creative writing ba uk

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Creative Writing

Application options include:

Course Overview

Are you passionate about creative writing and looking to learn how to turn your ideas into texts? If so, Birkbeck’s BA Creative Writing will support you to develop your ideas further, refining your skills and sharpening your craft. You will have opportunities to experiment and explore creative writing across a range of forms, including drama, poetry, fiction, screenwriting and non-fiction. Your studies will be enriched by being based in Bloomsbury in central London, home to some of the most exciting historical developments in literary and artistic production.

Why choose this course?

• Creative Writing at Birkbeck is based in the heart of Bloomsbury, once home to the Bloomsbury Group, an influential group of writers, artists and philosophers including Virgina Woolf. It is here that you will hone your skills supported by internationally renowned writers and researchers based in the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication.
• This course is distinctive for its practical approach to teaching creative writing, which centres around interactive, small group workshops and seminars in the development of your practice. 
• You will be taught by our esteemed faculty, which includes award-winning and published writers, and gain important understanding about the publishing industry to support your future career.  
• The expertise of our faculty staff feeds into our courses. They include some of the UK’s leading writers, such as novelist Luke Williams ( Diego Garcia: a Novel ), playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge ( Beginning ), playwright and screenwriter Daragh Carville ( The Bay ), poet, novelist and non-fiction writer Julia Bell ( Radical Attention ), novelist Wes Brown ( Breaking Kayfabe ), non-fiction writer Richard Hamblyn ( The Sea: Nature and Culture ) and critic and writer Marina Warner. 

What you will learn

On this course, you will learn how to develop the creative writer’s key tools: voice, craft, technique, form, genre and style. You will also work with your peers to gain an understanding of what other creative writers do, to inform your own practice and approach.

In addition to taking compulsory modules offering you key skills development, you will have the chance to select option modules on topics that interest you, including fiction, poetry, experimental writing and scriptwriting of drama, film and TV, while your final dissertation project allows you to specialise in an area of your choosing. 

How you will learn 

In small creative writing workshops you will share your writing and read the writing of your peers, often alongside published works. In these workshops you will learn how to discuss your writing-in-progress and gain regular feedback from faculty members and from fellow emerging writers on your degree. Lectures and seminars from internationally renowned researchers and specialists will complement your learning.

This course is available with full- or part-time study.  It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.  

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Discover the career opportunities available by taking Creative Writing (BA (Hons)).

Key information and modules

Creative writing ba (hons): 3 years full-time, on campus, starting october 2025.

Central London

Creative Writing BA (Hons): 4 years part-time, on campus, starting October 2025

Creative writing with foundation year ba (hons): 4 years full-time, on campus, starting october 2025, creative writing with foundation year ba (hons): 6 years part-time, on campus, starting october 2025.

Find another course:

• Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
• 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. The building houses our own creative hub which includes the  Peltz Gallery , the Gordon Square Cinema and a theatre and performance space .

Birkbeck makes all reasonable efforts to deliver educational services, modules and programmes of study as described on our website. In the event that there are material changes to our offering (for example, due to matters beyond our control), we will update applicant and student facing information as quickly as possible and offer alternatives to applicants, offer-holders and current students.

Most of our courses are taught in the evenings, however some of our courses offer a daytime timetable. Where there is an option to attend daytime teaching sessions, this is stated in the Key Information section under Attendance.

Entry Requirements

We welcome applicants without traditional entry qualifications as we base decisions on our own assessment of qualifications, knowledge and previous work experience. We may waive formal entry requirements based on judgement of academic potential.

All applicants, whatever their academic background, must submit a sample of 1000 words of creative writing (fiction, poetry, drama, or screenwriting).

For part-time courses, standard requirements are a minimum of two A-levels or equivalent.

UCAS tariff points

• 3 years full-time: 112 points (e.g. A-levels BBC)
• 4 years full-time with Foundation Year: 48 points

The UCAS tariff score is applicable to you if you have recently studied a qualification that has a UCAS tariff equivalence. UCAS provides a tariff calculator for you to work out what your qualification is worth within the UCAS tariff.

Foundation year degrees

Our 'with Foundation Year' route is designed to give you extra support as it provides you with an additional year (full-time) or two years (part-time) of supported study. This is an ideal route if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied this subject, or if you did not achieve the grades you need for a place on this degree. 

Once you successfully complete your Foundation Year studies, you will automatically advance onto the main degree. 

Alternative entry routes

3 years full-time and 4 years part-time: Access to Higher Education Diploma with a minimum of 15 credits achieved at Merit or Distinction in the subject area, although we may waive these formal entry requirements and make our own assessment based on the creative writing sample.

3 years full-time: Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma - DMM

English language requirements

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.  We also accept other English language tests .

If you don’t meet the minimum English language requirements,  please contact us  or see our  international study skills page  for more details of how we can help.

Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our  English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country .

Visa and funding requirements

If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.

The visa you apply for varies according to the length of your course:

• Courses of more than six months' duration: Student visa
• Courses of less than six months' duration: Standard Visitor visa

International students who require a Student visa should apply for our full-time courses as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship. If you are living in the UK on a Student visa, you will not be eligible to enrol as a student on Birkbeck's part-time courses (with the exception of some modules).

For full information, read our visa information for international students page .

Please also visit the international section of our website to find out more about relevant visa and funding requirements by country .

Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.

Credits and accredited prior learning (APL)

If you have studied at university (or have an HND or Foundation Degree), you may have accumulated credits through the modules you studied. It may be possible to transfer these credits from your previous study to Birkbeck or another institution.

Creative Writing BA (Hons): 4 years part-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2025-26

Academic year 2025–26, starting october 2025.

Part-time home students: £6,935 per year Part-time international students : £13,545 per year

Creative Writing BA (Hons): 3 years full-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2025-26

Full-time home students: £9,250 per year Full-time international students: £18,060 per year

Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons): 4 years full-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2025-26

Full-time home students, Year 1: £5,760 per year Full-time international students, Year 1: £18,060 per year Full-time home students, Year 2+: £9,250 per year Full-time international students, Year 2+: £18,060 per year

Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons): 6 years part-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2025-26

Part-time home students, Year 1&2: £4,315 per year Part-time international students , Year 1&2: £9,030 per year Part-time home students, Year 3+: £6,935 per year Part-time international students , Year 3+: £13,545 per year

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information, please see the College Fees Policy .

If you’ve studied at Birkbeck before and successfully completed an award with us, take advantage of our Lifelong Learning Guarantee to gain a discount on the tuition fee of this course.

Tuition fee and maintenance loans

Eligible full-time and part-time students from the UK don’t have to pay any tuition fees upfront, as government loans are available to cover them.

Maintenance loans are also available for eligible full-time and part-time UK students, to assist with covering living costs, such as accommodation, food, travel, books and study materials. The amount you receive is means-tested and depends on where you live and study and your household income.

Find out more about tuition fee and maintenance loans for full-time and part-time students at Birkbeck.

Discover the financial support available to you to help with your studies at Birkbeck.

International scholarships

We provide a range of scholarships for eligible international students, including our Global Future Scholarship. Discover if you are eligible for a scholarship .

At Birkbeck, most of our courses are taught in the evening and all of our teaching is designed to support students who are juggling evening study with work and other commitments. We actively encourage innovative and engaging ways of teaching, to ensure our students have the best learning experience.

Teaching may include formal lectures, seminars, and practical classes and tutorials. Formal lectures are used in most degree programmes to give an overview of a particular field of study. They aim to provide the stimulus and the starting point for deeper exploration of the subject during your own personal reading. Seminars give you the chance to explore a specific aspect of your subject in depth and to discuss and exchange ideas with fellow students. They typically require preparatory study.

In addition, you will have access to pastoral support via a named Personal Tutor.

Methods of teaching on this course

Teaching is varied and interactive and takes the form of lecturer-led sessions on elements of craft, workshopping of students' creative work, class and home exercises, student readings, and individual and group work.

The Foundation Year is composed mainly of interactive lectures for large groups and tutorial-style classes that support the development of knowledge, skills, confidence and self-awareness.

You may be taught by successful, published authors and practitioners, including:

• David Eldridge
• Richard Hamblyn
• Steve Willey
• Luke Williams .

Teaching hours

Our evening hours are normally between 6pm and 9pm (6-7.30pm and 7.30-9pm). Some programmes also offer teaching during the day and this will be clearly signposted to you where it is available.

On our taught courses, you will have scheduled teaching and study sessions each year. Scheduled teaching sessions may include lectures, seminars, workshops or laboratory work. Depending on the modules you take, you may also have additional scheduled academic activities, such as tutorials, dissertation supervision, practical classes, visits and field trips. On our taught courses, the actual amount of time you spend in the classroom and in contact with your lecturers will depend on your course, the option modules you select and when you undertake your final-year project (if applicable).

Alongside your contact hours, you will also undertake assessment activities and independent learning outside of class. The amount of time you need to allocate to study both for taught sessions (this might include online sessions and/or in-person sessions) and personal study will depend on how much you are studying during the year and whether you are studying full time or part time.

Birkbeck’s courses are made up of modules and allocated ‘credit’. One credit is equivalent to ten hours of learning time. Modules are usually in 15, 30 or 60 credit units. A 15-credit module will mean around 150 hours of learning, including taught sessions and independent study or group work. This is spread out over the whole period of that module and includes the time you spend on any assessments, including in examinations, preparing and writing assessments or engaged in practical work as well as any study support sessions to help you in your learning.

On our distance-learning and blended-learning courses, discussion, collaboration and interaction with your lecturers and fellow students is encouraged and enabled through various learning technologies.

Timetables are usually available from September onwards and you can access your personalised timetable via your My Birkbeck Profile online (if you have been invited to enrol).

Indicative class size

Class sizes vary, depending on your course, the module you are undertaking, and the method of teaching. For example, lectures are presented to larger groups, whereas seminars usually consist of small, interactive groups led by a tutor.

Independent learning

On our taught courses, much of your time outside of class will be spent on self-directed, independent learning, including preparing for classes and following up afterwards. This will usually include, but is not limited to, reading books and journal articles, undertaking research, working on coursework and assignments, and preparing for presentations and assessments.

Independent learning is absolutely vital to your success as a student. Everyone is different, and the study time required varies topic by topic, but, as a guide, expect to schedule up to five hours of self-study for each hour of teaching.

Study skills and additional support

Birkbeck offers study and learning support to undergraduate and postgraduate students to help them succeed. Our Learning Development Service can help you in the following areas:

• academic skills (including planning your workload, research, writing, exam preparation and writing a dissertation)
• written English (including structure, punctuation and grammar)
• numerical skills (basic mathematics and statistics).

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service can support you if you have additional learning needs resulting from a disability or from dyslexia.

Our Counselling Service can support you if you are struggling with emotional or psychological difficulties during your studies.

Our Mental Health Advisory Service can support you if you are experiencing short- or long-term mental health difficulties during your studies.

Assessment is an integral part of your university studies and usually consists of a combination of coursework and examinations, although this will vary from course to course - on some of our courses, assessment is entirely by coursework. The methods of assessment on this course are specified below under 'Methods of assessment on this course'. You will need to allow time to complete coursework and prepare for exams.

Where a course has unseen written examinations, these may be held termly, but, on the majority of our courses, exams are usually taken in the Summer term, during May to June. Exams may be held at other times of the year as well. In most cases, exams are held during the day on a weekday - if you have daytime commitments, you will need to make arrangements for daytime attendance - but some exams are held in the evening. Exam timetables are published online.

Find out more about assessment at Birkbeck, including guidance on assessment, feedback and our assessment offences policy.

Methods of assessment on this course

Assessment is 100% coursework, which may include short creative projects, essays, presentations, a writer's notebook, web publishing and an extended creative work in a specific genre. 

A creative dissertation is also a compulsory requirement of the course in your final year.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this BA Creative Writing, you will have attained an array of important transferable skills, including:  

• the capacity to think and communicate creatively and critically
• a sophisticated use of written and spoken English
• an ability to understand and apply complex ideas
• effective organisation and time-keeping skills
• facility and precision in the use of analytical tools
• strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented reports or fluent critical arguments.

Studying this course will prepare you for a career path in a range of fields:  

• creative writing 
• publishing 
• journalism  

Birkbeck creative writing graduates include:

• Niki Aguirre
• Sarah Alexander
• Laura Allsop
• Iphgenia Baal
• Phoebe Blatton
• Nicole Burstein
• Tray Butler
• Melissa De Villiers
• Liz Fremantle
• A. J. Grainger
• Emma Henderson
• Sally Hinchcliffe
• Heidi James
• Olya Knezevic
• Matthew Loukes
• Karin Salvalaggio
• David Savill

The School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication's specially designed Careers and Employability provision includes opportunities at all levels to support you in developing your career, including modules,  workshops, placements and other resources directly related to employability, in particular in the creative arts and cultural industries. 

We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.

You apply via UCAS for our full-time undergraduate courses or directly to Birkbeck for our part-time undergraduate courses.

Full-time (UCAS entry)

If you are applying for a full-time undergraduate course at Birkbeck, you have to apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). To apply, go to the UCAS website and click on ‘Sign in’. You will have to register, giving UCAS a few personal details, including your name, address and date of birth, and then you can start working on your application.

The first UCAS deadline is in January, and the majority of university applications through UCAS are made by then. Find the exact deadline date on the UCAS website . We welcome applications outside of the UCAS deadlines, so you can still apply through UCAS after the January deadline, depending on the availability of places. We also take late applications via the UCAS Clearing system in August.

If you are applying for a part-time undergraduate course (4 or 6 year), you apply directly to Birkbeck by using the Apply now button. You will need to prove your identity when you apply - read more about suitable forms of identification .

You apply directly to Birkbeck for this course, using the online application link. Please note that online application will open in September.

When to apply

You are strongly advised to apply now , to ensure there are still places on your chosen course and to give you enough time to complete the admissions process, to arrange funding and to enrol.

You don't need to complete your current programme of study before you apply - Birkbeck can offer you a place that is conditional on your results.

You will also receive information about subject-specific induction sessions over the summer.

Help and advice with your application

Get all the information you need about the application, admission and enrolment process at Birkbeck.

Our online personal statement tool will guide you through every step of writing the personal statement part of your application.

Apply for your course

Apply for your course using the apply now button in the key information section .

Course structure

Course structure listing, course structure and modules for creative writing ba (hons): 4 years part-time, on campus, starting october 2025.

You must complete modules worth a total of 360 credits.

• Year 1: three compulsory modules
• Years 2 and 3: two compulsory modules and one option module in each year
• Year 4: two compulsory modules, one option module and a dissertation

Year 1 compulsory modules

• Introduction to Playwriting and Poetry
• Storytelling: Narrative Archetypes, Forms and Techniques
• Writing for Film and TV

Year 2 compulsory modules

• Fiction Workshop 1
• Narrative Methods

Year 2 option modules

• Poetry Workshop 1
• Scriptwriting Workshop 1: The Essentials of Stage and Screen (The 30 Minute Script)

Year 3 compulsory modules

• Creative Non-fiction
• The Writing Industry

Year 3 option modules

• Poetry Workshop 2: The Open Page

Year 4 compulsory modules

• Independent Reading Portfolio: Critical Reflection
• The Publishing Project

Year 4 option modules

• Fiction Workshop: The Contemporary Novel
• Scriptwriting Workshop 4: The Television Drama (The 60 Minute Script)

BA Creative Writing dissertation

• Dissertation BA Creative Writing

Course structure and modules for Creative Writing BA (Hons): 3 years full-time, on campus, starting October 2025

• Year 1: four compulsory modules
• Year 2: three compulsory modules and one option module
• Year 3: two compulsory modules, two option modules and a dissertation

Course structure and modules for Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons): 4 years full-time, on campus, starting October 2025

For the Foundation Year, you undertake three core modules and choose one option module: either The Arts: Questioning the Contemporary World or a language module.

If you successfully complete these modules, you will automatically advance on to our three-year, full-time, evening study BA Creative Writing .

Foundation Year core modules

• Breaking Boundaries of Knowledge
• Fundamentals of Study
• The Arts: Perspectives and Possibilities

Foundation Year option modules

• French 3 (Level 4)
• French 4 (Level 4)
• German 3 (Level 4)
• German 4 (Level 4)
• Italian 3 (Level 4)
• Italian 4 (Level 4)
• Japanese 3 (Level 4)
• Japanese 4 (Level 4)
• Spanish 3 (Level 4)
• Spanish 4 (Level 4)
• The Arts: Questioning the Contemporary World

Course structure and modules for Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons): 6 years part-time, on campus, starting October 2025

Our part-time Foundation Year degrees allow you to spread out your Foundation Year studies over two years. As the 'Foundation Year' is made up of 120 credits, as a part-time student you can take 60 credits in each of your first and second years before starting the main four-year BA Creative Writing. This means that you can take six years to complete the part-time degree with Foundation Year.

In Foundation Year 1 you take two core modules and in Foundation Year 2 you take one core module and choose one option module.

If you successfully complete these modules, you will automatically advance on to our four-year, part-time, evening study BA Creative Writing .

Foundation Year 1 core modules

Foundation year 2 core module, foundation year 2 option modules.

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BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Part-time, online, study creative writing for your degree with oca.

Have you always wanted to write a novel, create a screenplay, or perfect your poetry? Whatever you’re looking to write, our BA (Hons) Creative Writing degree will give you the tools to achieve it.

Our BA (Hons) Creative Writing degree will empower you with effective practices, insights and skills, encouraging you to write more frequently and with more purpose than ever before. Shared experiences are reflected throughout the course, which is packed full of options so you can develop your writing in your own way and in your preferred genre.

You’ll study the basics of writing, how to remain engaged and will uncover different styles of writing, from poetry and scriptwriting to short fiction and children’s books. You’ll be encouraged to read the best writers, exploring what makes To Kill A Mockingbird so compelling, or why the script of Casablanca works so well, and then apply these techniques to your own writing.

Become the protagonist of your own story. Start writing today.

Unique online Creative Writing courses

Our BA Hons Creative Writing degree is a specialist degree covering scriptwriting, writing for children, life writing, writing a novel, poetry, and more. You can study creative writing online – completely at our own pace – while being supported by OCA’s tutors.

It aims to equip students with skills, confidence, motivation and ambition, through a learning design programme that starts from fundamental writing skills through to the contemporary professional practice in a form or genre of the student’s choice.

Students are equipped with some fundamental writing techniques applicable to all genres, before allowing students to sample poetry, screenwriting or prose writing, and can pursue the poetry or scriptwriting forms at a more advanced level and/or will have the option to try more niche forms of writing, to enable them to gain further skills and expertise.

The programme draws on creative writing pedagogy by utilising the group or workshop activity as well as the individual assignment and close study of others’ work, but accommodates OCA’s distinctive demographic and the desires of lone writers by enabling some to create alternative submissions in the form of traditional writing portfolios.

Course Structure

Our Creative Writing degree covers the full breadth of writing practice, allowing you to take the options that are of most interest to you. As of September 2021, the BA Hons Creative Arts course will deliver 3x 40 credit units in each Level of the course.*

Students are introduced to the basic skills and techniques of creative writing in the initial unit, Essential Writing Skills 1.1. In their second unit, Further Writing Skills, students will choose two options from a choice of three pathways: they can either try basic poetry or screenwriting or the prose option. These choices remain with them for their third unit at Level 1, Developing Your Writing Skills. By the end of Level 1, students will have the skills and knowledge needed to deepen their poetry, prose or scriptwriting craft at Level 2.

Students are supported in the transition from novice undergraduate to knowledgeable and independent learners, putting into practice skills acquired at Level 1 and developing a personal approach to their writing practice. The units at this stage allow students to develop skills from Level 1 in poetry or screenwriting or else to try something new and more specialised, such as writing narrative non-fiction, writing for children or teens or writing short fiction.

Students will begin to understand the iterative and skills-building requirements of creative writing, and will actively consider how their work may become outward-facing. Peer sessions with other writers will inform their writing and raise critiquing skills, with an understanding that in some cases alternative methods are more appropriate.

Level 3 equips students with knowledge, understanding and skills for continuing personal development and professional writing practice. The units provide a framework for the learners to generate projects based on the personal vision and ambition gained throughout Level 1 and Level 2. The aim is to strengthen each individual’s writing practice and inform their creative development through rigorous intellectual enquiry, resulting in a distinctive body of creative work.

*For current students enrolled to a Level of this degree prior to September 2021, existing units across all levels will remain available as ‘teach out’ units to ensure no students are disadvantaged due to the changes. Once enrolled to a new level, students will follow the new degree pathway. 

We regularly review our curriculum; therefore, the qualification described on this page – including its availability, its structure, and available units – may change over time. If we make changes to this qualification, we’ll update this page as soon as possible. Once you’ve registered or are studying this qualification, where practicable, we’ll inform you in good time of any upcoming changes. If you’d like to know more about the circumstances in which OCA might make changes to the curriculum, see our Academic Regulations or contact us . This description was last updated on 14 December 2022.

Programme Specification 2024/25 New Curriculum

This Programme Specification is for all units on the new curriculum.

Programme Specification 2024/25 Running Out Curriculum

This Programme Specification details the units and learning outcomes that are being taught out.

Creative Writing Accessibility Statements

Accessibility statements give an indication of the type and format of content, teaching, and learning activities on the course, and how these are ordinarily delivered.

Foundations

Stage 1 (he4).

For the stage

Stage 2 (HE5)

Stage 3 (he6), breakdown of costs....

More Information

With the OCA, you can study a BA (Hons) degree in our flexible online learning model at approximately one third the cost of a degree at a traditional physical university.

Students study and pay for the course on a unit-by-unit basis, so you only pay for the course as you enrol to each unit.

This course is eligible for a part-time tuition fee loan from Student Finance England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or you can self-fund the course and break down costs even further through the deposit and instalment option.  Find out more about your funding options  here .

You will require regular use of a computer or laptop and internet access. Most essential reading materials can be accessed through the digital library services and eBooks.

Students are responsible for sourcing and, where necessary, purchasing any additional software and resources specified. These can be around £400 at Level 1, £500 at Level 2, and £550 at Level 3. Where possible, open or freeware equivalents will be discussed alongside industry standard options.

On this course, you’ll need some type of word document software, such as Microsoft Word and a place to keep your learning logs and journals – this could be digital or handwritten, though your assignments will need to be typed. If you choose to study Scriptwriting, you may need some software to support this.

You may be eligible for any student discounts on computer equipment and software by using your student email, and you can find out more information about student discounts  here .

Our courses are designed with open access in mind, meaning you don’t need specific subject qualifications to enrol.

You can review the study requirements  here so you’re prepared for online study at higher education. This will include a good standard of English and IT literacy skills.

We accept enrolments for our BA (HONS) courses in monthly intakes throughout the year.

Review the key enrolment deadlines on the link below.

How to Apply

Our part-time degree courses are completed on average between 6 and 9 years. The degree is structured into three levels (instead of three years) so you’re able manage study around other commitments.

Once enrolled, you’ll have a maximum of 12 years to complete your degree course. There are unit and level timeframes within the overall degree time frame, and you’ll need a minimum of 10 study hours per week to keep on track. To find out more about course duration and managing your time, click here .

Your course materials are accessible online through the virtual learning environment, OCA Learn, where you’ll also have access to student forums, a subject space, the student handbook and the online library. You’ll work primarily from a set text of course materials and resources, but can also sign up to webinars, workshops and study groups in addition to your core learning.

Once you’ve completed the required assignments within a course unit and received tutor feedback, you’ll submit a portfolio of work to an assessment event. This gives you the opportunity to develop your work before you have it formally assessed to achieve credits towards your degree.

Upon completing the BA (Hons) Creative Writing degree, as a fully-fledged creative writer you could embark on being a novelist, a poet, a scriptwriter – you name it, you can do it. Prospects have great tips on what it is to be a professional writer. They also cover the many roles you could take on, freshly equipped with your degree.

While you’re pursuing your dream of becoming a professional writer, you can find a range of options to support your art while you write that amazing script or novel. Some include:

• Marketing Professional
• Communications specialist
• Editor / Copywriter

In May 2022 the Department for Culture, Media, & Sport  estimated there were some 2.3 million jobs  in the UK creative industries, and  post pandemic the Creative Industries are growing faster than the UK economy  as a whole.

The Academic Regulations for Subsidiary Institutions of The Open University are applicable to all taught courses offered by the Open College of the Arts (OCA).

You can review the Academic Regulations on our policy page .

Get started with our BA (Hons) Creative Writing degree here!

Step 1 of 14

BA Hons Creative Writing Enrolment Form

About you: student details, about you: entry requirements (1/3).

OCA offers open access courses, meaning you can start studying something you may have been interested in for years but haven't been able to pursue. What we are interested in is your aptitude and enthusiasm for your chosen subject.

You don’t need specific subject related qualifications to study with us, however there are minimum entry requirements you need to meet to ensure you have the right tools to get started.

English Language

As your legal nationality features on the majority English speaking countries list or you are a continuing student, you do not need to provide evidence of English Language proficiency. You will still need to confirm that you have a good standard of English to study this course.

You have indicated a legal nationality that is not featured on the majority English speaking countries list as provided by the CEFR. You must provide evidence of your English language proficiency equating to B2 of the CEFR.

You can evidence you meet this requirement through one of the following documents:

- A Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider, taken two years or less before the date of enrolment to the course. IELTS for UKVI or IELTS Academic may be accepted as meeting these requirements, provided the student has achieved a minimum score of 5.5 in each of the four elements of language learning. - Have successfully completed an academic course (not professional or vocational) at Bachelors degree level or above from an educational institution in the UK or in a majority English speaking country as listed below. - A passport provided as evidence of nationality of a majority English speaking country as listed above. - TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) iBT taken two years or less before the date of enrolment to the course, with minimum scores in each of the four elements of language learning as follows: reading 18, listening 17, speaking 20 and writing 17. - Cambridge English B2 First qualification with scale range 160-179 taken in the last two years as of the date of enrolment to the course. - An online Duolingo test. You would need an overall score of 90 or above to meet Level B2 of the CEFR, and a minimum score of 85 in each category (providing your overall score is still above 90).

About You: Entry Requirements (2/3)

As our courses are hosted on the virtual learning platform, OCA Learn, it is essential that you have access to a laptop or computer, and can easily manage a range of basic functions through ICT. This includes being able to;

About You: Entry Requirements (3/3)

Distance learning is great for anyone who wants to be creative, expand their skills and/or gain a qualification on your own terms. A lot of our ­­­students study alongside other commitments such as work, childcare and health issues, adding distance learning to their existing lifestyle.

Self-motivation is key to a successful distance learning student. You will be able to set aside several study hours per week and be comfortable working independently. As a higher education student, you are responsible for your studies and managing your time effectively, and will need a minimum of 10 study hours per week complete within the maximum time frames available.

About You: Issues that may affect your learning

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If you are eligible for Student Finance, you may wish to consider applying for Disabled Students Allowance (Student Finance). This has been invaluable to many of our students. Students may be awarded a mentor which provides regular face-to-face interaction to support you with your planning and motivation, or software and equipment may be awarded to help you study the course depending on your needs. It's all individual - they will look at what the requirements of the course are, where your areas of difficulty may be due to your symptoms and let you know what options there are that could help.

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Course Information

Students must achieve 360 credits to complete their BA Hons course, which is structured into three 120 credit levels. Students begin at Level 1, and enrol on a unit by unit basis. Each level is made up of three 40 credit units.

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Home > Undergraduate study > Undergraduate courses > Creative Writing BA (Hons)

Creative Writing BA (Hons)

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold award

Our commitment to high quality teaching has been recognised with a TEF Gold rating. The University has received an overall rating of Gold , as well as securing a Gold award in the framework's two new student experience and student outcomes categories.

Why choose this course?

Are you a budding novelist, Netflix screenwriter or experimental poet? On this degree, you'll learn the art and craft of writing in all its forms. Taught by published authors, you'll gain a wide range of skills across creative and non-fiction genres. You'll examine how writing can be used to communicate in a range of contexts, with appropriate uses of style, register and form.

You'll take part in masterclasses by industry professionals and join the thriving community of our specialist Writers' Centre. An extended writing project will be on a subject of your choice. You'll also build a professional portfolio and work on real-life industry projects, giving you vital employment experience to prepare you for a career in writing.

Please note: Teaching on this course may take place on more than one KU campus.

Reasons to choose Kingston

• Many of our graduates have had their work published. Oyinkan Braithwaite's multi-award winning debut novel My Sister, The Serial Killer , was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019.
• This course covers a range of formats, including digital writing, fiction and creative non-fiction, poetry, and screenwriting.
• Workshops will allow you to hone your writing craft, while lectures and seminars will give you the tools you need to develop your own creativity.
• To help you master the kinds of writing that interest you most, you can choose to study works of literature or film.

The Art School Experience

As part of  Kingston School of Art , students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where collaborative working and critical practice are encouraged.

Our  workshops and studios  are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.

What you will study

This course is intellectually stimulating and exciting, providing you with opportunities for creative writing across a variety of genres and media, embracing poetry, prose fiction and non-fiction, professional writing, and writing for radio and screen.

You'll work with published writers, academics and industry professionals on writing for digital media, pitches, exhibitions, reviews, and articles.

The course features two distinct pathways. The literature pathway features modules that explore a variety of literary topics and texts in depth. If your main interests lie in writing for and about film and television, you can elect to take the degree's film pathway, on which you'll study film in depth.

Each level is made up of four modules, each worth 30 credit points. Typically a student must complete 120 credits at each level.

Literature Pathway

Film pathway, optional year (both pathways).

In your first year, you'll be introduced to the field of creative writing through a variety of practical workshops and seminars. You'll attend interactive lectures, small-group discussions and individual writing exercises.

In the second year, there is an increasing emphasis on private study and independent writing. You'll develop the appropriate skills, techniques, and practices in order to produce a sustained piece of writing in poetry and fiction.

In your final year, you'll have the opportunity to complete an extended writing project on a subject of your choice, and to work on real-life industry projects, giving you vital employment experience. Through optionality, both at assessment and module level, the programme will enable you to tailor your degree to suit your interests and employment or enterprise goals. Workshops will allow you to hone your writing craft, while lectures and seminars will give you the tools you need to develop your own creativity.

Year 1 core modules

Introduction to creative writing i: the writer's toolkit.

This module centres upon practical work designed to develop the skills appropriate to the undergraduate study of creative writing. These skills will be focused on the following areas: the analysis and use of published writing; language and style; seminar/workshop practice; and habits of writing, self-reflection and revision. The module will investigate how writers think about their craft and the techniques they use to write most effectively in their various mediums. Weekly lectures will be given by practising writers who will introduce students to their own published work as well as that of a wide range of other authors. Students will read, analyse and discuss poems, short stories, plays and essays, and will develop a greater awareness of language and style in writing through a variety of exercises. These workshop exercises will allow students to establish guidelines for constructive participation and encourage co-operation and self-reflection.

Reading London: Drama, Poetry and Prose

This module introduces you to the literature of London, from the rise of Renaissance theatre culture to its fictional futures, and from explorations of its urban heart to its sprawling suburbs. You will investigate how numerous writers have depicted everyday life in the metropolis, as well as social upheaval, crime and injustice. You will consider the emergence of distinct literary cultures in the capital, the ways London's position at the centre of a global empire has shaped its literature, and how writers have in turn represented the experiences of particular groups, for example, social elites, immigrants, women, and children.

The module will also introduce you to some of the most fundamental categories of literature. The module will be organised into three strands: one on drama, one on poetry, and one on prose (fiction and non-fiction). In each strand you will identify the distinctive characteristics of particular forms and genres of literature, and of modes of writing that developed at particular historical moments. Through close study of a range of literary texts we will consider, for instance, what distinguishes tragedy, comedy and realism in drama, how poets have engaged with the sonnet form or the epic, what defines the memoir, and how to explain the differences in narrative style between realist and modernist fiction.

Our weekly interactive lectures will be complemented by study trips to locations across London, which may include a visit to the Globe Theatre, the London Museum or a walking lecture following the route taken by Mrs Dalloway in Virginia Woolf's novel of the same name.  

Writing that Works

This module will introduce students to Future Skills through engagement with the Navigate programme. It will enable students to begin to develop their professional identity and global citizenship, by promoting their understanding of ethical issues and values, design thinking, and commercial awareness. These concepts and associated activities will support students to plan their own personal and professional development, as a means of developing their creative practice. This will be supported through active engagement with the Navigate programme, and through personal development planning (supported by Personal Tutors), which will enable students to reflect upon their Future Skills graduate attributes. It will also enable students to reflect on and begin to evidence their understanding of the skills.

The module provides students with the opportunity to read and examine examples of writing in a range of academic literary and non-literary forms and to employ that knowledge via practical application by composing original writing in these forms. Students will then seek to obtain feedback from peers, module tutors and personal tutors, and respond to that feedback by producing further writing they then edit and submit in the studio hours and personal tutorial sessions.

The module is arranged into two strands: writing for ‘work' and reading for writers. Initially, in weekly lecture-workshops, students will explore what makes for successful writing in different contexts and, in weekly studio hours, will practice writing effectively in various modes and to different briefs. In the second strand, the module uses a range of texts to equip students with the terminology and techniques to analyse with confidence and reflect on various kinds of successful writing, including their own. 

The module equips students with the terminology and techniques to analyse with confidence various kinds of writing, including their own. In weekly lecture-workshops, students will explore what makes for successful writing in different contexts and, in weekly studio hours, will practice writing effectively in various modes and to different briefs.

Authorship and Audience

This module introduces students to theories around concepts of authorship and audience, exploring these ideas within a broader cultural context that includes literature, television, fan culture and video games. It invites students to apply their learning in practical and imaginative ways, through assessments that encourage diverse forms of creative writing, in addition to more traditional essays.

The module is divided into halves, one focused on authorship and the second on audience; in turn, each teaching block falls into two distinct sections, each with a writing workshop where theoretical ideas are creatively explored.

Teaching Block 1 begins with an introduction to theories of authorship in cinema and their origins in literature – the ‘camera-pen'. The second half of the semester examines a contemporary director and invites students to apply the theories they have learned to this more recent case study, before introducing ‘the death of the author' (Barthes) and the ‘author-function' (Foucault). These ideas lead us towards a focus on audience interpretation, rather than authorial intention.

Teaching Block 2 opens with a survey of approaches to audience, from the Frankfurt School, World War Two propaganda and the ‘hypodermic' model through the ‘uses and gratifications' theories of the 1950s to the cultural studies of Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School. It then explores the study of fandom to question whether fan culture celebrates or subverts dominant forms.

Writing workshops in both Teaching Blocks provide the opportunity for students to adapt a story into a script, demonstrating their knowledge of a specific director's authorial style; to develop a pitch for a new movie; to devise an audience study in the style of the 1940s, 1950s or 1960s approaches; and to apply auto-ethnography to their own fandom. Assessments are innovative and involve traditional essays, presentations, and creative scripts with critical commentaries, including the opportunity to submit video essays.

Year 2 core modules

Independent research studies.

This is a dissertation-style module, taught through a combination of small-group sessions and individual tutorials, in which students will have the opportunity to work on a sustained creative writing project of their choosing. They will produce a substantial piece of writing in a chosen form, having undertaken contextual reading in that form and engaged in other research as appropriate, such as location scouting, conducting interviews, or visiting archives and specialist collections. Through group workshops and presentations, as well as one-on-one tutorials, students will receive constructive feedback and guidance on how to plan, structure, write, revise, and edit their projects, and gain advice in developing the skills and habits necessary to working independently. In addition, students will learn how to plan strategies for the possible dissemination and promotion of their projects in the world outside the university, as professional authors would, such as through various methods of publication or performance. By learning to work independently and by planning the dissemination and promotion of their projects, students will acquire the entrepreneurial skills and abilities necessary for success in self-employment and in other professions.

Content, Form and Creativity

On this module, students will have the opportunity to progress their creative writing skills by exploring the relationship between theory and practice. They will also explore the connection between language, form, creativity, and style. Students will be presented with a range of theoretical and contextual approaches to the production and analysis of imaginative work, and will be invited to respond to these provocations through critical and creative writing.

Students will attend interactive lectures whose themes may include adaptation, narrative techniques for literary authors, history and narrative, identity and aesthetics, and mind style etc. Students will learn more advanced practical techniques for crafting expressive, imaginative work, which will allow them to make more sophisticated use of aspects such as voice, point of view, structure, character, imagery, and tone.

Workshops will draw on the language-based disciplines of linguistics, stylistics and narratology to explore the relation between content, form and creativity. The module will entail the reading, critical analysis and discussion of texts by a variety of classic and contemporary authors, whose work reflects the diverse range of styles, influences and approaches at work today. Students can choose to experiment with writing the novel, short story, script for radio, stage or screen, or poetry.

Students will be asked to provide thoughtful, constructive feedback through peer review. Along with developing their own personal sense of voice and style, students will practise applying skills learned on the module to real-world situations faced by professional authors, such as writing a piece for a commission or for a target audience.

Year 2 option modules

Transforming realities: innovation and social change in twentieth century and contemporary literature.

This module is an optional period module at Level 5. It will begin by exploring literature published from the 1930s through to the present day, and will examine the strategies writers have used in response to a changing Britain and wider world. We will consider how twentieth and twenty-first-century texts adapt realist, modernist and postmodern techniques to engage with issues such as the rise of mass culture, the threat of totalitarianism, the establishment of the Welfare State, post-war immigration, and sexual liberation. To enhance your perspective on these issues, you will be introduced to non-fiction material by other contemporary writers, such as J.B. Priestley, Erich Fromm, Iris Murdoch, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Richard Hoggart, and George Lamming, as well as more recent critical and theoretical material.  The module also examines the development and continuing popularity of realist drama in the twentieth century. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which realist drama is used as a tool of social and political examination in the various contexts of pre-Revolutionary Russia, Dublin in the aftermath of the First World War, and the establishment of the welfare state in Britain after 1945. Secondly, we will examine the developments in non-realist forms of drama and the experiments which gave rise to what is, somewhat controversially, called the 'Theatre of the Absurd'. The module culminates with the study of a selection of texts chosen to illustrate the great variety of genres and styles in contemporary British literature and to exemplify literature written by different nationalities and social groups. Underpinned by relevant theoretical perspectives, questions will be raised about the relation between literature and contemporary events, with relation to issues pertinent to literature, such as social mobility, hybridity, democracy and technology. In recent years, authors studied have included Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, George Orwell, Sylvia Plath, Harold Pinter, Alan Hollinghurst, and Zadie Smith.

Screenwriting

Film is often seen as a director's medium, rather than a writer's. This course doesn't debate the relative claims of either – it retains a strong commitment to the visual – but its primary focus is on the construction of script and, in particular, the screenplay of the mainstream narrative film.

The cornerstone of the module is an exploration of what makes an effective screen story through analysis of dramatic structure. The tutors on this module, both experienced screenwriters, contend that all genres of screen narrative use essentially the same core principles of storytelling and that an understanding of how these principles work is a creative tool: we can use them to create our own stories and adapt them to different forms. First, through close study of several successful films – focusing in particular on structure and character – you will be taught the contribution of the screenplay to how a film is constructed and why it succeeds. Second, with particular emphasis on dialogue and the craft of visual storytelling, we will guide you to the creation and completion of your own short screenplay, providing you with models (in both film and script form) from a selection of short films, and teaching you how to present and format your script.

Students will be invited to demonstrate their knowledge of structure and screenwriting craft in analysis of a feature film. In TB2 they will pitch an original idea for a screen narrative before developing their own screenplay.

Sex and the City: From Victorian Metropolis to Modernist Wasteland

This module is an optional period module at Level 5. We will study key texts from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries that register the ways in which Britain is transformed by the Industrial Revolution, and which give expression to fears about technology, social mobility and urban culture. We will consider literature of the period that questions and resists established theories of gendered identity, and which challenges the literary representation of sexuality, defying censorship in the process. We will be introduced to writers who engage with contemporary debates about science, religion, the empire, and racial and national identity. And we will encounter a range of consciously modern texts which dislocate and make new the reader's experience by technical innovation and experiment. In recent years, writers studied have included Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf.

Adaptations

This module examines the adaptation, as both industrial process and creative practice, of various kinds of cultural works into other forms. The first half of the module focuses on cinematic adaptations of works of fiction. Through a series of case studies students will explore the history of cinematic adaptation and key ideas through which adaptation has been framed, including fidelity, medium specificity, authorship and intertextuality. The second half of the module examines more diverse types of adaptation: literary engagements with previously published works of fiction; adaptions of comics and theatrical works to screen; and the more recent transports between video games, fiction and television. Students explore the commercial, creative and political imperatives that shape such adaptations, as well as the reasons for why some cultural texts and forms remain unadapted or have been deemed unadaptable. Whereas the first half of the module is assessed by a critical essay, the second half is examined via a creative project, which may take the form of an adapted screenplay and critical commentary, a commercial proposal to adapt an overlooked text, or a reworking of a previously published literary text.

Final Year core modules

Professional communication.

This module is a capstone for the Creative Writing degree. The module asks students to synthesise knowledge developed across the programme, and to articulate and apply this knowledge in professional contexts.

In the first part of the module, supported by industry professionals drawn from the programmes Industry Advisory Board, skills workshops, Kingston's Careers and Employability Service activities, and online training provision, students will develop an individually-designed digital professional portfolio that will communicate their creative talents and broader transferable skills.

In the second part of the module, students will work in small groups as miniature creative agencies on live professional briefs commissioned by industry professionals, developing both their writing and transferable skills in real work scenarios.

Dissertation

The dissertation is a core module for all students. Under guidance from an allocated specialist member of staff, and supported by interactive workshops, you will produce a sustained piece of research, either in the form of a traditional 10,000-word dissertation or in the form of creative project and accompanying 3,000-word rationale. The module culminates in a student conference. You will work with your peers to organise this, and your contribution to it will also be assessed. An initial dissertation proposal must be submitted in September before the module begins. At the end of the module, you will have produced a critically engaged and fully developed piece of independent research.

Final Year option modules

Box set drama: writing for television.

This is the module that can make you rich! On terrestrial and digital platforms, in both drama and comedy, the returning drama series remains TV's holy grail, pulling viewers in for episode after episode, season after season, box set after box set. For producers and writers – and the ‘showrunners' who are both – a returning series can be a goldmine. So how do these TV blockbusters get made? What makes them successful? And could you write one?

Taught by two highly experienced professionals, Box Set Drama is a practical and creative module which explores how a returning drama or comedy series is conceived and constructed – and gives you the tools to write one. Through close study of a few successful shows (and some not so successful), you will learn how to structure a series, build characters and stories, hook an audience, and dramatise action for the screen. Building from concept to treatment to script, with the aid of practical exercises and regular feedback, you will then develop a pitch for your own original show, aimed at the current television market. If you are keen to understand screen narrative and genre, find out how television drama works and explore writing for a visual medium, this module is for you. You will be taught basic principles of scriptwriting and storylining and, after two stimulating and entertaining semesters, will have generated a pitch and supporting portfolio for your own idea, written to industry standards.

Special Study: Innovations in Poetry and Prose

This module will cover the study of a number of different kinds of poetry and prose, with a focus on innovations in contemporary literature. It will examine some of the 20th- and 21st-century movements that have informed, and continue to influence, contemporary poetry and prose. These include modernism, dada, surrealism, sound poetry, visual poetry, constraint-based writing, the nouveau roman and "language" poetry, as well as the aesthetic and stylistic theories underpinning them (for instance, in manifestos and essays about poetry written by the poets and writers themselves).

Attention will be given to the contextual aspects of poetry and prose, as well as the content. The course will explore the reasons poets and writers innovate, the reasoning for experimentation and the ways in which poets and writers shape and structure poems and prose, exploring the nature of sound and language itself. The content of such works will be explored, which may involve non-traditional subject matter or interactions with other art forms, such as music or the visual arts, and their theoretical underpinning too (literary, social, theoretical, historical, stylistic). Analysis of the works studied will be reinforced by practical exercises and assignments designed to enable students to understand these concepts in relation to their own creative work, and to offer them the opportunity to experiment with their own writing and poetry.

Students will make poetry and prose portfolios and/or recorded readings which they can use as part of their writing CV, and which may be featured in the end-of-year Awards and Achievement Show.

Special Study: Narrative Techniques in Popular Fiction

This challenging and interesting special study module aims to provide you with the opportunity to engage with different examples of popular fiction such as crime fiction, romance, the thriller, and science fiction. It will enable you to identify the standard practices of popular genres and understand why they succeed or fail in particular texts. It will encourage you in the critical study of narrative techniques to best learn how to apply them in a work of popular fiction. You will experiment in writing crime, SF, thriller and romance stories before choosing one or two of these genres to take through to your final submission. All this will be put into the context of more general and transferable lessons to be learnt in the art of compelling storytelling.

For each genre studied you will read two core novels, plus a more general theoretical text on narrative construction. The module is lead by a writer of four published crime/thrillers.

Gender and Sexuality

This module traces how literature from the 19 th century to the present has concerned itself with questions of gender identity and sexuality, often offering a radical voice for those - including both women and LGBTQ+ voices - excluded from dominant and mainstream discourses. Rooted in feminist and queer theory, we will explore how feminist writing has critiqued patriarchy, how literature has challenged normative gender roles, how it has engaged with powerful questions regarding the body and the politics of desire, and how it has represented the debates within different facets of the feminist and queer community. We will also consider how writers have employed literary form and genre - for example the use of experimental writing, dramatic or poetic form, or the romance genre - and to what extent debates surrounding these forms and genre contribute to a gendered politics of cultural production. Explicitly intersectional in its approach, we will frame our discussions with an interrogation of how the politics of gender and sexuality is shaped by its relationship with questions of class, race, disability, and religion. Examples of authors studied might include Jeanette Winterson, Fleur Adock, Carol Ann Duffy, Tony Kushner, Clare Macintyre, Leila Aboulela, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Virginia Woolf.

Making Shakespeare: Text, Performance and Adaptation

This optional Level 6 module allows you to pursue Shakespeare studies at an advanced level and is founded upon a detailed and extensive study of the writer and his works. Consideration will be given to a range of critical approaches to Shakespeare as well as the long history and dynamic status of Shakespeare in performance and adaptation, for example in relation to questions of gender, identity and globalisation. You will be encouraged to reflect upon the role of Shakespeare in culture now as well as relevant contemporary contexts such as the nature of early modern theatregoing alongside crucial political and religious conditions. Teaching on the module will be closely aligned with the rich resources available at the Rose Theatre and in particular will afford you the opportunity to participate in the stimulating series of talks and events organised as part of the Kingston Shakespeare Seminar (KiSS).

Black and Asian Writing

This module examines the rich and dynamic presence of black and Asian writing in English from the mid-17th century to the present. It will explore the ways in which black and Asian writers have produced formally innovative and conceptually challenging responses to questions of race, class, gender and identity, while simultaneously making significant creative contributions to the fields of drama, prose, poetry, and life-writing. In the first half of the module, students will study a range of early texts from the mid-17th century to the 19th century from writers such as Equiano and Mary Seacole, alongside contemporary works that have reflected on black culture during this period, while the second half of the module turns to 20th century and contemporary texts by writers such as Zadie Smith, Andrea Levy, and Salman Rushdie contextualised by appropriate critical and cultural theories from thinkers such as Paul Gilroy and Stuart Hall.

Radical Writers

Salman Rushdie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Geoffrey Chaucer, Audre Lorde, Charlotte Bronte, Chinua Achebe, Mary Shelley, John Milton, Lawrence Sterne, Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison...the list is endless. At every point in literary history there are writers who break the mould and challenge the status quo. Whether it is through writing epics that endure through centuries, addressing the injustices of the time or challenging the very notion of what a novel, poem or a play can do, writers can be radical in a number of exciting ways. This module looks at works by radical writers in depth, studying one famous text in detail by a range of writers from different time periods and taught by lecturers who are experts in these writers. We will look at the context of each text as well as the way the text is written, determining why these radical writers have been so successful and looking at the effects their texts have had on the world around them. We will look at the idea of the literary 'canon', made up of writers who have been radical in some way, and consider the way that this idea can be challenged, reinvigorated or refreshed.

In your first year, you'll be introduced to the field of creative writing through a variety of practical workshops and seminars. You'll attend interactive lectures, small-group discussions and individual writing exercises. You'll also be introduced to the history of cinema and key ideas in the study of film.

In the second year, there is an increasing emphasis on private study and independent writing. You'll develop the appropriate skills, techniques, and practices in order to produce a sustained piece of writing in poetry and fiction. Your explorations of film with take on an increasingly international focus.

In your final year, you'll have the opportunity to complete an extended writing project on a subject of your choice, and to work on real-life industry projects, giving you vital employment experience. You will produce advanced-level writing for and about film and television.

From Pre-Cinema to Post-Cinema

This module takes students from the pre-history of film, and its 19 th  century origins in photography, science and optical toys, through to the post-digital, multi-platform era of the 21 st . Encompassing both Hollywood and key cinema movements from around the world, the module will explore the development of cinema in relation to its surrounding culture. It looks at how technological and economic changes shaped film throughout its history, and how it evolved into its current form.

Global Visions: History, Theory and Cultures of International Cinema

Film is a representational medium at both an iconographic and narrative level. Through an in-depth analysis of visual and narrative strategies, this module will explore film as a signifying system that creates complex and richly suggestive meanings that mediate our understanding of the wider world through universal mythical and archetypical structures. Drawing on approaches pioneered in various disciplines, such as literary studies, philosophy, history, and cultural studies, the module will demonstrate how films synthesise these ideas in complex and innovative ways. Viewing film and visual culture as embedded in society and politics, the module will explore how ideological concepts are embodied in cultural forms, and explore how these forms can also offer counterpoints to dominant ways of thinking through a broad set of approaches to cinematic narratives, ranging across genres and geographies. It will consider therefore how  different regional/national and cultural/industrial circumstances have determined visual traditions across a range of cultural contexts.

Final year core modules

Power and the image.

The module explores the relationship between politics and the image, from a range of critical approaches including post-colonialism, post-modernism, and post-humanism. We look at a range of films that run counter to dominant discourses in relation to race, gender, sexuality and the body, including mainstream and European cinema, science fiction and neo-noir.

This degree is also available with a sandwich option. Students selecting this route will be supported by the placements office in finding a suitable work placement.

You can also study abroad or take a work placement in your second year at locations in Europe, the United States, and Australia.

Please note

Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.

Foundation year – Humanities & Arts

You can also study this course with a Foundation year.

Future Skills

Knowledge to give you the edge.

Embedded within every course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience, Future Skills will play a role in shaping you to become a future-proof graduate, providing you with the skills most valued by employers such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability.

As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills, learning to demonstrate and articulate to employers how future skills give you the edge.

At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it.

Entry requirements

Typical offer 2025.

UCAS tariff points: 112-128 for BA (Hons); 64 for BA (Hons) including foundation year.

Level 3 qualifications, English Language/Literature, Creative Writing or similar subjects (A-levels, BTEC Diploma, Access Diploma, IB Diploma, etc.). Grade C required.

General Studies/Native Language accepted when one of three A-levels or equivalent.

Typical offer 2024

Additional requirements.

Entry on to this course does not require an interview, entrance test, audition or portfolio.

International

All non-UK applicants must meet our English Language requirements. For this course it is Academic IELTS of 6.0 overall, with no element below 5.5.

Make sure you read our full guidance about  English language requirements , which includes details of other qualifications we consider.

Applicants who do not meet the English language requirements could be eligible to join our  pre-sessional English language course .

Applicants from recognised  majority English-speaking countries (MESCs)  do not need to meet these requirements.

Country-specific information

You will find more information on country-specific entry requirements in the International section of our website.

Find your country:

• Middle East

Typical offer and UCAS points explained

Like most universities, we use the UCAS Tariff point system for our course entry requirements.

Find out more about UCAS Tariff points  and see how A-level, AS level, BTEC Diploma and T-level qualifications translate to the points system.

Teaching and assessment

Scheduled learning and teaching on this course includes timetabled activities including lectures, seminars and small group tutorials.

It may also include critiques, project work, studio practice and performance, digital labs, workshops, and placements.

Guided independent study (self-managed time)

Outside the scheduled learning and teaching hours, you will learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, preparing for and completing your work for assessments. Some independent study work may need to be completed on-campus, as you may need to access campus-based facilities such as studios and labs.

Academic support

Our  academic support team  here at Kingston University provides help in a range of areas.

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor . This is the member of academic staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at Kingston and show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer at Kingston University.

Your workload

A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.

One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 120 credits across a year (typical for an undergraduate course) would equate to 1,200 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below for each year of study. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.

• Year 1: 22.17% scheduled learning and teaching
• Year 2:  18.52% scheduled learning and teaching
• Year 3: 17.56% scheduled learning and teaching

The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.

Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.

How you will be assessed

Types of assessment.

• Year 1: Coursework 100%
• Year 2: Coursework 100%
• Year 3: Coursework 100%

Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.

Feedback summary

We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled learning and teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9am and 6pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 20 students and lecture sizes are normally 10-30. However this can vary by module and academic year.

Who teaches this course?

Many of the Creative Writing teaching team are published authors, with extensive experience and professional links: they will help you to develop your skills, networks and gain access to industry contacts. Their expertise and knowledge is closely matched to the content of the modules on this course. 

Academic teaching is supported by visiting speakers and guest lecturers who enhance your learning. You'll also attend recitals, readings and poetry festivals through Writers' Centre Kingston.

Mr Albert Pellicer

Course leader.

Dr Adam Baron

Admissions tutor.

Dr Meg Jensen

Mr Oludiran Adebayo

Dr Paul Booth

Dr Simon Brown

Dr Martin Dines

Mr Steven J. Fowler

Dr Marina Lambrou

Dr Karen A Lipsedge

Dr James Miller

Dr Patrick O'Neill

The campus at Penrhyn Road is a hive of activity, housing the main student restaurant, the learning resources centre (LRC), and a host of teaching rooms and lecture theatres.

At the heart of the campus is the John Galsworthy building, a six-storey complex that brings together lecture theatres, flexible teaching space and information technology suites around a landscaped courtyard.

Fees and funding

2025/26 fees for this course.

The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student. In 2025/26  the fees for this course are:

For courses with Professional Placement, the  fee for the placement year  can be viewed on the  undergraduate fees table . The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.

* For full time programmes of a duration of more than one academic year, the published fee is an annual fee, payable each year, for the duration of the programme. Your annual tuition fees cover your first attempt at all of the modules necessary to complete that academic year. A re-study of any modules will incur additional charges calculated by the number of credits. Home tuition fees may be subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body. Full time taught International fees are subject to an annual increase and are published in advance for the full duration of the programme.

Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest-rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.

2024/25 fees for this course

The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student. In 2024/25 the fees for this course are:

* For full time programmes of a duration of more than one academic year, the published fee is an annual fee, payable each year, for the duration of the programme. Your annual tuition fees cover your first attempt at all of the modules necessary to complete that academic year. A re-study of any modules will incur additional charges calculated by the number of credits. Home tuition fees may be subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body. Full time taught international fees are subject to an annual increase and are published in advance for the full duration of the programme.

Note for EU students: UK withdrawal from the European Union

The Government has announced that new students from the European Union and Swiss Nationals starting their course after August 2021 will no longer be eligible for a student loan in England for Undergraduate or Postgraduate studies from the 2021/22 academic year. This decision only applies to new EU students starting after 2021/22. If you are an existing/continuing EU student, you will continue to be funded until you graduate or withdraw from your course.

Need to know more?

Our undergraduate fees and funding section provides information and advice on money matters.

Additional costs

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.

Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. You may prefer to buy your own copy of key textbooks, this can cost between £50 and £250 per year.

Computer equipment

There are open-access networked computers available across the University, plus laptops available to loan . You may find it useful to have your own PC, laptop or tablet which you can use around campus and in halls of residences. Free WiFi is available on each of the campuses. You may wish to purchase your own computer, which can cost from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.

Photocopying and printing

In the majority of cases written coursework can be submitted online. There may be instances when you will be required to submit work in a printed format. Printing, binding and photocopying costs are not included in your tuition fees, this may cost up to £100 per year.

Travel costs are not included in your tuition fees but we do have a free intersite bus service which links the campuses, Surbiton train station, Kingston upon Thames train station, Norbiton train station and halls of residence.

Field trips

There may be optional study visits and field trips. These range from £25 for local trips to various costs for international trips.

After you graduate

Graduates from this course go on to work in creative writing, digital media, curation, public relations, journalism, publishing, communications, teaching and the civil service. Some of our alumni have become published authors.

Student success

Oyinkan's novel, My Sister, The Serial Killer , was reviewed in The New Yorker and featured on BBC Radio 4's Front Row and Open Book programmes, shortlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019. 

"Kingston University was one of very few places offering the unique combination of Creative Writing and Law. I loved the general vibe of Kingston: it gave me the movement and ease of city life but without the usual chaos. I enjoyed the various modules on the course and liked the lecturers, who were easily accessible and happy to work with you in order to help you achieve your best grade."

Oyinkan Braithwaite studied Creative Writing

96% of our creative writing students were employed or in further education six months after graduation.

Our creative writing graduates have all been highly successful in securing work after completing their courses.

Based on data from the DLHE (2015)

Liam Livings was listed for the Romantic Novelists' Association Award for his novel Adventures in Dating … In Heels in the Books and the City Romantic Comedy Novel category. Liam said, ‘I didn't win, but just having a novel about a cross dressing gay man looking for love in the '90s felt like something good.

Liam Livings, who studied BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Links with business and industry

The Creative Writing degree has been developed as part of a major project in professional writing run by Writers' Centre Kingston which includes the development of online learning, short courses, and industry forums.

As part of this project, you'll have unique access to masterclasses involving our creative partners, which include individuals from companies including Macmillan Publishers, The Creative Society, PwC, Greene & Heaton literary agency and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. These partners will offer workshops and guest lectures.

As part of the major project, you'll undertake a piece of professional standard work in response to a live brief set by an employer, giving you valuable professional experience to prepare you for a career in writing.

Key information set

The scrolling banner(s) below display some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).

Course changes and regulations

The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course.  Course changes explained .

Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.

Regulations governing this course  can be found on our website.

Related courses

Journalism and Media BA (Hons)

Journalism BA (Hons)

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Creative Writing BA

Key information.

Course code

W801 with placement

Placement available

Mode of study

3 years full-time

4 years full-time with placement

4.5-6 years part-time

International £19,430

Entry requirements

AAB - BBC (A-level)

Creative Writing is ranked 4th in The Guardian Subject Rankings 2024. 

Our Creative Writing BA course has been designed to inspire high levels of creativity, initiative and originality in the design, production, interpretation and analysis of creative writing along with a chance to develop interdisciplinary projects.

You will be taught the key genres of creative writing by some of the most talented and original writers working today. Between them, they’ve published over 100 books, produced countless scripts for TV, radio and film, and won umpteen awards. The teaching team includes renowned authors like Bernardine Evaristo, Hannah Lowe and Max Kinnings.

From week one you’ll write and interact with your peer group of creative writers. You will share ideas and give constructive feedback to others on their creative work.

In your first year you’ll gain a solid grounding in how to write fiction, drama and poetry, and study world literature. You can choose a variety of subjects in your second year such as journalism and screenwriting. In your final year, the Creative Industries module helps you consider your career options and shape your future. Your final year Special Project will allow you to specialise in your chosen field and choose from a wealth of specialist options.

We invite many successful authors to give guest talks covering different aspects of creative writing. Industry expert speakers include book publishers, screenwriters, poets and broadcasters. You have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London, the literary capital of the UK. You’ll benefit from trips to the British Library, Shakespeare’s Globe and West End theatres.

Our BA in creative writing can be studied full-time over three years, four years with a placement year, or part-time over six years.

We encourage the placement year option. This time helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on a creative writing placement year, you could find yourself working at magazine publishers, film production companies, or even the London Screenwriters’ Festival. Some placements lead to jobs on graduation.

You’ll have the opportunity to get your work published before you graduate. At least one anthology of creative work is produced each year, curated and edited by our creative writing students. We run many literary events including performance showcases, film screenings, and a student-led e-magazine, so there will be many ways for you to share your creative work.

"Studying a variety of subjects and gaining work experience in different industries helped me build a unique stack of talents. " - Aldo Scott

"Studying at Brunel has made me realise how much I enjoy writing and how after studying it for 3 years I don’t want to stop! " - Thomas Willet

"The course at Brunel is full of lecturers that work (or have worked) in the industry, which is invaluable for learning what a writing career is really like." - Matt Luke

Course content

In the first year you will start building a portfolio of your creative writing. You will follow your interests in the second year and master the craft of creative writing in your final year. English is studied in all three years. Your final year major project is an in-depth study of a creative writing topic of your choice.

The purpose of this module is to enable Creative Writing and English Literature students to develop a grounding in effective writing practices and core competencies of textual production. Students will develop an understanding of the different stages of textual production, from prewriting, research, planning and outlining, to drafting, feedback and editing, polishing and submission, as well as an understanding of core writing mechanics. This module will enable students to explore and practice the differing conventions of textual production in a variety of areas of academia and the creative industries, from non-fiction modes such as the academic essay, critical and reflective writing, to screenplays and fiction manuscripts.

This module focuses on the key skills of critical and close reading, as central to the study of literature. Learning the skills necessary to read at a higher level, including the interpretation and analysis of literary texts, is a core competency for students of English literature. The central aim of this module, therefore, is to enhance and develop students’ engagement with primary and secondary texts. Students will learn how to analyse and interpret complex texts in various genres, making use of the established techniques and approaches of the discipline. Students will engage with the idea of critical reading as a practice-based and culturally-informed act that must be learned and developed. Teaching is shaped around the goal of developing students’ “reading resilience”, that is, the ability to read, discuss, and write about, varied and challenging texts with confidence. Through discussion, group workshops, lectures and individual tasks, students will become proficient in working with literary and rhetorical texts, learning skills that are essential throughout the degree. The module forms a foundational aspect of the degree programme, benchmarking skills such as time management, evidence-based analysis, and close reading.

This module is designed to introduce students to the core elements and skills necessary for writing fiction. Aided by close reading and discussion of fiction by published writers, students will develop knowledge and understanding of core elements of the craft, such

as character, setting, plot, dialogue, as well as key skills such as understanding audience, showing rather than telling, and writing to a specified word-count and brief. Students will practice these core competencies and also learn how to workshop their prose, developing skills for the giving and receiving of constructive feedback to enable redrafting of works-in-progress. Students will reflect upon their inspirations, reading and the development of their craft.

This module is designed to introduce students to the core elements and skills necessary for writing poetry. Aided by close reading and discussion of poetry by published writers, students will develop knowledge and understanding of core elements of the craft, such as the poetic line, working in form and free verse, sound and voice, as well as key skills such as concision and redrafting. Students will practice these core competencies and also learn how to workshop poems, developing skills for the giving and receiving of constructive feedback to enable redrafting of works-in-progress. Students will reflect upon their inspirations, reading and the development of their craft.

This module aims to introduce students to the study of World Literature, introducing key critical approaches and engaging with texts from contrasting cultural locations. Students will learn about rich and varied world literary traditions and forms; acquire theoretical perspectives; build a world literary critical vocabulary; engage in debates about the meaning and role of world literature and reflect on creative practice and literary production in world contexts.

This module aims to introduce students to the study of the literature of London, introducing key critical approaches and engaging with texts from a range of cultural backgrounds. Students will learn about London’s rich and varied literary traditions and forms; acquire theoretical perspectives; build a literary critical vocabulary; engage in debates about the meaning and role of London in literature and reflect on creative practice and literary production in relation to London’s diverse past and present.

This module will introduce you to the practice of creative journaling. You will explore the different ways this practice can support your personal and professional development as creatives. You will critically analyze the creative journals of writers, musicians, and artists, and keep a weekly creative journal, experimenting with different approaches and techniques for documenting and reflecting on their creativity.

It’s important in the film and television industry to consider whose stories are being told, who is in creative roles behind the camera and how people are being represented. This module will explore identity politics and consider theory such as feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism and disability studies, among others. We will consider how certain identities are portrayed onscreen both historically and now.

1. Developing a reflective mind and ways to think and discuss music

2. Learning to write about it with knowledge and critical depth

3. Understanding how music is made; its forms and structures

4. Experiencing music from a diverse range of musical genres

5. Comparisons of approaches across a range of styles and genres from Gregorian chant to Aphex Twin

6. Developing a clear and appropriate vocabulary for critical discussion and writing

7. Understanding the function of the music and its context in society

This module aims to help you think about your future and take proactive steps towards realising your aspirations after university. At the heart of this module are four professional development activities, which you will be selecting, completing, and reflecting on. These could range from gaining work experience in a field that interests you, to volunteering, learning a language, completing business or skills development courses, publishing a website or articles on a blog, or gaining editorial or media production experience. You are encouraged to think creatively: providing that each activity is developmental for you and your tutor agrees, the sky is the limit.

This module examines the shifting status of genre fiction in the late nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries by exploring a range of genres (Detective, Gothic, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and crossovers between these). Besides gaining an understanding of some of the key thematic and formal conventions of these genres, and how these have changed over time and with respect to shifting social and political contexts, you will gain an understanding of the critical public sphere that exists beyond academic institutions. Beyond academia, there is a world of reviews, blogs, conventions, and festivals relating to books. Therefore, while this module will cover the academic study of genre fiction and require you to write a conventionally structured and referenced academic essay, it will also branch out to consider this wider context by looking at some reviews and debates from the public sphere and require you to write a review of your own.

The short story is one of the most powerful and satisfying forms of writing to produce. This module focusses on writing and understanding intricate masterpieces in the short story form. We read a wide variety of powerful short stories together—by writers from across the globe, from the mundane and the moving to the strange and experimental— looking closely to help understand what techniques make them so effective, and how we can develop individual approaches to writing our own original stories in response. The exact structure changes each year, but some of the topics covered previously included: subverting and updating traditional fairy-tales; stories with unusual approaches to time; Weird Tales of the impossible and unexplainable; flash fiction; climate change fiction.

This module focusses on three popular and enduring genres—horror, science fiction, and fantasy— which provide endless fascination for readers and practitioners alike. We will explore these genres via lectures, seminars (including writing workshops) and the study of classic and emerging writers from each genre. At the end, you will have written a body of work in each genre, with a core understanding of their key features. The module has featured discussion of writers such as Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, Angela Carter, Gwyneth Jones, William Gibson, Octavia Butler, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Brandon Sanderson, and more. Sub-genres and styles discussed include space opera, Grimdark, urban fantasy, utopian/dystopian fiction, cosmic horror, body horror, and weird fiction.

This module will allow you to explore a range of life writing practices such as memoir, autofiction, the personal essay, the lyric essay, confessional poetry and more in a safe and supportive environment. You’ll be inspired by a range of contemporary writers such as Rebecca Solnit, Ocean Vuong, Maggie Nelson, Patricia Lockwood, Nina Mingya Powles and others. You’ll consider the ethics of life writing such as writing about family, and draw on your own experiences, interests and passions throughout.

This module looks at a range of twenty-first century fiction originating from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, to explore diverse experiences of inequality in an era of globalisation. It interrogates a range of novels, stories, and poetry in light of theoretical concepts drawn from world-literary theory and materialist feminism, asking whether and how socially committed fiction can challenge the overlapping oppressions of contemporary times.

The purpose of this module is to study the interrelation of genre – the novel – and period – the nineteenth century. Through the chronological study of a representative selection of five texts, the module will introduce the key generic elements of the nineteenth-century novel, and chart changes in their deployment over the course of the century. Particular attention will be paid to Realism and Gothic. In addition to narrative form, a range of social and cultural contexts will be suggested as a means of accounting for, and understanding, textual features. Stress will be placed throughout on close textual analysis.

In this module we study the literature of the early twentieth century with particular emphasis on those authors who attempted to break away from received norms of literary style and content. As well as providing an overview of the defining textual features of modernism, the module is concerned with the interrelation of text and context, seeing modernist literature as both of, and self-consciously ahead of, its historical moment. We will take into account transnational and cross-cultural contexts, including discussions of the decline of empire, World War I, trauma, the expatriate experience, the legacies of slavery, changing attitudes to feminism, sexuality, class, and shifting constructions of identity.

The political events of the late eighteenth century – the American War of Independence, French Revolution, and Napoleonic wars – dramatically changed the lives, ideas, and aesthetics of the Romantic Britain. Evolving from the mid 1770s to the mid 1820s, the period we now call Romanticism signalled a profound change in the form and content of literature, breaking away from the neo-classical conventions of the Augustans which had dominated much of the eighteenth century, and turning to the regional, folkloric, and numinous traditions of British and European literatures. Working in a range of genres, including the novel, pamphlets, poetry, and philosophical, satirical, and travel writing, Romantic writers responded to a set of urgent, ethical, aesthetic, and environmental changes. In the module we consider the ‘first generation’ (Wordsworth, Coleridge, William Blake) and ‘second generation’ Romantics (Shelley, Byron, and Keats), and important political writers such as Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, and William Godwin. Alongside these now-canonical names we read a diverse range of women and Black writers who contributed just as significantly to key Romantic debates: Anna Aikin, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Ottobah Cugoano, Ouladah Equiano, Hannah More, Ann Radcliffe, Mary Robinson, Ignatius Sancho, Mary Shelley, Helen Maria Williams, Dorothy Wordsworth, Phillis Wheatley, and Anne Yearsley.

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce the study of Shakespeare at an advanced level, in greater depth, with an emphasis upon the types of study skills required for advanced critical work in the fields of ‘book history’ and ‘performance studies’
• To introduce and define both ‘book history’ and ‘performance studies’
• To introduce advanced methods of analysis of early modern texts, both in their original context and in their subsequent manifestations in print
• To introduce textual scholarship about language, performance and the visual layout of text – both in Shakespeare’s time and in the present day
• The course will enable students to gain an understanding and experience of the concept of the Shakespearean text as an artefact and art form, one constantly evolving through criticism, editorial intervention and performance

This module introduces students to a range of contemporary British and Irish fiction, developing knowledge of the variety and complexity of contemporary writing and its relation to social and cultural context. The module examines texts which employ a range of themes, forms, and styles. It asks what we mean by the term ‘contemporary’ and encourages analysis of the relationship between texts and the historical moments in which they are produced and consumed.

Postcolonial writing often comes out of difficult circumstances. Writers studied on this module sometimes risked everything to publish what they needed to say. These are the new pioneers of Literature in English whose works would inspire and define the writings of the future. A central focus of the module is to get to grips with the key concepts encountered in postcolonial studies, which have been developed to investigate the phenomena of colonialism and resistance, multiculturalism and globalization, racism, and Islamophobia. Using these, we will be exploring the works of a series of important and fascinating writers. The texts which we will be studying show a variety of different perspectives on colonialism and its legacies, including those of imperialists and the peoples they tried to suppress.

The module introduces students to the professional practice and theory of screenwriting for film and television. Although the short film is the main focus of study, the classic, feature length narrative fiction film, television drama, and films from alternative and non- narrative traditions will also be considered. The module is substantially practice-based. All students will write an original screenplay to a maximum length of 10 pages. Students will also produce supporting documents, such as a Story Proposal, Beat Sheet, and Scene Outlines. The module also requires students to analyse films and scripts – including their own and contemporaries’ – from a screenwriting perspective. Students will produce analyses of key features of films and screenplays and write the screenplay for a short film.

This module is designed to build upon foundational skills and knowledge acquired on the first-year poetry module. You will continue to write in increasingly exciting new ways to

liberate the poet within. You will also expand your awareness of work that is being produced in the current world of UK poetry, the manner in which new mediums and technologies are being employed, and the manner in which this work might challenge previous conceptualisations and traditions in the field. In conclusion, you will acquire crafting tips while trying out traditional and innovate ways to write. There is no expectation of a house style. Your own approach to poetry based on what you will have learned is all that is required. Be excited by your own work, and I (Daljit) will be excited in turn to read it.

This module is double-weighted and is your chance to pursue your own creative project with support from a supervisor. You’ll meet regularly with your supervisor to plan, draft, and edit your work, and there will also be Zoom sessions to support your learning throughout that focus on planning, researching, carving out time to write and more. Some students write the opening chapters to a novel and submit this along with an industry standard synopsis, having researched potential agents and publishers. Others submit poetry pamphlets, screenplays, collections of short stories, illustrated children’s books, YA novels, interactive fiction projects and more.

This module is focused on your professional development. It will enable you to understand the creative economy and the ways in which people develop careers within it. You will be able to plan your own career after graduation, to identify your goals and write the documents you will need to achieve them. Members of the Creative Writing department at Brunel along with visiting speakers will help you to become familiar with the creative industries through which writers reach their audience. By exploring all areas of your professional development, we will enable you to make a career plan for the next five years, to identify the opportunities and skills you will need and to research the choices you will make in the immediate future.

This module aims to expand your understanding of all aspects of contemporary fiction. It will give you a solid grounding for your longer future creative writing projects, and also give you a chance to read and discuss a variety of fiction genres. You will analyse a range of fiction from a craft perspective which will deepen your understanding of how novels are constructed, and you can then apply this knowledge to your own fiction writing practice. Topics under discussion will also include the specific techniques involved in making your own writing more compelling such as story structure, characterisation, point of view, setting, and dialogue.

This module enables students to explore and develop the theory and professional practice of contemporary screenwriting. By the end of the module, students who participate in weekly assignments will produce a marketable pitch deck/series bible for a film or TV project, along with the first 15-20 pages of the script. The module is substantially practice-based and requires students to analyse screen works and scripts (including their own and peers’) from a screenwriting perspective.

This module gives an introduction to the field of psychology, exploring the basics of human behaviour and mental processes, important contributions to the field of psychology and the different approaches and goals of the various therapeutic orientations. Additionally, the module will introduce students to the field of creative writing for therapeutic purposes, including personal practice while studying examples of writing that illustrate the links between creativity and therapeutic outcomes. Some dramatherapy and art therapy techniques will be used during the workshop, although the primary focus is creative writing.

This module is structured around three ‘case studies’, each focused on a specific aspect of Victorian literature and culture:

• Class, Conflict, Identity
• Crime and Sensation: The Newspaper and the Novel
• Women and Society

The aims of the module are:

• to explore some of the ways in which Victorian literature might encode or challenge particular cultural assumptions
• to analyse some of the relationships between literary forms and genres, ideological values and changing social and aesthetic contexts of the Victorian period
• to consider how the knowledge of the Victorian period may contribute to the interpretation of texts produced during this time

This module considers twentieth century and contemporary writing in dialogue with feminist waves and movements as well as relevant theory. It focuses primarily on the Second and Third Waves of feminism, but with a broad recognition of First Wave influences and debates about an emergent Fourth Wave in the contemporary period. Feminism’s relationship to related and other gender/sexual equality movements will be considered along the way, most particularly in connection with LGBT perspectives and masculinity studies. Each week of the module brings theory into dialogue with literature pertaining to feminist perspectives, with an emphasis on women’s writing. The module considers key concepts, such as patriarchy, desire, social and biological claims about gender/sex, and intersectionalism. It pays close attention to the interrelationship between literature and activism, reflecting on the text’s potential to register and remediate the patriarchal order. An indicative reading list might include theorists such as

Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Patricia Hill Collins, Judith Butler, Susan Faludi, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Rebecca Walker. Literary texts will address the range and diversity of multiple feminisms as articulated from the 20th century to the present, with attention to the pluralisms and diversification of feminisms.

This module will introduce third-year students to the early modern interaction between Christians and Muslims, viewed from the perspective of both. It will introduce students to these interactions via English drama. It will explore how post-Reformation England learned to redefine itself as a Christian nation and how it dealt with increased trade and negotiations with Muslim nations. Main topics of study are:

• Common literary tropes about Muslims in early modern literature
• Christian and Islamic beliefs and fears in literature
• Travel writing – interaction of west and east
• Prose propaganda and multicultural London
• Writings in captivity
• The Muslim world in early modern English Literature

This module aims to develop your critical, cultural and aesthetic awareness of Post-War and Late Twentieth-Century Fiction by examining the work of both established and more experimental writers. The module focuses first on the sensibilities of the postwar period before exploring the emergence of the ‘postmodern’ as a way of understanding later twentieth century experience. It concludes by exploring the experimental fiction of three leading British writers, Ian McEwan, Angela Carter and Jeanette Winterson. Two particularly influential late-twentieth century theorists are encountered in detail, Jean Baudrillard and Judith Butler.

This module aims to develop students’ awareness of the representations of violence within modern culture. We engage with a variety of cultural materials—literary, visual, conceptual and technological—to ask a series of questions as regards the role of violence and coercion in our culture and everyday lives. The module is split into two parts. Part one, Bioviolence and Biopolitics looks at biopolitical theories of power, force, violence, coercion and exclusion. The second, Discourses of Coercion 2015-2020 applies the theory to case studies taken from events on the last five years or so such as #Blacklivesmatter, Grenfell Tower, and Coronavirus.

Focusing on Austen’s work in relation to adaptation, this module explores the forms of fiction she inherited as a young writer – the novels of Frances Burney and Ann Radcliffe – and how she adapted these models to her own work and concerns. It then considers how Austen was adapted in her turn, in a number of extremely popular films and series, to think about how the late eighteenth century ‘courtship’ and marriage plots continue to be reinvented through to the contemporary period. Texts may include: Radcliffe The Italian 1796, Austen Northanger Abbey (1803/ 1818), Frances Burney Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778), Austen Lady Susan (1794/1871), Austen Pride and Prejudice (1813), Robert Z. Leonard d. Pride and Prejudice (1940), Simon Langton d. Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sharon Maguire d. Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), Chris Van Dusen’s Bridgerton Season 1 (2020).

The module examines Ireland’s rich literary tradition via key historical touchstones including the Easter Rising of 1916, the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger. Theorised discussions of the meaning of Irish identity, intersections with colonialism, the Irish language and the worldwide diaspora will be framed via readings of poetry, novels, short stories, autobiography and drama. The principle aims of Writing Ireland are:

• To undertake a critical survey of a wide range of Irish writing in the English language including depictions of Ireland in poetry, drama and prose genres
• To explore the key political events which led to Ireland’s independence and to consider the role of literature in this and beyond
• To analyse the preconceptions, stereotypes and literary expectations of Irishness through identity debates and close reading

This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.

This course has a placement option. Find out more about work placements available.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Read more about the structure of undergraduate degrees at Brunel.

Careers and your future

A creative writing degree from Brunel is your passport to a wide range of career destinations within the literary and creative industries.

Our graduates are working in the arts, publishing, journalism, advertising, marketing and teaching. They have successful careers as novelists, journalists, screenwriters and travel writers. Others opt to follow Brunel’s career-focused MA in Creative Writing.

UK entry requirements

2024/25 entry.

• GCE A-level AAB-BBC.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DMM in any subject.
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DM in any subject, with an A-Level at grade C.
• BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma M in any subject, with A-Levels grade BB .
• International Baccalaureate Diploma 29 points.
• Obtain a minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points in the  Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3.
• A minimum of five GCSEs are required, including GCSE Mathematics grade C or grade 4 and GCSE English Language grade C or grade 4 or GCSE English Literature grade B or grade 5.
• T levels : Merit overall

Brunel University London is committed to raising the aspirations of our applicants and students. We will fully review your UCAS application and, where we’re able to offer a place, this will be personalised to you based on your application and education journey.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants within our grade range as well as our full GCSE requirements and accepted equivalencies in place of GCSEs.

EU and International entry requirements

English language requirements.

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 5.5 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT : 63% (min 55% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min R18, L17, S20, W17)  

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our  English Language Requirements  page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our  Brunel Language Centre .

Please check our Admissions  pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

Fees and funding

£9,250 full-time

£6,935 part-time

£1,385 placement year

International

£19,430 full-time

£14,570 part-time

Fees quoted are per year and may be subject to an annual increase. Home undergraduate student fees are regulated and are currently capped at £9,250 per year; any changes will be subject to changes in government policy. International fees will increase annually, by no more than 5% or RPI (Retail Price Index), whichever is the greater.

More information on any additional course-related costs .

See our fees and funding page for full details of undergraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.

Please refer to the scholarships pages to view discounts available to eligible EU undergraduate applicants.

Teaching and learning

Module teaching across the programme (lectures/seminars/tutorials) will take place in person on campus, and will be supported by the provision of asynchronous materials (e.g. lecture recordings etc.).

Other activities, including dissertation drop-ins, personal tutor meetings, assessment workshops, guest speaker events, and one-to-one tutorials may take place in person or online, as appropriate. We'll endeavour to take into account student preferences when arranging these activities, as well as other practical considerations, with an eye firmly on providing an excellent student experience at all times.

Students are advised to purchase core texts from module reading lists, although copies are also available via Brunel Library. In addition, academics will share samples of texts in the class so core texts may not be essential for all modules.

Access to a laptop or desktop PC is required for joining online activities, completing coursework and digital exams, and a minimum specification can be found here.

We have computers available across campus for your use and laptop loan schemes to support you through your studies. You can find out more here .

Our creative writing degrees are delivered by professional writers. This means you’ll be learning from staff who are publishing work and have high-level experience, knowledge and expertise in the creative industry. They'll support, encourage and coach you to become a brilliant writer.

Study will combine lectures, group seminar discussions, tutorials, writing workshops, practical performance sessions, group research sessions, guided independent learning, and field trips.

Should you need any non-academic support during your time at Brunel, the Student Support and Welfare Team are here to help.

Assessment and feedback

Your progress will be assessed via essays, coursework portfolios, journals, group practical exercises, individual and group presentations, and the final year project.

Related courses

English with creative writing ba, games design and creative writing ba, theatre and creative writing ba.

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Creative Writing BA(Hons)

Unlock your creativity with our dynamic Creative Writing degree where you will experiment with styles, inspired by our diverse city, and develop your craft through an inclusive and encouraging approach.   

Engage in critical reading and innovative writing across various genres, applying your skills to real-world scenarios like publishing.  

Guided by supportive tutors, you will explore key texts and connect your work to political, social, and cultural theories. You will experience learning in museums, galleries, theatres, archives, and beyond. 

At the end of year 1 you can choose a specialist subject that complements your degree or to carry on with the broader Creative Writing degree.

Creative Writing with Wellbeing BA(Hons)

• Creative Writing with Comics and Graphic Novels BA(Hons)*

*The comics and graphic novels pathway is new for 2025. It is in the final stages of development and may change. Check back for updates, and if you apply for this course we will let you know about any new developments via Student View .

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

UCAS code W800

Full-time 3 years

What are my next steps?

I'd like to start uni in: 2025 2026

Open days are the best way to find out about your course, the campus where you'll be based, and get a feel for the University of Brighton.

Book your place: Moulsecoomb campus open day 19 October

Or if you're ready, apply now with UCAS for 2025

Discover what Brighton has to offer in our digital prospectus.

Sign up for 2026 info

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

A-level or BTEC Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BBB–BCC (120–104 UCAS Tariff points), or BTEC Extended Diploma DMM–MMM. Our conditional offers typically fall within this range.

A-levels must include English language, English literature, or combined English language and literature.

International Baccalaureate 26 points, with three subjects at Higher level.

Access to HE Diploma Pass with 60 credits overall. Humanities, history or politics courses preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3.

Studied before or got relevant experience? A qualification, HE credits, or relevant experience may count towards your course at Brighton, and could mean that you do not have to take some elements of the course or can start in year 2 or 3. 

English language requirements IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept .

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

View our English language courses

For pre-sessional English preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Contextual admissions

When you apply to Brighton we want to hear about who you are. Grades are never the whole picture; we're interested in things like creativity, resourcefulness, persistence and the capacity to think big and find new ways of doing things. And we recognise that not everyone has the same background. That's why we treat everyone who applies as an individual. We recognise many qualifications and we care about all of your achievements and the experiences you've had that set you apart.

Find out more

Course content

Top reasons to choose this course

Staff are active writers – you will learn from published novelists, poets and screenwriters.

Strong local publishing connections – we organise a programme of visiting writers and publishing professionals. Take a look at some of our prizes and partnerships .

Scrivener talks give you the chance to speak to a professional writer about their work.

Our focus on employability , including a placement, ensures you will graduate as an emerging writer with a strong skillset.

Extracurricular activities such as t he Performance and Community Research and Enterprise Group and  the student-led Creative Writing Society.

Alumni making a difference – graduates from our programmes include Paris Lees, Merci Roberts, Munroe Bergdorf and Tanaka Mhisi.

Excellent student support and a warm and encouraging community.

Weekly roundup of writing competitions and opportunities to encourage you to promote your work and consider future careers.

Workshops and spoken word events help you find your writing voice.

Professional feedback on any aspect of your writing from our resident  Royal Literary Fund Fellow .

Please enable targeting cookies in order to view this video content on our website, or you can watch the video on YouTube .

All students study the same modules in year 1, where you will develop your awareness of writing genres and work with local writers.

You will learn through lectures, seminars and workshops as well as small group and individual tutorials.

Explore the cultural and critical concepts of belonging and unbelonging. You'll situate yourself as an emerging, socially responsible writer in the wider world by engaging with diverse writings that explore themes of migration and movement, home and displacement, search for a community, and our relationship to the environment and different spaces.

Taking inspiration from Edward Said’s book The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983), this module enables you to explore some of the key debates in contemporary literary studies. Organised around decolonial, feminist, queer, ecocritical and other approaches to texts, you'll develop critical writing skills and knowledge of social, cultural and political contexts in the interpretation of literary works and the wider world. 

Explore the concept of a professional writerly identity, and consider a ‘writing life’ in personal, local and global terms. Through studying and by contact with professional writers, you will investigate writing as self-expression, craft, process and profession; curating a writerly identity/ persona; developing your writing towards your future career; and the writing life and its implications on the global stage, for example as an act of resistance to inequalities.

This module will introduce you to practices of storying the self in writing and digital media. Through creating a first person story combining audio script, music and still image, you will engage with the expressive complexities of autobiographical representation. The module will also give you the creative writing tools to experiment with storying the self in a variety of written genre.

How might theatre engage audiences with the politics of class, race, gender, sexuality and the environment? You'll examine a range of plays in context, exploring how provocative stories develop through characterisation, stage directions, dialogue and dramatic action. Learn to think critically and creatively about theatrical texts and how to write scripts for stage in inclusive collaborations with your peers.

Brighton is a vibrant and unique place that has impacted on British and European culture, as well being at the forefront of social changes since the eighteenth-century. This module is a literary and cultural exploration of Brighton as a place. You will engage and connect with Brighton’s history, literary culture and your own creative writing practice. The module benefits from several city trips, which will bring learning materials to life.

Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through Student View .

Pier Review, a literary magazine run by our students, teachers and alumni

There are placement opportunities available in the second year as well as field trips to theatres, museums, schools and community organisations. You are also welcome to study abroad for a semester during your second year.

You'll also choose to stay with the broad Creative Writing degree, or to specialise in wellbeing or comics and graphic novels.

Core modules for all pathways

• Stories that Transform: Reading and Writing for Change

Creative writing

• Research and Practice
• Professional Placement and Practice

Creative writing with wellbeing

• Childhood, Psychology and Society
• Psychology, Mental Health and Distress

Creative writing with comics and graphic novels – new for 2025 This pathway is in the final stages of development and may change.

• Comics, Cultures and Themes
• Image and Text: The Language of Comics and Graphic Novels
• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen
• Early Modern Literature
• Twentieth Century Literary Experiments
• Literature and Art History
• Travel Narratives Through Time and Space
• Contemporary Narratives and Society
• Introduction to Journalism
• Queer Writing
• Power and Persuasion
• Poetry and Process
• Community Engagement: Theory into Practice
• American Literature**
• Modernism and Heritage**
• Women’s Writing and Feminist Theory**

You can also choose option modules from across our humanities and arts subjects.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

** available to students choosing the comics and graphic novels pathway

In the final year you take two core modules and choose from a selection of options. Publishers Epoque Press award a prize for the best dissertation.

Core modules – all pathways

• Dissertation
• Brighton Rocks: Final Year Show

Creative writing pathway options *

• Community Placement: Theory in Practice
• Russian Literature and Culture: The Golden Age and Beyond
• (Re)viewing Shakespeare
• Apocalypse, Utopia, Dystopia
• Literature and Philosophy
• Postwar American Literature
• Literature and the World Wars
• Women's Writing and Feminist Theory
• Restoration Dramas
• Adaptations
• Citizen Journalism: Theory and Practice
• From Script to Screen
• Creative Writing Project
• Conflict, Migration, Borders
• Reading and Writing Landscape
• Autoethnography
• Gothic Texts and Contexts
• Victorian Sexualities
• Brighton Rocks
• Writing the Contemporary
• Postcolonial Literatures
• European Literatures and Film

Specialist wellbeing pathway options* 

• Community Wellbeing and Social Justice
• Counselling Skills and the Therapeutic Relationship
• Critical Addiction Studies
• Cyberpsychology
• Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy
• Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Children
• Psychology of Poverty
• Sexualities

Specialist comics and graphic novels pathway options*

• Contemporary Global Literatures
• English Language Teaching
• European Literature and Film
• Gothic: Texts and Contexts
• Literature and Social Change
• Script to Screen

Specialise in wellbeing

At the end of your first year, you can carry on with your Creative Writing BA for a broad view of the subject along with your choice of option modules, or you can choose to specialise in creative writing combined with wellbeing.

Choosing to specialise means that your core modules and options focus on the subject that you choose, and you'll graduate with that subject in your degree title.

You'll explore specialist wellbeing-related modules alongside core creative writing modules and choose option modules in the subjects that interest you most.

You will link your knowledge of wellbeing to the craft of writing and consider texts and your own work in relation to political, social, cultural and medical theories. You will particularly focus on diversity and global challenges. You will identify underrepresented stories and question their absence, as well as thinking ethically and sensitively about addressing gaps in literature and writing that your work can fill.

Events such as our wellbeing walks will consider the impact of the outdoors and place on your writing and think about how eco-writing can raise awareness and spark dialogues. Our tutors will help you to develop techniques and skills involved in storytelling in a range of genres and encourage you to think about how your writing can and will impact on the world and how you can be part of, and also lead, better conversations about living well.

Through the university’s Centre for Arts and Wellbeing you will be connected with the latest national and international research and events that speak directly to your subjects. You will be encouraged to think how you can contribute to future work in these transformative and vital fields.

Specialise in comics and graphic novels

At the end of your first year, you can carry on with your Creative Writing BA for a broad view of the subject along with your choice of option modules, or you can choose to specialise in creative writing combined with comics and graphic novels.

Creative Writing with Comics and Graphic Novels BA(Hons)

Comics and graphic novels entertain and inform through a powerful and dynamic combination of visual art and narrative storytelling – and their cultural impact means they are recognised as an important art form. They are used to explore subjects from politics to mental health, social inequality to science, fantasy to fiction in ways that convey emotions, action and atmosphere with broad and inclusive appeal.

On this innovative specialist pathway you will be encouraged to experiment, whether that is creating long-form graphic novels or comic strips, engaging with subjects that excite and inspire you.

Our staff have extensive writing and publishing expertise in the field and they will develop your skills and knowledge, ensuring you understand specific storytelling techniques that create an emotional impact on the reader. You will also learn aspects of design such as panel layouts, visual pacing and composition.

As a student, you will be engaging with this evolving art form in a vibrant city where creativity is celebrated, benefitting from our connections to organisations and events in which you can participate and share your work.

This pathway starts in 2025 – students starting their creative writing degree in September 2024 will be able to choose to specialise in comics and graphic novels in year 2 of their course.

Lab facilities

Mithras House is home to all our School of Humanities and Social Science courses. It has a series of ‘labs’, which may be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work. Life lab A comfortable space with lounge furniture intended for qualitative research with larger groups. Due to its relaxed layout and naturalistic environment, the space is suited to research using focus groups, research using observation-based methods and child research.

The space is also used for teaching on some social science courses, as well as for dissertation research for projects.   City lab A space designed for collaborative student learning. It is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme, our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackling the pressing issues facing our world. Design lab A space housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses . It has the space and equipment to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

Stats lab A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab is accessible as a study space to students on psychology courses.

It is also available to students studying courses involving video and audio recording and editing, such as politics degrees and our creative writing programmes. The stats lab contains eight soundproof booths for recording or transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research. VR and eye tracking lab This lab is used for psychological research, specifically eye-tracking research and virtual reality research. Equipment includes an electroencephalography (EEG) headset and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) equipment.

Take a virtual tour of the labs available

A core module in year 2 of the creative writing and the wellbeing pathways enables you to gain professional experience in industries such as publishing, broadcasting, social media marketing, PR and the charity sector. 

Recent placement hosts include:

• Action Medical Research
• Action Tutoring
• Airstream Photo Booth
• Brighton Dome
• British Forces Broadcasting Services
• Epoque Press
• Factory Films
• The Old Market Theatre
• Little Green Pig
• Men’s Health Magazine

In year 3 the Community Placement module is available for all pathways to choose. It is aimed at building your professional experience through 30 to 50 hours of voluntary work with a not-for-profit or community organisation. The placement is assessed and contributes to your degree.

Meet the team

Dr Bea Hitchman  is a novelist whose work focuses on gender, queer writing and historical fiction. Her 2013 novel Petite Mort was nominated for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Prize, the Polari Prize, the HWA Debut Novel Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, and serialised as a ten-part Radio 4 drama. Her second novel, All of You Every Single One (2021) was one of Vogue’s Best Novels of 2022, and was nominated for the Polari Prize and HWA Prize.  Read novelist and writing tutor Beatrice Hitchman's staff profile .

Read a Q+A with Bea Hitchman where she talks about her career and how she got into writing novels and teaching.

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker  is a writer of drama, fiction and non-fiction. His drama has been widely performed and his first novel The Nacullians was published in 2020 and his most recent work If the River is Hidden (2022) is hybrid work combining poetry and lyrical prose. He was the winner of the 2018 Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award. You can read more about Craig's interests and background on his staff profile.  You can read more about novelist and creative writing tutor Dr Craig Jordan-Baker on his staff profile .

Dr Jess Moriarty researches in the field of teaching writing practice, especially in auto-ethnographical academic writing and in creative writing with undergraduates. Another winner of the Teaching Excellence award, she is also co-founder of Work Write Live, which provides a range of writing short courses and volunteering opportunities for students to develop vocational and academic skills. You can read more about writer and creative-writing tutor Dr Jess Moriarty on her staff profile .

Read a Q+A with Jess Moriarty where she talks about her career and how she got into writing novels and teaching.

Dr John McCullough is a Costa-shortlisted, Polari prize-winning poet who focuses on mental health, loss, the body, queer politics, queer history and Brighton as a centre for unique LGBT+ subcultures. He has written three collections: The Frost Fairs (Salt, 2011) which won the Polari First Book Prize and was a Book of the Year for The Independent and a summer read for The Observer. His second, Spacecraft (Penned in the Margins, 2016) was shortlisted for the Ledbury-Forte prize and was a summer read for The Guardian. His latest collection, Reckless Paper Birds (Penned in the Margins, 2019), was shortlisted for the Costa. Read more about poet and creative-writing tutor Dr John McCullough on his staff profile .

Julie Everton is a playwright and script editor. She teaches drama, script writing, and screenwriting. Her research includes writing about real events/people, models of script development and autoethnography. You can read more about playwright and writing tutor Julie Everton on her staff profile .

Dr Barbara Chamberlain teaches modules in creative writing, English language, media and literature and include cinema, landscape writing, intercultural communication, teacher training and comics. She co-curates the Graphic Brighton symposium which brings together comics scholars, creators, publishers and readers. Read more about  Dr Barbara Chamberlin in her staff profile.

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker

Reckless Paper Birds is the Costa-nominated book by lecturer Dr John McCullough.

More about this subject at Brighton

Come to an open day!

Join us for an undergraduate open day this autumn.

Brighton’s Politics, Languages and Linguistics team hosts international conference

The 30th Lavender Languages and Linguistics annual international conference (21-23 August) brings together researchers working at the intersections of language and sexuality, crossing boundaries of disciplines and global locations.

How Brighton’s Creative Writing MA inspired Harry Hillery’s ongoing work

“My favourite part of the course was the Writer in Residence module because this established that there was an appetite for remembrance work around the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the Brighton area, which became the basis for my dissertation and led me to create an archive and remembrance page for Brighton.

Geri Oida on what being a Story Mentor Volunteer can teach a Creative Writing student

“This role at Little Green Pig taught me that you can help the community with your skills, and as a writer it made me reflect about having no limits on telling a story, no matter what your age, background, and knowledge.

Read more from our blog

What can I do with a creative writing degree?

Creative writing degree graduates gain a broad range of skills applicable in a variety of roles, such as:

• editorial assistant
• higher education lecturer
• lexicographer
• publishing copy-editor/proofreader

This degree opens up a range of postgraduate study options. At Brighton, for example, you could progress to:

• Creative Writing MA
• Journalism MA
• Secondary English PGCE .

You could also choose to complete your PhD at Brighton alongside our team of world-leading researchers.

High-profile graduates from our English programmes include Paris Lees, Tanaka Mhishi and Munroe Bergdorf.

Graduates from our English programmes have gone on to careers in:

• social media marketing
• English tutorship
• SEO Executive
• broadcasting
• public relations 
• postgraduate studies in English language or related areas.

Professional advice and support 

Outside of your course, our Careers Service is here to support you as you discover (and re-discover) your strengths and what matters to you. We are here for you throughout your university journey as you work towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

Connect with our careers team

• Find part-time work that you can combine with your studies.
• Find, or be, a mentor or get involved with our peer-to-peer support scheme.
• Develop your business ideas through our entrepreneurial support network.
• Get professional advice and support with career planning, CV writing and interview top tips.
• Meet potential employers at our careers fairs.
• Find rewarding volunteering opportunities to help you discover more about what makes you tick, and build your CV.

Whatever your career needs, we are here to help. And that's not just while you are a student, our support carries on after you've graduated.

Find out more about our Careers Service...

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 15,900 GBP

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25 .

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our creative writing students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university and check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What's included in your tuition fee

• Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the subject area in the library for an up-to-date list of key subject journals and databases.
• You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Additional costs

• Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
• For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
• Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
• You may have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but if you choose to go on optional trips you can expect to pay either a contribution towards, or the full cost of, travel as well as for your food. Under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
• You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own. Many of the set texts are available as cheap editions and we estimate that students will not need to spend more than £200.
• Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you'll find new Students' Union, events venue, and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our halls, Moulsecoomb Place and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains and to all the exciting things happening in our home city.

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students . So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Halls of residence We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

• Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
• Varley Park  is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting .

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy - as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing .

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton .

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships .

Stay in touch

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help. 01273 644644

Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised , and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked below). You can find out also about the support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Course and module descriptions on this page were accurate when first published and are the basis of the course. Detailed information on any changes we make to modules and learning and assessment activities will be sent to all students by email before enrolment, so that you have all the information before you come to Brighton.

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Course specification

Course specifications are the approved description of each course. They contain a breakdown of the content and structure of the course, learning outcomes and assessment. Course specs are updated following course changes.

Related courses 7 courses

English Language and English Literature BA(Hons)

English Language BA(Hons)

English Language and Creative Writing BA(Hons)

English Literature and Creative Writing BA(Hons)

Linguistics BA(Hons)

English Literature BA(Hons)

English language and linguistics ba(hons).

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• Undergraduate
• Creative Writing

Creative Writing BA (Hons)

• Find a course
• Accessibility

Undergraduate Course

Write your own poetry, find your way with fiction, shape scripts, explore creative non-fiction and try your hand at experimental writing.

Discover your creative potential, experiment with form and genre and push boundaries with your writing. Our award winning team of writers and our supportive writing community will challenge you to develop your writing skills and find your own creative voice.

100% Creative Writing students responded with a 100% positivity score for how good teaching staff are at explaining things. (National Student Survey 2024)

91% 91% of Creative Writing students felt that their career prospects have improved as a result of their course. (National Student Survey 2024)

Course location York campus

• UCAS code – 3S3S
• Duration – 3 years full time, 6 years part time
• Start date – September 2025
• School – School of Humanities

Minimum entry requirements

104 UCAS Tariff points

3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.

Tuition fees

UK 2025 entry £9,250 per year full time

International 2025 entry £11,500 per year full time

Discover Creative Writing

Helen Pleasance, Course Lead, introduces us to Creative Writing at York St John University.

Course overview

We believe that good writing always comes from good reading. Our teaching emphasises the importance of engaging with the wider world of literature in order to develop your own style. On this course you will study varied and fascinating writing from the past, as well as learning from contemporary writers. You will build skills in reading  and analysing texts, to develop your understanding of creative processes and apply this to your own writing. 

When you study Creative Writing at York St John University you will become part of the York Centre for Writing. This is a lively, friendly community of writers which acts as a hub for producing innovative new work in the city. We have strong links with the wider literary community and publishing industry. This means you will have opportunities to enhance your learning through regular visits from industry professionals and innovators, including agents, publishers and literary activists.

Our involvement in the annual York Literature Festival gives you the chance to learn directly from popular and internationally-acclaimed writers. There are also plenty of events, performances and publications which you can get involved with throughout the year.

The skills you develop through a degree in Creative Writing matter in the workplace as much as on the page. Central to your learning are transferable skills such as:

• Communication
• Collaboration

Through our Working with Words: Publishing and Performance module you will gain real professional experience. This could include literary event organisation, as well as the production, editing, marketing, and launch of our annual student anthology, Beyond the Walls.

You can also choose to study Creative Writing alongside another subject:

Creative Writing and English Literature BA (Hons)

Creative Writing and Media BA (Hons)

Course structure

Our academic year is split into 2 semesters. How many modules you take each semester will depend on whether you are st­udying full time or part time.

In your first year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

• 3 compulsory modules in semester 1
• 3 compulsory modules in semester 2

If you are a part time student, the modules above will be split over 2 years.

You can find out which modules are available in each semester on the Course Specifications .

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

Good writers are good readers first and foremost. This module will introduce you to theories, debates and practices in narrative, enhancing your understanding of narrative as it functions both within literature and culture generally. You will examine some of the codes and conventions that govern the production, structure, reception and interpretation of narrative. To do this you will explore films, novels, poetry and plays, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Hitchcock’s Vertigo.  By engaging with these varied narrative forms you will consider the relationship between narrative and culture and think critically about the historical development of those forms.

This module introduces you to core skills in creative writing, including creating setting, poetic form, working with dialogue, and characterisation. You will also develop skills in workshopping and collaborating on creative work, familiarising yourself with the workshop environment which will be central to your learning on this course. You will have the opportunity to experiment with a range of forms and ideas in group writing activities, and through this module will become more confident in sharing your work with others.

This module will introduce you to the variety of professional contexts you could work in as a creative writer. You will start to develop the professional skills needed to work as a writer, working to deadlines and writing to briefs. You will engage with many different forms of writing, from memoirs to scripts and graphic novels to blogs. As part of this module you will have the chance to meet a variety of inspiring visiting writers, who can share their expertise with you. 

This module emphasises the role of research in the production of creative work. We will introduce you to a range of research techniques to help stimulate creative projects and contextualise your writing. There will be opportunities to use different types of research materials to generate your own work, as well as studying texts that have been produced using different research methods. You will have the opportunity to take part in creative projects based on archival work. 

This module will help you to become more confident in working with literature at degree level. You will engage with a range of texts written before the 19th century. This includes prose, drama, poetry, speeches, letters and articles. Through this you will start to think about how literature and history can be brought together, and why the study of English Literature remains a popular and important subject.

On this module we will examine some well known classic texts alongside more unusual selections. These texts will help you to question the social, political, cultural and historical values through which we approach literature. This includes an exciting range of texts across different media and forms, from 19th century poetry to early cinema and 1930s nonfiction. Along the way we will consider questions of gender, class, war, empire, form, genre and much more.

In your second year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

• 3 optional modules in semester 1
• 1 compulsory module and 2 optional modules in semester 2

1 of your optional modules can be a Literature module from Year 2. You can find them on our English Literature page .

Optional modules will run if they receive enough interest. It is not guaranteed that all modules will run every year.

This work-related module will develop your understanding of the relationship between creative writing practices and employability in the creative industries. It is an opportunity for you to explore the methods and means of literary publishing, production and performance, developing transferable and employable skills through project work. The module combines a broad exploration of industry aims and ethics with first hand experience of specific editorial, commercial, and practical processes. 

Optional module

This module is an opportunity to read and produce a range of fictional forms, from flash fictions to novellas, and short stories to novels. You will develop an understanding of:

• Characterisation
• Point of view

This will help you to produce your own fiction portfolio.

This module will give you the opportunity to explore a range of non-fiction texts including:

• Creative non-fiction
• Fictocriticism
• Blogs and online journals
• Documentary, travel and life writing

Through this you will develop your understanding of voice, structure and audience in relation to these forms, as well as considering the blurred lines between fact and fiction in non-fiction writing. By viewing, reading and watching a range of texts, we will ask you to make the links between creative and critical writing, and to produce your own nonfictional work.

From the sonnet to the prose poem, this module will broaden your understanding of the formal qualities of poetry, as you discover how to produce dazzling imagery and perfect rhythm, manipulating voice and pace. On this module you will study a range of contemporary poets, supplemented by visits and readings. You will produce your own portfolio of poetry by the end of the module.

This module addresses the essential elements of scriptwriting. This includes writing convincing dialogue, creating interesting characters, and constructing coherent stories. We will also introduce you to the cultural, theoretical and industrial contexts of scriptwriting. Through this module you will develop your expressive and technical skills in writing scripts for one or more of:

• Stage and film

By the end of the module you will have produced your own original script.

On this module we will explore the different ways books and films tell stories, and what happens to literature and literary characters when they are translated onto the screen. We will introduce you to the theory, methods and conventions behind the process of adaptation. In addition to examining specific examples of film adaptation, you can choose to experiment creatively on an adaptation project of your own, using what you have learnt.

Science Fiction has a history of encouraging readers and viewers to reflect on their post industrial choices, and consider how they have affected the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants. On this module we will draw on a range of critical perspectives around utopianism to approach landmark texts in the history of science fiction. You will have the opportunity to get involved with our ongoing science fiction writing project Terra Two: An Ark for Off-World Survival ( https://yorkstjohnterratwo.com/ ).

In your third year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

• A dissertation module studied across semesters 1 and 2
• 2 optional modules in semester 1
• 1 optional module in semester 2

1 of your optional modules can be a Literature module.

Credits: 60

This extended project will see you independently research, plan and write a substantial piece of creative writing. This allows you to demonstrate technical mastery in your chosen forms and genres, as well as developing professional presentation skills. The creative work is accompanied by a contextual reflection, which will demonstrate your analytical and research skills. You will be guided by a supervisor with expertise in the area you focus on, and will have the option to take part in a weekend residential writing retreat.

On this module you will consider the historical, theoretical, cultural and political dimensions of genre, as well as exploring the conventions which are attributed to specific genres. You will also be given the opportunity to critically explore differentiations between high and low culture, and investigate genres such as tragedy, satire and the Gothic, romance, horror, and noir. The module will help you to develop an awareness of literary and generic concepts between and across different forms. Through this you will develop skills in original composition, drafting and editing. 

This module is an opportunity to explore and participate in contemporary literature. Through this you will start to develop the relationship between your creative practice and the theory, philosophy, and politics that uniform and inspire contemporary work. This will involve engaging with writing that challenges the traditional boundaries of literature and is fresh, exciting and innovative. You will also consider a broad range of materials and techniques that will help you to develop your own innovative creative practices.

On this module we will introduce you to a range of very contemporary publishing and literary cultures, helping you to position your own work in the contemporary literary landscape. You will be encouraged to think critically about literary culture, and develop a sense of how your own work might contribute to or challenge contemporary modes of writing. The module also has a practical focus which will help you to develop a professional portfolio you can use as a springboard into your career.

The Victorian poet Matthew Arnold said of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre that “the writer’s mind contains nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage.” These are also themes that characterise much of the writing of the Victorian period. Whether the issues are societal or individual, many Victorian novels protest against the privations and injustices writers saw around them. At the same time, there were also funny, rude, and sensational texts, and texts which imagined a different kind of future in the emergent genre of science fiction. This module includes a variety of writing from across the Victorian era, and considers texts within the political, environmental, and social contexts in which they were produced.

This module takes literary trends, such as the vogue for young adult vampire fiction during the late 2000s, or the enthusiasm for fantasy fiction we’re experiencing in the 2020s, and situates them in a longer historical view. We will encourage you to consider broader narratives of subversion and experimentation, and confront questions about literary value, originality, and influence. We may look, for instance, at a recent work of Gothic fiction such as Colleen Hoover’s Verity (2018), alongside nineteenth-century sensationalist novels, eighteenth-century Gothic novels, the occult works of early modern figures, and even trace the novel’s influences all the way back to Dante’s thirteenth-century exploration of hell in Inferno. 

On this module you will investigate the theatrical experimentation that took place over the last century, and consider its impact on the contemporary stage. You will consider the major movements and perspectives of the period against the background of wider intellectual, cultural and aesthetic debates. Through this we will explore the creative dynamics between:

• Tradition and innovation
• Word and image
• Writing and performance
• Reading and spectatorship

This module will examine a selection of texts from 20th century American literature, and relate these works to their cultural, social and political backgrounds. We will focus on texts that demonstrate formal innovation and experimentation, and the selection will reflect the variety of twentieth century American experience. You will read Native American, African American and Chinese-American texts alongside literature produced in the wake of radical social change such as Beat writing, Vietnam narratives, and responses to 9/11.

On this module we will examine texts from the English speaking and Creole Caribbean, a region that has produced 2 Nobel Prize winners in Literature. We will introduce you to a range of writing from and about the Caribbean, allowing you to appreciate the longstanding global impact of this writing and how it is currently being marked and remembered. We will particularly focus on the close connections of the past and present between Britain and the Caribbean.

On this module we will explore issues surrounding gender and sexuality. We will debate whether various elements of gender are natural or cultural, as well as how different genders and sexualities are presented in film and literature. We will investigate how do different cultural groups use popular culture and literature to reinforce, challenge, transgress or disrupt traditional gender expectations. This module challenges you to draw on all of the skills, theories and approaches encountered throughout your degree to interrogate the representation of gender roles and sexuality in popular culture.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching and learning.

The aim of our teaching is to help you to become a better writer. We want you to be an active learner who is engaged in every aspect of the course. You will have opportunities to share your work in progress in regular workshops, which will help you get comfortable with responding to feedback and reworking your writing. You will also take part in:

• Masterclasses
• Guest events

You will typically study 3 modules each semester. Each module will normally have 3 hours of contact time each week, so you will have a minimum of 9 hours each week of teaching.

Alongside your timetabled contact time, you will need to study independently. This means spending time reading around the topics we cover and preparing for your taught sessions. This will ensure that you get the most out of your degree, as well as building valuable time management skills. 

Our teaching draws on both our research and professional experience. This means your learning is informed by the most current thinking in the subject area. You can find out more about our research and backgrounds by visiting our staff pages .

There are no exams on this course, as we believe there are better ways to assess creative skills. You will mainly be assessed through coursework, which will often take the form of a portfolio of original writing accompanied by a reflective commentary. You will also write essays, demonstrating your skill in literary analysis. Other assessment opportunities are designed to help you develop new skills and prepare for your career. This may include:

• Project work
• Organising events and publications
• Giving presentations

Career outcomes

Your future with a degree in creative writing.

A degree in Creative Writing can help you become a professional writer, but the skills you learn on this course will also be relevant to many other professions. As you explore your creativity you will also build transferrable skills in analysis, communication, team working and presentation.

This degree could be the first step toward your career as a:

• Marketing, PR or communications professional

Discover more career options on Prospects careers advice pages .

You could also progress onto a postgraduate degree and take your learning even further.

Postgraduate courses at York St John University

Creative Writing MFA

Publishing MA

Publishing and Creative Writing MA

Contemporary Literature MA

Whatever your ambitions, we can help you get there.

Our careers service, LaunchPad provides career support tailored to your ambitions. Through this service you can access:

• Employer events
• LinkedIn, CV and cover letter sessions
• Workshops on application writing and interview skills
• Work experience and volunteering opportunities
• Personalised career advice

This support doesn't end when you graduate. You can access our expert career advice for the rest of your life. We will help you gain experience and confidence to succeed.

Entry requirements

Qualifications.

104 UCAS Tariff points See full entry requirements including GCSEs

Calculate your UCAS Tariff points

International students

If you are an international student you will need to show that your qualifications match our entry requirements.

Information about international qualifications and entry requirements can be found on our International pages.

If English is not your first language you will need to show that you have English Language competence at IELTS level 6.0 (with no skill below 5.5) or equivalent.

International entry requirements

This course is available with a foundation year

If you do not yet meet the minimum requirements for entry straight onto this degree course, or feel you are not quite ready for the transition to Higher Education, this is a great option for you. Passing a foundation year guarantees you a place on this degree course the following academic year.

Foundation year

Mature Learners Entry Scheme

If you have been out of education for 3 years or more and have a grade C GCSE in English Language or equivalent, you are eligible for our entry scheme for mature learners. It's a scheme that recognises non-traditional entry qualifications and experience for entry onto this course. Information on how to apply can be found on our dedicated page.

Mature entry offer scheme

Terms and conditions

Our terms and conditions, policies and procedures contain important information about studying at York St John University. You can read them on our Admissions page .

Fees and funding

To study for an undergraduate degree with us, you will need to pay tuition fees for your course. How much you pay depends on whether you live inside the UK, or internationally (outside the UK). Tuition fees may be subject to inflation in future years.

UK 2025 entry

The tuition fee for 2025 entry onto this course is:

• £9,250 per year for full time study
• £6,935 per year for the first 4 years if you study part time

These prices apply to all UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man students

You can find out more about funding your degree by visiting our funding opportunities page:

Funding Opportunities

Placement year funding

If you choose to take a placement year, and your course offers it, you can apply for the Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loan for your placement year. How much you are awarded is based on the type of placement being undertaken and whether it is a paid or unpaid placement. The tuition fee for your placement year will be reduced.

UK 2025 entry £9,250 per year full time

International 2025 entry

The tuition fee for 2025 entry to this course is £11,500 per year for full time study.

This price applies to all students living outside the UK.

Due to immigration laws, if you are an international student on a Student Visa, you must study full time. For more information about visa requirements and short-term study visas, please visit the  International Visa and Immigration  pages.

Find out more about funding your degree:

International fees and funding

Additional costs and financial support

There may also be some additional costs to take into account throughout your studies, including the cost of accommodation.

Course-related costs

While studying for your degree, there may be additional costs related to your course. This may include purchasing personal equipment and stationery, books and optional field trips.

Study Abroad

For more information on tuition fee reductions and additional costs for studying abroad, please visit our  study abroad pages .

Accommodation and living costs

For detailed information on accommodation and living costs, visit our Accommodation pages .

Financial help and support

Our Funding Advice team are here to help you with your finances throughout your degree. They offer a personal service that can help you with funding your studies and budgeting for living expenses. 

For advice on everything from applying for scholarships to finding additional financial support email [email protected] .

Course highlights

Unique work experience

On the Working with Words module you can get involved in editing, designing and publishing our annual anthology of student fiction and poetry, Beyond the Walls.

York Centre for Writing

When you join us you will become part of York Centre for Writing - d hub for exciting writing events, projects and publications, and collaborations with independent publishers, the York Literature Festival and community partners.

Find your creative voice

With specialist modules in fiction, non-fiction, script writing, poetry and more, there are plenty of chances to experiment with new forms and genres.

Where ideas grow

Read some of our students' work and find out all the news from Creative Writing at York St John University on our blog.

Where ideas grow blog

Hear from our students

English Literature and Creative Writing students have teamed up to produce a new monthly podcast: Book'd & Busy, exploring the books that made staff and students in Literature and Creative Writing at York St John, and the books we are reading now.

Book'd & Busy podcast

Lewis Creative Writing

--> Beyond being knowledgeable and excellent teachers, the lecturers here have a genuine passion and interest for the subject, and are very up to date with the scene as active writers and readers. They are genuinely enthusiastic about their students and their own work, and provide endless support. The course itself is incredibly diverse in the modules it offers. There is always something you will enjoy each semester or something you will come to enjoy thanks to the excellent course materials and teaching. I also found the assignments to be flexible, providing me with options to approach the course in my own way. The university is incredibly forward thinking and always adapting to ongoing changes.

Piaras Creative Writing

--> I chose to study Creative Writing because I have always loved telling stories, and the course helped me tell stories in a way I never imagined I could. It also helped me make that first move into allowing others to actually read my work which was such an amazing feeling. The best thing about Creative Writing is the tutors. Learning from people who have actually achieved in the field is such an honour. The feedback on my work was always constructive and made me a better writer.

More to explore

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Creative Arts and Humanities BA

This is the programme information for 2025 entry.

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Creative Arts and Humanities BA (2024), click here

UCL's BA Creative Arts and Humanities is a bold and dynamic interdisciplinary undergraduate degree, uniquely bringing together the theory, practice and wider application of creative writing, film and moving image and performance. The course is the first of its kind in the UK.

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26), programme starts, application deadline, ucas course code.

• Entry requirements

Contextual offer information

Contextual offer, uk applicants qualifications.

For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:

Equivalent qualification

Pass in Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 33 credits at Distinction and 12 credits at Merit, all from Level 3 units. Please note, where subject specific requirements are stipulated at A level we may review your Access to HE syllabus to ensure you meet the subject specific requirements prior to a final decision being communicated.

Not acceptable for entrance to this programme.

D3,D3,D3 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects, to include an essay-based Humanities or Social Sciences subject.

A,A,A at Advanced Highers (or A,A at Advanced Higher and A,A,A at Higher), to include an essay-based Humanities or Social Sciences subject.

Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A levels at grades AAA, to include an essay-based Humanities or Social Sciences subject.

International applications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website .

Access and widening participation

Undergraduate preparatory certificates.

The Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (UPC) prepare international students for a UCL undergraduate degree who don’t have the qualifications to enter directly. These intensive one-year foundation courses are taught on our central London campus.

Typical UPC students will be high achievers in a 12-year school system which does not meet the standard required for direct entry to UCL.

For more information see: ucl.ac.uk/upc .

• English language requirements

The English language level for this programme is: Level 3

Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.

A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education .

Course overview

UCL's BA Creative Arts and Humanities is an interdisciplinary degree that will enable you to develop both your creative and critical skills, focusing on the role of narrative across three forms of creative practice:

• Writing: narratives for paper, screen and the digital sphere in fiction and non-fiction genres.
• Moving image: making narratives for screen, both fictional and documentary, from static images, storyboards, texts and scripts, to filming, final edit and display.
• Performance: working with voice, body and movement to communicate ideas and emotions through performance for stage, film and digital media.

Working with academics as well as creative professionals, you will develop your knowledge and critical understanding of these modes of creative practice in historical, contemporary and future-facing contexts. You will also develop your own creative skills and explore what creativity means in different contexts and how it can be harnessed for meaningful impact in society.

The degree will encourage you to ground your creative expression in practical engagement, with audiences, with communities and with different organisations or employers. You will learn the skills of collaboration, learning how to create with and for others, and develop a range of skills that can be applied across a range of roles and sectors.

Based at our new campus in Stratford, UCL East , you will be part of a community of students studying interdisciplinary degrees in both arts and sciences subjects that are focused on creating, designing and making, with a strong emphasis on active engagement with the world to effect change.

What this course will give you

The BA Creative Arts and Humanities programme will give you advanced skills in narrative and other forms of communication across three different modes of creative practice: writing, performance and moving image. You will ex plore how these modes work with and influence one another, develop ing advanced critical and analytical skills . You will gain the technical and creative skills to develop your own powerful narratives . Alongside this  you will collaborate with each other and with partner organisations to apply these creative skills to real world problems.  

You will be able to specialise depending on your area of interest to develop high-level skills in writing, performance or moving image, to allow you to become a practitioner yourself or take your creative and critical skills into a wide range of sectors.

You will benefit from world-class research across the arts and humanities at UCL, as well as from creative practitioners working in different fields. You will also be part of a vibrant community of researchers, creators and makers at our new UCL East campus and have access to the rich variety of London's creative and cultural organisations.

Teaching and learning

In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

Upon successful completion of 360 credits, you will be awarded a BA (Hons) in Creative Arts and Humanities.

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

The programme’s structure enables you to engage with three modes of creative practice (creative writing, performance and moving image), both critically and practically, alongside professional practice modules that develop your ability to apply your creative skills to local and global challenges.

You will explore the fundamentals of 'creativity' and creative experiment, and develop your understanding of key concepts such as the role of narrative within creative practice. You will be required to take compulsory modules in all three creative disciplines.

You will complete your module selection with one optional module subject to approval. This can include a language module taught at the UCL Centre for Languages and International Education (CLIE) or the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).

You will be required to take compulsory modules: The Collaborative Economy and UCL East’s Collaborative Design for Society, along with at least one 'pair' of optional critical/practice modules, for example both writing modules or both performance modules, and at least one other practice based module. You will choose two further optional modules subject to approval.

Your choice of modules in your second year will determine the options available to you in your final year. For example, you will need to have taken performance modules in your second year to take final year performance modules. 

All students will take the module The Creative Professional, preparing you for today's rapidly changing world of work and the impacts of technology on working contexts and processes, along with a compulsory module in at least one creative discipline. Your learning will culminate in a final-year project to complete a substantial piece of independent creative work in one or more disciplines of creative practice. You will also collaborate with other students on a final degree show to exhibit your work. You will complete your module selection with two optional modules subject to approval.

In each year of study, you will also be able to select from UCL East electives open to students from different disciplines to explore themes of interest.

Compulsory modules

Optional modules, your learning.

This programme offers a distinctive humanities-based curriculum which will require you to engage with both theoretical/critical and creative/production elements of creative production, channelled through a focus on three forms of creative practice; writing, performance and moving image.

The teaching and learning methodologies used throughout the degree will vary depending on the creative discipline but will include lectures, seminars, practical workshops, peer-to-peer reading, collaborative enterprise activities and body, movement and voice training.

As a full-time student, you would be expected to spend approximately 40 hours a week studying. This is made up of a combination of contact hours and self-directed study.

The programme includes a wide variety of forms of assessment reflecting the different nature of outputs developed across creative disciplines. You will be able to demonstrate your learning through both group and individual assessment of group work outputs and processes, where you can develop and build skills relevant to employment, such as team-working, collaboration, organisational and personal time management.

You will be supported to understand assessment in these different areas and how they relate to real-world outputs. You will also be enabled to understand the processes of assessment and what it means to be successful at different levels of your degree programme through different approaches, like peer and collaborative assessment.

Example assessment types include critical essays, performance, short films, presentations and reflective learning diaries or picture essays.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble . Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team .

3 October 2024 — 12 December 2024

Online - Open day

Creative Arts and Humanities BA: 1-2-1 Calls with Programme Team

Book a 1-2-1 call with a member of the Creative Arts and Humanities programme team. You will be able to ask any questions you may have about the programme: how the programme will be taught, where the degree could take you or about studying this course at our UCL East campus.

30 October 2024

Marshgate Building, UCL East Campus, 7 Sidings Street, London, E20 2AE, United Kingdom - Open day

UCL East - Undergraduate Open Afternoon

13:30 — 16:30

Join us to discover our innovative range of undergraduate degrees across a range of disciplines at our incredible new campus, UCL East. Meet our world-renowned academics, explore our state-of-the-art spaces and accommodation and interact with current UCL students. This event is open to prospective students, parents and teachers.

The foundation of your career

As a graduate of the BA Creative Arts and Humanities programme, you will develop the following skills and attributes to prepare you for a wide range of life and career choices:

• A critical understanding of the complex, diverse and often tangled stories of the contemporary world, including who gets to tell these stories and why.
• The ability to develop narratives clearly and innovatively in a range of creative forms, combined with an ability to combine, translate and switch between forms of creative practice.
• The ability to transfer narrative and creative problem-solving skills into the workplace, understanding how they can of value in economic, cultural and social contexts.
• Critical understanding of the creative industries as a major global sector, including current issues and future trends, and issues around diversity and inclusion.
• Experience of creative production across a range of creative formats, including writing, performing, podcast and audio production, and film.
• Skills in working collaboratively with, and for, others to produce creative outputs.
• Creative problem-solving skills, and the ability to respond creatively and flexibly to briefs.

You will also be well placed to go onto postgraduate study, whether more specialised programmes in particular forms of creative practice (such as master's degrees in Creative Writing or Drama), more vocational programmes (Master's in Arts and Cultural Management, Master's in Journalism, for example), as well as more traditional master's programmes in the humanities.

Employability

Likely employment destinations for graduates will include the many possibilities contained in the creative economy, including all forms of media, social media enterprise, cultural heritage, journalism and digital content creation.

We believe that graduates of the programme will be valued anywhere that narrative insights are essential to communicating core purposes and where the ability to harness creativity is held in high esteem.

• Fees and funding

Fees for this course

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2024/25 academic year. The UK fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2024/25 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.

Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website .

Additional costs

Media equipment will be provided for students to use as part of compulsory modules.

There may be additional costs to purchase entry to art galleries, museums or similar as part of field trips for some modules (such as Making Moving Images I and II).

Students may wish to purchase entry to other museums/galleries around London as part of their wider experience but this will not be a requirement of the programme.

There may be additional travel and expenses, such as refreshments or meals, associated with an internship or the undertaking of project work at an employer’s premises.

Students may incur travel costs if they wish to attend UCL events on the Bloomsbury campus or if they have permission to undertake a module or other learning on the Bloomsbury campus.

A guide including rough estimates for these and other living expenses is included on the UCL Fees and funding pages . If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc., please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).

• Funding your studies

Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.

Scholarships

The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.

Your application

Your application will be assessed on the basis of past and projected academic performance, your personal statement and your academic reference. Your application should provide evidence that the majority of the following qualities are applicable to you: - Prepared for critical enquiry into the arts and humanities. - Prepared for engagement with practical creative skills, such as in writing, performance and moving image. - Prepared to think critically and creatively to seek new connections between humanities knowledge and humanities practice. - Interested in engaging in wider societal, cultural and global issues from a humanities perspective. - Interested in careers involving cultural entrepreneurship and intercultural exchange. We are interested in your experience of critical thinking in arts and humanities and in areas of arts practice covered in the degree (creative writing, performance, moving image). While these may well be covered in your formal academic performance at school or college, we are also interested if you have developed skills outside of formal learning; for example, in developing practical skills in writing for school magazines or blogs, or participating in film, drama, dance or theatre clubs.

• How to apply

Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however, applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.

For further information on UCL's selection process see: How we assess your application .

Got questions? Get in touch

Arts and Sciences BASc

[email protected]

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students .

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Creative Writing

Course options.

• Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Course modules.

• Student stories
• Teaching staff

Course overview

Our creative writing courses are ranked 7th in the UK for career prospects by the Guardian University Guide 2023, and top 20 for graduate prospects by the Complete University Guide 2024.

From poetry and playwriting to short stories and novels, you’ll focus on your existing creative passions and experiment with a wide range of styles, modes, and genres. You’ll be mentored by professional authors who can help you find your creative voice. You can see your work performed by actors in a staged reading, and get published in our annual paperback anthology, the New Writing Series, which is produced by our MA writers on our UoG Anthology website .

We’re a close-knit creative writing community and our students benefit from a high level of support from each other and staff. You’ll learn from award-winning lecturers who specialise in a variety of genres, including crime fiction, literary fiction, transgressive writing, and confessional poetry. These include Dr Michael Johnstone, shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and whose fourth novel Disnaeland was enthusiastically reviewed in The Times , among others.

For the latest updates about Creative Writing, follow us on X , Instagram and our course blog .

Study style

The course includes a mix of lectures, seminars and one-to-one tutorials – all taught by professional authors. In lectures, you’ll learn the fundamentals of good writing by studying the greats, both classic and contemporary. In workshops, you’ll develop your own stories, plays, novels and poems. Regular writing workshops mean you can share your work with peers and get their feedback.

In your first year you’ll explore the fundamentals of prose, poetry and dramatic writing, before pursuing your chosen strand, (or multiple strands if you’re keen to combine a mix of creative areas). Your final year will have a professional focus to prepare you for your career in the creative industries. You’ll meet with established authors, agents, and editors – understanding the publishing industry, composing your writer’s biography and learning how to submit your work to relevant magazines and markets.

Get Creative Writing BA (Hons) course updates and hear more about studying with us.

96 – 112 UCAS tariff points, CCC – BBC  at A levels, MMM – DMM at BTEC or a Merit in your T-Level.

Entry can also be gained by portfolio if you can send us some of your writing (prose and/or poetry and/or scripts).

If you are unsure whether we could make you an offer or you have any questions, just get in touch with our  admissions team  who will be able to advise you.

English Language or Literature and Maths Grade 4/C in GCSE (or equivalent) are normally required.

This course is available with an additional integrated foundation year. This four year option has lower entry requirements – see below – than the other study type/s available.

Typical offers 32 UCAS tariff points, EE at A levels or a PP in a  BTEC Diploma.

To apply for the integrated foundation year degree, select the ‘With foundation year’ option from the study types listed at the top of this page before clicking ‘Apply’.

See course overview for more information about the interated foundation year option.

We welcome applications from mature students (aged 21 and over) and do not necessarily require the same academic qualifications as school leaving applicants, although some entry requirements may still apply for Professionally Accredited Courses. We accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas and make offers on an individual basis.

Please read the entry requirements for your country – and contact our admissions team if you have questions.

You're viewing course modules for the course option. Choose a different course option to see corresponding course modules.

Here's an example of the types of modules you'll study (the contents and structure of the course are reviewed occasionally, but it is unlikely that there will be significant change).

Module information is not available for this programme.

Fees and costs

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Ready to apply?

Uog career promise.

At UoG we create a climate for bravery and growth. We instil confidence in all our students, so you can graduate career-ready and meet your ambitions.

95% of our graduates are in work or further study* , but if you’re not in a job 6 months after graduating we’ll guarantee you 6 months of free support, followed by the offer of a paid internship to kickstart your career – plus we’ll commit to lifetime career coaching. Eligibility conditions apply.

*Graduate Outcomes Survey published 2024 and based on 2021/22 leavers

Designed for aspiring authors, playwrights, poets, screenwriters, and games writers, unleash your creative potential with our Creative Writing course. The course aims to nurture your talent and enhance your writing skills, preparing you for a successful career in various literary fields.

As part of the course, you will also have the opportunity to showcase your work at prestigious literary events and festivals, allowing you to gain exposure and expand your network within the literary community. Our course not only focuses on the art of writing but also provides practical guidance on establishing a career in the field. Whether you aspire to create immersive novels, captivating plays, meaningful poetry, compelling narratives for games, or explore new writing territories, we provide the necessary guidance and resources to help you achieve your goals.

Graduates of this program will be well-equipped to navigate and make an impact on the literary world, bringing their distinct voices to a wide range of platforms and audiences.

Stories from our students

Former student publishes debut poetry collection in september 2024, i learned to create content for humans, chloe is shortlisted for the 2023 manchester writing prize, i’ve had work published, and performed at the cheltenham literature festival, i now have over 40 short story publications, published poet anna is founder of the cheltenham poetry festival, finding joy in the written word, teaching staff.

Sorry there are no available teaching staff at this time.

Be taught by published writers

You will learn from published writers, including Dr Michael Johnstone whose fourth novel Disnaeland came out in July 2022, Dr Angela France who has published four poetry collections and whose work has appeared in many anthologies, and Senja Andrejevic whose short stories have appeared in various literary magazines and whose dramatic writing has been produced with funding from Arts Council England. On the English Literature team, staff include Dr Charlotte Beyer who is the author of three scholarly monographs and author/editor of six collections and Professor Arran Stibbe whose innovative work on ecolinguists is sector leading.

Collaborate with professionals

On our dramatic writing modules you can work with Cheltenham’s renowned Everyman Theatre. You’ll develop your play with the artistic director, a playwright and resident actors – leading to a staged reading open to your peers, tutors and the public.

Get your work published

The course offers a range of publishing opportunities such as our annual student paperwork anthology, The New Writing Series.

School of Creative Arts

Explore and collaborate with creatives from across the spectrum. We offer the perfect environment to practice your craft and prepare you to graduate career-ready.

Ranked 11th in the UK for student satisfaction

Our creative writing courses are ranked 11th in the UK for student satisfaction by the Complete University Guide 2024.

Ranked 7th in the UK for career prospects

Our creative writing courses are ranked 7th in the UK for career prospects by the Guardian University Guide 2023.

Top 20 in the UK for graduate prospects

Our creative writing courses are ranked in in the top 20 in the UK for graduate prospects (on track) by the Complete University Guide 2025.

Related stories

Keep me updated, other courses you might like, english literature ba (hons)  , english literature and creative writing ba (hons)  , creative and critical writing ma, pgcert, pgdip  , take a look at our social media.