BA (Hons) in English Literature and Publishing
Bath, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
23 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 16,675 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international full time | UK part time: £4,625 | UK full time: £9,250 | professional placement year full time for UK: £1,850 international: £3,335
Fast-track counseling
By contacting the school, you'll get access to free priority counselling for any study and application questions.
Key Summary
Our English Literature and Publishing degree has been designed to enable you to acquire specialised subject knowledge while developing practical and professional skills that you can apply to a wide range of industries and careers.
English Literature introduces you to an incredible range of literary worlds. From classic texts to new and unfamiliar writing, you'll be asked to think differently about what ‘literature’ can be and to explore original ways of reading and analysing it. We’ll ask you to place your reading in wider contexts, and to draw on other disciplines to deepen your understanding and sharpen your insights.
It’s not just about reading and analysing texts – you’ll also learn vital professional skills. English Literature and Publishing will help you develop creativity, analysis, communication and collaboration skills, which can open up a diverse range of possible careers. We’ll support you in learning how to manage projects, work with your peers, and collaborate in our partnership projects. We’ll equip you with a wide range of the latest digital making skills, such as Adobe InDesign, web, and multimedia social content, alongside core publishing skills such as copywriting and editing, design, layout and marketing. You’ll carve out your own role and graduate with industry experience and a stunning digital portfolio of your work.
You'll also have access to key industry resources such as Nielsen Bookscan, where you can explore book sales data and monitor consumer trends, and the entire suite of Adobe creative software as well as Society of Young Publishers South West events, some of which are hosted at the University.
Why choose this combination?
Learning to read, think about and interpret literature can inform and enhance the ways we communicate - and publishing is a natural outlet for expressing these different perspectives. Publishing is one of the UK’s largest creative industries, which shapes and presents content across a wide range of subjects and for a variety of publications, from books and magazines to innovative apps and websites.
English Literature
Year one (Level 4) modules
- Parallel Texts
- Romance and Revolution
- Worlds of Ideas
- Narratives of Belonging
- Protest and Persuasion
- Thinking Together: Humanities in the 21st Century
Year two (Level 5) modules
- Voices in Conversation
- Reading Communities
- Bodies
- The Book
- The Literature of Laughter
- Who Do You Think You Are? Writing the Self, Written Lives
- The Marvellous - Writing Beyond Realism
- Transgressions
- Digital Humanities
- Working Together
- Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
- English Project
- Cosmopolitanisms - Writing Beyond Borders
- Literature and Psychology
- Nation and Race in the Early Modern Atlantic World
- Novel Forms
- Outsiders - Women and Writing
- Shock of the New
- Writing and Environmental Crisis
- Writing Now - Prizes, Popularity and Politics
Publishing
Year one (Level 4) modules
- Introduction to Publishing
- Introduction to Editing and Production
- Create Lab
Year two (Level 5) modules
- The Book Publishing Industry
- Experiments in Book-Making
- The Independent Magazine
- The Editor
- Social Enterprise
- Science Journalism and Publishing
- Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
- Digital Publishing
- Publishing Industry Project
- The Commissioning Editor
- Children’s Publishing
- Digital Content Strategy
What you'll learn
Overview
We combine the academic study of literature with skill-based modules to create a practical, applied English Literature and Publishing degree. You’ll learn how to analyse a wide range of literary texts and the history of print culture, but you'll also learn practical skills such as:
- communicating your ideas through a variety of forms and media
- copywriting and text editing
- communicating brand identity and audience research
- content layout, including image use, video, photography and infographics.
Additional modules offer the chance to specialise and deepen your knowledge and skill base, and to work on larger personal projects linked to your career aims.
Course structure
Year one
The first year will introduce you to key elements and concepts in both subjects. You’ll develop your skills with a broad curriculum of core modules in Publishing and English Literature.
Year two
Alongside core modules in both subjects, you’ll be able to choose from a selection of Publishing and English Literature modules that cover a wide range of genres and topics, including a number that involve working with creative industries or local communities.
Year three
The final year follows the mix of required and optional modules from year two, but with an additional emphasis on developing your final projects. You’ll be encouraged to develop your individual approach as a creator, curator or project manager; your final Publishing portfolio will reflect this, showcasing your work for prospective employers. In your English studies, you can choose from a variety of final projects (previously, students have created digital resources, worked at literary festivals and produced educational materials, to name a few examples).
Optional modules cover book commissioning, children's publishing, and cross-platform digital publishing.
How will I be assessed?
Assessment is based mainly on coursework. Depending on your module choices, coursework may include portfolios, essays, journals, feature articles, reflective commentaries, seminar presentations, collaborative magazines and reports. In some modules you’ll share your work through short, informal presentations.
Employability is a core part of our curriculum. You’ll develop your own projects, and have access to our renowned digital facilities, as well as to our Bath Spa Careers team who'll help you forge a fulfilling future.
Many of our graduates pursue careers in publishing, digital media, marketing or teaching, and have gone on to work at international NGOs and organisations including NewScientist, Trinity College Library, DigitalBox, Cengage Learning EMEA, Defra, Future, Taylor & Francis, Penguin Random House Anthem Publishing and Adweek. Graduate professions include:
- Editorial Assistant
- Production Assistant
- Digital Editor
- Digital Marketing Coordinator
- Project Manager
- Publishing Outreach Executive
- Content Writer
- Campaigns Officer
Some graduates choose to progress onto postgraduate study. Many of our students go on to study one of our specialist MA programmes in either Creative Writing, Writing for Young People, Scriptwriting, Nature and Travel Writing, or Children’s Publishing.
How will I be taught?
You’ll be taught through a mix of tutorials, creative workshops, skills labs, seminars and lectures. You’ll learn to be adept at project management and product development following a research and development process. We work on-screen and beyond: creating sketchbooks; making physical prototypes; getting out and meeting people; finding opportunities.
Throughout the course, you’ll work to briefs set by your tutors or industry collaborators, as well as working on your own projects.