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Nature and Travel Writing at Bath Spa University - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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Course summary

For any writer inspired by the natural world, other cultures and the power of place.

  • A world-leading course in two powerful genres dealing with today’s greatest challenges.
  • Offers you the skills and experiences to become a published writer of books, articles and online.
  • Taught remotely and part-time over two years, to fit around your lifestyle.
Do you enjoy writing about the environment, your travels, encounters with wildlife, people and places past and present? Would you like to become a working writer, or to enrich your writing for pleasure? Today’s writing about nature and travel welcomes all of those themes and more, and in this unique and inspiring Nature and Travel writing degree course we will look at the potential of your writing and of these dynamic genres – including where they overlap with memoir, history, culture, science, wellbeing and other genres in today’s marketplace. Over two years of mainly evening sessions, you'll be immersed in the world of great nature and travel writing, with talks from top authors and editors, seminars from our seasoned tutors, creative friendships with your peers and an exploration of both the classics and the cutting edge in our genres. You'll write extended pieces of up to 4,000 words, essays on critical topics, and a final Portfolio of up to 18,000 words. You'll also learn about the commercial aspects of getting published, organising writing trips, establishing an online presence and building a writer’s career. A highlight of the course is our practical approach to becoming a working writer. This includes making actual pitches to real newspapers and magazines, based on an independent field trip which you will make in order to experience writing on the road for real. By the end of the course, you'll be prepared to operate as a professional-quality writer in our genres. By then, many of our students have already appeared in highly respected newspapers, magazines and websites. Our graduates have been widely published, including by Penguin Books, Bloomsbury, Granta, Bradt, National Trust and others. Their prizes have included the Stanfords New Travel Writer of the Year, BBC Countryfile’s New Nature Writer of the Year, the Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers, the Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize, and short/longlists for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing and the Richard Jeffries Prize. How you'll be taught This course is taught remotely, with students attending online from wherever they live in the UK or overseas. Most classes are held in the early evenings, to allow for students’ other commitments such as work and family. At the start of Year 1 we bring everyone together for an intensive residential event, which gives you a chance to get to know your peers and tutors, and to experience some guided writing in the field. Please note that you'll have to contribute towards your costs for this event, which the University also contributes towards. Teaching is mainly through seminars and lectures, including a wide range of guest speakers. There are also one-to-one sessions with your tutors.

Modules

Writing in the Field (30 credits) An introduction to writing about nature, place, people and landscapes ‘in the field'. This module is designed to give you a sense of what travel and nature writing is about and how to polish your craft. It begins with an intensive residential event with outdoor and indoor workshops focusing on practical writing, fieldwork and the creative possibilities of our genres. This is followed by a trimester of online seminars introducing the basic building blocks of writing in the field. Context, History and Genres in Creative Non-Fiction (30 credits) An overview of the context and history of relevant areas of creative non-fiction and what you can learn from them as a practitioner. It aims to provide you with a deeper understanding of the conventions and possibilities in various genres such as travel, nature, memoir, popular science, history and others. Advanced Travel and Nature Writing (30 credits) An advanced approach to travel and nature writing literature, professional practice and independent projects. This module is designed to build your understanding of how to apply your writing skills to the disciplines of format, genre and the marketplace. It pushes you to experiment with these, both to learn their conventions and to challenge their limitations. Professional Skills in Travel and Nature Writing (30 credits) A module designed to develop business, organisational and writing-related skills, improving your pathway to getting published. This module is designed to apply the experience of previous modules to a potential career plan. You will learn about the markets for travel and nature writing and undertake a short solo writing trip, from which you will pitch stories to real media outlets. Success in this can begin to establish your career as a professional writer by getting articles published. You will also learn about the practicalities of building a freelance business model. Portfolio and Reflective Journal (60 credits) The Portfolio is a 16-18,000 word anthology of your creative writing in our genres, with an accompanying Reflective Journal examining your progress through the course and future plans. Collectively these help to establish personal momentum and a professional career. The content is refined through a series of three in-depth supervisions during your final summer.

Assessment method

You’ll be assessed through a combination of formative and summative assessments. This will include creative writing pieces, critical and analytical essays, presentations and a broad portfolio of your writing.

Entry requirements

We’re looking for individuals with: - A real passion for either the natural world and/or places and people - A love of travel and/or nature writing - Above all, an urge to write and be published. Ideally you should have a first degree (for example, BA/BSc), but this is not compulsory, depending on your other experience. Interviews are held online through the year, on a first-come-first served basis. Please submit two to four pieces of your writing before the interview, ideally showing an ability to write non-fiction narrative or feature journalism.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £4733 Year 1
Northern Ireland £4733 Year 1
Scotland £4733 Year 1
Wales £4733 Year 1
Channel Islands £4733 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £4733 Year 1
EU £9220 Year 1
International £9220 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

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Nature and Travel Writing at Bath Spa University - UCAS