English and Creative Writing

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English and Creative Writing - BA (Hons) - 2027/28 Entry | Birmingham City University

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English and Creative Writing - BA (Hons)

Currently viewing course to start in 2027/28 Entry.

Our BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing balances the practical craft of creative writing with the analytical and historical study of literature and/or language, allowing you to explore how texts are written, interpreted, and transformed across different forms and periods....

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Undergraduate

Study mode

Full Time

BA (Hons)

Start date

September 2027

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English and Creative Writing

Location

City Centre

This course is:

Available with Professional Placement year

Open to International Students

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Overview

Our BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing balances the practical craft of creative writing with the analytical and historical study of literature and/or language, allowing you to explore how texts are written, interpreted, and transformed across different forms and periods. Equipped with a rich knowledge and understanding of English studies, you will grow as an informed and critical reader of texts to produce your own original creative work. In workshops with expert practitioners, you will refine your skills in creative writing, focusing on elements such as narrative structure, setting, character development, and style. You will learn how to conduct research, to examine writing deeply, and to express yourself persuasively, logically, and imaginatively.

What's covered in this course?

At the heart of our English courses is a shared interest in words and stories, and an appreciation of the real difference they make in the world. Taught by world-leading academics in a friendly, supportive learning community, you will explore the power of language and literature in ways that matter today and to you.

Alongside core modules in creative writing, flexibility and diversity of choice are built into our inclusive course for you to shape your degree according to your interests, strengths, and career goals. You can study and practice a range of forms, genres, and modes of communication from different historical contexts and theoretical perspectives, across literature, language, creative writing, and drama. Our courses include opportunities for work experience or peer collaboration as standard and culminate in a Major Project, which allows you to research and write about ideas and topics of your choosing.

English at BCU is a top-20 research department for English Studies and research excellence is central to our taught courses. We focus on the practice and application of subject knowledge and skills to develop graduate readers, thinkers, and writers that excel in criticality, creativity, and communication. As a perceptive critical thinker, you will interpret and assess complex information and situations to form intelligent judgements and solutions. As a creative individual, you will produce new and imaginative texts, and devise interesting, challenging ideas. And, as a proficient, versatile communicator, you will be trained in clear and accurate spoken and written English to professional standards.

Our graduates are characterised by their extensive knowledge and skills in English, and transferrable qualities that are sought-after by employers. These subject-specific and professional skills and attributes are embedded in the course to open a wide range of career paths and employment opportunities, including (but not limited to) education; writing, editing and publishing; advertising and marketing; public relations; and digital content creation.

Top 10 in the UK for career prospects in English, with 85% of our graduates in graduate-level jobs or further study after 15 months Guardian League Tables 2026

Top 30 for English The Times 2025

Professional Placement year

This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.

If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.

Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.

With every single module on the Creative Writing course, I’ve evolved my writing style, and I’ve come on leaps and bounds. Not only that, but it helped me to branch out to styles I’d never even considered. I went from someone only really interested in novel writing, to someone who is submitting short stories for anthologies left and right.

Emily Godbold

Why Choose Us?

You’ll be taught by expert practitioners and world-leading academics, who encourage experimentation and innovation. Our courses are interdisciplinary by design, offering opportunities to explore literature, drama, language and creative writing, and collaborate in, for instance, student-led conferences and showcases.

Alongside your formal learning, you’ll have the opportunity to meet acclaimed authors and industry specialists as part of the activities of our Institute of Creative and Critical Writing. Recent guests include author Kit de Waal, poetry activist Jo Bell, agent Cathryn Summerhayes, and Writing West Midlands’ CEO, Jonathan Davidson.

You’ll be part of a thriving creative community, alive with opportunities to develop your creative and critical skills. We encourage you to seek out ways to collaborate with student actors, radio producers, musicians and illustrators across a Faculty equipped with world-class production facilities and an internationally-acclaimed student radio station.

Top 10 in the UK for career prospects in English, with 85% of our graduates in graduate-level jobs or further study after 15 months (Guardian League Tables 2026)

We contribute to a thriving literary scene, whether it’s holding informal poetry readings in the pub, hosting the launch of the acclaimed Poetry Review, or interviewing Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors at Birmingham Literary Festival.

Our teaching staff are also expert researchers in English Language and Literature. 94% of research in English at BCU was judged to be either world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) in REF2021

of students said that academic support was good or very good. 97% of students rated the learning resources for this course as good or very good. NSS 2026

How to succeed at Creative Writing

English and Creative Writing student Harry Smith gives us an insight into his experience on the course.

Read about Harry's experience

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Next Open Day: 21 November

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Course in Depth

First Year

Second Year

Professional Placement Year (optional)

Final Year

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 100 credits):

Voices of Birmingham 20 credits

In this module you will explore Birmingham’s status as a diverse and multicultural city. Through probing different notions of ‘multiculturalism’, ‘diversity’ and ‘community’, you will consider the multitude of voices that form the city, their connections, and your positioning in relation to them. As you learn about various aspects of Birmingham’s histories and communities, you will be introduced to key skills and knowledge required for degree-level studies in English and consider their value to your professional development. You will learn how to read and interpret a variety of texts, select appropriate research material and sources, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively. By the end of this module, you will have developed a clear sense of your responsibilities as an English student and acquired the skills necessary to express your own critical and creative voices.

Adaptation 20 credits

This module adopts complementary perspectives on the transformation and re-creation of texts. The first half of the module concentrates on close readings of translations drawn from epic, sacred and profane traditions to develop skills of literary analysis, differentiation, contextualization and evaluation, while providing the basis for students’ own creative work. Case studies based on stage and film treatments broaden the scope to consider formal and cultural questions relating to adaptation. The second half of the module concentrates on linguistic approaches to the analysis of literary texts (also called Stylistics). Here, the module concentrates on the use of stylistic devices in poems, plays, and prose; and considers how linguistics can highlight techniques used in literary writing to create important literary effects. There will be a specific focus in this half of the module on grammar and style, speech and thought presentation, point of view, and pragmatics.

Prose Writing 20 credits

This module considers how we read and write prose. You will be equipped with key literary analytical tools, including key terms and theories, which you will utilize in your analyses of prose works of different kinds, including prose essays, short stories, and a Booker Prize-winning novel. You will also discuss and practice your own prose writing techniques and have the opportunity to write creative prose of different kinds. You will develop an understanding of the forms and conventions of narrative prose, discursive styles, identify different types of prose, and differentiate between a range of disciplinary perspectives.

Key Critical Concepts 20 credits

‘Key Critical Concepts’ focuses on understanding and applying useful theoretical ideas and analytical approaches to develop your close reading, interpretation, and analysis of literature. It will help you to critically reflect on how language and literature function; on what we bring to a text when we read it; and how to pay careful attention to form, style, and genre. The module promotes more sophisticated readings of a variety of literary texts, including poems, plays, short stories, and extracts from novels, ranging from the early modern period to the present day. By the end of the module, you will have developed foundational knowledge of key critical concepts that you will be able to employ in textual analyses throughout your degree.

Craft of Writing 20 credits

In this module, you will explore key elements of effective creative writing and the techniques used to create and control form and style, such as showing and telling, imagery, viewpoint, and narrative. You will examine each element or technique in a given text and then apply what you have learned in your own writing. Textual examples are drawn from a range of forms, such as audio drama, screenplay, poetry, monologue, the novel, short story, stage play and memoir. Each week will inform a different element of your writing technique, feeding into new pieces of writing to be submitted for assessment in a portfolio at the end of the semester. You will also write your own personal Writer’s Manifesto which sets out the intentions behind your writing and your thoughts about the social purpose of writing in your life and the wider world. In preparation for this you will study a range of manifestos written by writers and creative thinkers.

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following list of OPTIONAL modules.

Literature and Conflict 20 credits

In this module, you will explore the concept of conflict in literature, from war and revolution to social class, gender, and race, as well as at a psychological level. Through a range of genres and periods, ‘Literature and Conflict’ seeks to engage you with a focused analysis of poetry, drama, the novella and the novel as specific forms and to equip you with the scholarly tools used to investigate them. Conflict creates dramatic interest in narrative, but many forms of criticism assume that conflict should ideally be resolved. We will query this and consider how more overtly ideological criticism might explore the contradictions within a text and disclose what the text itself cannot say. This may lead to the questioning of conflict, resolution and how a historical understanding of conflict is important in our contemporary world.

Language in Action 20 credits

This module will introduce you to a range of topics in language studies, including phonetics, sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, and media linguistics. You will expand your knowledge of linguistic concepts and terminology and learn how to apply this knowledge to the analysis of real-life examples of spoken and written language in use. You will be introduced to the phonetic and discourse-level characteristics of English and you will analyse these phenomena in context. The module will help you develop your skills in critical thinking, in analysing different forms of data, in identifying and synthesising information from a variety of sources, and in presenting your findings in a coherent and well-organised way.

Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 60 credits):

Writing and the Environment 20 credits

This module examines different forms of writing that engage critically and creatively with key issues connected to ‘natural’ and ‘man-made’ environments. Each week, we will study a different literary text, period and genre informed by appropriate theories and scholarship. We will consider how writing constructs, examines and challenges ideas about nature, life in cities, technology, and animals, and in doing so engages in debates about equality, sustainability, identity and otherness. Through a chronological approach to texts from the eighteenth century to the present day, these topics will be explored in a variety of historical, social, political, and aesthetic contexts. This module will enhance your understanding of reading and writing as practices through which we develop knowledge about the world, and the place of people within it. It will prompt you to consider the importance of the environment and sustainability in relation to employability skills and future careers.

Writing Short Stories 20 credits

This module introduces you to writing short fiction. You will learn from the work of a diverse range of short story writers, exploring the distinctive characteristics of the form, and experimenting with techniques involved in crafting a strong short story. You will identify, practice and apply elements of craft such as narrative structure, voice, diction, dialogue, characterisation and imagery as they relate to the short story form in particular, and experiment with editing and rewriting. You will share your work in progress with other students for constructive criticism, and explore ways of giving effective feedback, as well as reflecting on how to improve your own work.

Screenwriting 20 credits

This module will teach you the essential skills of, and principles behind, the writing of short films. Although these principles apply primarily to screenwriting for film and television, this module will instead be concerned with the writing of short films. You will study a number of freely available short guides to screenplay layout and formatting and be trained in the practical application of screenplay formatting software. You will write three short scripts, given as fortnightly writing exercises, and receive detailed formative feedback on one of the scripts, which you can use to improve and develop your work for your final portfolio. You will focus on visual storytelling, layout conventions, and the issue of writing to scale (budget). You will also be encouraged to analyse, but also critique, dramatic construction in terms of character function, motivation and genre.

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete 20 credits from the following indicative list of School modules.

Work Placement 20 credits

The purpose of this module is to enable you to develop professional attributes and subject skills through experience in the work place, and to critically reflect upon your learning in that context. You will normally be expected to arrange your own placement, with support from academic staff and the Careers team.

Collaborative Practice 20 credits

The ability to work collaboratively in a team is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries. This module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create a group project with students from complementary disciplines.

In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.

The Romantics 20 credits

This module introduces you to some of the principal works of one of the most dynamic and exhilarating periods in English literature, the cultural legacy of which has influenced the creative arts and the history of ideas ever since. The texts studied on this module raise profound and lasting questions, and you should approach them in a spirit of adventure and enquiry. Can literature act as an agent of revolution? What is the creative imagination? What is liberty? How should we conceive of the natural world? What is the significance of feeling and empathy? What is the relationship between language, society and authority? What do we mean by ‘Romanticism’? Of what is humankind capable? As such, the module also requires you to think about the relationship between literature and history, and how literary texts in any era respond both to the present and the past. Authors and their works are examined in their social, political and economic context, as well as the intellectual, religious and spiritual traditions in which they participate.

The Victorians 20 credits

This module covers the poetry and prose of the Victorian period, through which you will learn about the formal properties and trends of literature of the period and the innovations which arose, as well as the historical context including social change, gender roles and religion. You will be encouraged to read widely, and to look backwards and forwards through literary history to enable you to situate the literature of the period in context. There will be a strong emphasis on the close reading of texts and on the importance of research and reading relevant works of criticism; you will be encouraged to develop your research and writing skills and to work independently, which will support your work across this and other modules. We'll also think about Victorian culture and how this remains an important determining factor within modern society.

Gender, Sexuality and Culture 20 credits

This module explores two concepts central to our understanding of what makes us ‘modern’: gender and sexuality. We will challenge ‘common sense’ understandings of gender and sexuality by interrogating cultural identities, such as queer, heterosexual, homosexual, gay, lesbian, straight and trans. It will introduce you to gender studies and sexuality studies as theoretical, social, cultural, political and historical fields of investigation.

Multicultural Literature 20 credits

‘Multicultural Literature’ focuses on the history of British multiculturalism in literature from the 1950s up to the present day. Exploring a range of British Caribbean, Asian, African, and other multicultural writing, we explore powerful stories of new beginnings, the search for belonging, diverse identities, and complex communities. You will develop a critical awareness of how writers deal with questions of race and nationhood, colonial discourse, cultural hybridity, migration and asylum. The module develops your aesthetic, critical, and historical awareness that will inform your independent thinking about contemporary multiculturalism. It spans a diverse set of literary texts (novels, short prose, poems) produced primarily by ‘minority’ writers in Britain since the post-war era (Caribbean, Asian, African and other less established immigrant groups). You will study these texts alongside relevant histories of migration, theories of representation, and critical debates about multiculturalism.

Modern and Contemporary Theatre 20 credits

This module offers a survey of key 20th and 21st century texts and movements in western theatre. You will engage with the artistic movements that developed in Europe from the early 20th century and identify key playwrights and practitioners that brought significant changes to the stage, both on the continent and in Britain. Through studying a range of plays from this period, both as written texts and in performance, you will consider the ways in which innovations in the early 20th century continue to influence theatre writing and practice today.

Digital Storytelling 20 credits

Digital Storytelling techniques have evolved to include everything from film techniques, still images, immersive-audio, environmental storytelling, and more. In this module we will consider the different ways in which these techniques can be effectively utilised to allow creative citizens to share their stories and to create engaging and meaningful stories through digital platforms. Looking at both factual and fictional storytelling, we will consider case studies that draw on a range of different mediums. We will analyse and discover what makes a compelling narrative, and how alternative sequencing can be utilised. This may involve aspects such as interactive consequential story branching (choose your own adventure), site-specific storytelling, spatial storytelling, and sonic affectivity in digital applications or environments. You will be introduced to a variety of techniques to establish your knowledge of the components of digital storytelling and enhance your understanding. For your assessment you will be required to produce a digital story and compare how this piece sits within the broader field of digital storytelling.

Creating Compelling Content 20 credits

The ability to create compelling content is an essential communication skill and the key to employability in a range of media careers, not least in Public Relations. As well as being engaging and accessible, effective communication almost always involves the ability to produce professional content across a range of platforms and channels. This module concentrates on developing the writing and crafting skills that are highly valued by media employers.

In order to qualify for the Professional Placement Year, you must successfully complete the following Level 5 module:

Professional Placement 120 credits

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 40- week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Undergraduate Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 80 credits):

Writing Poetry 20 credits

This module will enable you to build upon your current reading and writing of poetry, and to develop your range, technique and sophistication as a contemporary poet and thinker on poetry. As well as cultivating your ability to read poetry sympathetically and critically, you will learn how to nurture the poetic imagination and what Ted Hughes called its ‘psychic disciplines’, with a view to strengthening and emboldening the intuition and sensitivity upon which poetic technique depends. You also will acquire practical knowledge of publishing and performing your own work.

Major Project Preparation 20 credits

The ‘Major Project Preparation’ module focuses on creative thinking and initial research to develop a proposal and plan for the delivery of your Major Project. You will be introduced to the skills, techniques and processes required to identify, articulate, and organise a project that can be successfully realised. It aims to ensure that you judge the appropriateness of a variety of critical and analytical approaches to developing a major project and that you create a plan that is within scope and can be delivered successfully to a high standard.

Major Project: English Dissertation 40 credits

The Major Project: Dissertation module is where you will put into practice the creative thinking, initial research, proposal, and plan developed in the Major Project Preparation module and wherein you will undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you and which represents the culmination of your studies.

Writing Creative Nonfiction 20 credits

Audio Drama and Podcast Writing 20 credits

The United Kingdom commissions, produces and broadcasts more audio drama – online, on digital and on radio – than any other country in the world. In this diverse and dynamic medium, writers can tell human stories set anywhere in time and space, at a fraction of the cost of television and film production. What’s more – as an old industry saying goes – ‘you see it better on radio’. In this module you will learn how to write and produce compelling audio drama scripts and episodes of a podcast drama series by engaging practically and theoretically with the key principles and techniques involved. You will also be introduced to editorial collaboration, the pitching of projects, and appropriate methods of presentation, including recorded voice essays that can incorporate sound effects. You will learn how to communicate ideas clearly, accurately and effectively both orally and in writing.

Modernism and its Legacies 20 credits

In this module we focus on modernism – the defining artistic movement of the twentieth century – to analyse a range of literary texts that we hope you will find challenging and rewarding. Together, we explore what literary modernism was but we also consider an active claim: that literary modernism continues to influence post-war and contemporary authors and that, in various ways, it persists well into late twentieth century and twenty-first century literature. We cover central modernist writers who are considered key formal innovators, such as Joseph Conrad, Ezra Pound, Virginia Woolf, and D. H. Lawrence. We then explore how later writers, such as Samuel Beckett, Jean Rhys, Muriel Spark, J. M. Coetzee, and Zadie Smith, handle the legacies of the modernist movement. You will be encouraged to engage closely with issues of form and style in significant modernist and postmodern texts. At the same time, we will situate these texts in their historical contexts, considering key themes and categories such as tradition, colonialism, industrialisation, culture, gender, time, and ethics.

The Gothic 20 credits

This module focuses on literature in the gothic tradition from its inception through to the present day. During the module, the development of the gothic form will be traced from its origins through to recent manifestations of the genre. Gothic literature often reflects social and cultural trends as well as providing a space to manifest cultural anxieties, expressing a society’s suppressed desires and fears in an acceptable literary form. Such texts can therefore be read not only as escapist, but as serious texts which seek to express often radical, socially unacceptable or psychologically-submerged ideas. The module will enable you to identify these undercurrents as well as to explore the major themes and aesthetics of the genre. You will be encouraged to interrogate texts with an eye to these issues, including those of gender, race and class, and to contextualise the texts in order to analyse and understand the changing concept of Gothic.

Shakespeare Studies 20 credits

This module considers key themes in Shakespeare’s works, as well as Shakespeare’s prominent position in the English canon and wider popular culture. You will develop an understanding of Shakespeare’s social context, early modern theatrical settings and conventions, and the language of Shakespeare’s works. You will also consider how Shakespeare’s works operate in performance and film. To do so, you will examine in detail a selection of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, histories and poems, considering textual aspects meticulously, while relating the texts to wider issues of critical reception and social impact. Emphasis will be placed on using a range of critical interpretative methods when approaching the plays -- including biography, versionality, materialism, metatheatre -- as well as on utilising and reflecting on digital literacy (such as online archives) in order to develop knowledge of key research skills required by early modern literary scholars.

Moral Philosophy 20 credits

‘Moral Philosophy’ enables students to explore ethical issues concerning, for example, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, inequality, and the environment. So doing, it offers the opportunity to practise research, writing, and critical thinking skills in a discipline adjacent to English. Students begin by reviewing a range of key philosophical frameworks from Aristotelian virtue ethics to Kantian duty-based ethics through to contemporary utilitarianism. Core concepts such as personhood and the nature of social contracts provide the basis for a series of applied case studies. The module equips students with practical skills in evaluating the ethics of particular choices, encouraging good citizenship, compassion and an understanding of global issues.

Stage and Society 20 credits

This module offers a focused survey of key theatrical texts from the 20th and 21st centuries that have engaged with issues of socio-political and historical relevance to explore playwriting practice as response to, and engagement with, contemporaneous events and issues. Building on the analytical and presentation skills you have acquired in your first and second years, you will read eight plays and explore their relationships with their socio-historical contexts. You will think critically and analytically about the contextualisation of playwriting, exploring both synchronic and diachronic perspectives.

Understanding Social Media: Practices, Cultures and Debates 20 credits

This module is intended to give an overview of the current state of scholarly research into the use of social media platforms as a communication tool. The module provides a systematic understanding of the approaches to studying social media and its social and cultural role. The module looks in detail at the ways in which social media is utilised by citizens and media producers and ask whether these platforms can help alter traditional power relationships in society. There is a focus on how students can put social media to use as a tool for furthering their professional ambitions or to help create advocacy networks.

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How you will learn

Your learning will be through a mixture of lectures, practical workshops and seminars. Your course also provides an opportunity to undertake work-based learning through a placement. We embed flexible opportunities for you to access your curriculum including recorded lectures, blended learning, on-campus delivery and intensive delivery of some modules. We recognise that students progress to higher education from a variety of educational experiences and that university is a completely new educational environment for most of you. For that reason, you will find that in your first year with us there is a focus on supporting your transition which places an emphasis on developing both the confidence and the competencies required for being successful at your university assignments. Where appropriate, we will bring in external speakers or arrange visits relevant to your specialism. These may be from industry or be focused on a particular specialist academic interest. We have excellent links with industry, community and scholarly partners which we draw on to enhance your learning experience.

How you will be assessed

All our assessments are designed to ensure that you meet the learning outcomes of your modules and thus of the course overall. Assessment types may include written research reports, essays, case studies, practical work, portfolios and presentations. There is one exam, taken online, in an optional module in the second year of your course. You will be assessed as an individual but there may be times when you will be asked to work within teams and submit assessments as groups. All modules offer chances for formative assessment, that is, informal assessments that are used to assess your understanding before the final submission of your work. Formative assessments also help inform the teaching strategy within a module, identifying areas where we can offer extra help and guidance. We will offer tutorials and a chance for you to discuss your draft assessments before you submit them. Once marked, we will give formal feedback and ‘feed forward’ on all work submitted, aimed at helping you improve future submissions.

Teaching and learning activities

Teaching and learning activities may include lectures, seminars, practical workshops and guided independent study. You will also have access to a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, including theatre trips, seminars by prestigious guest speakers and published authors and a programme of scholarly and creative events. Online facilities, such as the University’s Virtual Learning Environment Moodle, are used to guide, support and enhance your learning experience.

You will benefit from tutorial support and spoken or written feedback on your learning and preliminary work to help you in preparing for and reflecting on your assignments. A wide range of assessment methods are used in the programme, including essays, presentations, performances, conferences and creative portfolios, giving you the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills.

Trips and visits

Our BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing students enhance their learning through a series of trips and visits. In recent years, students on this course have visited the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, The Coffin Works, and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

We maintain close links with cultural institutions such as the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI) and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) and works with agencies such as Writing West Midlands.

Learn from industry experts

We regularly organise talks and visits that will provide you with the chance to learn from industry experts with guest masterclasses and visiting authors.

Novelist Jim Crace delivered a series of workshops with students, giving feedback on their work and an insight into the world of professional writing and the publishing industry. Student Nabiyah Saddique said: "It was beneficial to students like me who want to write and be an author by career, to see how his experiences have shaped him and how he has created such beautiful pieces of work from these experiences."

Jim also enjoyed the chance to work with the students: "Everybody tried their hands at pitching an idea, writing the opening paragraphs of a novel, and line editing. It was testing and daunting but nobody fell short. The level of commitment and ability was astounding. London publishers should be beating a path to Birmingham City University; it houses writing talent in abundance."

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Entry Requirements

These entry requirements apply for entry in 2027/28.

All required qualifications/grades must have been achieved and evidenced at the earliest opportunity after accepting an offer to help confirm admission and allow for on-time enrolment. This can also include other requirements, like a fee status form and relevant documents. Applicants can track their application and outstanding information requests through their BCU mySRS account.

Essential requirements

112-72 UCAS Tariff points

The offer we make you takes into account your individual circumstances, predicted grades, achieved qualifications and potential to succeed at university.

GCSE and other level 2 requirements

Applicants who do not hold a level 3 qualification in English will require GCSE English Language or English Literature at grade C/4 or above. Please see A Level, BTEC and other Level 3 requirements below.

A Level, BTEC and other level 3 requirements

Qualification

Entry requirements

A Level / AS Level

A Level: 112-72 UCAS Tariff points / BBC-CDE (or equivalent)

AS Level: Must be in a different subject to A Levels

A maximum of four subjects will be considered

Preferred subjects: English or another Arts, Humanities or Social Science subject. This includes subjects such as History, Geography, Politics, Sociology, Psychology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Languages, Media Studies, Law and Economics. We will also consider applicants with qualifications in other subjects that develop analytical thinking, critical evaluation and written communication skills.

Applicants who do not hold a level 3 qualification in English will require GCSE English Language or English Literature at grade C/4 or above.

Pearson BTEC (Diploma / Extended Diploma/ Extended Certificate)

Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications

Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications

Typical offers vary according to individual circumstances and may be equivalent to a Merit or Pass overall grade

Access to HE Diploma

Pass with 60 credits, 45 credits at level 3.

Accepted subjects: Language, Literature and Culture subjects preferred but other subjects also considered.

OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications

NCFE CACHE Level 3 qualifications

WJEC Level 3 qualifications

Considered with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualification(s)

Irish Leaving Certificate (Highers)

112-72 UCAS Tariff points, achieved in five Higher level subjects

Required subjects: English Language or Literature.

Scottish Higher / Advanced Higher

112-72 UCAS Tariff points, achieved from three Advanced Highers or two Advanced Highers plus two Highers

Required subjects: English Language or Literature or combined Language and Literature subject.

Welsh Baccalaureate

112-72 UCAS Tariff points. Considered with three A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications

UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma

Typical offers vary according to individual circumstances and may be equivalent to a Merit or Pass overall

Foundation Studies (Art and Design, and Art, Design and Media)

Typical offers vary according to individual circumstances

If you're applying with an International Baccalaureate Diploma or international qualifications, please see further information below.

Mature students

We welcome applications from mature students and applicants with a wide range of qualifications and experiences. Applicants with non-standard qualifications may be asked to provide additional information or complete a short piece of work to support their application.

International qualifications

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Obtain 28-24 points overall

Required subjects: English Language or Literature at Higher Level.

EU / International students

Please see your country page for further details on the equivalent qualifications we accept. In addition to the academic entry requirements listed above, international and EU students will also require IELTS 6.0 overall, with 6.0 in writing and no less than 5.5 in the remaining three skills.

If you do not meet the required IELTS score, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English courses. Please note that you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT) to study on the pre-sessional English course. More information on pre-sessional English courses.

If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply

UK Student

International Student

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: BA (Hons)

Starting: Sep 2027

Duration

£10,050 in 2027/28

Apply via UCAS

International students

£19,220 in 2027/28

Apply Online

Included in your course fees

Access to computer equipment

You will require use of a laptop, and most students do prefer to have their own. However, you can borrow a laptop from the university or use one of our shared computer rooms.

Printing

You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment.

Field trips

All essential field trips and associated travel costs will be included in your course fees.

Access to Microsoft Office 365

Every student at the University can download a free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use whilst at university and for 18 months after graduation.

Key software

You will be able to download SPSS and Nvivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research.

Key subscriptions

Subscriptions to key journals and websites are available through our library.

Not included in your course fees

Excess printing (optional)

Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet.

Personal stationery and study materials (optional)

Based on the past experience of our students, you might find it helpful to set aside about £30 for each year of your studies for your personal stationery and study materials.

Placement expenses (optional)

If you choose to undertake a placement, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst living or working away from home.

Field trips (optional)

This course includes the option of additional trips that may enhance your experience, at extra cost.

Books (optional)

All module key texts will be in the University library, but in limited numbers. You may choose to purchase a copy. We suggest budgeting approximately £250 per year for this.

Personal equipment (optional)

Whilst not essential, it is advised you own a computer or laptop with a Word processor and Internet access will be required for completing and submitting assignments. You will be able to use the University laptops and computers, but you will likely find it helpful to have one of your own.

Accommodation and living costs (optional)

The cost of accommodation and other living costs are not included within your course fees. More information on the cost of accommodation can be found in our accommodation pages.

Guidance for UK students

UK students applying for most undergraduate degree courses in the UK will need to apply through UCAS.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is a UK organisation responsible for managing applications to university and college.

Applying through UCAS

Register with UCAS

Login to UCAS and complete your details

Select your course and write a personal statement

Get a reference

Pay your application fee and submit your application

Guidance for International students

There are three ways to apply:

1) Direct to the University

You will need to complete our International Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form, and submit them together with scan copies of your original academic transcripts and certificates.

2) Through a country representative

Our in-country representatives can help you make your application and apply for a visa. They can also offer advice on travel, living in the UK and studying abroad.

3) Through UCAS

If you are applying for an undergraduate degree or a Higher National Diploma (HND), you can apply through the UK’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

You can request a printed form from your school or nearest British Council office. You will be charged for applying through UCAS.

Birmingham City University’s UCAS code is B25 BCITY.

Personal statement

The personal statement gives you a crucial opportunity to say why you’re applying and why the institution should accept you.

Here are the three areas you’ll need to address:

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Here’s where you explain what makes this course exciting to you. Think about your motivations for studying the course and your future plans. If you’re planning to take a year out, don't forget to give your reasons.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

This is your chance to show what you’ve learned at school or college. You should include the skills and knowledge you’ve gained from education or training and how this will help you succeed in your chosen course.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Not everything you’ve learned comes from the classroom. Life experience counts too! You might want to talk about work experience, employment, or volunteering and how they’ve helped you develop the skills needed for your chosen course or future career.

Worried about Personal Statements?

If you've got no idea where to start or just want to check you're on the right track, we’ve got expert advice and real examples from our students to help you nail your personal statement. You can even download our ultimate personal statement guide for free.

Get personal statement advice

Financial Support

We offer further information on possible undergraduate financial support. This includes the type of loans, grants and scholarships available both from the government and from Birmingham City University.

View fees for continuing students

Employability

Enhancing Employability Skills

Employability is embedded across our programme, from sector- and industry-specific skills in creative writing, drama, linguistics and literature, through to transferable skills that hold real value regardless of your employment direction, including literacy and numeracy, time management and organisation, oral and written communication, team work, initiative and enterprise, creative and analytical thinking, self-direction and discipline, independence, information gathering and interpersonal skills.

You will have multiple opportunities to engage in problem solving and problem-based learning, particularly through individual assessments and collaborative practice modules, and to reflect on your own career development needs through participating in the Graduate+ scheme and other employability schemes over the course of your degree.

Our graduates have found employment in roles such as:

Teacher (Primary, Secondary, FE/HE, TEFL)

Copywriter / Content Writer

Novelist / Poet / Scriptwriter

Marketing Executive / Digital Marketer

Publishing Assistant / Editorial Assistant

Creative Arts Educator

Arts Administrator

Literary Festival or Events Assistant

Communications Officer / Campaign Writer

Social Media Manager

Placements

We are committed to developing strong links with employers in Birmingham and the West Midlands. Several language and Creative Writing modules have explicit employer and industry engagement, where you work in collaboration with employer and external partners over the course of the semester and are encouraged to adopt industry-standard practices to facilitate connections and links independently with external partners.

In the case of the Work Placement module, you will have the opportunity to develop skills and abilities in a sector-specific context, while ensuring that academic aims and objectives are met as part of your wider learning journey.

Links to Industry

We regularly seek out opportunities to build further links with partner organisations in the region, including Creative Black Country, Birmingham Literary Festival, Birmingham Museums Trust (including Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), Black Country Museum Trust, Arvon Creative Writing Foundation, Flatpack Film Festival, West Midlands Screenwriters' Forum, and other subjects within the University, in addition to publishers, charities, third sector organisations, and more, in Birmingham and beyond.

Facilities & Staff

English facilities

Take a look around the facilities available to you as an English student at BCU.

See our English facilities

Our staff

Professor Gregory Leadbetter

Professor of Poetry, Course Director of the MA in Creative Writing, Director of the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing

Gregory Leadbetter is Professor of Poetry at Birmingham City University. His research focuses on Romantic poetry and thought, the traditions to which these relate, and the history and practice of poetry more generally. His book Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) won the University English Book Prize 2012. His poetry...

More about Gregory

Naush Sabah

Lecturer in Creative Writing

As well as a lecturer in Creative Writing at BCU, Naush is a freelance writer, editor, and critic specializing in contemporary poetry. She is Editor and Publishing Director at Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, a biannual periodical of contemporary poetry and poetry criticism, described by the TLS as ‘intellectually lithe and...

More about Naush

Andy Conway

Course Director for BA (Hons) Film and Screenwriting

Andy Conway is a novelist and screenwriter based in Birmingham, who graduated from this institution in 1994 with a 1st in English Language and Literature. He teaches undergraduate courses in Screenwriting, Drama and Adaptation, and also teaches Screenwriting at The National Academy of Writing, Worcester University and Newman College. He has also...

More about Andy

Dr Joseph Anderton

Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature

Joseph Anderton writes and teaches on modern and contemporary literature, particularly in relation to dehumanisation; animals and the environment; homelessness; and literary ethics. He is author of Beckett’s Creatures: Art of Failure after the Holocaust (Bloomsbury, 2016), which considers conceptions of the ‘creature’ and ‘creaturely life’ as...

More about Joseph

Helen Cross

Helen’s novels include My Summer of Love, which became a BAFTA award-winning film, and Spilt Milk, Black Coffee, which she has recently adapted for the screen. She has written two graphic anthologies with artist Carol Adlam, most recently Women at War (2016). Her stories have appeared in various magazines and anthologies and her audio plays, which...

More about Helen

Dr Gemma Moss

Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature, Undergraduate English Courses Director

Before joining BCU, Gemma taught at the University of Salford and the University of Manchester, where she completed an MA in Postcolonial Literature and an AHRC-funded PhD.

Gemma is author of Modernism, Music and the Politics of Aesthetics (Edinburgh University Press, 2021). She is currently editing E. M. Forster’s first novel, Where Angels Fear to...

More about Gemma

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T: +44 (0)121 331 6295

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E: International enquiry form

T: +44 (0)121 331 5389

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