MA Immersive Media
- Entry year:
- 2026/27
- Start date:
- September
- Study mode:
- Full-time
- Course duration:
- 1 year
- Campus:
- Mount Pleasant
About this course
Design the future of digital experiences - create, innovate, and push boundaries in XR, Interactive Storytelling & Immersive Technology
What will you experience on this MA?
You’ll have access to dedicated immersive media labs and industry-focused creative technology, including:
- Specialist XR Display Technologies – XR = VR, AR, and MR headsets, motion controllers, tablets, 360° cameras
- Fully Equipped Production Facilities across the School
- Hands-On Training with Industry-Leading Software
Our approach is story-first, software-second, giving you the flexibility to master multiple tools, including:
- Unreal Engine (for immersive worlds & interactive design)
- Blender, Cinema4D, Maya, ZBrush & Gravity Sketch (3D modeling & spatial design)
- Isadora & TouchDesigner (interactive media & live performance tools)
- Adobe Creative Suite (industry-standard content creation tools)
Liverpool has a long history of breakthroughs in games, film, and creative technology. Studying here means being immersed in an ecosystem of innovation, collaboration, and future-thinking.
The City Region is experiencing a transformative surge in its creative industries, making it the ideal place to establish or advance your career in immersive media. Recent significant investments in the city include MusicFutures Creative Cluster, an exciting £6.75 million initiative led by LJMU and the University of Liverpool, which aims to establish the Liverpool City Region as a powerhouse for music research and development.
This five-year program brings together over 20 strategic partners to drive innovation through emerging technologies, immersive content, talent development, and business growth.
The city also welcomes a £60 million Government funding boost to support creative and cultural organisations across the country. This investment aims to transform local venues, create jobs, support businesses, and spread opportunities, with a focus on regions like Liverpool.
Immersive Media showreel
Course modules
Discover the building blocks of your programme
Further guidance on modules
Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.
Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.
Core modules
Immersive Media Lab
30 credits
30 credits
This module will allow you to explore the creative potential of specialised hardware and software in immersive technology. You will be to apply techniques for the manipulation and distribution of immersive technology content and design. This will help you to understand the creative potential of these technologies in context of a chosen area of practice.
Research and Proposal
30 credits
30 credits
This module develops students understanding of practice-based and theoretical research methods in Immersive Media, leading to the development of a conceptual and critical proposal for an Immersive Media project.
Immersive Media Project
60 credits
60 credits
This module will enable you to produce an immersive media project based on original in-depth research, for delivery on a platform and context of choice. This will provide you the opportunity to demonstrate, through the completion of an extended project, a range of skills and practices in creative invention and in planning and management. Within the module you will be required to demonstrate technical competencies in all practical aspects of production.
Transdisciplinary Practice
30 credits
30 credits
This module is shared by all students studying on taught Art and Design postgraduate programmes.
The Transdisciplinary Practice module concerns the development of your individual practice. It sees you consider, adopt and implement a range of interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary methods, to refine, extend, develop and critically reflect upon your own practice. This enables a deeper relationship to one's own practice by seeing it through the lens of other disciplines, and cultivates more sympathetic understanding of the contingencies of other practices and disciplines through the same process.
You will work as individuals or in groups, or establish new relationships and collaborations to produce innovative, visionary and speculative practical outcomes in the context of one or more disciplinary contexts.
The module enables you to propose, plan, organise, publish or promote your work and research. Outcomes could include proposals for applied creative projects, documentary of work in progress, exhibition of work(s), public presentations in symposiums, websites or printed publications.
Learning is predominantly through lectures, reading groups and seminars. You will be introduced to ongoing inter-multi-transdisciplinary projects in the Institute of Art and Technology (IAT) and in the Liverpool City region through guest speakers who will expose you to new ways of working.
Peer review is a crucial part of the practice-based research experience and this is facilitated through student-led and tutor guided studio activities and critical reviews. At this level it is expected that you will show a high degree of motivation and ability to engage in self-directed study, demonstrating a level of scholarship, initiative and problem solving appropriate to Master's degree study.
Research Inquiry
30 credits
30 credits
This module is shared by all students studying on taught Art and Design, MA Cities and Immersive Media postgraduate programmes.
The Research Inquiry module aims to develop and improve your research and analytical skills. Analysis and problem-solving skills are critical to student employability and subsequent success in most types of careers post MA.
Students are immersed in a range of methodological approaches across the arts and social sciences, and will develop an in-depth understanding and knowledge of contemporary approaches to research in their field of study. This will be crucial in laying the foundation for developing their own subsequent projects.
A series of lectures and seminars will introduce you to current and emerging practice in relation to a diverse range of historical, theoretical and critical principles. Seminars will require you to share, discuss and evaluate ideas and practice with others.
You will read and discuss a range of primary and secondary texts in your chosen field(s) to develop critical thinking together with historical and theoretical knowledge.
The module culminates in the successful preparation and delivery of a professional project proposal and accompanying professional presentation.
Your Learning Experience
An insight into teaching on your course
Study hours
Full time students will have a learning commitment of approximately 35 hours a week with two full teaching days based at the School in Mount Pleasant campus.
Taught by industry experts
Learn from leading practitioners, researchers, and industry professionals with extensive experience in games, film, TV, performance, interactive design, and creative technology. Our staff actively engage in immersive media research, collaborations, and industry projects, ensuring the course remains at the cutting edge of what’s next.
Full-time and part-time study routes
We understand that creativity doesn’t wait- but neither does your career. That’s why we offer a flexible part-time route for professionals who want to advance their skillset while continuing to work. Whether you’re looking to upskill, change careers, or push your creative practice into new dimensions, this MA fits around your ambitions.
Research & Innovation
Not just practitioners- we’re pioneers. Our academic research explores the role of immersive technologies in multiple sectors, from entertainment and live experiences to healthcare, education, and beyond.
Live, industry-led collaborative projects
You won’t just learn- you’ll build. You’ll collaborate with real industry partners and peers to develop immersive experiences that tackle real-world challenges. This hands-on approach means you graduate with a portfolio of impactful, cutting-edge projects, setting you apart in the job market.
How learning is monitored on your programme
To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.
Assessments on the programme will be conducted using a variety of methods including: proposals, essays, prototypes and creative installations.
Where you will study
The School is based in the Redmonds Building, in the heart of the bustling Mount Pleasant Campus and Liverpool's growing Knowledge Quarter. Redmonds Building is shared by School of Law and Justice Studies and Liverpool Business School making for a rich blend of student learning experiences. The building is home to high quality lecture theatres and seminar rooms, broadcast studios, news rooms, media production suites, social spaces and a café. The RIBA award-winning John Lennon Art and Design Building, also part of the School and located in the Mount Pleasant Campus, offers extensive studio spaces, lecture theatres, and a dedicated public exhibition space. Both teaching buildings are only a short walk from LJMU's Mount Pleasant Campus Library, which contains all the resources you will require for your studies, and is open seven days a week.
Course tutors
Dr Hatana El-Jarn is a Senior Lecturer in Media Production at Liverpool John Moores University. Her research explores mediated technologies and how individuals and communities engage, co-create, and communicate through them. With a strong interdisciplinary approach, her work bridges theory and design practice, examining the evolving relationship between digital media, identity, and interactive storytelling.
Her current projects investigate identity and self-representation in digital spaces, immersive storytelling, and co-creation in extended reality (XR). She is particularly interested in how marginalised voices navigate online environments, as well as the role of emerging technologies in shaping participatory narratives.
No VR headset? No problem. This course isn't just about hardware—it’s about pushing the boundaries of storytelling, design, and interactivity across film, gaming, marketing, the arts, and beyond.
Career paths
Further your career prospects
LJMU has an excellent employability record with 97% of our postgraduates in work or further study fifteen months after graduation (Graduate Outcomes Survey, 2025). Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.
Graduates from this program go on to shape the immersive media industry, working as:
- XR experience designers
- Immersive storytellers and creatives
- VR/AR Developers
- Interactive media artists
- Creative technologists
Tuition fees and funding
- Fee:
- £9,340
Fees
The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as library membership and student IT support with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources including programme-appropriate software and on campus wifi.
Financial Support
There are many ways to fund postgraduate 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 postgraduate funding pages. The University offers a range of financial support for students. You'll find all the information you need on our specialist financial support pages including details of the Student Support Fund and other activities to support with the cost of living.
Additional Costs
In addition to fees, students should also keep in mind the cost of:
- Accommodation
- Travel costs and field trips unless paid for by LJMU
- Stationery, IT equipment, professional body membership and graduation gown hire
- Fee:
- £17,750
International Scholarships and payment plans
Liverpool John Moores University is committed to supporting international students by providing a range of scholarships and flexible payment plans to help students manage their tuition fees.
Scholarships
LJMU provides a variety of postgraduate scholarships to support international students. Scholarships are available to self-funded students who have accepted their offer and met all the conditions outlined in their offer letter. Students must also demonstrate that they can cover living costs, travel, and other expenses associated to studying at the university. Postgraduate scholarships include tuition fee reductions and are often offered in partnership with external funding organisations such as the British Council and Chevening.
All self-funded international students are eligible for an automatic scholarship worth up to £4,000. For more details and to view our full list of scholarships, visit the international scholarship webpages.
Deposit
All students must pay a £5,000 deposit before they can receive their CAS letter.
For more information view our deposit page.
Tuition Fee Payment Plan
After paying their £5,000 deposit, students have the option to pay their fees in full or in three equal instalments minus any internal scholarships and discounts. There are two payment options available for international students. You can either pay your tuition fees in full before enrolment or opt for a payment plan. With the payment plan, you can pay your fees in three instalments after making your £5,000 deposit. The first instalment is due before enrolment.
All payments should be made through Flywire. Full details can be found in the How to Pay Guide.
Entry requirements
You will need:
Qualification requirements
Undergraduate degree
- Hons degree 2:2 or above (from art, media, animation, digital design, computer science, performing arts, graphic design, games, UX)
- an academic reference
Applicants who demonstrate professional skills and evidence of achievement in a related area without formal qualifications may also be considered. A CV should be provided at the point of application.
Further information
-
Extra Requirements
Applicants are required to submit a sample digital portfolio at the point of application
-
RPL
- RPL is accepted on this programme
International requirements
IELTS
- IELTS English language requirement: 6.5 (minimum 6.0 in each component)
Further information
-
Extra Requirements
Applicants are required to submit a sample digital portfolio at the point of application
-
RPL
- RPL is accepted on this programme
Please Note: All international qualifications are subject to a qualification equivalency check.
How to apply
Securing your place at LJMU
To apply for this programme, you are required to complete an LJMU online application form. You will need to provide details of previous qualifications and a personal statement outlining why you wish to study this programme.
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The University reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the University. Where this does happen, the University operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.