Is the Advanced Diploma in English Literature taught chronologically?

Broadly yes. The opening modules cover close reading and early modern literature, with later modules moving through the Romantic, Victorian, modernist and contemporary periods. Theory runs as a parallel strand, applied throughout, rather than as a separate semester.

Can I take the Advanced Diploma in English Literature alongside teaching work?

Yes. Part-time and distance routes are designed around working teachers, with weekend tutorials and asynchronous reading. Many Advanced Diploma in English Literature students are teachers using the credential to support a route into PGCE or a senior teaching post.

Does the Advanced Diploma in English Literature include creative writing?

Not as a core component — the focus is critical reading, contextual study and academic essay craft. Students wanting creative practice should consider the Advanced Diploma in Creative Writing or take a creative writing module as an elective where available.

How does the Advanced Diploma in English Literature progress to a degree?

Graduates can enter the final year (Level 6) of a UK BA in English Literature at LSJHML or a partner university through credit transfer. Admissions reviews your transcript at application and confirms the mapped credits and any bridging requirements.

Are scholarships available for the Advanced Diploma in English Literature?

Yes. Scholarship and instalment options are reviewed at application. Admissions can confirm the current schedule, including any humanities-specific awards, alongside your study plan and recommended intake.

Advanced Diploma in English Literature | LSJHML London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The Advanced Diploma in English Literature at the London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages (LSJHML) is a twelve-to-fifteen-month UK qualification for readers who want a sustained, university-grade encounter with the English literary tradition — from early modern drama through the Romantic and Victorian periods to the contemporary novel. You will work closely with primary texts, engage with the major critical schools, and produce essays that hold their own against undergraduate-level marking standards.

This Advanced Diploma is built on the assumption that you have read widely but want the discipline of a structured curriculum, a tutor reading every essay, and a credentialed pathway into the final year of a BA. The Advanced Diploma in English Literature gives you the apparatus of close reading and a working command of the critical tradition.

Key Features

Senior-track UK qualification in literary study, mapped to the standards of UK undergraduate provision.
Period-led modules covering early modern, Romantic, Victorian and twentieth-century literature in depth.
Critical theory strand — formalism, historicism, postcolonial, feminist and ecocritical approaches taught with primary sources.
Independent research essay of 6,000–8,000 words on a topic agreed with your tutor.
Library access to the British Library and other London literary archives for on-campus students, with structured online resources for distance learners.
Direct top-up into the final year of a UK BA in English Literature at LSJHML or a partner university.

What You Will Learn

The Advanced Diploma in English Literature is structured around the practices of literary study — close reading, contextual research, theoretical reflection and structured argument. You graduate able to read a Shakespeare scene attentively, place a Victorian novel in its publishing context, and write a critical essay that earns marks against UK undergraduate criteria.

Close reading — practical criticism applied to poetry, drama and prose.
Early modern literature — Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson and the early modern stage.
The long eighteenth century and Romanticism — Pope, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Austen, the Shelleys.
Victorian literature and the novel — Dickens, the Brontës, George Eliot, Hardy.
Modernism and the twentieth century — Woolf, Joyce, Eliot, the post-war novel.
Contemporary literature — twenty-first-century fiction, the diversifying canon.
Critical theory — major schools and how to use them without losing the text.
Research and essay craft — primary research, secondary literature, footnoting and argument.

Who This Course Is For

Diploma graduates in English or related humanities ready to step up to undergraduate-level reading.
Working professionals — teachers, editors, librarians — wanting a recognised UK credential to support a career move.
Mature readers, including retirees, who want the structure of a university literature programme without committing to a full degree from year one.
International students preparing for entry to the final year of a UK BA in English Literature.

Career Pathways

An Advanced Diploma in English Literature is a credential that opens doors in education, publishing and editorial work. The Advanced Diploma in English Literature also serves as the strongest possible preparation for the final year of a UK BA in English. Typical destinations include:

English Teacher (secondary school after a PGCE)
Academic Editor (publishing, academic press)
Examinations Officer (awarding bodies, schools)
Educational Materials Writer (textbook publisher, EdTech)
Editorial Assistant (literary press, magazine)
Library and Archive Assistant (academic or public library)

Graduates progress to the final year of a UK BA in English Literature at LSJHML or a partner university, with credit-mapped entry.

Entry Requirements

A UK Diploma (Level 4) or equivalent in English, humanities or a related subject, OR completion of secondary school plus one year of relevant work experience.
IELTS 5.5 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
Personal statement and CV, plus a short essay sample (1,000–1,500 words on a literary text of your choice).
Mature applicants (21+) without standard qualifications may apply with three years of relevant work experience and a written sample.

Why Study at LSJHML

The London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London. Our programmes are designed in dialogue with working professionals — journalists, translators, civil servants, academics, broadcasters, editors, publishers and policy researchers — so what you learn in seminar on Monday is what your future employer is using on Tuesday. We deliberately keep cohorts small, give every student named tutor support, and treat employability as a structural part of every programme rather than an optional add-on.

London is the work — politics, courts, capital markets, theatre, broadcasting, publishing, public service, the global press. Your studies are taught in the same square mile where the stories you read about happen. Whether you join us on-campus, online or by distance learning, the city is your classroom and our industry network is your launchpad.