Arts and humanities at Birkbeck are ranked fifth best in London, 18th in the UK and 87th globally in the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), English Language and Literature at Birkbeck achieved 100% for a research environment conducive to producing research of the highest quality. In the 2017 National Student Survey, our English courses came top in London and third in the country for overall course satisfaction. You will be eligible to submit work to the annual Birkbeck creative writing journal, The Mechanics’ Institute Review. Read an account of how our students created the most recent issue of The Mechanics' Institute Review. Birkbeck is located in the heart of literary London, in Bloomsbury, WC1. You could be studying in a building that was once home to Virginia Woolf and frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group, now home to our School of Arts. The building houses our own creative hub which includes the Peltz Gallery, the Gordon Square Cinema and a theatre and performance space.

Applicants from Russia would be expected to have completed one year of a Bakalavr/Specialist Diploma at a recognised university with an average grade of at least 4/5 OR a recognised undergraduate Foundation course, which allows students the chance to progress onto Birkbeck’s Bachelor programmes.