Course summary
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
- creative writing (prose, poetry, script)
- advertising and marketing
- arts and events management
- local and community broadcasting
- teaching
- stand-up comedy
- travel industry
- novelist
- poet
- playwright
- teacher
- copywriter
- journalist
- theatre manager
- editorial assistant
Modules
Year 1 Core modules in this year include:
- Professional Writing (20 credits)
- Telling Tales (20 credits)
- The Short Story: Murder, Madness and Experimentation (20 credits)
- Tips, Tricks, Techniques (20 credits)
- True Stories (20 credits)
- Writing for the Film and TV Industries (20 credits)
- Creative Writing and Critical Thinking (20 credits)
- Finding Form - Fiction (20 credits)
- Finding Form - Nonfiction (20 credits)
- Comic Book Industries (20 credits)
- Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice (20 credits)
- Feature Writing and Media Research (20 credits)
- Finding Form - Speculative Fiction (20 credits)
- Investigative Journalism (20 credits)
- Playwriting and Text for Performance (20 credits)
- Press and Public Relations (20 credits)
- Professional Experience (20 credits)
- Screenwriting (20 credits)
- Specialist Journalism (20 credits)
- Student Enterprise (20 credits)
- Transmedia Narratives and Strategies (20 credits)
- Creative Writing Dissertation (40 credits)
- Advanced Screenwriting (20 credits)
- Cultures of Consumption (20 credits)
- Finding Form - Fact and Fiction (20 credits)
- Global Journalism and Human Rights (20 credits)
- Magazines: Print Media in a Digital World (20 credits)
- Media Fan Cultures (20 credits)
- Representing Science in the Media (20 credits)
- Researching Animation (20 credits)
- Studying Comedy (20 credits)
- Writing Project (With Publishing) (20 credits)
Assessment method
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
- Year 1 students: 100% by coursework
- Year 2 students: 12% by written exams, 5% by practical exams and 83% by coursework
How to apply
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
- Course code:
- WW80
- Institution code:
- P80
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.
This course may be available at alternative locations, please check if other course options are available
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 112 - 120 points
A level - BBB - BBC
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDM - DMM
Access to HE Diploma
Scottish Higher
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 25 points
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H3, H3, H3, H3, H4 - H3, H3, H3, H3, H3
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
T Level - M
Additional entry requirements
Portfolio
Applicants without a relevant subject or experience will be asked to provide a portfolio to support their application.
Other
A relevant qualification or experience in English/Creative Writing/Journalism/Media or Film Studies is required.
English language requirements
Test | Grade | Additional details |
---|---|---|
IELTS (Academic) | 6 | English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5. |
PTE Academic | 54 | An overall score of 54 with a minimum of 51 in each skill. |
TOEFL (iBT) | 79 | 79 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing. |
Cambridge English Advanced | Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162. | |
Cambridge English Proficiency | Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162. | |
Trinity ISE | Pass | Trinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components |
Student Outcomes
The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
EU | £9535 | Year 1 |
England | £9535 | Year 1 |
Northern Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Scotland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Wales | £9535 | Year 1 |
Channel Islands | £9535 | Year 1 |
Republic of Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
International | £17200 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Provider information
University of Portsmouth
University House
Winston Churchill Avenue
Portsmouth
PO1 2UP