Course overview

This three-year English Literature with Creative Writing BA Honours degree focuses on expanding your knowledge of literary texts, and developing your critical, theoretical and creative writing skills.

You will learn from subject experts, world-leading literature researchers and internationally acclaimed writers throughout your degree. Our teaching is closely linked to the programme of the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts, giving you contact with leading creative artists.

You'll be able to immerse yourself in local culture, at venues such as Seven Stories, The Wordsworth Trust and the Literary and Philosophical Society.

You will have opportunities to work with arts organisations such as the on-campus Northern Stage theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company to support your study of creative writing.

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COVID-19
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to COVID-19.

See our terms and conditions for more information

View our Frequently Asked Questions

Quality and ranking

• top 10 in the UK – The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 (English Studies category)
• top 20 in the UK – The Complete University Guide 2021 (English category)
• 4th in the UK – The Complete University Guide 2021 (Creative Writing category)
• 92% overall student satisfaction score – National Student Survey 2019
• 3rd in the UK for research – Research Excellence Framework 2014 (English Language and Literature category)
• top 150 – English Language and Literature category – QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020
• top 175 – Arts and Humanities category – Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2020

Teaching excellence

TEF Gold

A ringing endorsement of Newcastle University’s long tradition of excellence in teaching.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

You'll be introduced to a variety of literary texts; poetry, prose, plays and film. You'll build a foundation in the critical and theoretical skills you need for your studies in stages 2 and 3.

You explore different ways of approaching creative writing, develop your creativity and gain experience of writing in different forms.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Introduction to Creative Writing	20
Introduction to Literary Studies 1	20
Introduction to Literary Studies II	20
Transformations	20
Close Reading	20
Drama, Theatre & Performance	20

Stage 2 advances your knowledge of literature and strengthens your sense of the relationships between critical and creative writing. You will develop your craft and literary techniques in poetry, prose or script.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Creative Practice	20

Optional Modules	Credits
Career Development for second year students	20
Developing Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Employability	20
Renaissance Bodies	20
Writing New Worlds, 1688-1789	20
Revolutionary Britain, 1789-1832	20
Victorian Passions: Victorian Values	20
Fictions of Migration	20
Contemporary Cultures	20
Modernisms	20
Independent Research Project Preparation	20
Monsters, Misery & Miracles: Heroic Life in Old English Poetry	20
Poetry Workshop	20
Theatre Script Workshop	20
Prose Workshop	20
Screenwriting Workshop	20
Overseas Exchange (Semester 1)	60
Overseas Exchange (Semester 2)	60

You will be supported in the production of an original piece of literary work in an area of your interest, in either prose, theatre script, poetry or screenwriting. Your portfolio will bring together everything you’ve learnt about creative writing and allow you to devise a project that demonstrates your individuality.

You'll choose four specialist options in literature. Current options include the Victorian novel, life writing, nonsense literature, British and international children’s literature, Romantic poetry, Caribbean literature and film, American literatures, or medieval literature.

Modules

Optional Modules	Credits
Career Development for final year students	20
Advanced Career Development module	20
Orgasms, Odalisques, Onanism: Desire and the Body at the Fin de siècle	20
Chaucer, Shakespeare and the Book of the Future	20
Sex and Money: Economies of the Victorian Novel	20
Other Renaissances: Gender, Race and Sexuality in Early Modern Culture	20
Cultural Industries Placement Module (Semester 1)	20
Cultural Industries Placement Module (Semester 2)	20
Romantic Poetry: Journeys of the Imagination	20
Contemporary Documentary 1: Theory and Practice	20
Contemporary Documentary 2: Theory & Practice	20
Writing the Postcolonial Nation: Literature from the Indian Subcontinent	20
Women of Virtue and Women of Pleasure: Sensibility in the Age of Reason	20
Landscapes of American Modernism	20
Modernist Poetry: Pound to the Beats	20
Caribbean-U.S. Cultures	20
Women on Trial: Gender, Power, and Performance in Shakespeare's England	20
Between the Acts: English Theatre, 1660-1737	20
Shakespeare's Show Business	20
The Victorian Novel: Time, Change, and the Life Course	20
Prose Portfolio	40
Theatre Script Portfolio	40
Poetry Portfolio	40
Screenwriting Portfolio	40
High-toned, Middlebrow, and Lowdown: Jazz-Age Literature in the Magazines	20
Making Ireland: Kingdom, Colony and Nation in Text and Performance	20
Planetary Imaginations: Literature in the Time of Environmental Crisis	20
Manuscript, Print, Digital	20
Children’s Literature and Black Britain	20

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

You can normally expect to spend around 10 hours per week attending lectures, seminars, workshops and film screenings. You also spend around 25 hours per week on class preparation, reading, writing, and other kinds of independent research recommended by your tutor.

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Assessments

• 

  Assignments – written or fieldwork

• 

  Coursework

• 

  Dissertation or research project

• 

  Essays

• 

  Examinations – practical or online

• 

  Group work

• 

  Presentations

Skills and experience

Practical experience

Studying English at Newcastle means you will benefit from regular field trips organised by the School. These include visits to:

• The Wordsworth Trust (Dove Cottage)
• Lindisfarne
• Seven Stories (the National Centre for Children's Books)
• Beamish Museum
• the Great North Museum
• Northern Stage

Business skills

You'll have the opportunity to gain real-world work experience in the cultural industries in Stage 3. This experience will develop your communication and management skills as well as your ability to work in a team. 

Opportunities

Study abroad

You have the opportunity to study abroad for one semester in your second year. We have links with:

• Agder University, Kristiansand, Norway
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Ghent, Belgium
• Groningen, Netherlands
• Leiden, Netherlands
• Leipzig, Germany
• Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

We also have study abroad links with three universities in Canada – Dalhousie, McGill and New Brunswick – available through our Non-EU Study Abroad exchange programme.

Find out more about Study Abroad

Work placement

In the third year of your degree you can apply to undertake a work placement in a cultural industry. This is an opportunity for you to relate the knowledge and skills you have learned throughout your degree and apply them to real-world scenarios.

Your placement will be an integrated part of your degree which will last for one day per week for about 10 weeks. It will be assessed through the submission of a Project Work Diary and a Final Report which together form the Placement Portfolio.

In addition you'll also have the opportunity to spend 9 to 12 months working in any organisation in the world, and receive University support from our dedicated team to secure your dream placement. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise.

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements

Facilities and environment

Facilities

You'll be based in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, which is at the heart of our city-centre campus, in the Percy Building. You'll join a lively community of students, academics, authors and professionals.

You'll have access to a digital media lab – for students with documentary and film-making modules – a PC cluster, a student-led cafe, and plenty of spaces to work and socialise, all based in the School.

You will have exceptional library provision from our award-winning Library Service, which houses over one million books and a huge range of electronic resources.

Newcastle University Students' Union is home to the award-winning student newspaper, The Courier, giving you the opportunity to develop your creative writing and journalism skills. 

Our teaching is closely linked to the programme of the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA), giving you regular contact with leading creative artists. You'll also have access to the diverse programme of events organised by NCLA throughout the year, including spoken-word events and creative writing courses.

Find out more about the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics

Support

You'll have the support of an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree to help with academic and personal issues.

Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have when starting university.

Visiting speakers

The School hosts an annual visiting speakers' programme and poetry readings and film screenings also take place during the year, organised by students or staff.

Your future

95% of English Language graduates were in work or further study within six months of graduating*.

*Destinations of (undergraduate, UK and EU) Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2016/17

English students acquire a range of valuable skills, which they can transfer to many different employment situations. Your literary and linguistic training can be used in journalism, librarianship, teaching and the highly competitive fields of writing, acting and directing.

You will gain other skills such as:

• analysis and summarising
• communication
• time-keeping
• arguing and debating
• independent and collaborative work
• critical thinking

This is excellent preparation for a wide number of professions and as such, our graduates have gone into a variety of career areas including editorial, marketing, PR and other forms of media. Others have gone to work in law, politics, HR, teaching and supporting specialist learning.

Make a difference

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Careers support

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK.

Read our detailed explanation

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2021 entry (per year)

Home Fee Students

£9250

International Fee Students

£18600

The maximum fee that we are permitted to charge for home fee-paying students is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

You will be charged tuition fees for each year of your degree programme (unless you are on a shorter exchange programme). 

The tuition fee amount you will pay may increase slightly year on year as a result of inflation.

For courses commencing from September 2021 and beyond, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fees or Student Finance England support.

If you are from the EU you will pay international tuition fees.

Read more about fees and funding

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Find out more about:

• different tuition fees
• additional costs

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages