Program Overview

English & Creative Writing BA(Hons)

Course Overview

This English & Creative Writing degree is a celebration of literature, where you'll develop the ability and confidence to write for specific genres, forms, and audiences.

Key Details

• Location: Falmouth Campus
• Course duration: 3 years / 4 years
• Attendance: Full-time / Professional Placement
• UCAS code: W8Q3/PY47

Course Structure

Year One

• Writing: Craft & Contexts: This module explores the practice of writing as a discipline and a craft and asks you to debate ideas about writing, authorship, genre, creativity, and audience.
• Exploding the Canon: Writing Then & Now: How do the literatures of the past infuse the fictions of the present and what do these literatures reveal about us as we are now and us as we once were?
• Publishing Cultures: In this module, you'll encounter publishing as a literary and cultural tradition that is dynamic and in a constant state of flux. You will consider the role of technology on the production and dissemination of written texts in the contemporary world.
• Breaking the Rules: Remix and Writing Back: A challenging, radical, and 'breaking the rules' creative writing module, which covers remix and writing back in theory and practice.
• Literatures of Revolution: From the revolutionary ideas of Darwin's theories of evolution to postcolonial revelations, LGBTQi movements, and the #MeToo phenomena, literature and other textual forms reflect and create society. How do contemporary notions revolutionise texts and how do texts inform revolutionary ideas?
• Publishing Studio: Technologizing the Word: A practical and intermedia publishing module, which might include book design, zine making, performance, and exhibition as publication and screen-based media.

Year Two

• Society and the Self: What is the role of identity in literature? How does literature represent the world's diversity? Who communicates identity and how?
• Collaborative Project: In this module, you'll consider the writer's role as part of a creative eco-system, and/or literature's role in the creative economy through working on a live collaborative project. The project can be a placement in the writing-related industries, a case study or live brief with a business (for example, literary festivals, creative agencies, publishing houses, the heritage sector), or a collaborative project with peers culminating in an event performance or piece of creative practice.
• Optional Modules:
  • Satire and Scandal
  • Poetry
  • Screenwriting
  • Magic and the Impossible
  • Fiction
  • Creative Non-Fiction
  • Games
  • Radio & Theatre

Year Three

• Dissertation and Portfolio: Create an independent extended piece of creative writing or a collection of creative pieces in a genre, form, topic of your choosing, which sits alongside an extended essay on an area of publishing studies or English literature related to your creative piece.
• Experiment and Adaptation: Engage with some of the limits of textuality, testing the boundaries of understanding, meaning, and communication. By looking at how texts can be remediated, how they morph and repeat, you'll analyse how texts sit within the time and place of their production, but also how they can innovate and shift.
• Writing Now: Prize Winners, Bestsellers & Controversial Content: What wins prizes? What wins readers? What makes a bestseller? What is literature doing now, and where is it going?
• Optional Modules:
  • We Have Never Been Human
  • Crime and Dark Fiction
  • Children and Young Adult
  • Innovations

Assessment

• 100% of your assessment will be coursework.
• Assessment Methods:
  • Coursework and e-learning exercises
  • Live creative industry briefs
  • Final year creative writing portfolio

Facilities

• Digital labs, lecture theatres, and seminar rooms.
• Libraries housing 140,000 books, 17,000 DVD and video titles, and exhaustive electronic and journal resources.
• The Lighthouse – a dedicated writers' room and events space
• The Soundhouse – podcasting facility
• The Shed – dedicated study area

Staff

• Dr Jennifer Young: Head of People Success
• Dr David Devanny: Associate Professor Multimedia Writing & Storytelling
• Dr Luke Thompson: Course Leader, MA Professional Writing
• Professor Ruth Heholt: Professor of Literature and Culture
• Dr John Finnegan: Course Leader, MA Writing for Script & Screen
• Rupert Loydell: Senior Lecturer, English & Writing
• Jane Pugh: Associate Lecturer, School of Film and Television
• Dr Marshall Moore: Course Leader and Senior Lecturer
• Nicola Coplin: Lecturer
• Dr Adrian Markle: Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing
• Dr Jo Parsons: Lecturer in English and Creative Writing

Careers

• Our graduates have worked as:
  • PR Coordinator at Superdry
  • Media Editor at Business Insider
  • Editor at Parragon Books
• With businesses growing their online presence, talented writers are being hired as copywriters, web editors, PR officers, and content creators to help brands communicate.

How to Apply

• You can apply for our undergraduate degrees via UCAS. You'll need our university UCAS code (F33) as well as your course code (which you'll find on your course page) for your application.
• Application Advice & Interview Information: Go to Toolkit
• Deadlines:
  • For starting your studies in 2025: UK applications: 29 January 2025 (for equal consideration)
  • International fee payers can apply throughout the year. But we recommend applying as early as possible, to make time for visa and travel arrangements.
• Entry Requirements:
  • We consider all applications on their own individual merit and potential. We invite all applicants to an interview day or audition to give them the opportunity to demonstrate this along with what inspires and motivates them in their field. Applicants will also be able to show their portfolio or give a performance depending on the course. We welcome applications from all subject backgrounds, whether you’ve specialised in STEM, the arts or humanities.
  • Course routes & entry requirements:
    • BA/BSc(Hons) three year degree: 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
    • BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with professional placement: 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
• Language Requirements:
  • For applicants whose first language is English we require you to have or be working towards GCSE English Language Grade 4 (C), or equivalent.
  • If English is not your first language you will need to meet the same standard which is equivalent to the IELTS Academic 6.0 overall score, with at least 5.5 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. We accept a range of in-country equivalencies and approved tests.

Fees, Costs & Funding

• Tuition Fees:
  • For students starting the course in September 2025:
    • Annual tuition fee: £9,535 per year (Full-time UK)
    • Annual tuition fee: £17,950 per year (Full-time EU/international)
    • Annual tuition fee: £1,905 per professional placement year (Full-time UK and EU/international)
  • For students starting the course in September 2024:
    • Annual tuition fee: £9,250 per year (Full-time UK)
    • Annual tuition fee: £17,950 per year (Full-time EU/international)
    • Annual tuition fee: £1,850 per professional placement year (Full-time UK and EU/international)
• Typical Course Costs:
  • £300-£400: Recurring annual costs
  • £500: Optional study visits and placements for the course duration
• Funding: For information about funding available, please visit our student funding pages.