English, Media and Cultural Studies with Foundation Studies Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)

Foundation Year

The Foundation Year is ideal if you have the interest and ability to study for a degree, but do not have the qualifications to enter directly onto the English, Media and Cultural Studies honours degree programme yet.

Once you pass the Foundation Year (level 3) you will progress directly onto the first year of the honours degree. If you are a full-time UK student, you will qualify for student financial support for the full duration of your course (subject to eligibility criteria).

You will consider and critically examine the study of media institutions, publishing and journalism, as well as forms of applied communication in practical areas including, public relations, social marketing, fiction, documentary, video games, magazines and new media. You will also examine cultural trends and practices, including popular music, youth culture, world literature, neo-Victorianism, social media, travel, and fashion.

Your study of literature will be defined by an eclectic choice of texts, from the classics to popular fiction. We are interested in traditional authors such as William Blake, Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf and in contemporary writers such as Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro and Arundhati Roy. Alongside British literature we study American literature and culture and Irish, postcolonial and world writing.

We introduce you to many different types of text such as detective novels, children's fiction, fairy tales, ballads, prison testimonies, Afro-American slave narratives, travel writing, protest literature, diaries and letters. Our diverse portfolio of options lets you explore new topics and choose your own pathway through the degree as your interests develop.

The programme is designed with your future employability in mind, so you are encouraged to develop transferable skills such as research, formats for professional writing, communication, problem solving, teamwork and independent working.

Some modules ask you to engage in collaborative blogging, contributing to online archives and improving your digital skills. Although we focus on theoretical and critical study, we incorporate applied case studies and work-related learning into many aspects of the programme, including a period of work experience with a local or national organisation. We offer a range of different options in English and further opportunities in Media and Cultural Studies for work-based and work -related learning. For instance, if you choose the Working in the USA module, you will have the opportunity to spend a month or more in the United States at the end of your second year. Past students have worked for the editor of Vogue, an advertising agency in New York, a National Park in the Appalachian Mountains, an architect's office in California and theme parks in Florida.

Entry requirements for this course

Contact Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) to find course entry requirements.

View foundation and pathway programmes to help you meet academic and language entry requirements.