BA (Hons) Creative Writing and English Literature with a Placement Year
Course options
Key Details
- Award
- Degree of Bachelor of Arts
- UCAS Course Code
- W8QP
- Typical Offer
- AAB
- Contextual Offer
- BBB
- Course Length
- 4 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2024
Why you should choose us
Course Overview
The writer's world has never been more diverse, exciting, and collaborative than it is today. UEA – which became the first UK university to teach creative writing over 50 years ago – has played a major role in shaping this world. Since then, countless writers have emerged from our seminars and workshops and made a lasting impact on the field of contemporary literature. Are you ready to join them?
As a student of Creative Writing and English Literature, you'll hone your writing skills while exploring literatures from a host of genres, countries, and periods. You’ll take the same creative writing workshops as our English Literature with Creative Writing students. In addition, you'll dive into modules that will take your writing practice out of the classroom and into the working writer's world. Through seminars, workshops, and placements, you'll develop skills across disciplines and media, in community engagement, and in publishing and presenting your own work. In other words, you’ll be primed to enter a writer's world that is collaborative, thrillingly diverse, and endlessly exciting.
To write is to practice, with particular intensity and attentiveness, the art of reading.’ So wrote Susan Sontag. In a similar way, at UEA we believe that good readers make good writers. It is for this reason that we combine the study of Creative Writing and English Literature at all levels of our degree programmes. In this way, your creative and literary training go hand-in-hand.
In addition to the creative writing workshops offered by our pioneering and world-famous ‘English Literature with Creative Writing’ degree, this course offers you a suite of modules designed to help you enter the working writer's world once you graduate. You’ll become familiar with collaborative practice, working with makers and thinkers in other disciplines. On our innovative creative non-fiction module, you’ll experience writing in real-world contexts and learn how to make that world your subject. As your degree reaches its climax, you’ll learn how to produce, publish and perform your work to a professional standard.
All along, you will be studying at a university rich in famous alumni, including Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, Forward Prize winner Mona Arshi, and Nobel Prize winner Sir Kazuo Ishiguro. You will draw inspiration from this lineage, while working closely with our many practicing novelists, scriptwriters, poets in seminars and workshops.
In your study of English literature, you’ll discover a wealth of writers from the classical past right up to poets and novelists writing now. You might explore diverse literary traditions from across the globe, and you’ll tackle a heady mix of genres, which currently range from the gothic to contemporary fiction, crime writing to children’s literature, early modern women’s writing to modern Japanese fiction.
Whichever modules you choose to study, you’ll be taught by our world-leading writers and critics. UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing is famous for innovation in teaching and for cutting-edge research – that’s why in the most recent Times Higher Education Analysis (REF2021), UEA was ranked 19th in the UK for the quality of its research in English Language and Literature.
When you’re not in the classroom, you’ll be able to explore the glories of Norwich, an extraordinary place in which to be a writer. Not only is it jaw-droppingly beautiful; it’s also England’s first UNESCO City of Literature – awarded in recognition of the city’s vivid literary heritage and vibrant contemporary writing scene – and home to the National Centre for Writing. You’ll immerse yourself in this community, perhaps sharing your work with a packed audience of students and professional writers at our UEA Live: New Writing series, or attending literary festival events with internationally renowned figures.
On Creative Writing and English Literature with a Placement Year, you’ll normally spend 9-12 months of your third year in a placement, gaining invaluable working experience and employability skills in a relevant area of your choice.
We say that UEA is the place where literature lives – when you join the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, you’ll join a unique and supportive community of critics, writers, and drama practitioners, who bring literature to life every day. It’s a pretty good place to be, and you can find out more about the activities in our School by following us on Instagram.
Placement Year and Study Abroad
Want to graduate with professional experience? On this course, you will normally spend 9-12 months of your third year* in a placement, gaining invaluable work experience and employability skills in a relevant area of your choice. You will be expected to seek your own work placement, and will be supported in doing so by UEA’s Career Central Service and your School. Support for you to find your placement will start early in the first year and will be tailored to the particular needs you will have at various stages of the process.
The field in which you will do your placement will depend on your own interests, and some of the preparatory workshops will help you have a clearer idea of what these are, what your values are, and which career they may lead to. Creative Writing and English Literature graduates go into a wide range of sectors, and so placements can be done in fields such as heritage, business, the public sector, creative industries and many more. We will, however, require that the tasks you will conduct as part of your placement meet the required learning outcomes and are complex enough to help you develop a range of skills that you will be able to translate and use during the final year of your degree and your post-graduation career.
*Placements may be shorter on some occasions, or take place during different years of the degree, but this has to be agreed by the Placement Director and Learning and Teaching Services.
Have a business idea? If you have an idea you think would make a great business, you may be able to turn your Placement Year into a ‘Year in Enterprise’*. Your idea (business plan, budget etc.), motivation and academic record would have to be assessed by our team. Should you be given the go-ahead, you could use the year to start your businesses in a structured and supportive environment, accessing numerous training courses and extensive mentoring.
*Note that if you’re studying with us on a Student Visa, you can’t currently undertake a Year in Enterprise due to Visa rules.
This version of the degree gives you the opportunity and support to greatly enhance your employability by securing and undertaking a year-long placement in the third year of your degree. Find out more about this exciting opportunity on our 'Placement Years in Arts and Humanities' page.
Study and Modules
Structure
During your first year, you’ll take three bespoke Creative Writing modules, in which you will develop your range of skills as a writer. The first semester is all about cultivating your craft, testing out the possibilities of different forms and techniques, pushing your boundaries as a writer, and using writing exercises to help you generate material. In the second semester, you will experiment with avant-garde techniques and engage with genres, while developing the ability to critically reflect on your own creative practice.
You will also explore writing as a collaborative practice, working with UEA students from other disciplines - which might include media, or medicine, or environmental science – to broaden your scope as a writer, working on new forms for new audiences. At the same time, you’ll improve your skills as a close reader of literary texts and begin to get to grips with the span of English Literature in core literature-based modules. This is the start of the exciting interplay between reading and writing which you’ll draw upon throughout your degree.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Teaching
Nurtured by our world-leading creative writing tutors (in seminars of c. 15 people), you'll start to get to grips with creative writing's fundamentals, including strategies for creating character, writing dialogue, determining mood, and maintaining atmosphere. You'll be mentored as you collaborate with students in other disciplines – your first taste of the contemporary working writer's world. Lectures on literature will surprise you with new ideas, and seminar discussions led by your tutor will shape your thinking about what you've read that week. You'll meet your academic adviser who'll support you through your whole degree with everything from choice of modules to launching your career.
Independent Learning
You’ll spend time on your own writing and your collaborative projects. You'll throw yourself into the whirlwind of extra-curricular creative writing events and activities. You'll read some extraordinary books, with a framework of guided tasks to help you get the most out of them, and discover a wealth of new resources in the library. By the end of this year, you'll be equipped with the fundamental skills necessary for your creative and literary journey.
Assessment
Assessment
Throughout your degree, all modules in Creative Writing and in English Literature have no exams – we believe that the best way to express your thoughts about literature and to show off your creative development is through carefully crafted pieces of written coursework. On the creative side, you'll start by writing your own prose and poetry, developing fundamental skills in drafting, keeping a writer's notebook, and submitting to deadlines, before embarking on more experimental exercises. You'll produce work collaboratively and reflect on the collaboration process, developing a critical awareness of your creative practice. In your studies of literature, you'll develop renewed enthusiasm for writing academic essays, and express your thinking in a diverse variety of forms, from reviews to personal reflective writing.
Feedback
You'll receive feedback on your writing (creative and critical) from your tutors (e.g. in one-to-one tutorials) and your peers. Feedback on assessed work will be returned within 20 working days (after it has been carefully marked and moderated). As your first year does not count toward your overall degree result, it's a great time to experiment and take risks.
Structure
You’ll begin to focus your creative writing on particular forms, choosing from prose, poetry, and scriptwriting modules. You will share your writing with your peers and with a published author in our creative writing workshops, receiving feedback and learning how to give constructive criticism to your peers, too. You might also take a module in creative non-fiction, which will develop your skills in life writing and hybrid forms, working both in the classroom and through a short placement that will give you direct experience of writing in the world.
As a literary critic, you will be able to choose from all the available literature modules, gaining a grounding in a variety of literary periods and traditions. You might also choose to experiment with our innovative creative-critical modules, where the reading and writing of literature go hand-in-hand. Over the course of this year, you’ll take a module on Shakespeare or an historical period of English literature from before 1789.
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 40)Optional B Modules
(Credits: 20)Optional C Modules
(Credits: 60)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Teaching
Your creative work will now be taken to the next level through the 'workshopping' process (pioneered in the UK by UEA), where you'll get feedback on your writing from your peers under the direction of one of our creative writing tutors, and learn the art of offering constructive critique to your fellow writers. You might bring your writing into the wider world through a short-term placement with an organisation or community group, supported by our creative writing team. Lectures and seminars will immerse you in particular eras of literature, and you may also take seminars in more vocational subjects like journalism or publishing (using our state-of-the-art Media Suite).
Independent Learning
You'll deepen your confidence in the craft of creative writing, gain real-world experience of the demands and exhilarating rewards of collaborating with others, continue to enrich your writing through the study of literature, and finish the year with a real sense of how your degree might open out into future careers.
Assessment
Assessment
You'll continue to submit 100% coursework for all your creative writing and literature modules. Your creative writing will flourish as you produce more substantial pieces of prose (e.g. a 1250-word short story or longer 2000-word narrative), portfolios of poetry, or scripts for stage or screen (c.20-30 minutes in length), and write reflective pieces to understand better your own creative processes. Your writing will be energised by encounters with real-life subjects as you experience the writers' world first-hand, and you'll write reflectively about the ethics and complexities of drawing on real life subjects. You'll continue to hone your critical essay writing, and you might experiment with 'creative criticism', for instance by writing a short story which reveals your critical understanding of that form.
Feedback
You'll continue to have the support and feedback of all your tutors, and your creative work will be deepened by your immersion in the workshop environment, where you receive feedback from your peers and learn to give feedback on their work, an enormously valuable skill in many careers.
Structure
Your third year will be spent on your placement, providing you with the opportunity to experience the world of work while applying some of the skills and knowledge you’ve developed during your first two years of study.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
You’ll spend your third year on a placement. You will be responsible for securing the placement, supported by UEA’s well-established connections throughout the UK and beyond. During your placement, you’ll be supported by a placement mentor, who will regularly monitor and review your progress with you, and you’ll have access to remote support from UEA, too, to make sure everything is going smoothly and that you’re getting the most of your experience.
Assessment
You will be asked to reflect on your placement by, for instance, offering a self-appraisal of what you have learnt and demonstrating your broader commercial awareness of your placement’s sector.
Structure
In your final-year creative writing modules you will focus intensively on your own practice. You’ll take a workshop, modelled on our world-famous Creative Writing MA. This will give you the chance to further develop your work in a particular form: prose, poetry, or scriptwriting. You’ll also have the chance to write a creative writing dissertation, in which you produce a substantial piece of poetry, prose or script, with one-to-one support from a tutor. Or you can choose a module in which you will be able to publish your own book and develop skills in performing your own work for an audience. On the literature side, you’ll choose from a dazzling array of specialist modules organised into two option ranges– currently we offer topics covering everything from the global Middle Ages to contemporary children’s literature.
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 60)Optional B Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 60)Optional C Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 60)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Teaching
Your immersion in the writer's world culminates as you're mentored through the intensive editorial and revision process needed to ensure your work meets industry standards for publication or performance. You might take a 3-hour workshop led by a member of our creative writing team, or choose to work one-on-one with a creative writing tutor to produce a substantial creative dissertation. Either way, you’ll be writing with confidence and a real sense of your writerly identity. Alongside this, you'll have the chance to explore cutting-edge literary topics in real depth, in 3-hour seminars taught by specialists passionate about their subject.
Independent Learning
You'll work with increasing confidence and independence as a literary critic, and you'll have the option to bring together all your experience as a creative writer to complete the year (and the degree) with a tangible product of everything you've been learning – your own book and recorded performance piece.
Assessment
Assessment
You'll continue to be assessed by 100% coursework. You'll have the option to take a module in which you turn your work into a book and performance piece that meets industry standards, and which is a full reflection of the writer you have become. You can also choose to participate in another workshop or to embark on a creative dissertation (6000 words writing / 2000 words reflection), the culmination of your achievements as a writer. Alongside your creative work, you'll have the chance to produce in-depth explorations of literature (3500-5000 words), and if you wish, you might continue to experiment with the forms in which you express your ideas about literary texts, writing Shakespearean sonnets or experimenting with the new boundary-defying genre of ‘auto-fiction’.
Feedback
You will continue to receive in-depth written and oral feedback, from both tutors and peers, in both workshops and one-on-one supervisions. All the feedback you've received will enable you to graduate with highly developed transferable skills in writing across a host of forms and for an array of audiences, together with an ability to give sensitive but incisive critique of others' work.
Entry Requirements
- A Levels
- AAB including English Literature or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law. If you are taking an EPQ and three A-levels, we may offer you a one grade reduction on our advertised typical offer alongside an A in the EPQ.
- T Levels
- Not accepted
- BTEC
- DDD alongside A-level grade B in English Literature, or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law. Excludes BTEC Public Services, BTEC Uniformed Services and BTEC Business Administration See below for accepted subjects and combinations
- Contextual Offer
A Level - BBB (subject specific requirements apply)
BTEC L3 Extended Diploma - DDM (subject specific requirements apply)
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.
- Scottish Highers
- AAAAA including English Literature, or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law
- Scottish Advanced Highers
- BBC including English Literature, or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law A combination of Advanced Highers and Highers may be acceptable
- Irish Leaving Certificate
- 4 subjects at H2, 2 subjects at H3 including English Literature, or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law
- Access to HE Diploma
- Humanities and Social Sciences Pathway accepted. Pass the Access to HE Diploma with Distinction in 36 credits at Level 3 and Merit in 9 credits at Level 3
- International Baccalaureate
- 33 incl 5 in HL English, History, Global Politics or Psychology.
- GCSE
You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE.
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
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IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry
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IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in all components) for year 2 entry
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
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- Interviews
Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time.
- Deferred Entry
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.
- Intakes
This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake is in September each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
Extended Diploma: DDD plus B in English Literature or one of the subjects listed: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.
Diploma: DD plus B in English Literature or one of the subjects listed: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.
Extended Certificate: D plus AB to include one of the subjects listed: English Literature, English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.
Special Entry Requirements
Candidates who are shortlisted will be asked to provide a sample of their creative writing: we ask for around 5-7 pages of work, which can be on any subject and in any genre of the candidate's choice. Most choose to send poetry, prose, or a mixture of the two.
If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our Foundation Year programmes such as -
https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/ba-english-literature-with-a-foundation-year
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.
We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications. If you have a qualification which is not listed here, or are taking a combination of qualifications, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries.
International Requirements
We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.
INTO University of East Anglia
If you do not meet the academic and/or English language requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO UEA offers progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree:
International Foundation in Business, Economics, Society and Culture (for Year 1 entry to UEA)
International Foundation in Humanities and Law (for Year 1 entry to UEA)
Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all undergraduate applicants.
Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
View our information for Tuition Fees.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
Apply for this course through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS), using UCAS Hub.
UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.
Your application does not have to be completed all at once. Register or sign in to UCAS to get started.
Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges.
The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is E14.
View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:
Employability
After the Course
You will be a first-rate writer and an advanced critical thinker with an independent cast of mind; you’ll know how to manage your time, how to work collaboratively, and how to operate as a writer in the world of work. With the support of our Careers Service throughout your degree, you’ll have honed your CV and sought out internships. You’ll have attended Working with Words, an annual event in which you get to meet UEA alumni working in the creative industries. You might have got involved with the UEA Publishing Project, or its student arm, Egg Box, or undertaken independent research in UEA’s British Archive of Contemporary Writing. In an increasingly text-based world, these skills and experiences are highly valued by employers.
You could go on to work as a prose fiction or non-fiction writer, poet or scriptwriter, or go into many careers in arts, media, publishing, politics, charities and NGOs, teaching or the commercial sector. You’ll also be well placed to study for a postgraduate degree, including one of our world-famous Creative Writing MAs. Regardless of the direction you choose, you will be superbly placed to start writing your own story.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Examples of careers you could enter include:
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Freelance writer
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Scriptwriter
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Publishing
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Community and Arts-related Projects
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Marketing
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Communication and PR
Discover more on our Careers webpages.