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English Literature and Creative Writing

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-B,B,B

Minimum number of A Levels required: 2 Maximum AS Level points accepted: 20 An English subject is preferred, e.g. English Language, English Literature, English Language/Literature or Creative Writing. Subjects such as Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Religious Education, History and Media Studies will also be considered.

Access to Higher Education Diploma acceptability: Acceptable on its own Further information: At least 24 Distinctions and 21 Merits, or any other combination that equates to 104 UCAS Tariff points in a relevant subject

International Baccalaureate: Acceptable on its own and combined with other qualifications Additional information: 104 UCAS Tariff points from IB Composite parts to include a relevant subject at Higher Level (HL)

Irish Leaving Certificate: Acceptable on its own and combined with other qualifications Grades / subjects required: 104 UCAS points to include a relevant subject at Higher Level

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

To obtain the required UCAS points from a related subject area. Contact the admissions team for details.

UCAS Tariff

104-120

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Creative writing

English studies

The BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University is designed to develop your writing skills with professional guidance and peer support from practicing writers, publishers and agents. Towards the end of your course, you will specialise in a chosen genre and get a feel for the life of a professional writer by writing independently but with guidance from tutors and the support of peers to help you review and refine your work.

- Ranked 12th best English degree in The Guardian's 2023 subject league tables

- Professional guidance and peer review to help you develop your work to publishable standard

- Regular literary events, readings, screenings and open mic nights to showcase your work

- Three-day residential writers' retreat at a country house in rural Wales

- Our acclaimed Writer at Work module provides an opportunity for you to pursue a work-based project

Modules

Please visit the Liverpool John Moores University website for detailed module information.

Assessment methods

Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, usually a combination of exams and coursework.

We believe that all students perform differently depending on how they are assessed, which is why we use a combination of assessment methods.

All assessment in Creative Writing is by coursework and includes a creative portfolio (about 50% of the marks), plus class contributions, essays, treatments, pitches, learning logs, journals, peer critique, projects, commentaries, group work and presentations.

You will normally be given two or three different assessment tasks per module. Once you reach your final year, your creative work or project will account for 70% of the course, and the remaining 30% taking the form of critical commentary or reflective analysis.

In English Literature, assessments include essays, analytical exercises, portfolios of written work, an optional dissertation, peer presentations and formal exams. In your final year, you can even choose whether you want to be assessed by exam or written essay in some modules.

Throughout your course you will be given regular constructive feedback on draft creative work, but for assessments feedback is provided within 15 working days of submitting a piece of work. You will have opportunities to discuss feedback with your personal tutor and course lecturers; this is particularly useful in helping you to identify your strengths as well as the areas where you may need to put in more work.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
International
£17,750
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Please see our Bursaries and Scholarships page for more information: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/discover/fees-and-funding/bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Liverpool John Moores University

Department:

Liverpool Screen School

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

88%
Creative writing
89%
English studies

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Creative writing

Teaching and learning

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
93%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
88%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

84%
Library resources
84%
IT resources
81%
Course specific equipment and facilities
81%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
22%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

English studies (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

89%
Staff make the subject interesting
92%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
91%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

86%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
84%
Course specific equipment and facilities
77%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
83%
2:1 or above
20%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Creative writing

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,000
med
Average annual salary
92%
med
Employed or in further education
42%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

25%
Other elementary services occupations
17%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

The jobs market for this subject - which includes creative writing and scriptwriting courses - is not currently one of the strongest, so unemployment rates are currently looking quite high overall, with salaries on the lower side. But nevertheless, most graduates get jobs quickly. Graduates often go into careers as authors and writers and are also found in other roles where the ability to write well is prized, such as journalism, translation, teaching and advertising and in web content. Be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common is common in the arts, as are what is termed 'portfolio careers', having several part-time jobs or commissions at once - although graduates from this subject were a little more likely than many other creative arts graduates to be in conventional full time permanent contracts, so that might be worth bearing in mind.

English studies (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,585
low
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
43%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Other elementary services occupations
13%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
11%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

English is one of the most popular degree subjects and in 2015, more than 11,000 students graduated with English degrees - although this does represent a fall from recent years. As good communication is so important to modern business, you can find English graduates in all parts of the economy, although obviously, you can't expect to get a job in science or engineering (computing is a different matter - it's not common but good language skills can be useful in the computing industry). There's little difference in outcomes between English language and English literature degrees, so don't worry and choose the one that suits you best. More English grads took another postgraduate course when they finished their degree than grads from any other subject - this is an important option. Teacher training was a common choice of second degree, as was further study of English, and journalism courses. But many English graduates changed course and trained in law, marketing or other languages -or even subjects further afield such as computing, psychology and even nursing. This is a very flexible degree which gives you a lot of options

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Creative writing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£13k

£13k

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

English studies (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£13k

£13k

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here