Overview
Take your love of literature to a higher level and refine your writing skills with academic rigour on our English and Creative Writing degree course.
Explore literature through an academic lens in theory and in practice, enhancing your understanding of each through participation in the other.
You'll learn to analyse literature as a critic, historian and linguist, and from the perspective of future creators, storytellers, playwrights and poets – all of which will transform your writing skills. Develop techniques for producing short stories, poetry and plays, and learn to dissect, critique and perform your own writing.
By the end of your degree, you’ll open up professional career paths and postgraduate routes eager for writing and literary expertise, including editing and publishing, teaching, and broadcasting.
What you'll experience
On this English and Creative Writing degree course you’ll:
- Take part in Portsmouth's annual Comic Con for the latest developments in creative writing and literature, popular culture, fan communities, and technology – course lecturers and students are panelists
- Build your writing portfolio by contributing to our course blog The Eldon Review and our local news zine Star & Crescent
- Contribute to cultural preservation projects with staff members, such as the Portsmouth Literary Map and the Writing Literary Portsmouth blog, to enhance your research practice
- Learn from experts in both creative writing and English literature: from published novelists and industry-active writers, to renowned specialists of 19th to 21st-century literature and culture
- Gain valuable professional experience by taking an optional placement
- Spend a year or a semester studying abroad to discover another culture and way of learning
- Take advantage of our extra-curricular Institute-Wide Language Programme to improve your linguistic skills and earn credits
Work experience and career planning
Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience. You can also venture into freelancing, or set up and run your own business with help from the University Startup Team.
Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.
Between your second and third year, you can complete an optional work placement to gain professional experience and enhance your skills. It's also a great incentive for employers once you graduate.
You can work for a company, organisation or agency, or you can go self-employed and start your own business with fellow students or by yourself.
Placement students on our Creative Writing courses have worked in a variety of roles in commerce, publishing, entertainment, and education. Others have chosen to work for themselves.
Among these experiences are:
- Digital content creator at the head office of a major retailer
- Trainee editorial assistants at The London Magazine and Star & Crescent
- Writing and publishing novellas and poetry collections as a freelancer
- Content writer for a Brixton music promotion company
- Teachers in schools
Whatever you decide – or even if you just want some employability advice – our exclusive Creative Careers team can support you every step of the way.
Module Details
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.
In each year, you need to study modules worth a total of 120 credits. For example, 4 modules worth 20 credits and 1 module worth 40 credits.
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Programme Assessment
You’ll be assessed through:
- short stories
- a novel in progress
- a screenplay
- a collection of poems
- a video production
- presentations
- reports
- a research portfolio
- examinations
- dissertation/project
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Teaching methods on this course include:
- workshops
- seminars
- lectures
- one-to-one tutorials
There's an emphasis on giving you the freedom and choice to develop the skills you need to succeed wherever your career takes you.
Student Destinations
An excellent writer and speaker will prosper in a vast field of career opportunities.
You’ll graduate from this course with outstanding writing and speaking skills, as well as proofreading and grammar proficiency. All of these qualities will help you from the moment you write your first job application.
You’ll also have developed excellent skills in imagination, empathy, and research, which are valuable assets to any employer.
Areas graduates from our Creative Writing courses have worked in include:
- creative writing (prose, poetry, script)
- advertising and marketing
- arts and events management
- local and community broadcasting
- teaching
- stand-up comedy
- travel industry
Roles graduates from our Creative Writing courses have gone onto include:
- novelist
- poet
- playwright
- teacher
- copywriter
- journalist
- theatre manager
- editorial assistant
Some of our graduates have landed spots in big companies and organisations, including:
- BBC Radio 1
- Red Magazine
