English and Creative Writing
From Shakespeare to modern crime to fantasy literature, you’ll learn valuable skills like expression, critical thinking, teaching and writing. Perfect if you love to read, write and explore the English language, workshops blend theory with creative and practical elements.
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Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
41W2
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Start Date
September
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Location
Pontypridd
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Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£9,535*
International students
£15,850*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Immerse yourself in the world of words in this course designed for passionate storytellers and literature lovers.
DESIGNED FOR
This degree is perfect if you love to read and analyse literature from the ancient to the contemporary. You’ll learn how to deliver creative writing workshops and will teach groups who are learning English as a second language as you work toward a TESOL qualification.
Career paths:
- Teacher
- English language teacher (ESOL)
- Novelist
- Publisher
- Writer and Journalist
- Civil Servant
- Marketing professional
In collaboration with:
- TESOL
Skills taught:
- Creative writing
- Critical thinking
- Teaching
- Presenting
- Creative writing
Course Highlights
Module Overview
We've designed our course to give you a solid awareness of different audiences and cultural contexts, encouraging students to work with a wide range of texts in creative and critical modes. You'll be introduced to the practices of writing, from the experimental to the professional and beyond.
Year One
Language Awareness
Texts and Tools
Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature
Being Human: Voices and Silence
Language and the Media
Approaching Poetry
Year Two
English in the workplace
Language, Power and Ideology
The Long Nineteenth Century
Reading Genre Fiction
Story: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Gothic Literature: Dark Desires
Year Three
Uses of English: Language in Creative and Professional Contexts
Modernism and After
Dissertation
Writing for Publication
Postcolonial Literature
Myth, Narrative and Film
Learn the basics of the English language; the rules, syntax and how to use texts as tools. You’ll explore prose, poetry, classics and the role of the media and be encouraged to experiment creatively.
Language Awareness
You’ll study how the English language works and build your knowledge of grammar, lexis (words) and phonology (sounds) needed to become a confident English teacher.
Texts and Tools
Discover core literary texts, poetic, dramatic and narrative, from different periods and cultural contexts.
Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature
Explore the works of William Shakespeare and other writers of the 16th and 17th centuries. You'll develop a historical and cultural awareness of literary forms.
Being Human: Voices and Silence
What does it mean to be human? You'll try to find an answer by analysing texts and writing about the inequalities of gender, race, class and sexuality.
Language and the Media
One for the politically aware, this module looks at concepts of sociolinguistics, rhetorical strategies, critical discourse techniques in the media, and writing your own articles.
Approaching Poetry
Explore the formal, historical, creative and interpretative traditions of English poetry through genre, form, voice, rhythm, rhyme, gender contexts and in critical and creative ways.
In the second year you will study topics such as Genre Literature, the Gothic, Creative Non Fiction, and 19th Century Literature.
English in the workplace
Design and present writing workshops to develop your understanding of methods for teaching people to speak English as a second language.
Language, Power and Ideology
Analyse theoretical perspectives and practical aspects of discourse and institutional control: legal, disability, nationalism, identity, politics and conflicts.
The Long Nineteenth Century
Perfect for anyone interested in history, explore the 19th century in romanticism, realism, gothic fiction, the writing of empire, and the literature of the fin-de-siècle.
Reading Genre Fiction
Study a selection of fiction from classic and contemporary popular literary genres, including the horror novel, the ghost story, science fiction, fantasy and crime fiction.
Story: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Discover a range of work by published fiction and creative non-fiction authors through articles, podcasts and blogs taught through workshops, discussions and lectures.
Gothic Literature: Dark Desires
Become obsessed with the horror of gothic novels, short stories and poetry. Writing workshops and lectures explore the themes and conventions connected with the genre.
In your final year, your dissertation will reflect your specialism. In other modules you will learn about mythology and film and gain valuable work experiences.
Uses of English: Language in Creative and Professional Contexts
Put your knowledge into practice by teaching real learners or join the editorial team for our annual Creative Writing booklet.
Modernism and After
Explore a range of literature from the Modernist period. You'll discover major historical, social, national and intellectual shifts in Britain during the 20th and early 21st century.
Dissertation
Your dissertation is a chance to write an independent, persuasive, and properly presented piece about a topic of your choice using a genre you want, including poetry, fiction or research.
Writing for Publication
Flex your skills in writing for different audiences, markets, and contexts. You'll do independent research on authors, publications, and literary competitions that interest you.
Postcolonial Literature
Discover the fictional, poetic and dramatic works by post-colonial writers from the mid-20th century to the present day and look at common concerns, themes and influences.
Myth, Narrative and Film
Perfect for fiction lovers, you'll consider the place of ancient texts and their underlying mythologies in contemporary culture in the creative arts, fiction and cinema.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
Delivery and assessment
While developing your skills in writing fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, you’ll gain the skills to analyse and communicate effectively, helping you prepare for the workplace when you graduate. There are many opportunities to showcase your written work throughout the course. You’ll also be able to work on placements and projects that will help support your future career.
The course is assessed with a range of approaches including group oral presentations, reading journals, exams, essays and portfolios of original writing accompanied by commentaries that reflect on your experience of the writing process.
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Teaching staff
You’ll be taught by academics who are leaders in their fields of study. You’ll learn through a range of teaching styles including lectures, seminar discussions, workshops and creative exercises.
There’s a thriving English research culture at the University, and many of our staff have been recognised as internationally excellent. They’ve created established links with Literature Wales, which has meant we’ve welcomed guest speeches from people including Simon Armitage, Benjamin Zephaniah, Gillian Clarke, and the first National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis.
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Placements and work experience
We encourage all English and Creative Writing student to work on placements and provide some opportunities through the annual publication of a student-led book of articles, poems and stories. If you take the TESOL route you will gain live teaching experience by working with real learners at our partner institution, the Welsh Refugee Council.
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Facilities
Positioned in the Welsh town of Pontypridd, just a 20-minute drive from Cardiff, our Treforest campus is host to a range of creative and inspiring courses. We've invested in the latest technology, software and equipment to make sure you're ready to start your career with confidence and experience. Our Treforest campus also has plenty of dedicated workspaces, allowing you to work collaboratively on creative projects with friends and colleagues.
With an onsite student union, sports centre, restaurants, shops, and more, it boasts a great student community with the added benefit of Cardiff on the doorstep.
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS Points: 104 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: BCC to usually include English. Applicants without A Level English will be considered on an individual basis.
- Welsh BACC: Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C/B in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BC - CC at A Level to usually include English. Applicants without A Level English will be considered on an individual basis.
- BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit Applicants without A Level English will be considered on an individual basis.
- Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma and obtain a minimum of 104 UCAS tariff points.
Additional Requirements:
GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,535
per year*£15,850
per year*Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
University Quality Assurance
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
Life at USW
Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.
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How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time.)
Advanced entry
If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
International admissions
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
