Best universities for English & Literature
Built only from official government data.
You may not agree with this order. We present the data as we find it, and we say plainly how much we think each measure is worth. Every weight is published, every figure is sourced and dated, and where we cannot prove something we leave it blank rather than fill it in. Complete transparency is the whole claim — disagree with the weighting, and you can see exactly what you are disagreeing with.
Tier 1 — strongest for this subject
On our measures these are the strongest places in our catalogue to study this. They are listed alphabetically: the differences between them are smaller than the uncertainty in the data.
Tier 2
Strong, and separated from Tier 1 by more than the margin of error.
Tier 3
Solid, with a measurable gap to the tiers above.
Tier 4
Further back on the measures we use.
Universities inside a tier are listed alphabetically, and there is no order within a tier — the differences are smaller than the data can carry, so publishing one would be inventing it. Open any university, or several at once, for the published figures behind it: earnings, satisfaction, research and the rest, on the same rows every time so they can be read side by side.
Courses we hold that are not in this table
None of these is a judgement on the course. A university marked not in this table at all is missing for one of the reasons below and for no other reason — never because it scored badly.
English Law & French Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Law & German Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Law & Hong Kong Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Law & Spanish Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Literature and Politics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Sport Science — HESA classifies this as biological and sport sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English with Business Studies — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comaparative Literature and Film — HESA classifies this as media, journalism and communications, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature and Film — HESA classifies this as media, journalism and communications, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature and Linguistics — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English and European Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Film — HESA classifies this as media, journalism and communications, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and French Law — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA English — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Classical Literature and Civilisation and Philosophy — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Language and Literature — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Literature and Classical Literature and Civilisation — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Language and Philosophy — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Literature and History of Art — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Literature and Philosophy — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English Law and French Law/Master 1 (Maitrise) — HESA classifies this as law, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature MA — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Comparative Literature/Economics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Language/Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Language/Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Language/Politics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Literature/Business and Management — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Literature/Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Literature/Politics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English Literature/Sociology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Scottish Literature/Sociology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Social & Public Policy/English Language — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Social & Public Policy/English Literature — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA English — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
English and Sociology BA — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA English & Modern Languages — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
BA English — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
MA Comparative Literature — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Comparative Literature and International Relations — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature and Management — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature and Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Comparative Literature and Social Anthropology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and International Relations — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Management — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Social Anthropology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
English and Politics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
A university missing from every list above is not ranked last — it is not ranked. Either we do not list it, or it has no English & Literature course in the official data at all. An absence means "we do not know", never "it is weak".
Not published: Other — not a discipline — a browsing bucket with no subject classification behind it, so there is nothing coherent to rank its courses against. We would rather leave a subject out than band it on too little.
Who decided this order?
We did, out of eight published government measures with every weight shown — and none of them is a survey of opinion. The next tab has all of it: what each measure contributes, what we deliberately left out, where the order stops being something the data can support, and the source and year of every figure.
Sources: Discover Uni (on_2026_09_29_12_31_32), the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset, Graduate Outcomes, the National Student Survey, and REF 2021. Snapshot on_2026_09_29_12_31_32-c6abef4e77df, computed 2026-10-05. Each source publishes annually or less often, so these tables change when a release lands and not otherwise.