American Literature and Creative Writing
Royal Holloway, University of London
UCAS Code: Q324 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Royal Holloway, University of London
UCAS Code: Q324 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required. Socio-economic factors which may have impacted an applicant’s education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants. Required: A Level Grade A in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject. For a full list please see our website https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/applying/undergraduate/entry-requirements/creative-writing-requirements/
Access to HE Diploma
Pass with at least 30 level 3 credits at Distinction and the remaining level 3 credits at Merit. All level 3 Arts and Humanities essay based units must be passed with Distinction. The Access to Higher Education Diploma is only acceptable if you have had a considerable break from education.
Applicants with the Cambridge Pre-U are strongly encouraged to apply to Royal Holloway. Offers will be made on the basis of equivalent A-Level grades as can be found on the Royal Holloway website.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
We require at least five GCSEs at grade A*-C or 9 - 4 including English and Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
6,6,6 at Higher Level including 6 in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject with a minimum of 32 points overall
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H2, H2, H2, H2, H2 at Higher Level including H2 in English Literature or English Language & Literature
Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)
in relevant subject plus A Level Grade A in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
in relevant subject plus A Level Grade A in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
Plus A Level grades AA including A in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject
Scottish Advanced Higher
Including an A in any essay-based Arts and Humanities subject
Scottish Higher
Including A in an essay based Arts and Humanities subject
Requirements are as for A-levels where one non-subject-specified A-level can be replaced by the same grade in the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
By combining the study of American Literature and Creative Writing, you'll become an informed and critical reader of the American literary tradition, as well as a confident and expressive writer - whether specialising as a poet, playwright, or author of fiction.
Studying at one of the UK's most dynamic English departments will challenge you to develop your own critical faculties. Learning to write creatively and critically analyse in tandem, you'll be exposed to a huge variety of literature while you develop your own writing practice.
You'll also examine a variety of areas in American literature, including the literature of the first encounter, nineteenth-century and African-American writing, satire, New York School poetry, drama, the urban novel and writing about music and the novella. You will have the chance to take courses in other departments, studying American history or film, to broaden your understanding of America.
Learn how to create, criticise and shape an artistic work: a valuable life skill with uses beyond writing poetry, plays or novels. From journalism and website creation to advertising and academic publishing – you'll be able to use the skills you pick up in character, voice, ambiguity, style and cultural context. You will be taught by internationally known scholars, authors, playwrights and poets who are specialists in their fields, producing ground-breaking written work and appearing at literary festivals around the world, including practising American novelists Ben Markovits and Douglas Cowie.
- Critique texts considering literary devices such as form, genre and periodisation.
- A range of literature modules from poetry to novels.
- You can specialise as a poet, playwright or author of fiction.
- Be taught by world-renowned American authors.
- The chance to spend a year at a university in the USA.
Modules
Please refer to our website for information:
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/english/american-literature-and-creative-writing.aspx
Assessment methods
Your course will be assessed by a combination of examinations and in-course assignments in the form of essays or presentations.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/undergraduate/feesandfunding/bursariesandscholarships/home.aspx
The Uni
Royal Holloway, University of London
English
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.
American and australasian studies
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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)
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.
American and australasian 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
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.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
American and australasian 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.
£18k
£26k
£33k
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.
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.
£19k
£24k
£30k
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:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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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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