Writing and Film [with Placement year]
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above. If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 7.0 ( Academic level), or equivalent English Language qualification, as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University. You may also be accepted to this course with an IELTS 5.5 (Academic level- with no individual score being lower than 5.5) or equivalent English Language qualification as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University, but will then be required to undertake additional compulsory free English language modules in your first year.
UCAS Tariff
from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent)
About this course
**Develop your writing and filmmaking skills while learning about the films, writers and directors that have shaped the medium by studying for our BA (Hons) Writing and Film degree in Cambridge.**
You’ll learn to tell stories which engage audiences, whether you want to write poetry, drama, short fiction, or make films and documentaries. You’ll explore and develop professional writing techniques related to film including screenwriting and film journalism.
You’ll get invaluable feedback on all of your creative writing work from professional writers, including our teaching staff and Royal Literary Fund fellows, as well as your fellow students. This will offer you the unique opportunity to consider a range of responses to your work, as well as sharpening your own critical skills.
Investigating filmmaking practices from all over the world, and learning the language of film from the perspective of a filmmaker, you’ll make your own short films in video, animation or 16mm format, with full training in camera operation, sound recording and editing from professional filmmakers.
If you specialise in filmmaking, you’ll put your well-practised skills to the test in a project that, once complete, will be screened at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. The best may also be selected for showing at the Cambridge Film Festival.
You’ll learn to write knowledgeably and critically about film, giving you even more opportunities to get involved in Cambridge’s exciting arts scene.
Our optional modules allow you to further explore your interests or specialise for a particular career. In Years 2 and 3, you can also learn a language on our Anglia Language Programme and what’s more, you can choose to study abroad as part of your course and expand your cultural horizons and apply for funding to cover the cost.
Our links with local and national organisations will help you make contacts and find work placements in the industry. Our recent students have found internships and placements with companies such as the BBC, Cambridge Festival of Ideas, Film & Video Umbrella, Cannes Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Take One magazine, Watersprite Film Festival, CBBC, ITN Productions, London Studios, MTV, New York Film Academy, Pinewood Studios, StudioCanal UK (formerly Optimum Releasing) and Sight & Sound magazine.
You’ll also have opportunities to take part in live briefs with our partner organisations. Our students recently worked with mental health charity Lifecraft, producing a series of short videos about the charity for their website and social media channels.
You can also take an optional placement year.
**Industry-standard facilities**
As part of your studies at ARU, you’ll have access to all of our creative industries facilities including:
- Film studio with overhead lighting and green screen
- Multi-camera television studio
- Full range of location kit from 4K digital cameras, professional lighting, to Steadicam
- Sound-recording equipment for location filming
- Editing suites with Da Vinci Resolve and the full Adobe Creative Cloud software suite
- Finishing suite with audio monitoring and grading panels
- Aaton Cameras and Steenbeck editors for 16mm film production
- Motion capture equipment
- Podcast and video capture system
**Careers**
Our BA (Hons) Writing and Film Studies students go on to successful careers in a variety of fields, including film and video production, film criticism, cinema/film festival administration and management, film education, broadcasting, journalism and publishing.
You’ll develop literacy, creativity, problem-solving, analysis and communication skills, which are highly valued by employers. You can enhance your CV by taking advantage of our extensive local and national media contacts to gain experience on work placements. Previous students have undertaken work experience at Cambridge University Press, ITN, BBC, Pinewood Studios, the New York Film Academy, and more.
Modules
Year 1 core modules: Film Language and Concepts; Creative Moving Image; Introduction to Imaginative Writing; Screenwriting: The Short Film; Fundamentals of Publishing. Year 2 core modules: Writing Short Fiction; Classical Hollywood Cinema; Theorising Spectatorship; Writing for the Stage; Ruskin Module; Careers in Writing: Editing and Copywriting. Year 2 optional modules: Documentary Film Theory; 16mm Filmmaking; Film Criticism and Reviewing; Independent Cinema: US and Beyond; Non-Fiction Filmmaking; From Script to Screen; Writing Creative Non-Fiction; Anglia Language Programme; Filmmakers on film. Year 3: Work placement. Year 4 core modules: Writing Poetry; Film Journalism. Year 4 optional modules: Major Project Writing; Special Topics in Film Studies; Screenwriting: Writing and Selling the Feature Film; Experiments in Film and Moving Image; Professional Practice in Film; Avant-Garde Cinema; Gender and Popular Cinema; Narrative in Global Cinema; Research Project in Film and Media; Worldbuilding 1 and 2; The Business of Being a Writer: Craft and Professional Practice; Novel Writing: Long-Form Prose; Anglia Language Programme. Modules are subject to change and availability.
Assessment methods
You’ll show your progress in a number of ways, reflecting the varied nature of your course. These will include writing portfolios, critical commentaries, presentations, journals and log books, critical essays, film reviews and analyses, internet, print and video production, and commissions. You’ll also take part in 'crits', in which you’ll present and defend your work.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Cambridge Campus
Cambridge School of Creative Industries
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Creative writing
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Media studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Creative writing
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The jobs market for this subject - which includes creative writing and scriptwriting courses - is not currently one of the strongest, so unemployment rates are currently looking quite high overall, with salaries on the lower side. But nevertheless, most graduates get jobs quickly. Graduates often go into careers as authors and writers and are also found in other roles where the ability to write well is prized, such as journalism, translation, teaching and advertising and in web content. Be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common is common in the arts, as are what is termed 'portfolio careers', having several part-time jobs or commissions at once - although graduates from this subject were a little more likely than many other creative arts graduates to be in conventional full time permanent contracts, so that might be worth bearing in mind.
Media studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Creative writing
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£16k
£22k
£24k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Media studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£13k
£20k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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