University undergraduate students studying in the Monica Partridge Building Digital Hub. Friday November 5th 2021.

English with Creative Writing BA

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

Course overview

Would you love to see your name in print? Are you curious about the creative industries? Or maybe there’s a poem or novel in you that's waiting to come out?

If you want to develop your creative work alongside studying a broad range of English literature, language and drama, this course is for you.

You’ll write both fiction and poetry, exploring different forms and genres along the way, including environmental and political poetics, creative non-fiction, flash fiction and short stories. The work in English studies will strengthen your creative writing. Then, in your second and third years, there’s flexibility to specialise in the areas you enjoy most, including digital storytelling.

Indicative modules

Mandatory

Year 1

Academic Community

Mandatory

Year 1

Beginnings of English

Mandatory

Year 1

Creative Writing Practice

Mandatory

Year 1

Drama, Theatre, Performance

Mandatory

Year 1

Studying Language

Mandatory

Year 1

Studying Literature

Mandatory

Year 2

Poetry: Forms and Conventions

Mandatory

Year 2

Fiction: Forms and Conventions

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page

Optional

Year 2

From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700-1830

Optional

Year 2

Modern and Contemporary Literature

Optional

Year 2

Literature and Popular Culture

Optional

Year 2

Texts Across Time

Optional

Year 2

Victorian and Fin de Siècle Literature: 1830-1910

Optional

Year 2

The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning

Optional

Year 2

Language in Society

Optional

Year 2

Texts Across Time

Optional

Year 2

Language Development

Optional

Year 2

Literary Linguistics

Optional

Year 2

Chaucer and his Contemporaries

Optional

Year 2

Old English: Reflection and Lament

Optional

Year 2

Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North

Optional

Year 2

Names and Identities

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage

Optional

Year 2

From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance

Optional

Year 2

Twentieth-Century Plays

Mandatory

Year 3

Advanced Writing Practice: Poetry

Mandatory

Year 3

Advanced Writing Practice: Fiction

Mandatory

Year 3

Creative Writing Dissertation

Optional

Year 3

Contemporary British Fiction

Optional

Year 3

Single-Author Study

Optional

Year 3

The Gothic Tradition

Optional

Year 3

Modern Irish Literature and Drama

Optional

Year 3

One and Unequal: World Literatures in English

Optional

Year 3

Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama 1588-1688

Optional

Year 3

Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics

Optional

Year 3

The Self and the World: Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Optional

Year 3

Language and Feminism

Optional

Year 3

Discourse and Power: Health and Business Communication

Optional

Year 3

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Stylistics

Optional

Year 3

English Place-Names

Optional

Year 3

Old English Heroic Poetry

Optional

Year 3

Songs and Sonnets: Lyric poetry from Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne

Optional

Year 3

Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England

Optional

Year 3

The Viking Mind

Optional

Year 3

Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art

Optional

Year 3

Digital Story: Craft and Technique

Optional

Year 3

Language and the Mind

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About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Monday 16 December 2024. Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.

When you begin studying at university, you will probably find that you cover material much more quickly than you did while studying for your A levels. The key to success is preparing well for classes and then taking the ideas you encounter further in your own time.

Lectures – provide an overview of what you are studying, using a variety of audio and visual materials to support your learning.

Seminars and workshops – give you the chance to explore and interact with the material presented in lectures in a friendly and informal environment. You will be taught in a smaller group of students, with discussion focusing on a text or topic you've previously prepared.

Workshops are more practical, perhaps through exploring dramatic texts, working with digital materials, or developing presentations.

Tutorials – individual and small-group tutorials let you explore your work with your module tutor, perhaps discussing plans for an essay or presentation, or following up on an area of a module which has interested you.

eLearning – our virtual-learning system, Moodle, offers 24-hour access to teaching materials and resources.

Peer mentoring

All new undergraduate students can opt into our peer mentoring scheme. Your peer mentor will help you settle into life at Nottingham, provide advice on the transition to university-level study and help you access support if needed.

Teaching quality

Over 95% of our class of 2020 graduated with a 1st or 2:1 degree classification. Source: UoN student outcomes data, Annual Monitoring (QDS) Analyses 2020.

Tutor's contributions to high quality teaching and learning are recognised through our annual Lord Dearing Awards. View the full list of recipients.

Teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Workshops
     

Assessment methods

  • Dissertation
  • Essay
  • Portfolio (written/digital)
  • Presentation
  • Reflective review
  • Written exam

You’ll have at least the following hours of timetabled contact a week through lectures, seminars and workshops, tutorials and supervisions.

  • Year one: minimum of 12 hours
  • Year two: minimum of 10 hours
  • Final year: minimum of 8 hours

Your tutors will also be available outside these times to discuss issues and develop your understanding.

We reduce your contact hours as you work your way through the course. As you progress, we expect you to assume greater responsibility for your studies and work more independently.

Your tutors will all be qualified academics. The largest first year lectures are typically attended by up to 300 students, whereas the corresponding seminars are of 16 students. In years two and three, lectures may include up to 170 students, and seminar groups may range from 12 to 24.

As well as scheduled teaching, you’ll carry out extensive self-study such as:

  • reading books and journal articles
  • doing preparation work for seminars
  • researching your assignments in the library
  • collaborating with fellow students

As a guide, 20 credits (a typical module) is approximately 200 hours of work (combined teaching and self-study).

As an English with Creative Writing graduate, you will have gained the following key transferable skills:

  • Strong communication, both oral and written
  • presenting ideas and information, including collaboratively
  • text analysis
  • planning and researching written work
  • creative writing
  • writing for different audiences

Read our student and alumni profiles for more about the range of skills you will gain, as well as the careers which our graduates go into.

You can also learn more about subject-related careers opportunities from our Careers and Employability Service.

Average starting salary and career progression

78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.

HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017 to 2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.

Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

University undergraduate student Cole Pearce studying in Nightingale Hall accommodation's library, University Park. November 5th 2021.

One of the skills that’s definitely useful in my job, is knowing how to communicate with different stakeholders. If I’m talking to an editor about a book, I’m going to have a different conversation with them than I would have with the author. The communication skills which I gained from my course are really invaluable.

Olivia French

English with Creative Writing graduate and Marketing and Communications Manager at HarperCollins Publishers

Course data

Open Day June 2022