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Art and Creative Writing

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

A level English Literature or a related subject at grade B. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

Access to HE Diploma

D:18,M:27

Must include at least 12 level 3 credits in English Literature or a related subject. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

M2,M2,M2

Principal subjects must include English Literature or a related subject. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

Extended Project

B

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification provides to students for University study, we now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.  Eligible applicants would receive two offers,  our usual offer plus an alternative offer of a B in the EPQ and one grade lower in their A level subjects

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Maths C (or 4), English Language or English Literature C (or 4).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30

Higher Level English Literature or a related subject at 5. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DDM

Modules taken must be comparable to A level English Literature or a related subject. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

Modules taken must be comparable to A level English Literature or a related subject. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B

Higher English Literature or a related subject at grade B. Related subjects: English Language & Literature, English Language, Drama & Theatre Studies, Creative Writing.

UCAS Tariff

120-141

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Creative writing

Fine art

**Develop as an artist, curator and writer with our BA Art and Creative Writing programme.**

This four-year, joint honours course reflects recent developments in art and culture. For example, you will:

- learn about new digital art and publishing platforms

- expand your understanding of contemporary literature and art theories

- develop your skills in art writing.

Art and creative writing are a stimulating combination at degree level – they enhance and inform one another. Additionally, studying theories and practitioners across the art and literature disciplines will inspire and influence your own art and writing as you hone your technique and form.

**Art**

Studying at the Reading School of Art allows you to explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms.

Over the course of your four years of study, you will:

- work with academics who include artists, curators and researchers

- be encouraged to participate in exhibitions, public art commissions and events

- receive dedicated studio space, accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and a studio tutor to help develop your individual and professional practice.

You will complement your practical art with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art. Through the lectures, seminars and studio teaching – as well as weekly visiting artist talks – you will be exposed to the language, vocabulary and debates that have emerged historically and evolved to forge contemporary art.

**Creative writing**

Explore literature creatively as you develop characters, shape poems, and draw on your imagination. We are ranked 11th for Creative Writing in the Complete University Guide 2023.

You will learn from prize-winning authors and academics who are committed to teaching through the workshop model. These small group sessions are the heart of Reading’s writing community: guided by one of our lecturers, you and your fellow students will gain confidence as your share your writing and help each other improve.

You will also have the opportunity to publish your work – and gain experience in editing and publishing – by participating in our online creative magazine.

**Your learning environment**

You will learn through a mixture of:

- seminars

- lectures

- studio teaching

- group workshops

- technical inductions

- one-to-one tutorials

- museum and gallery visits.

You will also receive academic guidance through oral and written feedback.

Your creative writing modules will place a strong emphasis on small-group learning within a friendly and supportive environment, and you will have access to our resident professional writer who advises our students individually.

For your art modules, you will have access to our range of facilities. These include:

- studios for construction, printing and casting

- darkrooms for photography

- digital tools for film and video editing, imaging, sound and web building

- a dedicated audio-visual room and sound-recording booth.

- Placement

You will be encouraged to undertake academic placements during your studies.

The Department of English Literature has an innovative placement scheme, and previous art students have:

- interned at Studio Voltaire and the Frieze Art Fair

- performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts

- taken part in an Arts Council-supported film project at the Museum of Rural Life

- participated in an international exhibition at the Seoul Institute of Arts in South Korea.

- Study abroad

In your third year, you can spend a term studying abroad at one of our partner institutions. To find out more, visit our Study Abroad site.

Modules

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery for 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change.

Core modules:
- Art Studio
- Drawing
- Introduction to Creative Writing
- Poetry in English
- Art Studio 2
- Creative Writing: Poetry
- Art Studio 2b
- Situated Art Practice
- Art Studio 3b
- Dissertation for Art and Creative Writing: Joint Honours students

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approve modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£22,350
per year
International
£22,350
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Reading

Department:

Art

Read full university profile

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.

69%
Fine art

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

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?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
36%
Male students
64%
Female students
90%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
A

Art

Teaching and learning

73%
Staff make the subject interesting
82%
Staff are good at explaining things
87%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
71%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

65%
Library resources
71%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
54%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
17%
Male students
83%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
9%
Other administrative occupations
9%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

Art

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.

£18,212
high
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
56%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

24%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
16%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
11%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

Quite a few students of fine art have already retired and are taking the degree for the excellent reason that they love art, and they're willing to pay to study it. You should bear this in mind if the stats you see feature particularly low employment rates. If you need to earn a living once you've finished your fine art degree, be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common - about one in six fine arts graduates were working for themselves. Also common are what is termed 'portfolio careers' — having several part-time jobs or commissions at once - and many courses actually help you prepare for freelancing. One in ten of last year’s fine arts graduates had more than one job six months after graduation — over twice the average for graduates from 2015. Graduates from these subjects are often found in arts jobs, as artists, designers, photographers and similar jobs, or as arts and entertainment officers or teachers — although it's perfectly possible to get jobs outside the arts if you wish, with jobs in events management, marketing and community work amongst the most popular options.

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.

£18k

£18k

£25k

£25k

£29k

£29k

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.

Art

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

£19k

£22k

£22k

£28k

£28k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
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Lower entry requirements
University of Reading | Reading
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UCAS Points: 96
Same University
University of Reading | Reading
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UCAS Points: 120-141

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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), for undergraduate students only.

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here