# What can I do with an English degree? Jobs, pay and routes

**What can I do with a degree in English?** An English degree leads straight into publishing, journalism, marketing, PR, copywriting and graduate schemes open to any subject, and into teaching, law or librarianship after further training. In the UK's latest survey, fifteen months after graduating, 46.1% of English graduates worked full time, 13.3% combined work and study and 11.0% were in further study.

Published 2026-09-26 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/what-can-i-do-with-a-degree-in-english

An English degree trains you for no single job. Graduates go into publishing, journalism, marketing, PR and schemes open to any subject; teaching, law and librarianship need a further qualification first. EdCitation publishes this guide. Its figures come from official surveys and its routes from the bodies that set them, read on 27 September 2026, and none of it is a promise of work or pay.

The degree itself is written in MLA 9 at the two departments whose rules we read: Warwick's English and Comparative Literary Studies requires it of most students, and Saskatchewan's Department of English requires it in every English course. EdCitation's free [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/) searches about 300 million published works for the criticism, and [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) builds each Works Cited entry from the publisher's record. EdCitation never writes any part of a student's work or application: the essays and the cover letter are yours, which is what a selection panel wants to read.

## What can you do with an English degree?

Almost any graduate job that rewards writing, reading and argument is open to you, and teaching, law or librarianship after further study. Prospects, the UK graduate careers service, says the skills gained through an English degree are "marketable in most job sectors" (Graduate Futures Institute, 2024).

Its English page lists twelve jobs directly related to the degree, among them digital copywriter, editorial assistant, lexicographer, journalist, teacher, copy-editor and writer. It lists fifteen more where the degree is useful, from academic librarian and archivist to Civil Service Fast Streamer, public relations officer and social media manager.

Because English is non-vocational, Prospects says experience outside the course counts: student journalism, radio, film societies, volunteering in schools. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (2023), whose benchmark describes the standard of UK English degrees, names publishing, journalism, law, marketing, finance and the cultural and educational sectors among the places English students take work placements.

## What do English graduates do after graduating in the UK?

Fifteen months after the degree, most are in work, education is the largest field, and about one in nine is studying. The figures come from HESA's Graduate Outcomes survey as analysed in *What do graduates do? 2025/26*, published by Prospects and AGCAS in November 2025, for UK-domiciled first-degree graduates who finished in 2022/23 (Prospects & AGCAS, 2025). English and English literature have separate pages, each with 1,530 responses.

### Where English graduates were 15 months on

| Outcome | English | English literature |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Working full time | 46.1% | 43.9% |
| Working part time | 13.6% | 15.0% |
| Working and studying | 13.3% | 13.6% |
| Further study | 11.0% | 10.8% |
| Other | 8.2% | 10.3% |
| Unemployed, including those due to start work | 7.8% | 6.4% |

Of the 965 English graduates in work in the UK, the largest groups were education professionals (20.5%), retail, catering, waiting and bar staff (16.4%), clerical and secretarial work (14.7%), marketing, PR and sales professionals (14.0%), and arts, design and media professionals (8.6%). For English literature, retail and bar work came first at 20.5%.

The ten most common professional jobs for English graduates, in order, were secondary teacher, advertising and marketing associate professional, primary teacher, public relations professional, author, writer or translator, journalist, other teaching professional, business researcher, welfare and housing associate professional, and business sales executive.

### What the graduates in further study were taking

A Masters was the choice of 54.0% of the 375 English graduates in further study. Another 26.3% took a postgraduate diploma or certificate, which includes the PGCE; 12.2% took a professional qualification, and 3.8% a doctorate. In the report's humanities overview, Rachel Beauchamp of Lancaster University notes that publishing and media took 6.9% of English literature graduates, against 1.5% across all subjects, and that 58% of humanities graduates were in professional-level jobs, against 71.9% overall (Prospects & AGCAS, 2025).

### Why Prospects' own page gives other numbers

Prospects' English page, dated November 2024, shows 62.3% employed, 10.7% in further study and 8.1% unemployed, with secondary teaching (12%) the most common job (Graduate Futures Institute, 2024). Which year's graduates those are is not stated anywhere we could find, so the dated report comes first here.

## What do English majors do in the US?

The US national figures cover the humanities as a whole, not English alone. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Humanities Indicators analyses the Census Bureau's American Community Survey by broad field, and we found no English-only figure on its workforce pages or in its reports. English language and literature took slightly under a fifth of humanities bachelor's degrees in 2018 (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2021).

### Occupations of humanities majors

In 2021, 61% of humanities majors whose highest degree was a bachelor's, and who had worked in the past five years, were in management, professional and related occupations: 17% as managers and 10.5% in education. About 32% worked in office and administrative support, sales or service jobs. About 14% were in what the Indicators call "applied humanities" occupations, which include teaching, library and museum work, writers, journalists, editors and translators (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2023c).

### Earnings of humanities majors

Full-time workers with a humanities bachelor's as their highest degree had median earnings of $64,000 in 2021, against $72,000 for all terminal bachelor's holders (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2023b). With an advanced degree in any field, the humanities median rose to $87,000, against $93,000 for all advanced degree holders; 42% of humanities majors had one (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2023a).

## Which English degree jobs need further study, and which do not?

Teaching in a state school, law and librarianship need a further qualification; publishing, writing, marketing and PR usually do not. Each row comes from the page that describes the role.

| Role | Further study needed | Where the description comes from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Teacher in a state school in England | Yes: teacher training leading to QTS, such as a PGCE | Get Into Teaching |
| High school teacher (US public school) | A bachelor's and a state certificate or licence | BLS, High school teachers |
| English as a foreign language teacher | Most employers expect a recognised certificate such as CELTA or CertTESOL | Prospects |
| Solicitor (England and Wales) | Yes: SQE1 and SQE2, two years' qualifying work experience and suitability checks; the degree can be in any subject | Solicitors Regulation Authority |
| Lawyer (US) | Yes: a law degree from an accredited school and a state licence, usually by bar exam | BLS, Lawyers |
| Academic librarian (UK) | Usually a CILIP-accredited postgraduate diploma or Masters | Prospects; CILIP |
| Librarian (US) | Typically a master's in library science | BLS, Librarians |
| Editorial assistant (UK) | No; most entrants are graduates, and a publishing course can help | Prospects |
| Copy-editor or proofreader (UK) | No; a postgraduate certificate in publishing can help | Prospects |
| Digital copywriter (UK) | No; open to all graduates | Prospects |
| Editor, writer or technical writer (US) | A bachelor's, often in English | BLS |
| Your essays and dissertation | MLA 9 at Warwick and Saskatchewan | [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/) and [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) on EdCitation, free |

### Jobs for English graduates without further study

Publishing is the most direct. Prospects says most editorial assistants are graduates, names English among the subjects that help, and calls a postgraduate publishing course useful but not essential (Graduate Futures Institute, 2026b). Copy-editors often start as editorial assistants (Graduate Futures Institute, 2025c). Digital copywriting is open to any graduate, and an essay-based degree such as English shows strong written communication (Graduate Futures Institute, 2026a). In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics names English as a usual degree for editors and for writers and authors (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a, 2026h).

### Jobs that need a further qualification

Teaching in a maintained school in England needs qualified teacher status, gained through undergraduate or postgraduate teacher training; academies and private schools may employ teachers without it, and further education and early years do not require it (Get Into Teaching, n.d.). The [UK teacher guide](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-become-a-teacher-in-the-uk) covers the routes and bursaries.

Law is open to English graduates without a law degree. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (2025) accepts a degree in any subject for the SQE route, followed by both parts of the exam and two years' qualifying work experience; the [UK lawyer guide](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-become-a-lawyer-in-the-uk) covers solicitors and barristers.

Librarianship needs a postgraduate step. Prospects says an academic librarian usually holds a degree in any subject plus a CILIP-accredited postgraduate diploma or Masters, and that graduate trainee posts are a common way in (Graduate Futures Institute, 2025a). The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (n.d.) lists those courses.

In the US, public high school teachers need a state certificate or licence, lawyers a Juris Doctor and a state licence, and librarians usually a master's in library science (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026b, 2026c, 2026d).

Teaching English abroad is the quickest: most employers expect a certificate such as CELTA or CertTESOL, typically four to five weeks full time (Graduate Futures Institute, 2025b).

## Is an English degree worth it?

An English degree is worth it if you use what it trains, writing, close reading and argument from evidence, and gather experience alongside it; on average its graduates start on slightly lower pay than graduates overall. Neither half decides your own outcome.

### What the UK survey says about an English graduate salary

The report says earnings for humanities graduates "tend to sit just below" the average for all graduates, which was £30,031 fifteen months on (Prospects & AGCAS, 2025). It prints no figure for English alone, so we give none, though it notes that women from English who took significant further study out-earned their male peers. For a single role, Prospects puts the average starting salary for an editorial assistant at around £23,000 (Graduate Futures Institute, 2026b). These are averages and estimates, not an offer.

### What the US figures say about pay

These Bureau of Labor Statistics medians belong to each occupation as a whole; they say nothing about English majors in particular. For May 2025 the median annual wage was $90,390 for technical writers, $77,920 for editors, $76,910 for writers and authors, $74,750 for public relations specialists, $72,040 for high school teachers, $68,270 for librarians and $62,200 for news analysts, reporters and journalists (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a, 2026b, 2026d, 2026e, 2026f, 2026g, 2026h). A median is the middle wage: half earn less.

## Which skills does an English degree give you?

An English degree gives you close reading, clear writing and structured argument, together with research, collaboration and creative problem-solving. The QAA's benchmark sets out what every UK English graduate should be able to do, and it reads well against a job advert.

1. **Read closely and critically**, alert to form, history and language.
2. **Build an argument** that persuades, and weigh it against other writers'.
3. **Write and speak clearly** for the audience, revising from draft to draft.
4. **Work alone and in a team**, with autonomy and resilience.
5. **Think creatively**, producing your own interpretations and sometimes new creative work.
6. **Research and reference**: the benchmark asks for "scholarly research and bibliographic skills" appropriate to the subject.

The six headings summarise, in our words, paragraphs 1.5 and 1.6 and the generic skills in section 4 (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2023). An employer believes a skill when it sees proof, such as a dissertation, a society magazine you edited or a seminar you led. For laying that out, read the [graduate CV guide](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-cv-for-a-graduate-job); for fitting it to one advert, [how to write a cover letter](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-cover-letter). Thinking of psychology instead? See [what you can do with a psychology degree](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/what-can-i-do-with-a-degree-in-psychology).

## How can EdCitation help with your English essays and dissertation?

For the Works Cited behind an English essay, EdCitation is the tool to use: every entry is taken from the record a publisher registered, never composed, and no chatbot can say the same. The [English literature MLA guide](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/english-literature-mla-citations) covers poems, plays, novels and films.

### What Find sources returned

Our test query in [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/), run on 27 September 2026, was "English literature graduates employability": OpenAlex supplied the results and counted 33,391 matching records. The word "literature" also pulled in literature reviews of employability in general, so the filters for kind of source, years and open access, or a narrower phrase, help here. The second result was Andrews and Higson (2008), which compares graduates' and employers' views of employability in four European countries and has 1,094 citations by OpenAlex's count. Pasting its DOI into [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) produced the MLA 9 entry below from Crossref's record, with a retraction screen that found nothing:

Andrews, Jane, and Helen Higson. “Graduate Employability, ‘Soft Skills’ versus ‘Hard’ Business Knowledge: A European Study.” *Higher Education in Europe*, vol. 33, no. 4, Dec. 2008, pp. 411–22, https://doi.org/10.1080/03797720802522627.

The entry needs no fixing: it sets "versus" in lower case, as MLA does for any preposition in the middle of a title, however long (Modern Language Association, 2019).

### What is free and what is paid

No account and no payment are needed for Find sources, for Cite a source in all six styles (MLA 9, APA 7, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver), or for [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references). It marks each entry verified, "check this" or not found, flags retractions, and never shows one it could not check as not found. [Mechanics QA](https://edcitation.com/tools/mechanics-qa), in Pro at $8 a month, checks a paper's formatting against the style ([pricing](https://edcitation.com/pricing)). None of them writes a sentence: EdCitation finds and formats the evidence, and the reading, the argument and every application stay entirely yours.

## Quick questions

### What jobs can I get with an English degree without a Masters?

Editorial assistant, copy-editor, copywriter, marketing and PR roles, and graduate schemes open to any subject. Prospects calls extra qualifications helpful but not required for the editorial and copywriting jobs.

### Can I become a teacher with an English degree?

Yes, with teacher training. A state school in England needs qualified teacher status, often through a PGCE, and a US public high school needs a state licence.

### Can I become a lawyer with an English degree?

Yes. The Solicitors Regulation Authority accepts a degree in any subject for the SQE route, followed by SQE1, SQE2 and two years' qualifying work experience.

### How much do English graduates earn?

The latest UK survey says humanities graduates earn just below the £30,031 all-graduate average fifteen months on, and prints no English-only figure. That is a survey average, not an offer.

### Can EdCitation write my English essay?

No. EdCitation looks sources up in [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/) and formats them in [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla), and the essay itself, sentence by sentence, is your own.

## References

- American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2021). *Disciplinary distribution of bachelor's degrees in the humanities*. Humanities Indicators. [https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/higher-education/disciplinary-distribution-bachelors-degrees-humanities](https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/higher-education/disciplinary-distribution-bachelors-degrees-humanities)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2023a). *Earnings of humanities majors with an advanced degree*. Humanities Indicators. [https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/earnings-humanities-majors-advanced-degree](https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/earnings-humanities-majors-advanced-degree)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2023b). *Earnings of humanities majors with a terminal bachelor's degree*. Humanities Indicators. [https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/earnings-humanities-majors-terminal-bachelors-degree](https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/earnings-humanities-majors-terminal-bachelors-degree)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2023c). *Occupations of humanities majors with a terminal bachelor's degree*. Humanities Indicators. [https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/occupations-humanities-majors-terminal-bachelors-degree](https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/workforce/occupations-humanities-majors-terminal-bachelors-degree)
- Andrews, J., & Higson, H. (2008). Graduate employability, 'soft skills' versus 'hard' business knowledge: A European study. *Higher Education in Europe*, *33*(4), 411–422. [https://doi.org/10.1080/03797720802522627](https://doi.org/10.1080/03797720802522627)
- Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. (n.d.). *Accredited courses*. CILIP. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from [https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/qualifications](https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/qualifications)
- Get Into Teaching. (n.d.). *What is qualified teacher status (QTS)?* Department for Education. [https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/train-to-be-a-teacher/what-is-qts](https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/train-to-be-a-teacher/what-is-qts)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2024, November). *English* [What can I do with my degree?]. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/english](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/english)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2025a, April). *Academic librarian*. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/academic-librarian](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/academic-librarian)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2025b, October). *English as a foreign language teacher*. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/english-as-a-foreign-language-teacher](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/english-as-a-foreign-language-teacher)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2025c, November). *Publishing copy-editor/proofreader*. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/publishing-copy-editor-proofreader](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/publishing-copy-editor-proofreader)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2026a, January). *Digital copywriter*. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/digital-copywriter](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/digital-copywriter)
- Graduate Futures Institute. (2026b, January). *Editorial assistant*. Prospects. [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/editorial-assistant](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/editorial-assistant)
- Modern Language Association. (2019, January 1). *In MLA style, should any part of a two-word preposition, such as according to, be capitalized in a title?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/two-word-prepositions-in-titles/](https://style.mla.org/two-word-prepositions-in-titles/)
- Prospects & AGCAS. (2025, November). *What do graduates do? 2025/26*. Jisc. [https://graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io/graduatemarkettrends/aSRpF2GnmrmGqMHq_what-do-graduates-do-2025-26.pdf](https://graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io/graduatemarkettrends/aSRpF2GnmrmGqMHq_what-do-graduates-do-2025-26.pdf)
- Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. (2023). *Subject Benchmark Statement: English* (5th ed.). [https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/sbs/sbs-english-23.pdf](https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/sbs/sbs-english-23.pdf)
- Solicitors Regulation Authority. (2025, August). *Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route*. [https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/sqe/](https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/sqe/)
- University of Saskatchewan Department of English. (2025). *Requirements for essays 2025-26* [PDF]. [https://artsandscience.usask.ca/english/documents/requirements-for-essays.pdf](https://artsandscience.usask.ca/english/documents/requirements-for-essays.pdf)
- University of Warwick Library. (2025, December 10). *Referencing*. English and Comparative Literary Studies subject guide. [https://warwick.libguides.com/c.php?g=701576&p=5056847](https://warwick.libguides.com/c.php?g=701576&p=5056847)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026a, August 27). *Editors*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/editors.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/editors.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026b, August 27). *High school teachers*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/high-school-teachers.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/high-school-teachers.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026c, August 27). *Lawyers*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/lawyers.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/lawyers.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026d, August 27). *Librarians and library media specialists*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/librarians.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/librarians.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026e, August 27). *News analysts, reporters, and journalists*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026f, August 27). *Public relations specialists*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/public-relations-specialists.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/public-relations-specialists.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026g, August 27). *Technical writers*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/technical-writers.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/technical-writers.htm)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026h, August 27). *Writers and authors*. Occupational Outlook Handbook. [https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/writers-and-authors.htm](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/writers-and-authors.htm)