Creative Writing
UCAS Code: W800
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
CCC at A levels or use a combination of your qualifications to achieve the required tariff total.
Pass your Access course with 60 credits overall including 45 credits at level 3.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
MMM at BTEC or use a combination of your qualifications to achieve the required tariff total.
UCAS Tariff
Use a combination of your qualifications to achieve the required tariff total.
About this course
**Why Creative Writing?**
Our Creative Writing degree enables you to focus on your existing creative passions and experiment with a wide range of styles, modes and genres. You’ll explore fundamentals of prose, poetry and dramatic writing, before specialising in an area (or areas) to suit your own interests and career ambitions. As well as the chance to gain experience with organisations such as the Parabola Arts Centre, the Everyman Theatre and Johnson & Alcock literary agency, you’ll meet established authors, agents and editors as you learn more about how to succeed in the publishing industry. You can also immerse yourself in a vibrant local literary culture, with The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival right on your doorstep.
You’ll draw on the expertise of experienced lecturers including professional authors specialising in a range of genres such as transgressive writing, confessional poetry, sci-fi, horror and speculative fiction. There are opportunities to join our Creative Writing society and showcase work in a variety of settings, including at open mic nights and through staged readings of plays by actors. You could also see your work published in our student-led magazine, ‘Show Don’t Tell’, or in our annual paperback anthology, the ‘New Writing’ series.
**Why University of Gloucestershire?**
We’ve been using our expertise to support and inspire students since 1847. Join us and you will benefit from professional-standard facilities in the beautiful, historic surroundings of Cheltenham and Gloucester. With the University of Gloucestershire offering a wide variety of courses, you will have the best of both worlds - a large learning community with more than 80 societies and sports clubs to enjoy while also benefiting from lecturers who know and value you as an individual.
Through our innovative Your Future Plan scheme, you will be challenged and supported to become the graduate that you want to be, ready to succeed in your chosen field. Your personal tutor will help you build your network of connections and take advantage of a range of opportunities including field trips and placements, offering invaluable experience outside of the lecture theatre.
Our students never tire of finding inspiration here in the beautiful county of Gloucestershire, home to over 45 festivals every year, including 2000trees, Wychwood and the world-famous Cheltenham Literature festival. Many students gain valuable skills and experience working at these events alongside their studies.
**Come and experience the University of Gloucestershire for yourself by booking an open day online at www.glos.ac.uk/BookAnOpenDay.**
**After the course**
Your story with us doesn’t end at graduation. We are proud of our record that 95% of University of Gloucestershire graduates are in work or further study six months after completing their course*, and throughout your studies we are committed to working with you to develop your future plan.
*Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE), 2016/17.
**Experience an open day**
Take the next step and book yourself a place at a University of Gloucestershire open day at www.glos.ac.uk/BookAnOpenDay. This is your chance to see the university for yourself, get a real insight into what we're about and meet your potential course tutors and lecturers. Our student ambassadors will also be on hand to show you round your campus. Take the opportunity to get up-to-the minute advice and guidance from the people who have been here and experienced University of Gloucestershire life already.
**To find out more information about this course, visit www.glos.ac.uk/OurCourses, email us on [email protected] or call 03330 14 14 14.**
Modules
We’re a close-knit creative writing community and our students benefit from a high level of support from each other and staff. 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. Benefit from industry links with the Parabola Arts Centre, the Everyman Theatre and London-based literary agency Johnson & Alcock, which judges our annual novel writing contest. Cheltenham is also home to The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival that attracts writers, journalists, philosophers and historians from around the globe. Our students volunteer, interview speakers and blog about the event.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Gloucestershire
School of Liberal and Performing Arts
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)
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.
Imaginative 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.
English 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.
£16k
£19k
£22k
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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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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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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