English develops high-level reading and expression skills that are vital to successful communication. The Department of English is renowned for its comprehensive coverage of English literature and language and the historical cultures which have nurtured them, from their beginnings in the Anglo-Saxon period through to the most recent creative and critical work.

Students can access the largest University library in Australia, Fisher Library, with a collection of five million books and online access to a vast range of databases, books, and journals. Fisher's rare book collection has outstanding holdings in the areas of English literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Australian literature and science fiction.

Diverse career opportunities exist for those with higher English degrees. Research students have found academic positions or gone on to postdoctoral research. Others have joined coursework graduates in secondary schools, libraries and archives, publishing, marketing and advertising, media, administration and the public service as speech and policy writers.