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York St John University

UCAS Code: WQ9H | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

GCSE/National 4/National 5

1 GCSE at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.

UCAS Tariff

48

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time | 2025

Subjects

English literature

Creative writing

This route offers you a four year (full-time) degree course, which will include opportunities for you to engage with the subject area of your choice, to select from a range of subjects to broaden your knowledge and understanding, and will provide structured study skills support as you build your confidence to study at degree level. You will be taught alongside other students studying the Foundation Year from Social Sciences, Languages & Linguistics, Education, Religion & Philosophy and Media.

The Foundation Year is delivered across three 10 week terms. Where possible we focus teaching on a single day, to permit flexibility, and give you plenty of time to engage in other supported learning activities and enjoy the range of resources and activities available to you. Levels 1-3 are timetabled across the full week and run across two semesters.

You will have the opportunity to explore a variety of academic disciplines, encountering a wide range of subjects and ideas. You will engage in a range of teaching and learning activities, including lectures, seminars, group work, workshops and online learning.

Passing your first year guarantees progression onto any of our undergraduate degrees offered with an integrated Foundation Year.

If you wish to study two academic subjects in depth our Joint Honours degree programmes are a great way to do this. At York St John you will be taught by enthusiastic and experienced staff who are active as scholars and researchers in their specialist areas. Combining Creative Writing and English Literature degree programmes at York St John provides you with an opportunity to explore the multi-faceted world of literature while enjoying the creative freedom of one’s own imagination, and improving writing, communication and research skills. We are bombarded with words and surrounded by stories – stories told to inform us, to entertain us, to unnerve us, to make us cry, to make us laugh, to make us buy things. Understanding how stories work – and how they appeal to us, persuade us and affect us – is part of understanding the world we live in.

Modules

https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/foundation-years/liberal-arts-foundation-year/

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
£14,000
per year
International
£14,000
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:

York St John University

Department:

Interdepartmental

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.

98%
English literature
92%
Creative writing

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.

Literature in english

Teaching and learning

98%
Staff make the subject interesting
98%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
86%
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

88%
Library resources
98%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
93%
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?

97%
UK students
3%
International students
20%
Male students
80%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

Creative writing

Teaching and learning

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
97%
Staff are good at explaining things
92%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
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

81%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
89%
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?

95%
UK students
5%
International students
24%
Male students
76%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
D

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.

Literature in english

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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Teaching and educational professionals
14%
Other elementary services occupations
11%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Teaching and educational professionals
14%
Other elementary services occupations
11%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

Literature in english

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

£16k

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

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.

£16k

£16k

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

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.

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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