Creative Writing
Entry requirements
A level
112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
112-122 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
Cambridge Pre-U score of 46-50. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C or above to include English/3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above to include English.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H3,H3,H3,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H3
A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
112-120 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
T Level
A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
UCAS Tariff
112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
112-120 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate. A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
You may also need to…
Present a portfolio
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.
**Overview**
Charles Dickens was born here, Sherlock Holmes was created here, H.G. Wells travelled here in his ‘time machine’, and many tourists wander our timeless shores inked with seaside tales. If there could be an ideal birthplace for your creative writing career, let it be Portsmouth.
Every lecture, seminar, and event on our Creative Writing degree course will inspire you to develop your writing voice across various media, from stories and poetry to plays and screenplays. Learn about the theory behind the art of writing and discover the history of storytelling and narrative, guided by a team of industry and research experts spanning writing, media and performance. You can also broaden your writing experience by studying abroad and going on an optional professional placement.
By the end of the course, you’ll have the versatile writing skills to take you to any career destination within creative and communication fields.
**Course highlights**
- 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, local news zine Star & Crescent, and our Student Union newspaper The Galleon
- Collaborate with staff on innovative research projects to enhance your own practice, such as Ink:Well, Lifewriting for Well-Being, and Pens of the Earth
- Get insight into the current writing scene by attending guest lectures from industry professionals – past ones include Andy McNab, Francesca Beard, and Suzi Feay
- 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
- Learn a new language with our extra-curricular Institute-Wide Language Programme to improve your abilities and earn credits
**Careers and opportunities**
Writing is one of the oldest forms of communication and has evolved and transformed over the ages. It thrives more than ever in our modern world where traditional and digital communication coexist, with its outlets continuing to expand. Spoken communication – such as storytelling, teaching, and poetry – is also on the rise.
After graduating from our Creative Writing degree course, you’ll be poised for numerous roles that rely on the powers of communication and the written word.
You can also continue your studies at postgraduate level and venture into research.
Graduate areas
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
Graduate roles
Roles graduates from our Creative Writing courses have gone onto include:
- novelist
- poet
- playwright
- teacher
- copywriter
- journalist
- theatre manager
- editorial assistant
You'll get help and support from our Careers and Employability service in finding your first role and for 5 years after you graduate.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
- Professional Writing
- Social Media and Culture
- Telling Tales
- Tips, Tricks, Techniques
- True Stories
There are no optional modules in this year.
Year 2
Core modules in this year include:
- Creative Writing and Critical Thinking
- Finding Form - Fiction
- Finding Form - NonFiction
Optional modules in this year include:
- Comic Book Industries
- Creative Writing For Film
- Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice
- Feature Writing and Media Research
- Film, Media and Communication Study Exchange
- Finding Form - Speculative Fiction
- Investigative Journalism
- Modern Foreign Language
- Playwriting and Text for Performance
- Press and Public Relations
- Professional Experience
- Specialist Journalism
- Student Enterprise
- Transmedia Narratives and Strategies
Placement year (optional)
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
Year 3
Core modules in this year include:
- Creative Writing Dissertation
Optional modules in this year include:
- Advanced Screenwriting
- Cultures of Consumption
- Fact and Fiction
- Fan Fiction
- Global Journalism and Human Rights
- Magazines: Print Media in a Digital World
- Media Fan Cultures
- Representing Science in the Media
- Researching Animation
- Studying Comedy
- Travel Writing: Global and Local Engagements
- Writing Project (with Publishing)
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.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
- short stories
- a novel in progress
- a screenplay
- a collection of poems
- a magazine pitch
- public relations campaign
- 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.
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
- Year 1 students: 100% by coursework
- Year 2 students: 12% by written exams, 5% by practical exams and 83% by coursework
- Year 3 students: 100% by coursework
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries
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.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Journalism
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
Journalism
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
£18k
£22k
£26k
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.
Journalism
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
£23k
£26k
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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Course location and department:
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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