Career opportunities

Our English graduates go on to become novelists and playwrights, and carve out careers in fields as diverse as journalism, politics and academia. The range of opportunities for graduates in English is vast. Our graduates have gone on to work in:

• National press
• Book and magazine publishing
• Law
• Human resources
• Local government
• Accountancy
• Communications and public relations
• Education

Find out more about some of our notable alumni.

A degree in English is highly flexible, equipping you with creative, critical, and research skills that are attractive to employers in many professions. You will enter the job market with superb oral and written communication skills, valuable problem-solving and research experience, and a talent for careful analysis. There are few limits to the career choices offered by our degrees.

English at Leicester was ranked 3rd for Graduate Prospects (joint with Cambridge) (The Complete University Guide, 2026).

Employability training and work placements

Developing your employment skills and helping you plan for your future career are integral to English at Leicester. We run multiple initiatives to help you prepare for the workplace. Some of these are voluntary and others are embedded within your degree programme.

• You are guaranteed 100 hours of Work Related Learning as part of your degree. In your second year, you'll choose from a range of English modules that offer employability training. You could choose a sector-specific module, such as 'Arts Journalism' or select a module that allows you to explore a variety of career paths, such as 'Your Career and other Stories'.
• We offer employability modules that include work placements.
  • 'Global Voices and the Publishing Industry' has a placement with a publisher or literary organisation, to develop your skills along with your network of industry contacts.
  • If you choose 'English and Education' you’ll be working in a primary or secondary school, inspiring children while gaining self-knowledge and teaching acumen.
• Many modules use 'real-world scenarios' to allow to you develop and practice professional communication and research skills.
• We regularly organise talks by guest speakers. Often these are University of Leicester graduates who come back to talk about their career path following an English degree. We also make use of lecturers' contacts in the Arts sector and creative industries in order to arrange talks about careers relevant to an English degree. Recent talks have focused on careers in theatre, film, PR and marketing communications, independent publishing, academic publishing, and teaching.
• Outside the curriculum, students have been involved in our research and outreach work, gaining valuable experience for careers in arts and administration.

The University's award-winning Careers and Employability Service can help you to gain the competitive edge you need to stand out, providing you with a multitude of opportunities to give you the best chance of getting that all-important foot on the career ladder.