English Literature and Creative Writing

Why study English Literature and Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University?

• 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

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

• LJMU ranked 7th university in the UK for Creative Writing (The Times UK University Rankings 2025)

• LJMU ranked 18th university in the UK for English (The Times UK University Rankings 2025)

• 97% of students surveyed said academic support on our English courses was good or very good (National Student Survey 2024)

• 96% of students surveyed said the teaching staff on our Creative Writing courses were good at explaining things (National Student Survey 2024)

About your course
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.

A residential writers' retreat in rural Wales also gives you a chance to perfect your skills and we host a number of literary events, readings, screenings and open mic nights to showcase your work at Liverpool arts venues such as FACT, The Everyman and Tate Liverpool.

Broadly speaking, you will spend a third of your time in formal study, a third reading, and a third writing or completing assessments and private study. The programme is constantly updated, which is why we have supplied only a sample of modules you may study.

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

Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, but will usually include 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.