University of Greenwich or University of Kent

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You'll be taught by leading international academics and award winning creative writers.

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No examinations! English literature at Kent does not include any exams, and instead allows students to show their best work through more creative assignments.

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91% of final-year English students were satisfied with the quality of teaching on their course in The Guardian University Guide 2025.

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Graduates have gone into journalism, broadcasting, publishing, writing and teaching, to name a few. Graduates also include authors such as Sarah Waters, and Nobel-Prize winners Kazuo Ishiguro and Abdulrazak Gurnah.

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Students have access to a range of modules, so they can tailor their studies to their interests.

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Lastly, the university is modernising their approach to timetabling, teaching an assessment. Releasing timetables early will allow students to plan ahead for other commitments such as part-time work. Sitting exams and end of module assessments after their module content finishes will support students with revision. Changing from 2 to 3 terms will allow students to explore less modules each term, but in more depth!

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As you may already know, Kent is a campus university, which means that everything you might need e.g. accommodation, student support/services, lecture/seminar rooms etc, are all in close proximity. A campus university was great for me as I really enjoyed this aspect, however, some prefer travelling around a city for example, so its really up to personal preference.

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With a campus university, I think it brings students from all courses together, and makes accessing different buildings and services a bit easier.

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There are lots of places to get food around campus, meet with friends, and engage in a bit of nightlife too at Venue (the student club).

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The university offers students work opportunities through Kent Union, and the Ambassador Scheme too, which is where I've met lots of my friends!

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There are a host of societies at Kent, some academic, some sports, and some for fun! I play netball, and I've met so many great friends there.

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Kent also has a range of accommodation, which students can choose based on their needs, including how sociable accommodation is.

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Interesting thing is the lecturers seem to really care about their students and their learning, especially Danny who supported me through sorting my student finance issue, and feedback on Essays is critical but constructive (exactly what you need as a student). John, who lectures on The Canon is equally supportive, and is very good at giving us little contextual foods for thought that can be implemented in our coursework, and is very good at advising on how to properly write at an undergraduate level.

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The content is split into 4 modules - 3 compulsory modules and 1 option. For your option there's a lot of flexibility, allowing you to choose from creative writing, history, and language options (I'm doing Mandarin 3 with final year students but that's because I'm a try hard lol). The "big" compulsory module is Representations, where we started with poetry, before moving onto drama, and then we'll do prose. This is a one a week lecture/seminar thing and is admittedly the broadest but probably the most interesting module. You do one 1,500 essay in the first term on a poem chosen by you from the Norton Anthology, and a 1,500 word essay in the 2nd term analysing a film or play of your choice from those you've studied in class (I chose the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's rear window). Then in May you do 2 written exams on prose, choosing from a list of questions.
Then there's short fiction (my least favourite module for personal reasons lol). It's also a once a week lecture/seminar. It is assessed with 2x 2,000 word essays, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year. There is a list of 18 questions for you to choose from, and if you analyse a certain story in the first essay, you have to choose a different one in the second (there's also an option to write a 2,000 word short story). There are opportunities to touch on other areas such as philosophy of mind, critical theory, and "orientalism" as Saïd put it, when you study Arabian Nights, which is very cool stuff to look at, not your bog standard "Analyse this text" nonsense.
Then There's the Canon, which is a module analysing the history of Western Literature, starting with Homer, then Chaucer, then the 16th century, moving into romantics, etc etc. This is a genuinely interesting module if you're fascinated by the evolution of fiction over time, and is taught by John, Katarina and Jennifer (all brilliant lecturers, btw), and touches on other topics embedded within the stories and the lives of the authors such as enlightenment, art history, political thought, etc. It is assessed by 2x 600 word scholarly article analyses (it's easy trust me) submitted together, and a 2,500 word essay (which is due in less than 2 weeks so I really ought to get cracking lol).
Then The optional module. UoG has a thriving creative writing scene, so you can definitely choose a creative writing option if you're into that, or a history option that could help inform parts of an essay you work on, or a language just to be a bit more "cultured". If you choose Mandarin, you'll be in luck because the teacher, Dongyan, is highly skilled and supportive and also teaches at UCL. (I don't know about the other languages lol)

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The uni is gorgeous btw, designed by Sir Christoper Wren, built on the site of the old Greenwich Palace where Henry VIII was born, and overlooking the Thames and Canary Wharf. Be warned, though, Greenwich Town is expensive, if you're living in a dorm, I would recommend the nearby Deptford, Lewisham, or New Cross (a bit cheaper, though crime rates are higher).

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English Lit at Greenwich (despite its ranking) is a top choice believe you and me, and its graduates regularly end up at top universities like KCL and Oxford for graduate studies