About this course
This practice-based and industry-focused course – one of the ten best in the UK according to The Times Good University Guide 2024 – will introduce you to the intricacies of writing, including plot, characterisation and narrative study, and will equip you with work-ready skills for the many writing and writing-related industries.
You will develop your skills and talent as a writer through dynamic workshops, exercises and work-like projects involving writing, editing, publishing and pitching, all supplemented by the study of English.
Working alongside a range of highly-accomplished, widely-published professionals, including prize-winning, internationally-recognised authors, poets and screenwriters with real expertise in teaching, you will study at the heart of an active writing community, central to this UNESCO City of Literature. You will also learn how to give and receive critical input from tutors who will support and encourage you to follow your writerly instincts, to experiment, and to develop wide-ranging and highly applicable skills. Exciting, targeted optional modules enable you to pursue your interests.
Our keen focus on developing your employability skillset will ensure you are also extremely well placed to succeed in a wide range of careers.
Develop your creative and professional writing across a wide range of genres, working with highly active, multiple-award-winning expert writer-tutors. See our staff profiles below!
Undertake hands-on roles in creative project management and development, preparing you for work in and beyond the writing and arts industries, developing creative solutions to global problems.
- Develop confidence in your communication, collaboration, and presentation skills.
- Undertake study abroad, if you would like to, with one of our international partners across the world.
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Develop your creative and professional writing across a wide range of genres, working with active, expert writer-tutors. -
Undertake hands-on roles in creative project management and development, preparing you for work in and beyond the writing and arts industries, developing creative solutions to global problems. -
Develop confidence in your communication, collaboration, and presentation skills. -
Undertake study abroad with one of our international partners across the world.
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Browse courses for 15-17 year oldsWhat you’ll study
With guidance from experts, and as part of a thriving writing and literary community, you will experiment with writing in a wide variety of genres, including fiction, poetry, children’s and young adult fiction, writing for stage and screen, and writing for and with digital technologies. You will also gain valuable hands-on industry experience, and develop a detailed, first-hand knowledge of publishing and the literary industries. Ultimately, you will focus on your chosen specialisations, and further develop your craft and industry skills, equipping yourself fully for life beyond the course.
During the first year, you will study four core modules which focus on developing your own writing and reading skills, while introducing you practically and actively to a wide range of exciting genres and possibilities. In the second year, you will pursue your individual interests through a range of optional modules. There is also an opportunity to spend the second half of the second year on international exchange at one of our partner universities, if you wish to do so. In your final year, with close supervision, you’ll undertake a major project on a topic of your choice, as well as studying optional modules focused on refining your writerly and employability skills. Our course is developed with the utmost care, to allow you to explore enjoyable and exciting pursuits that will develop your writing and writing industry skillset, and your preparedness for graduate employment.
Beginning Writing: The Writing World
This module is designed to help you discover and develop your writing passions. Learn about, and tackle, the core elements of writing fiction, poetry, plays, and screenplays. Hone your skills in areas such as narrative structure, characterisation, dialogue, editing and revision, while learning from an exciting and diverse range of genres and styles of writing.
Writing, Editing and Publishing in a Sustainable World
Your introduction to the varied world of publishing, editing and writing for publication! You will be introduced to the skills required for editing fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scripts, in relation to your own writing and that of other practitioners – both fellow students and published authors.
Writing in a UNESCO City of Literature
Engage with the work undertaken by Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, as well as with the wider network of UNESCO Creative Cities, connecting with partner organisations in the creative and cultural industries. You will have opportunities on this module to develop work to submit for publishing consideration by Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, and can opt to write creatively, journalistically or critically.
Literary Pasts, Presents and Futures
Good writers are good readers! Study key authors and literary genres from the past and present, and consider where the literary world is heading now. Consider how texts ‘speak’ to one another across the ages, building a critical understanding of literary heritage, developments and innovations that will inspire your writing.
The Book Group
Explore four texts in depth, spending three weeks on each. This innovative module is designed to introduce you to ‘reading around the text', meaning you will also consider the historical and cultural contexts to excellent writing.
Ways of Reading
This module introduces you to the many different ways in which you might read and interpret texts. You will explore critical approaches to literature, and the different 'lenses' through which it might be read, considering questions related to authorship, publication and form, along with questions relating to writing and interpretation, around issues such as gender, race and the environment. This will encourage you to question what it means to read texts from particular perspectives, what assumptions we make as we read, the relationship between a text and the world, and even what it means to be human.
Core modules
Magazine Publishing: Concept to Dissemination
Learn about magazine publishing through the ages, the contemporary publishing industry, and the means of producing and disseminating literary publications. Working in a small team, you will collaboratively develop your own literary/cultural magazine, producing and commissioning professional content, and considering everything from commissioning and layout to publication, lunch and dissemination.
Advanced fiction and its Contexts
Further develop your skills at both writing and interpreting fiction. You will consider exciting fiction in various genres, from across the English-speaking world, and will write and edit your own fiction and analysis, refining your craft and style. You will also learn about related aspects of the publishing world.
Imagining the Sustainable World
We live in an era of significant challenges to the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants – from global warming, water pollution and energy shortages, to poverty, inequality and conflict. This module will examine how writing from a range of eras and genres might offer insights, warnings, possibilities, sources of hope, and solutions to contemporary problems.
Optional modules
Pathway 1: Extended work-like experience
Get the experience you need for after you graduate, and really understand how the things you study translate into the world of work with a work placement. Your highly experienced Employability Team will help you find a placement to suit your career goals from our huge network of companies, charities, institutions, and beyond.
Pathway 2: An international exchange
Travel the world, meet new friends, and have experiences you will remember for the rest of your life.
Our flexible curriculum has been designed to allow some amazing opportunities for you. Your second year of study is divided into two semesters, giving you the opportunity to take part in an international exchange. You could study with one of international exchange partners in Australia, Europe, USA, Canada, Thailand and many, many more.
Our dedicated team will support you in finding and arranging a suitable exchange. And don't worry about the cost, they will help you apply for any grants or loans you may need, as no one should miss out on the chance to broaden their horizons.
Pathway 3: Taught pathway:
Working with Scripts
Develop your scriptwriting skills, whether for screen, stage, radio, or podcast. Learn about the working environment in which scripts are commissioned, written and produced, and develop important, exciting hands-on skills and experience.
Poetry and its Contexts
This module will introduce you to advanced poetry writing. By engaging with the work of five modern poets, from across the English-speaking world, you will study poetry with a broad range of concerns and in a broad range of styles, and write your own, developing your skill and craft and learning about the markets for poetry.
Romantic Revolutions
This module explores Romantic literature from 1780-1840. This was the era of the French revolution and Napoleonic wars, and also a period of great social change and development in Britain. You will study fiction, poetry and other forms of writing from this era, exploring work by well-known writers such as Wordsworth and Shelley, as well as women’s writing, working-class writing and regional writing. The module will help you to develop your research skills and to engage in creative project ideas focusing on Romantic-era writing and thought. You will also explore how far revolutionary political and social change is reflected in the experimental themes and forms of Romantic writing, as well as considering the role of literature in encouraging social change, and its continued relevance today.
Black Writing in Britain
You will become familiar with many black writers writing in or about Britain from the 1950s until the present day on this module. We will discuss the scope and function of the academic field named Black Writing in Britain, and consider the limitations and opportunities presented by the idea of a Black British literary canon or tradition, by examining the texts in the contexts of consciousness, resistance, and activism, publishing and the literary marketplace, black identity, diaspora and migration, and ideas of national identity. The module encourages debate over the impact of political, social, historical, and cultural contexts on literary texts, and the impact of literary texts on political, social, historical, and cultural contexts.
Intercultural Communication at Work
Gain the knowledge, skills and strategies to build your intercultural communication competence. Analyse and reflect on the impact of culture(s) on your values, assumptions, perceptions, expectations, and behaviours. Build successful verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in different intercultural settings.
People and Planet: pasts, presents, and futures
In this module you will develop an understanding of the human impact on the environment from the 15th Century to the present as a form of slow but sustained violence enacted against the planet. It will also explore how such long-term change can interact with social justice in the present day.
You may choose to take an optional year-long placement in Year Three, either in the UK or overseas.
You will be supported by our experienced Employability Team to source a suitable placement.
Core modules
Creative Writing Major Project
This module provides an exciting opportunity to develop your own long-form creative project, which may be a feature-length play/screenplay, piece of fiction, collection of poems or short stories, or something else entirely, with expert supervision from a specialist in your chosen genre.
The Freelancer
Enhance your employability by developing your own personal and professional portfolio. You will work to develop your professional skills in a working environment by completing twelve hours of targeted freelance activity, which you will reflect on in a portfolio.
Optional modules - choose three from:
Writing Justice, Changing Worlds
This module explores decolonial literature, poetry, and film, linking representation to anti-colonialism. You'll study marginalized traditions, postcolonial theory, and develop skills in critical reading and literary activism.
Writing for Magazines: Regional, National and International Contexts
How do freelance writers carve out a niche in magazines and other publications? How are such working relationships built and maintained? This module will introduce you to writing for a wide range of local, national and international magazines, both creatively and critically. You will study the differences, where they exist, between print and digital publication, and write and pitch a range of articles in different styles.
Collaboration and Performance
Collaboration can be vital to working as a writer, and in many other fields of employment. It can also teach you many valuable work and life skills. On this optional module you will examine collaborative writing projects, and then work in small teams, in a writers’ room environment, to develop your own project. You will then advertise it, and perform it for an audience.
Creative Writing in the Community
Develop your theoretical and practical understanding of applying creative writing and workshopping in community settings. This module prepares you for public speaking and developing and running projects, within and beyond creative writing.
Modernist Writing
Modernism changed literature forever! In this module, you will have the opportunity to concentrate in detail on influential, exciting works by some of the major modernist writers of the twentieth century, including James Joyce, Langston Hughes, and Virginia Woolf.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves
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How you're taught
- Our team of writer-tutors is exceptional, and includes a BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, and multiple-award-winning novelists, poets and digital experts.
- 100% of BA (Hons) Creative Writing students would recommend studying at NTU to others (NTU Student survey 2023).
- 73% of NTU’s research in English Language and Literature was assessed to be world-leading or internationally excellent - REF2021.
Classes are highly interactive and often workshop-based. You’ll produce new writing regularly and refine it in a supportive, dynamic environment. Carrying out extensive preparatory reading, you’ll take part in practical writing exercises, as well as discussion and reflection on your own and other students’ work, and also will work collaboratively on writing, editing and publishing projects while receiving expert hands-on guidance.
Who will teach me?
As well as being internationally recognised for our writing across multiple genres, and our research, the Creative Writing team is extremely friendly and approachable. The course is informed by the latest thinking, and you'll learn from people with a real passion for their subject, and expert knowledge: award-winning poets and novelists published by top quality presses, BAFTA-nominated screenwriters, experienced project coordinators, publishers and editors, etc, all with considerable teaching expertise. We'll help you find your feet when you first arrive, and stretch you as you become more confident. We look forward to expanding your interests and helping you to realise your ambitions.
A supplementary internet portal for our creative writers is the Nottingham Creative Writing Hub at NTU, which provides publishing, performance and other related opportunities to all Creative Writing students, including opportunities to read alongside major literary figures from and well beyond the university. Find out more about this aspect of our Creative Writing community on the NTU Creative Writing Hub site.
Further information
Visit the 'Creative Writing Hub at NTU' site to see examples of current student writing, find out about upcoming events and discover more about our award-winning staff.
Work experience
We work closely with agents, publishers, producers and other key industry professionals in the arts and creative industries, to provide work placement opportunities that will meaningfully introduce you to work experience in the writing professions. Our Freelancer module provides an opportunity to produce a portfolio of critical and reflective writing in a small group, led by a project supervisor. Working with an employer, you’ll be able to put into practice the skills and knowledge gained over the course in a professional setting.
Learn a new language
Alongside your study you also have the opportunity to learn another new language. The University Language Programme (ULP) is available to all students and gives you the option of learning a totally new language or improving the skills you already have. Learning a new language can enhance your communication skills, enrich your experience when travelling abroad and boost your career prospects. Find out more about the University Language Programme.
Study abroad in Year Two
You’ll have the option to take part in an international exchange at a partner university in the second half of Year Two. This will enable you to gain impressive international experience, and broaden your perspective and career ambitions.
You’ll experience other cultures, travel the globe and open your eyes to a world of opportunities. Our exchange partnership with a number of international universities enables you to live and study in another country in your second year. Find out more about international exchange and study abroad.
Supporting you
If you’re struggling with a topic or require additional support or guidance, you can arrange to see your tutors in small groups or one-to-one, to discuss essay plans or to seek some specific academic guidance.
It is the nature of the subjects offered in the School of Arts and Humanities, however, that much of your time will be spent engaged in independent study. We recognise that this marks a change of culture from school or college, and we have in place a system of study support to help you adapt to this.
How you're assessed
We use a varied and diverse range of coursework assessments to develop your skills and support your progress. These include digital projects, reviews, case-studies, essays, presentations and reports.
Our innovative approach to assessment means that in Year One you will develop and enhance a complementary set of key skills for success in second and third year, and throughout the degree the varied assessment pattern will enable you to engage with the past and prepare for your future through an exciting array of projects
Contact hours
If you’re struggling with a topic or require additional support or guidance, you can arrange to see your tutors in small groups or one-to-one, to discuss essay plans or to seek some specific academic guidance.
It is the nature of the subjects offered in the School of Arts and Humanities, however, that much of your time will be spent engaged in independent study. We recognise that this marks a change of culture from school or college, and we have in place a system of study support to help you adapt to this.
Careers and employability
Your career development
Campus and facilities
You’ll mainly be studying in the Djanogly building with access to facilities including a student kitchen and collaboration space.
NTU’s City Campus has everything you’ll need to stay busy between lectures. As well as the Boots Library and its beautiful roof garden, there’s our stylish Students’ Union building and two-storey, 100-station gym; a whole host of cafés, bars, restaurants and food outlets for every taste; our much-loved Global Lounge; performance and rehearsal spaces for musicians; and much, much more!
Take a few steps off campus and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Nottingham — England’s original ‘rebel city’. It’s one of the UK’s top 10 student destinations, and one of Europe’s top 25. Enjoy a booming indie arts scene, pop-up galleries, the nationally renowned Nottingham Contemporary, two A-list theatres, the iconic Broadway (voted one of the world’s top 100 independent cinemas by Total Film), and a constant rotation of events and exhibitions.
Take our virtual tour to get a real feel for the campus.
Here are some of the free services, student discount and benefits you'll get studying at NTU
We've carefully considered what benefits and services you need for your studies, so when you join NTU you'll get free printing and materials credits, access to our free WiFi, a copy of Microsoft Office, and can even borrow a laptop if yours is out of commission.
For life outside your lectures, you'll enjoy access to over 60 sports clubs and 130 student societies, discounted travel and bike hire, free language learning, award-winning student support and an entertainment programme which is second to none.
See all the benefits and free services you will enjoy as an NTU student.
Societies
Current students run societies in a range of Humanities and Arts subjects including History, Medieval, Film, Filmmaking, Philosophy, Politics and International Relations, and the Book society.
There are also a number of media channels which our students get involved in such as the NTU radio station FlyLive, our student magazine Platform, and TV station TrentTV.
Find out more about student societies at the Student Union website.
Entry requirements
UK students
Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
Contextual offer: 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications.
To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.
Additional requirements for UK students
There are no additional requirements for this course.
Contextual offers
If you don’t quite meet our entry requirements, we might be able to make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and your individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer, and we get data from UCAS to help make these decisions. We do this because we believe everyone with the potential to succeed at NTU should have the opportunity to do so, no matter what barriers you may face.
Meeting our entry requirements
Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS Tariff points attached to specific grades, including A-levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our Tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.
Other qualifications and experience
NTU welcomes applications from students with non-standard qualifications and learning backgrounds, either for year one entry or for advanced standing beyond the start of a course into year 2 or beyond.
We consider study and/or credit achieved from a similar course at another institution (otherwise known as credit transfer), vocational and professional qualifications, and broader work or life experience.
Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route. If you wish to apply via Recognition of Prior Learning, please contact the central Admissions and Enquiries Team who will be able to support you through the process.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form.
International students
Academic entry requirements: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four A levels. We accept equivalent qualifications from all over the world. Please check your international entry requirements by country.
English language requirements: See our English language requirements page for requirements for your subject and information on alternative tests and Pre-sessional English.
Additional requirements for international students
English language requirements
View our English language requirements for all courses, including alternative English language tests and country qualifications accepted by the University.
If you need help achieving the language requirements, we offer a Pre-Sessional English for Academic Purposes course on our City campus which is an intensive preparation course for academic study at NTU.
Other qualifications and experience
If you have the right level of qualifications, you may be able to start your Bachelors degree at NTU in year 2 or year 3. This is called ‘advanced standing’ entry and is decided on a case-by case basis after our assessment of your qualifications and experience.
You can view our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy which outlines the process and options available, such as recognising experiential learning and credit transfer.
Sign up for emails
Sign up to receive regular emails from the International Office. You'll hear about our news, scholarships and any upcoming events in your country with our expert regional teams.
Getting in touch
If you need advice about studying at NTU as an international student or how to apply, our international webpages are a great place to start. If you have any questions about your study options, your international qualifications, experience, grades or other results, please get in touch through our enquiry form. Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world.
Policies
We strive to make our admissions procedures as fair and clear as possible. To find out more about how we make offers, visit our admissions policies page.
