewpoint is the correct one. The subjective nature of poems, novels and so on, means that to get a good mark, you must communicate your argument as clearly as possible. English graduates are the best communicators because they're trained to convey critical and creative thinking in engaging yet meaningful ways.
Collaboration
The way English is taught, in seminar discussions, means that every English graduate has to be a great collaborator. In a world dominated by online confrontation rather than reasoned debate, our graduates stand out. They have spent years in classrooms with peers who hold different views. Learning to see both sides, to present evidence to support their view, and to listen respectfully yet critically to others is the essence of the degree. English learning is created by a team of thinkers in the classroom, with the tutor simply acting as a guide.
Employability
Brunel was established in 1966 precisely to teach skills useful in the workplace. We're the first university in the UK to offer sandwich courses. As a technical university, it's written into our DNA that we'll teach you the technical skills that employers need. Employability is embedded in all three years of our degree program.
During Year 1, you can attend workshops on early steps towards employability presented by professional advisors from Careers and Student Placements. In Year 2, you'll take Professional Life - a core module, featuring a whole series of guest speakers, many of them former students, that helps you to take practical steps towards developing your profile post-graduation. Personal tutors meet with their tutor groups regularly to help them build experience and enhance skills relevant to them. In Year 3, sessions run by Careers and Placements prepare you for the workplace. The Creative Industries module ideal if you'd like to work in the creative industries, with seminars given by industry professionals and an informal placement system.
Stand out from the graduate crowd