English and Scottish Literature

English and Scottish literature is a combination that takes you into the depth and particularity of two related but distinct literary traditions. English literature encompasses the full breadth of writing in English from the medieval period to the present, spanning drama, poetry, fiction and non-fiction across the British Isles and the English-speaking world. Scottish literature adds a complementary and sometimes contrasting tradition rooted in Scotland's own history, languages and cultural experience, tracing the work of writers from Robert Burns and Walter Scott to Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and J.

M. Barrie, and into the contemporary vitality of Scottish fiction and poetry today. Together they give you a rich and particular engagement with the ways in which literature has both shaped and been shaped by place, history and language.

At the University of Aberdeen, this four-year full-time degree gives you the close reading and literary-critical skills to engage seriously with texts across both traditions, developing your ability to analyse how literature works, to situate it in its historical and cultural contexts, and to argue your interpretations with clarity and precision. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution and to bring a wider comparative perspective to your understanding of English and Scottish writing. Typical entry is around 168 UCAS tariff points.

Graduates from English and Scottish literature degrees go on to careers in publishing, education, journalism, broadcasting, heritage and cultural organisations, librarianship, public relations and communications. The skills developed, careful reading, precise argument, sensitivity to language and context, are widely transferable across any profession where communication and critical thinking matter. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in literature, creative writing, Scottish studies or teacher education, and some go on to academic research in literary history, cultural studies or the history of ideas.