Skip to content

English and Philosophy BA (Hons)

Start date

  • Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
  • Typical Offer: 104 - 112 UCAS tariff points
  • UCAS Code(s): VQ53
  • Start Date(s): September 2024
  • Duration: Three years full-time, four – seven years part-time
  • Study Mode(s): Full-time / Part-time
  • Campus: Clifton Campus
Information for 2024

Introduction:

The human condition is best explored in literature and poetry. The products of the imagination tell us who we really are.

This Joint Honours degree in English and Philosophy will introduce you to the latest thinking and practice in literary and philosophical studies in ways that combine both subjects into a unified course – bringing together the methods and perspectives of both intellectual traditions in a highly integrated manner.

The course is both historical and contemporary in its focus and aims to show how philosophy can only be fully understood within a wider literary context, and that literature inescapably touches on issues of the highest moment.

The course investigates the nature, significance and contemporary relevance of a range of literary and philosophical texts across time and space, exploring their globality and contemporary positioning in relation to mental health, environmental, and other sustainability agendas.  You will engage with both ancient and modern texts in ways that demonstrate that the study of English Literature and Philosophy remains of pre-eminent significance in relation to the world's most pressing challenges.

With this focus to the fore, the course will offer a fully interdisciplinary approach to English Literature and Philosophy in order to analyse and explain the complex interrelations that exist between the logical, ethical, social, political, institutional and technological dimensions of texts and meanings, with a specific emphasis upon the way in which literary and philosophical skills are fast becoming key to unlocking the employability potential of undergraduates in the Humanities for future high skilled professional roles.

  • You will get the best preparation for your future career through work-like experiences that are embedded throughout the length of the course.
  • You will have the opportunity to create your own pathway through the course, with a study abroad and extended placement modules available in the second year.
  • The course is fully interdisciplinary – both subjects work together to produce a unified course and a coherent student experience. Interdisciplinary options available in both the second and the final year.
  • The course will allow you to develop the philosophical knowledge and literary skills required to become an expert practitioner across a range of future professions.

What you’ll study

Each year you’ll study a number of core modules from the lists below and you’ll have the opportunity to select from a range of optional modules to give yourself a more specialised pathway, depending on your interests.

In the second half of Year Two you can take your learning into your own hands and choose an extended work placement, learn at one of our many partner institutions worldwide, or continue to study here with a wide range of interesting optional modules to choose from.

Work-like experience

Work-like experience is much more than a placement. Throughout your degree you are given multiple opportunities to develop your career goals and build the skills, competencies and experience that employers demand, ensuring that your degree will provide a springboard for your future. You will take part in a minimum of 240 hours of work-like experience during your course, with the option to take an extended 10-week work placement in your second year. This rich and diverse experience will ensure that you graduate with the confidence to thrive in your chosen career after graduation.

What does work-like experience mean?

Work-like experience provides a rich and diverse opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities which will build your skills and hone your confidence to prepare you for a professional career after graduation. These opportunities could include live employer briefs, vocational training, professional development, volunteering, and community projects with one of our partners as well as time spent on placement with an employer. These opportunities could be local, national or even international, depending upon your interests and aspirations. You will expand and enhance your creative and communications skills through practical projects, producing podcasts and videos, organising campaigns, curating social media content and visual media working alongside your peers, tutors and external partners.

Interdisciplinary modules

Our students are curious, creative and forward-thinking, so in your second and third years of study you can join your colleagues from across Humanities to take a module which is not traditionally associated with your subject, but is related to some of the big issues in the world today. For instance, interdisciplinary humanities modules on sustainability or artificial intelligence take your subject knowledge in surprising and innovative directions. See below for the current list of these modules.

Transformation modules

Each year you will take a core collaborative module. These modules are linked and will build on each other to ease you into University life, support you with mentoring and personal tutoring, begin your professional development, and expand your horizons with collaborative projects and assessments both within your subjects and wider afield. They include work-like experiences, and will build towards a Developing with NTU employability award.

Core modules

Ethics in the 21st Century

Examine the major approaches to moral theory. Learn about utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and virtue ethics in order to examine the central problems of 21st Century applied ethics. These will include problems in environmental ethics and sustainability, business ethics, and the ethics of inclusion and diversity. Write a report on one of the major ethical issues of today, proposing a solution.

Knowing the Self: From Wonder to Wisdom

Explore the idea of the self and its virtues in ancient Greek and Roman thought. Study the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, and the philosophers of Hellenistic Schools. Learn how ancient philosophy can be viewed as a means of knowing and perfecting the self that allows individuals to see themselves as belonging to something more fundamental and significant.

Literary Pasts, Presents and Futures

This module places literatures from different eras (from Middle English to the present day) in dialogue, inviting students to consider how texts ‘speak’ to one another across the ages. It builds a critical understanding of literary heritage in which students reflect on fundamental issues in the study of English, such as the nature of literary ‘tradition’, the formation of the literary canon, intertextuality, textual innovation and reader positionality. The module reveals literary histories to be of enduring relevance to the contemporary moment and invites students to consider what the future might hold for studies in the subject.

Ways of Reading

This module introduces students to different ways in which it is possible to read and interpret texts and asks many questions: what is a ‘text’? How do they ‘talk’ to each other? Who decides what is great literature? We explore a range of reading from different eras and forms, and practise reading through a variety of ‘lenses’ including gender, race, trauma, and the environment. This will encourage you to read texts from a particular perspective, and question what assumptions we make as we read, the relationship between the text and the world, and what it means to be human.

Transformation: Agency and Self

In this module you will build the foundations for a successful University life through developing understanding and knowledge of your sustainable self. Exploring mental health (in)justice through academic research and project work, this module will demonstrate that knowledge of self, leads to a greater sense of community, key to overall wellbeing and academic success.

The main assessment will be the pitch of an initiative/resource/activity that will encourage and sustain wellbeing across the Joint Honours cohort to internal clients, NTSU, NTU Sport, or the Arts and Humanities Wellbeing team and a professional development reflection. The assessment is a personal reflection alongside the completion of the Developing with NTU award.

Optional modules typically include - choose one

Global Narratives in English

English Literature is a global phenomenon. Authors write and publish in English across many continents and contexts, offering a rich array of cultural insights and voices. The emergence of literature written in English across the world bears a difficult history, however, and invites us to reflect carefully on the political dynamics that have shaped its journey. This module discusses texts from a range of global locations to equip students not only with an appreciation of the diversity of English literature as a global phenomenon but with an astute awareness of its political underpinnings, as well as its constantly evolving potentials.

Ways of Knowing: Virtues and Vices

Assess the nature, scope, and limits of knowledge from a range of philosophical perspectives. Learn about ‘the problem of the sceptic’ and ‘the denier’ in both philosophical and scientific contexts and ways in which the sceptic might be answered. Address questions about the role of information, method, knowledge and testimony in in relation to contemporary research, personal life, and future professional roles.

Core modules

World Philosophy

Explore philosophical themes and perspectives from around the world.  Develop an appreciation of the global reach and significance of philosophical perspectives and modes of inquiry - focusing on the universalism/relativism debate, the nature of the relationship between western philosophy at its non-western ‘others’, as well as philosophical themes in Judaism, Islam, Chinese Philosophy, Buddhism and Japanese Philosophy.

Rebel Literatures

Inspired by Nottingham’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature renowned for its ‘rebel writers’, this second-year core module explores how a spirit of rebellion has animated literary creativity over the past 150 years. From the fights for educational rights advanced by the New Woman authors of the late C19th to the voices of early C21st activist poets, this module invites you to consider the bold arguments advanced by authors at the forefront of cultural change. It includes the exciting opportunity to explore unique materials from the rich archives of radical literature held across Nottingham.

Transformation: Agency and World

What purpose do the humanities serve in today's society? How can the humanities help in the process of "healing and securing our planet" and "freeing the human race from poverty" as stated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations?

This module focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and encourages you to develop your awareness of how your own field of study as well as cross- and inter-disciplinary actions can result in real, quantifiable change. Alongside a personal reflective portfolio, you will share your knowledge and understanding developed through the module to produce a news reel of how a contemporary sustainability goal relates to your discipline.

In this module you will either undertake an 80 hour placement, supported by the Arts and Humanities employability team, or will engage in an 80 hour project, responding to a supplied employer brief  and producing a solution to the brief given.

Optional pathways

Pathway 1: Extended work-like experience

Get the experience you need for after you graduate, and really understand how the things you study translate into the world of work with a work placement. Your highly experienced Employability Team will help you find a placement to suit your career goals from our huge network of companies, charities, institutions, and beyond.

Pathway 2: An international exchange

Travel the world, meet new friends, and have experiences you will remember for the rest of your life.

Our flexible curriculum has been designed to allow some amazing opportunities for you. Your second year of study is divided into two semesters, giving you the opportunity to take part in an international exchange. You could study with one of international exchange partners in Australia, Europe, USA, Canada, Thailand and many, many more.

Our dedicated team will support you in finding and arranging a suitable exchange. And don't worry about the cost, they will help you apply for any grants or loans you may need, as no one should miss out on the chance to broaden their horizons.

Pathway 3: Taught modules

Interdisciplinary optional modules typically include:

Intercultural Communication at Work

Gain the knowledge, skills and strategies to build your intercultural communication competence. Analyse and reflect on the impact of culture(s) on your values, assumptions, perceptions, expectations, and behaviours. Build successful verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in different intercultural settings.

People and Planet: pasts, presents, and futures

In this module you will develop an understanding of the human impact on the environment from the 15th Century to the present as a form of slow but sustained violence enacted against the planet. It will also explore how such long-term change can interact with social justice in the present day.

Language, Inequality and Social Justice

Whether it’s racial abuse on social media, prejudice against regional accents in schools, or sexist advertising campaigns, discrimination is a social issue that affects us all in one way or another. This module examines how language can be used to both promote social justice and tackle prejudice and discrimination in a range of institutional and everyday contexts. This module will be particularly useful if you are looking to pursue a career in advocacy, human resources or journalism.

Philosophy optional modules typically include:

How to Win Every Argument

Develop the key critical thinking skills needed to assess reasons, solve problems, and construct compelling arguments, with a focus on how to apply these skills in everyday life and in a professional setting.  Learn the skills of persuasive speaking and understand how to detect logical fallacies and critically assess some of our most deeply held beliefs about ourselves and the world.

Ethics, Equality and Human Rights

Examine the philosophical underpinnings of human rights and human equality, considering the development of these concepts in the work of Hobbes, Kant, and Rousseau.  Address the distinctive and complex problems and issues that rights discourse gives rise to today, regarding its application in law, in employment settings, in war, to non-human animals, and its relation to the notion of moral status.

Happiness and Mental Health: Philosophy, Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Examine the roots of the current mental health crisis and how key philosophical techniques, both ancient and modern, can be deployed in order to alleviate mental health symptoms. Explore philosophical roots of psychotherapeutic treatments and interventions and learn of how ancient Greek philosophy provide the basis for happier and more fulfilled lives.

English optional modules typically include:

Imagining the Sustainable World

We live in an era of significant challenges to the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants – from climate change, water pollution and energy shortages, to poverty, gender inequality and conflict. In this moment of crisis, this module will examine how writing from a range of eras and genres might offer insights, warnings, possibilities, sources of hope, and solutions to contemporary problems.

Women's Writing and the Literary Marketplace

On this module you will read short stories, novels, and poetry by British women writers of the 1920s and 1930s, a period of significant historical changes affecting the lives of women. You will develop an understanding of historical contexts relevant to this literature, including changes relating to education and professions for women; romance, marriage and motherhood; the home and domesticity; queer sexuality and the single woman; class inequality, and interwar anti-fascist and anti-racist movements. You will also gain valuable research skills using a digital database of interwar magazines which provide insight into the wider literary marketplace of this period.

Shakespeare and Co.

Shakespeare was born in 1564 and so his life was coincident with the rise of the brand new, state of the art, professional theatre. On this module we'll explore these cutting-edge plays in a context of rapid social change and religious and political uncertainty.  We’ll introduce you to playwrights of the period, their dramatic techniques, reception, critical and theatrical history and we'll also consider modern spin-offs of their plays – film versions and modern retellings.  Topics covered will include colonialism, religious difference, sex and gender, nation and ethnicity, selfhood.

Black Writing in Britain

Bernardine Evaristo was the first Black British writer to win the Booker Prize, in 2019, more than seventy years after Sam Selvon and George Lamming moved to Britain in what is known as the Windrush migration, in 1948. This module reads novels, poetry and short stories from 1948 to the present day, to consider how to define Black Writing in Britain, and assess its relationship with the publishing industry. Students undertake committed, contextualised close reading of experimental literary texts and prioritise what they detect as important trends, patterns, concerns, and events, as we ask ‘what is Black Writing in Britain?’.

Contemporary Working-Class Writing

What characterises ‘working-class writing’? How has the working class in Britain been represented in literature since 1950? Is there still a class structure in Britain? Texts on this module consider a variety of forms (novels, plays, short stories, poetry and non-fiction) to develop an understanding of the intersections between social class and gender, sexuality, ethnicity and place. We gain insights into modern and contemporary social and cultural history and heritage as we explore aspects of the following: concepts of ‘Britishness’, culture clash and class structures, social (im)mobility, poverty, family, immigration, economic depression, strikes, regional writing and radical print culture.

Core module

Major project

For your major project in your final year of your studies, you can choose to undertake a project in either one of your two Joint Honours subjects.

English Major Project

For your English Major Project, you have the choice of undertaking either a Dissertation, or a Creative Project, or a Staff-Student Research Project.
If you opt to undertake a Dissertation, you will be able to research a literary topic in depth guided by an academic with expertise in your chosen area of research. The Creative Project will allow you produce an individual piece or portfolio of creative writing in relation to a literary theme encountered on the course. The Staff-Student Research Project Pathway will assign you to a member of staff's research project, providing you with research aims and questions. You will work with the staff member to produce original research on the topic, culminating in a written project detailing findings and analysis.

Philosophy Major Project

The Philosophy Major Project will provide you with an opportunity to study a self-chosen philosophical topic in depth guided by expert supervision.  It will assist you in reflecting on the academic knowledge, creativity, and professional skills that you will have acquired in the first two years of study, in a way that fosters your intellectual authenticity, alongside a deeper appreciation of the contemporary relevance of philosophically informed modes of questioning, thinking, arguing, and concept creation. The ability of Philosophy to shape today's emerging social, cultural, and political agendas will also be a key focus of your project.

Humanities Research Project

The Humanities Research Project provides you with the opportunity to work with the combined knowledge and skills you have gained in each of your subjects and further develop them to create a substantial and independent piece of research. The Research Project can be fulfilled through either the writing of a dissertation or through a project in an alternative practice-based format (e.g. publication, film, (video)game, performance, report, podcast, creative writing, exhibition, web-based etc.) accompanied by a shorter essay.

Transformation: Agency and Self

In this module, you will engage in a 'live partnership' with a cultural festival that is designed to deliver social change through the Arts and Humanities: the Counterpoints-run initiative, Refugee Week. Over the course of the module, you will gain insight into the sociocultural challenges faced by refugees in the C21st, and will explore the work of Counterpoints Arts as an organisation that seeks to address those challenges via cultural activity. Drawing on these insights, you will work in interdisciplinary teams in order to create a Refugee Week campaign that champions positive social change in attitudes or behaviours towards refugees. Ultimately, the module invites you to consider how your disciplinary knowledge of the Humanities enables you to become a responsible global citizen, and to assume responsibility for championing positive social change, whatever your chosen career.  The main assessment for this module is the creation of a ‘campaign tool’ (blogpost, podcast, social media post series, educational pack or other, that will be presented as part of a team ‘campaign’ at the end-of-module ‘festival’. You will also complete the Developing with NTU Award.

Interdisciplinary optional modules typically include:

Artificial Intelligence: Human Factors

This module will introduce you to problems and issues associated with technological change, automation and digitization, with a specific emphasis on the likely future impact of artificial intelligence on the wider human dimension, both individual and collective. Providing you with expertise required to become managers and policy-makers in the AI future, the module will take an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on the insights of philosophers, literary theorists and practitioners, historians, and social theorists.

Humanities in Action

What is the value of 'Humanities'? Answer this question from multiple perspectives - knowledge and intellectual value, economic value, humanities and "hard" and "soft" skills, social value, the value to the individual - and find it's place in society.

Philosophy optional modules typically include:

Philosophy, Film and Media

Examine the specificity of film and media and their relationship with philosophy by exploring the power of mediating processes and their role as a transmitter of philosophical material. Consider the status of the media artefact and its capacity to shape and inform contemporary identities and experiences.  You will also have the opportunity to study philosophical films. Understand the way in which philosophical discourses are able to shape, inform and critique contemporary media practices, experiences and cultures.

Being Good: The Foundations of Morality

Why be morally good? This question has been at the centre of philosophical debate for over two thousand years and has received a host of radically different and distinctive answers from thinkers across space and time. This module will examine and critically assess a key selection of these different views, and then consider their applications to contemporary ethical paradigms regarding moral status and equality.

Language, Communication and Power

What is the nature of linguistic meaning? How does language encode thought? How is language used as a tool for getting things done? Each of these questions have received considerable attention from philosophers, and this module will cover some of the main themes. You will address key issues in semantics and pragmatics, and study philosophical work in this area, including that of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Grice, and Foucault.

English optional modules typically include:

Contemporary Literature, Culture and Theory

Focusing on fiction and poetry published in the twenty-first century, this module will help you to develop an advanced understanding of some of the topics that define our contemporary period.  We look at celebrated and less well-known writers, alongside wider cultural developments and key directions in contemporary criticism and theory. Reflecting on some of today’s most pressing social and cultural issues, as well your ideas about the world and your place in it, you will study approaches to national, transnational, and global identities, environmental change, technology and digital culture, and war.

Writing Justice: Changing Worlds

This module focuses on decolonial texts (fiction, poetry and film) and explores the relationship between acts of representation and the politics of anti-colonialism and decoloniality. It introduces students to the historical, political and cultural contexts of marginalised literary traditions that seek radical equality and justice and challenge the dominance of coloniality. A central objective is to familiarise students with decolonial and postcolonial theory and to develop the ability to work across theoretical and literary texts in innovative and decolonial ways.

Poetry and the Planet

Examining the role that poetry plays in understanding our changing environment, this module considers how contemporary writers think through the relationship between the human and the more-than-human world. Students will discuss topics including climate change, environmental justice, species extinction and indigenous knowledge in order to understand how the arts and humanities can help us to engage with the challenges we are now facing on earth. Incorporating writing workshops and a field trip, students will have the opportunity to respond creatively and critically using a range of print-based and digital media.

Gothic Rebels and Reactionaries

Gothic is known as the literature of the supernatural, the imaginary, and the darker aspects of being. However, it is also a literature that is deeply engaged with social and cultural issues, and frequently ahead of its time in terms of language, style and form. This module explores the gothic impulse in literature from the Romantic to the late Victorian era (1764-1897), considering how writers engage with cultural issues of the time, and the creative ways in which we, as readers, engage with their work in turn, through collaborative research including digital communities, and critical and creative responses in writing.

Early Modern Poetry and Prose: Nation, Self, Other

This period is one of great social change and literary invention - it saw Britain change its national religion and experience its only civil war. Against this background you shall find writers preoccupied with more enduring human concerns: gender and sexuality, religious conflict, humanity's relationship with nature, colonialism, and class. We consider how social change leads to writers attempting forms of writing not seen before in English literature and engage with contemporary thinking about literature’s importance in relation to national identity. Contemporary concepts of self and other are key to navigating writing from this fascinating time.

Nuclear Literature: Culture in the Atomic Age

In August 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the world entered the nuclear age, profoundly changing culture and society. On this module we explore what it means to live in a nuclear age by reading a wide range of nuclear literature, including novels, short stories and poetry, and works of feature journalism, post-apocalyptic fiction and science fiction. What, this literature asks, does it mean to be human in a technological age? How do we imagine potential ends of the world? How do we live sustainably on the planet?

Further information on what you'll study

Jenni Ramone

Dr Jenni Ramone, Associate Professor, explains what she loves about English at NTU

"We’re a community here, and I feel that’s what makes English at NTU so special. It’s not a relationship that ends with graduation. A former student of mine got in touch recently because he’d read a book that reminded him of a module he’d taken with me. He left the University four years ago, but this book really inspired him — it took him right back to his time here, and I was so happy that he’d taken the time to approach me for more recommendations. That kind of thing that happens all the time, and it’s what makes us a place to call home." Read more...

Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves

Student Profiles

Jack Webb

The facilities are fantastic, regardless of your interests. Whether you play sport, music or anything in between. You’ll find a way to do it.

Video Gallery

Video Icon
 

How you’re taught

How will I learn?

Teaching principally takes place through a combination of lectures, where tutors introduce the key ideas, and smaller groups sessions where you will discuss those ideas.

These smaller group sessions will include a wide variety of different study options including:

  • seminars
  • interactive workshops
  • group projects and presentations
  • case studies and transcripts
  • company briefs and projects
  • Field trips

You will also be able to take part in lots of extra-curricular activities outside your course, including debating, research seminars, student challenges, Sustainability and careers training, sports, student societies and much, much more.

Contact hours

  • Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (24%), work-like experience (7%(), independent study (69%)*
  • Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (24%), work-like experience (7%(), independent study (69%)*
  • Year 3 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%), work-like experience (7%(), independent study (73%)*

* Based on a taught module pathway. Statistics will vary depending on optional modules, work experience, and pathways chosen.

All Arts and Humanities students will complete a minimum of 240 hours of work like experience over the three years of the course.

Further information

73% of NTU’s research in English Language and Literature was assessed to be world-leading or internationally excellent - REF2021.

Study abroad in Year Two

You’ll have the option to take part in an international exchange at a partner university in the second half of Year Two. This will enable you to gain impressive international experience, and broaden your perspective and career ambitions.

You’ll experience other cultures, travel the globe and open your eyes to a world of opportunities. Our exchange partnership with a number of international universities enables you to live and study in another country in your second year. Find out more about international exchange and study abroad.

Learn a new language

Alongside your study you also have the opportunity to learn another new language. The University Language Programme (ULP) is available to all students and gives you the option of learning a totally new language or improving the skills you already have. Learning a new language can enhance your communication skills, enrich your experience when travelling abroad and boost your career prospects. Find out more about the University Language Programme.

Supporting you

If you’re struggling with a topic or require additional support or guidance, you can arrange to see your tutors in small groups or one-to-one, to discuss essay plans or to seek some specific academic guidance.

It is the nature of the subjects offered in the School of Arts and Humanities, however, that much of your time will be spent engaged in independent study. We recognise that this marks a change of culture from school or college, and we have in place a system of study support to help you adapt to this.

Staff Profiles

Neil Turnbull - Interim Head of Department

School of Arts & Humanities

Neil Turnbull is the Interim Head of Department for the School of Arts & Humanities.

Benjamin Curtis - Senior Lecturer

School of Arts & Humanities

Benjamin Curtis

Sarah Jackson - Associate Professor

School of Arts & Humanities

Sarah Jackson

How you’re assessed

Assessments take place within each module and the type of assessment will be related to what the module covers, and what you are learning in it.

You may have a written assessment like reports, exams and tests, and essays. But some modules may ask you to produce a creative element, like a blog post, exhibition article, poster, podcast, or social media post. You could use some of these elements in your digital portfolio to give you a head start in finding your perfect job after graduation.

Whatever the type of assessment, we will ensure that it will develop your skills, confidence and CV to fulfil your academic potential.

Further information

73% of NTU’s research in English Language and Literature was assessed to be world-leading or internationally excellent - REF2021.

  • Year 1 coursework (92%), oral assessment (8%)
  • Year 2 coursework (80%), oral assessment (20%)
  • Year 3 coursework (100%)

* Based on a taught module pathway. Statistics will vary depending on optional modules, work experience, and pathways chosen.

Careers and employability

Your career development

This is a major part of the curriculum. Key transferable skills are emphasised and there are opportunities to develop links with organisations and potential employers. Joint honours courses develop a wide range of skills. These include written and oral communication skills, critical analysis and a variety of IT skills. But you’ll also become more self-motivated, be able to work independently and in teams, and develop excellent time management skills.

Our recent English and Philosophy graduates have gone onto careers as teachers, HR professionals, marketing, and personal assistants.

Other career areas could include: publishing, PR, advertising, journalism and recruitment.

Many graduates also choose to undertake further study on one of our Masters-level courses or MPhil and PhD research degrees.

Campus and facilities

Here are some of the free services, student discount and benefits you'll get studying at NTU

We've carefully considered what benefits and services you need for your studies, so when you join NTU you'll get free printing and materials credits, access to our free WiFi, a copy of Microsoft Office, and even borrow a laptop if yours is out of commission.

For life outside your lectures, you'll enjoy access to over 60 sports clubs and 130 student societies, discounted travel and bike hire, free language learning, award-winning student support and an entertainment programme which is second to none.

See all the benefits and free services you will enjoy as an NTU student.

Books and library resources

In our library you’ll have access to an extensive and diverse range of books including those on your reading list.

The library's online resources and NTU Online Workspace (NOW) also provides digital access to the core resources for your modules and a wide range of specialist collections, texts, and databases

Nottingham Trent University has its own Blackwell’s Bookshop which stocks relevant academic texts plus a wide range of bestselling novels.

IT Resources

Our IT resource rooms and PC clusters are distributed across the campus, with PCs providing access to: Microsoft Office, email, web browsing, networked file storage and high-speed online printing services (with a free printing allowance for each student). Resource rooms are available 24 hours a day.

Societies

Current students run societies in a range of Humanities and Arts subjects including History, Medieval, Film, Filmmaking, Philosophy, Politics and International Relations, and the Book society.

There are also a number of media channels which our students get involved in such as the NTU radio station FlyLive, our student magazine Platform, and TV station TrentTV.

Find out more about student societies at the Student Union website.

Entry requirements

  • Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
  • Contextual offer: 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications.

Contextual offers

A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU offers a student experience like no other and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here but who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university. Find out how we assess your application.

Other qualifications and experience

We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.

Meeting our entry requirements

Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS tariff points attached to specific grades, including A levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form

You will need the equivalent to:

  • 112 UCAS tariff points from four A-levels or equivalent qualifications

International qualifications

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

English language entry requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)

If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:

Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3)

You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

Further information on fees and funding

Scholarships are available for students who have been offered a place on this course for September 2024

Find out more about bursaries and scholarships available to you.

Fees and funding

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service on +44 (0)115 848 2494.

Additional Costs

Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert Employability team, and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses.

Library books

Most study modules will recommend one or more core text books, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary and further information is available in the University’s bookshop. Our libraries provide a good supply of essential text books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! There may also be a supply of second-hand books available for purchase from previous year students.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.

Placements

If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.

Print and copy costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.

Please see our fees page for more information.

Tuition fees are payable for each year that you are at the University. The level of tuition fees for the second and subsequent years of your undergraduate course may increase in line with inflation and as specified by the UK government.

Scholarships

We offer scholarships of up to 50% of your tuition fee. You can apply for your scholarship when you have an offer to study at NTU.

Living costs

Get advice on the cost of living as an international student in Nottingham and how to budget:

Paying fees

Find out about advanced payments, instalment plan options and how to make payments securely to the University:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

How to apply

Ready to join us? Then apply as soon as you can.

Full-time courses

For the full-time route just click the Apply button at the top of the page and follow our step-by-step guide.

UCAS CODE: VQ53

NTU Code: N91

Part-time courses

If you're applying for the part-time route please apply online using the NTU Applicant Portal.

Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.

Writing your application and personal statement

Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember, we can only make a decision based on what you tell us. So include all of your qualifications and grades, including resits or predicted grades.

Your personal statement is a really important part of your application. It’s your chance to convince us why we should offer you a place! You've got 4,000 characters to impress us. Make sure you use them to show how your skills and qualities are relevant to the course(s) you’re applying for. For more hints and tips, take a look at our page on how to write a good personal statement.

Keeping up-to-date

After you've applied, we’ll be sending you important emails throughout the application process so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

You can get more information and advice about applying to NTU on our Your Application page. Good luck with your application!

Need help with your application?

For admissions related enquiries please contact us:

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 4200

Ask us a question

You can apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal.

Application advice

Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example.  After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

Writing your personal statement

Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

More from The School of Arts and Humanities