BA (Hons) Journalism

Fees and funding

There are many ways to fund study for home and international students

Fees

The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:

• library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
• access to programme-appropriate software
• library and student IT support
• free on-campus wifi via eduroam

Additional costs

Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:

• accommodation and living expenditure
• books (should you wish to have your own copies)
• printing, photocopying and stationery
• PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
• mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
• field trips (travel and activity costs)
• placements (travel expenses and living costs)
• student visas (international students only)
• study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
• academic conferences (travel costs)
• professional-body membership
• graduation (gown hire etc)

Funding

There are many ways to fund study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you'll find all of the information you need on our specialist funding pages.

Employability

Once you successfully complete the BA (Hons) degree programme, your practical skills in print, broadcasting and online journalism will qualify you to work in a variety of roles within this industry.

Our graduates have a good record of employment, forging successful careers as reporters, writers, editors, specialist correspondents, freelance journalists and television presenters. As well as working in television and news publishing, they can be found in broadcasting and news agencies, public relations departments and consultancies, web-based media and local authority press departments.

Student Futures - Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service

A wide range of opportunities and support is available to you, within and beyond your course, to ensure our students experience a transformation in their career trajectory. Every undergraduate curriculum includes Future Focus during Level 4, an e-learning resource and workshop designed to help you to develop your talents, passion and purpose.

Every student has access to Careers Zone 24/7, LJMU's suite of online Apps, resources and jobs board via the LJMU Student Futures website. There are opportunities for flexible, paid and part-time work through Unitemps, LJMU's in-house recruitment service, and we also offer fully funded Discovery Internships.

One-to-one careers and employability advice is available via our campus-based Careers Zones and we offer a year-round programme of events, including themed careers and employability workshops, employer events and recruitment fairs. Our Start-Up Hub can help you to grow your enterprise skills and to research, plan and start your own business or become a freelancer.

A suite of learning experiences, services and opportunities is available to final year students to help ensure you leave with a great onward plan. You can access LJMU's Careers, Employability and Start-up Services after you graduate and return for one-to-one support for life.

Teaching and work-related learning

Excellent facilities and learning resources

We adopt an active blended learning approach, meaning you will experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning during your time at LJMU. This enables you to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with your studies. Our approach ensures that you can easily access support from your personal tutor, either by meeting them on-campus or via a video call to suit your needs.

Teaching is delivered via a combination of lectures, seminars, online activities and workshops, in addition to around 22 hours weekly production work and independent research. As you progress through the course, you will be expected to do more project research so you will only spend two days per week in class in your final year.

Work-related Learning

This vocational course offers many opportunities for practical, hands-on experience and work placements, thanks to our connections in the local, national and international media. For instance, LJMU and the Index on Censorship offer a 12-month paid internship for a journalism student at the IoC headquarters. This is a great way to meet industry experts and learn about free speech around the world, as well as building skills in public relations, lobbying and campaigning.

Work experience like this is an invaluable opportunity to practise your skills in a high-pressure news media environment and will put you at a distinct advantage over other applicants once you enter the competitive job market. In fact, many students are offered permanent jobs at institutions like the BBC, Trinity Mirror and Lime Pictures on the basis of a successful work placement.

Liverpool has a thriving journalism industry, with one of the UKs largest and most successful evening newspapers and the largest newspaper publisher on its doorstep. Several TV companies are based in the city, including the BBC, Granada and Hollyoaks creators, Lime Pictures. The region also has around 25 radio stations.

Support and guidance

Dedicated personal tutor, plus study skills support

If you decide to study with LJMU, you will join a warm and friendly learning environment where creativity is nurtured and supported by excellent learning resources. Throughout your studies you will be supported by a dedicated personal tutor who will be available to discuss course-related issues, monitor your progress, and meet with you twice a year to discuss your educational and career plans.

Assessment

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

We acknowledge that all students perform differently depending on how they are assessed, which is why we use a range of assessment methods. These include: essays, projects, portfolios of work, exams, reports, group and individual presentations, and dissertations. Much of the work is journalism based and supported by academic essays and presentations.

Assessment will be mostly portfolio-based, with some exams in law, shorthand, media regulation and court reporting. Your Major Project/Dissertation will be 15,000 words or equivalent.

Entry requirements

Please choose your qualifications below to view requirements

Grades/points required from qualifications: BBC-ABB (112-128)

Application and selection

Securing your place at LJMU

UCAS is the official application route for our full-time undergraduate courses. Further information on the UCAS application process can be found here https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/how-to-apply.

We are keen to recruit students who will make the best use of the opportunity to study with us. So we are looking for students with a flair for writing factual material. They need an enthusiasm for seeking out what's new, then asking why it is new, what's different, what's special, why it will interest the viewer, reader or listener - why, in short, it will be a good piece of journalism.

You should be able to demonstrate an interest in news and current affairs and, ideally, have a specialist area which you might like to develop such as music, sport or fashion, for instance. Enthusiasm for news and current affairs needs to be supported by general knowledge, an awareness of what's going on in the world and a burning desire to know more.

You should be interested in and sympathetic to people and their activities. You may well have studied a humanities and/or social science subject at school or college (e.g. English Language, English Literature, History, Politics, Sociology, Media Studies).

In particular, you will need to possess the following qualities:

Good communication skills, as you will be expected to contribute to tutorials and host presentations.

Time management, as you will have to work to deadlines on a regular basis - essential for a journalist.

Good IT skills, as you will be expected to submit work that has been word processed.

Good analytical skills, so that you can critically assess news sources.

Information retrieval techniques, as you will be expected to read around the subject and draw upon your findings for news and feature writing, essays, reports and projects.

Teamwork, as you may have to work closely with others which is essential in journalism.

You should ensure that your UCAS application shows that you meet the following essential criteria:

The ability to communicate ideas logically and in an easy-to-read, error-free style is vital and will be measured by your personal statement.

Evidence of an interest in news-orientated media, including activities such as student newspapers/magazines, hospital radio or work placements.

Evidence of an interest in the world around you: politics, science, history, finance, business, art, theatre, sports are among the areas for which we would expect you to have enthusiasm.

Evidence of additional skills or knowledge in one of these areas: knowledge of current affairs, a foreign language (GCSE level or above), knowledge of different countries and cultures, or relevant work experience.

It would also be helpful if you are able to show the following in your UCAS application:

An enthusiasm for IT and the new communication tools available on the internet and on mobile communication.

Evidence of personal development such as art, music, creative writing, sport, outdoor activities, D of E award scheme.

Involvement in social, community, political or charitable activities.