Program Overview

BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing

The BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing program at Manchester Metropolitan University is designed to help students develop a distinctive and powerful voice in their writing. The program is taught by award-winning writers and industry experts, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the craft of writing.

Course Overview

The program is a three-year full-time course, with the option to take a four-year route with a placement year or study abroad. The course is divided into three years, with each year building on the previous one to provide a comprehensive education in English and Creative Writing.

Year 1

In the first year, students will explore genres and understand them in terms of formal and thematic properties. They will examine the relationships between poetry, prose, and drama by studying some of the major works that define each genre. Students will also consider the reasons why writers make generic and formal choices and will be encouraged to experiment in genres and forms, engaging critically with issues raised by each.

Core Modules

• Reading and Writing Mancunia (Literature): This module supports students in acquiring university-level reading and writing skills and welcomes them into the multicultural creative communities of Manchester.
• Framing Narrative: This module introduces students to a range of narrative forms from the classical to the contemporary, framing these narratives with relevant critical and narrative theory.
• Crafting Worlds: The Art of Storytelling: In this module, students will develop and test their understanding of the technical aspects of storytelling, learning about structure, suspense, pace, character, conflict, and resolution.
• Crafting Images: Language and Technique: This module will support students in developing and testing their understanding of poetic forms and their ability to craft images and develop a rich and distinctive aesthetic sensibility.

Year 2

In the second year, students will begin to specialize by taking two out of four writing workshop modules in poetry, script, and digital, taught by practicing writers. Students will be encouraged to experiment, engage with issues raised by formal choices, and develop workshop and editorial skills.

Core Modules

• The Art of Adaptation: Remake/Remodel: In this module, students will practice the art of adaptation, gaining the ability to convert existing cultural capital into new, inventive, commercially viable products and ideas.
• Literature, Theory, and Culture: This module encourages students to engage with key theoretical approaches to English studies, analyzing major critical movements in literary and cultural analysis.
• Make It Now: Creative Workshop: This module will assist students in developing the skills established on the Crafting Worlds and Crafting Images modules from Year 1, working in contemporary creative disciplines.

Option Modules

• Global Challenges: Green Literature, Film, and Media
• Manchester City of Literature
• Fit for the Future
• 19th Century Writing to Modernism
• American Contemporary Literature & Culture
• American Postwar Literature & Culture
• Cultures of Resistance
• Engaging the Humanities 1
• Engaging the Humanities 2
• European Cinemas
• Postcolonial Literature and Culture
• Postwar & Contemporary Literature & Culture
• Romanticism
• World Cinemas

Year 3

In the final year, students will work with a writer from the team to design and undertake an extended creative project in an area of their choice.

Core Modules

• Shared Futures: This work-integrated learning module provides students with the opportunity to deepen and recontextualize the range of transferable skills they have developed by responding to live client briefs from cultural partners.
• The Independent Project (Creative-Critical): On this module, students will be supported through one-to-one supervision and workshops to produce a piece of work that combines creative and critical skills developed on the program.

Option Modules

• Introduction to Teaching
• Fit for the Future
• Study Abroad Semester
• American Cinema & National Identity
• American Sounds and the City
• American Spaces
• LGBTQ+ Screens and Cultures
• Cultures of Life and Death: Debates In Contemporary Literature, Film, and Theory
• Escapade: Writing Creative Non-Fiction
• Gothic on Screen
• Introduction to Book Publishing
• Popular Fiction: Reading and Writing Genre
• Postcolonialism & Popular Culture
• Race and Popular Culture
• Reading and Writing Children's Literature
• Reading and Writing Games
• Reading and Writing Poetry
• Reading Contemporary Poetry
• Reading Games
• Renegade: Writing Literary Fiction
• Representing Trauma
• Shakespeare
• The Global Body
• Writing and Place
• Writing Literary Fiction
• Writing Series Drama

Study and Assessment

• Year 1: 25% lectures, seminars, or similar; 75% independent study. 100% coursework.
• Year 2: 25% lectures, seminars, or similar; 75% independent study. 100% coursework.
• Year 3: 100% placement (optional). 100% coursework.
• Year 4: 20% lectures, seminars, or similar; 20% independent study. 100% coursework.

Entry Requirements

• Typical offer: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
• IELTS score: 6.0 overall with no component below 5.5, taken within two years of the course start date.
• UK students: 104-112 UCAS tariff points. GCE A levels - grades BCC or equivalent.
• International students: IB Diploma with minimum 26 points overall or 104-112 UCAS Tariff points from Higher Level.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are still being finalized for all courses.

Careers Support and Prospects

88.7% of UK-domiciled, full-time, first-degree graduates are employed or in further study 15 months after graduation. The program provides opportunities for students to develop a wide range of skills, making them highly employable in various fields, including media work, teaching, and publishing. Graduates can also pursue further study and professional training, such as the MA English Studies, MA Publishing, or MA/MFA Creative Writing at the Manchester Writing School.