COVID-19 update
Find out about how we'll be delivering our courses in 2020.
Full Time: 12 months | Part Time: 24 months
Start date: September 2021
Our MA English presents students with an exciting range of topics and periods, from the Renaissance stage to minority literatures in contemporary Britain.
Come to the University of Reading to study a master's in English, we are ranked in the top 150 universities in the world for English Language and Literature in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2019.
We deploy our distinctive research strengths, and our world-leading literary collections, to produce a degree that embodies the best of contemporary, critical and archival work. The department’s research widely supports all the teaching on the MA, from Medieval to Contemporary Literature, including postcolonial and world literatures and creative writing.
You have the freedom to choose your own pathway through bespoke strands, with careful advice at every stage and unique interdisciplinary modules to choose from.
You will receive detailed one-to-one guidance on your dissertation, which might be a creative writing portfolio, an edition of a Beckett manuscript, a fin de siècle project oriented around our Wilde collections, or a theoretically informed reading of diasporic fiction.
Entry requirements
What will you study?
How much will it cost?
New UK/EU students: £8,100 per year
New international students: £17,100 per year
Please note
The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated, and relate to courses starting in September 2021. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information on fees and funding, including for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.
Additional costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.
Financial support for your studies
You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.
What career can you have?
Our students continue on to, or return to, careers in teaching, publishing, the media, the civil service, the charity sector and advertising, as well as going on to do PhD research. Students report that their careers are supported by the skills they have acquired on the MA English in terms of not only subject expertise, but also critical thinking, reading closely and with advanced understanding, and writing well.