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Creative Writing at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

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
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 (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)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Creative Writing and Critical Thinking (20 credits)
  • Finding Form - Fiction (20 credits)
  • Finding Form - Nonfiction (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year include:
  • 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)
Year 3 Core modules in this year include:
  • Creative Writing Dissertation (40 credits)
Optional modules in this year include:
  • 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)
Placement year (optional) On this course, you can do an optional work placement year after your 2nd or 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. 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 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
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

How to apply

29Jan

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

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

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.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

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

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
PTE Academic62An overall score of 62 with a minimum of 59 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
20%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
60%
Go onto work and study

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

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2025/26): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,430 EU – £1,430 International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. Please check the course page on our website for the most up to date fee information All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Creative Writing at University of Portsmouth - UCAS