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Playwriting at The University of Edinburgh - UCAS

Course options

2024 - 2025
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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

Open days

22May
The University of Edinburgh - Postgraduate Online Learning Open Days
Postgraduate

Course summary

Led by award-winning playwright, director and dramaturge Nicola McCartney, our MSc in Playwriting offers a high level of contact with the theatre industry. It will appeal to emerging playwrights, directors, dramaturges, performance artists and critics. The programme focuses not only on the craft of writing for performance, but also on how a script plays out in real space and time, and in front of an audience. You will be taught through a dynamic combination of seminars, workshops, one-to-one supervision and professional masterclasses by some of Europe’s leading playwrights and theatre artists. Previous collaborators include world famous and award-winning practitioners such as:

  • Cora Bissett
  • Sir Michael Boyd
  • Gregory Burke
  • Kai Fischer
  • Tanika Gupta
  • Philip Howard
  • Rosie Kellagher
  • Lucy Kirkwood
  • Matthew Lenton
  • Linda McLean
  • Orla O'Loughlin
  • Adura Onashile
  • Robin Soanes
  • John Tiffany
A core component of the degree is a series of workshops, facilitated by Playwrights' Studio Scotland, to develop your own work with professional actors and directors. Why Edinburgh Edinburgh is a theatre city, home to the world’s largest theatre festival and a lively, thriving and diverse year-round theatre scene. As a student on the Playwriting MSc programme, you will benefit from established links with leading theatres and organisations, including:
  • Traverse Theatre (Scotland’s new writing theatre)
  • the Royal Lyceum (one of the UK’s leading repertory theatres)
  • Playwrights' Studio Scotland
The University of Edinburgh has a long and rich tradition of student drama. Based in Bedlam Theatre, the oldest student-run theatre in the UK, the Edinburgh University Theatre Company has helped to develop an array of outstanding theatrical talent over the years, with alumni making reputations and careers in professional theatre. By the end of the programme, you will have written at least two short works and one full-length piece for live performance.

Entry requirements

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience.

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)7At least 6.5 in each component
TOEFL (iBT)100At least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
Cambridge English AdvancedTotal 185 with at least 176 in each component
Cambridge English ProficiencyTotal 185 with at least 176 in each component
PTE Academic70At least 62 in each component
Trinity ISEPassWith passes in all four components

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Additional fee information

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Playwriting at The University of Edinburgh - UCAS