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Creative Writing and Publishing with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

D,D,D

Access to HE Diploma

D:0,M:24,P:21

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Maths and English are preferred, however if you don't have these qualifications you will be able to undertake Maths and English at L2 as part of your course of study.

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

MMP

T Level

P

UCAS Tariff

72

We encourage you to outline all your qualifications and achievements in your application to provide us a full picture. Your offer will typically be based on your predicted and/or achieved grades from full level 3 qualifications or above e.g. A levels, BTEC Ext Diploma, Access to HE, etc. Any subject specifics are outlined below in the Further Information section, and these specifics are applicable across all equivalent qualifications. A strong application/performance and appropriate experience will be taken into account where typical criteria is not met.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Creative writing

Our four year foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?
This flexible and innovative degree enables you to develop your writing skills alongside learning about the publishing industry. Learn the art, craft and processes of writing fiction and non-fiction; we'll cover writing for books, magazines, and digital content. Understand how today's publishing industry works and gain the skills you need to get your work — or the work of others — to market.

IS THIS COURSE FOR YOU?
If you’re looking for a degree to suit your needs and aspirations, with the choice of a wide range of optional modules, this course is for you.

HOW YOU WILL LEARN
You'll be taught in small supportive groups, using examples from contemporary and historical writing to inform your work. This course includes writing workshops and work-based projects with employers, to help you hone and apply your skills. You might be producing magazines and anthologies of student work, creating interactive eBooks, or crafting industry-standard TV and film scripts. By the end of your studies, you will have a portfolio of professionally developed and presented work to show to a potential employer.

OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPERIENCES.
There are so many! Apply for professional mentoring or internships with independent publishers, literature festival planners and event organisers; write for one of our in-house publications to raise your profile and boost your experience; spend part of your second year studying in America – all these opportunities and more are there for the taking.

CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY
Prepare for any career in the literary world, whether you aspire to be a writer or to work in the publishing industry, including roles in editorial, design, production, sales, marketing, publicity and more.

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
£14,900
per year
International
£14,900
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Derby

Department:

Humanities

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.

79%
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.

Creative writing

Teaching and learning

74%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
79%
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

46%
Library resources
75%
IT resources
69%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
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?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
23%
Male students
77%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
24%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
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.

£15,392
low
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
41%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

37%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
6%
Other administrative 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.

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.

£17k

£17k

£14k

£14k

£22k

£22k

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.

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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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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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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