Insight sought on studying English Literature

[Knittedanimal]

DD in y12. EngLit is her favourite subject, which she's doing alongside maths, further maths and psychology. She's predicted all A*s.
We went to Warwick open day and she loved the course but not keen on the campus and wants a 'proper' university (I think she means old) i think she'll try for Oxford but we need a bsck up plan too. What experience do people have of difference in courses/unis please?

Ah yes Piggy I was thinking about York being an old city with lots of character and less so the university itself (although compared to Warwick with a lot of new sparkly buildings, I would argue that the original campus at York does seem quite old, so it depends on OP's DD frame of reference).

Nobody expects to get a return on the investment they make in a wonderful holiday or a lovely restaurant meal. Why should spending three years doing something you love require a financial justification?

All prospective students should ask themselves whether they really love their subjects enough, whether they're prepared to do as much as possible in their uni years to develop themselves, whether they really think uni a worthwhile experience regardless of the eventual cost.

If the answer is Yes then go for it.

Back in my day when I went, UCL had a selling point of a tutorial system. We had to write an essay every fortnight which we then had to discuss in a one on one tutorial with our tutor. This was 20 years ago but may still be the case!

DD disliked York and Warwick because she said they felt isolated. The original campus at York is very 1960s and didn't appeal to her aesthetically.

Not really a reason to discount a university, but it did put her off.

Yes, I'll admit I really wanted DS to go there but we visited on a rainy non Open Day and the old campus was looking very different from when I went and a little grim in places. He still had it has his insurance , though! (and I still think it was the better choice given he swapped courses three weeks after starting at Birmingham!)

That was also a selling point of York as was 100% modular, continuous assessment (cutting edge in those days!). I'd be willing to bet finances have put paid to the former.

If it’s just distance putting off Glasgow my dc has southern English friends who fly and it’s often cheaper than train. They tend to stay for all semester but there’s lots of international students in same position.

Well there is Kings Manor in town, which is definitely old and red bricky.
The main campus is Brutalist.

Kings Manor has, sadly, been sold off.

Oh that's a shame.

My good friend's DD has just started English Lit at University of Manchester. So far she's loving it!

Quite. The OP's DD could have left after year 11 and still make her way to the top of the tree as an accountant, had that floated her boat. But weirdly, some people actually do regard scholarship as a reward for their investment (I always have at the back of my mind my mum's best friend at school, who in 1939, armed with a decent showing in her School Certificate after five years at their local grammar school, followed a longstanding ambition and became the local Woolie's happiest and at the time, possibly best educated junior shop assistant). And anyway, if a degree in English Lit damages your earning potential that much, even on the newest loan scheme the greatest investment will have been your time, and you've spent that in an enjoyable fashion.

DD did harbour a plan for a while that involved doing maths at uni, getting into finance, earning a fortune to retire at 35 and go back to uni to study literature!
She was questioning English on the way home today, having surprised herself with maths test results- she still doesn't believe she's good enough even with those predicted grades- wondering what career paths might follow a literature degree....I think the world is one's mollusc if you do something you love and excel in. I can think of nothing worse than dealing with numbers for a career.

If it’s the atmosphere of an older uni try Royal Holloway. It’s classed as part of university of London. It’s beautiful with over a hundred years of history. don’t know about the courses but my daughter is there this year and absolutely loves the place. It’s in Egham which is a lovely village with good links into the capitol.

To be fair, I’m not sure about English Lit degrees nowadays and hesitate to encourage others to pursue a degree in the subject. I got a full student grant and there were no fees for my BA, got a loan for my MA and fortunately my PhD is funded. I wouldn’t say it’s a subject which leads directly into a job, unless you want to teach English or work in publishing for instance. I love it, but question if it pays.

My DD is doing a combined degree rather than pure Lit. Partly for interest and also to broaden the range of the degree.

See here for a large study following Oxford Humanities graduates showing that people who study Humanities tend to be pretty successful in the labour market and develop useful transferable skills: https://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/article/new-research-shows-how-studying-the-humanities-benefits-young-peoples-future-careers-and-wid

You can read the entire 83 page report linked from the link above, but the webpage
gives the overall findings.

The study focused on Oxford graduates (so I mention it as the OP’s daughter is thinking of Oxford) but (as it says in the foreword) Humanities students at other universities are developing the same skills.

Thank you, this is brilliant.

Looks great but no English courses. Will mention to my nephew as he's doing environmental science.

Royal Holloway definitely does English!

@Cakeandusername yes, we discussed flying. Glasgow the only decent uni offering joint honours English and maths too, so definitely good to have on the list. Plus the greatest nights out to be had in the UK, I'll wager.

Yes mine is yr2 and very happy with her choice. It’s a very social university. It’s 4 yrs but my dc was always intending to spend yr3 abroad at any uni. They pay a £1000 RUK scholarship a year for Astar AA or above at A level.

Sorry to jump on but I studied English Lit at degree level and went into teaching which I’ve now left after 12 years. Dd is similar to me in that she’s very gifted in the subject. I can see her wanting to do it at degree level but my worry would be what would be her getting sucked into teaching. My feeling is it’s not a great subject for career prospects/ top jobs. Am I wrong? What can you do with an English degree these days?

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/english/english/

@Pyjamatimenowhave a look at the report I posted a few posts up thread (the actual report not just the summary) there is an entire section on sectors, occupations and roles for Humanities graduates.