BA (Hons) English Literature (Creative Writing)

If you are applying to start in September 2023, you must meet the following entry requirements:

5 GCSE grades C/4 or above, including English, Maths and Science and 88 UCAS points, which should be from a related subject in one of the following:

• A Levels
• BTEC Level 3 National Diploma
• IB Diploma
• Access to HE
• Related work experience
• Overseas qualifications are judged to be equivalent to the above

Students who do not qualify by any o these qualifications may be offered an interview to discuss equivelant qualifications and previous experience.
We accept A Level General Studies and AS levels when combined with other full qualifications.
If English is not your first language, you will require an IELTS score of 6.0 or above or an equivalent English Language qualification.

Mature students or students who do not have the above qualifications can contact our admissions team on 01733 214466 or admissions@ucp.ac.uk to discuss equivalent qualifications or relevant work experience.

EU STUDENTS AND OVERSEAS QUALIFICATIONS

We can accept a wide range of overseas qualifications and use UK NARIC to compare qualifications. For advice about overseas qualification conversion call the Admissions Office on 01733 214466 or email admissions@ucp.ac.uk.

UCAS TARIFF

To find out more about UCAS tariff points and how they work, visit ucas.com/tariff-calculator.

We accept a wide range of qualifications such as A-levels (you must have grades for at least two A-levels), BTEC, Cambridge Technicals, International Baccalaureate (IB), NVQ Level 3, Access to Higher Education and Scottish Advanced Highers.

The tariff points for qualifications can be added and combined together (e.g. A-levels plus BTECs).

The UCAS points for A-level General Studies, AS-levels and the EQP (Extended Project Qualification) are accepted when combined with other full qualifications.

ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR CERTIFICATED LEARNING (APCL) FOR ENTRY

APCL relates to learning completed through an earlier course of study. If you have previously completed a course which is relevant to your proposed course you should make this clear when you apply. For this to be eligible for consideration you must be able to provide certification, which shows your success in a final assessment for that course. Learning must be completed in the last five years or further evidence of updating will be required. Simple participation in a course or an attendance certificate is not sufficient.

EXEMPTIONS BASED ON ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR LEARNING (APL)

We offer students flexibility in their studies, by recognising learning they may have completed elsewhere before they apply. The Accreditation of Prior Learning process ensures that we can take this into account when determining the modules you must study. It is important that you identify any relevant prior learning when you apply. If your previous study specifically relates to modules on the course you wish to undertake we may approve a reduced programme of study, thus shortening the time it takes to obtain your award. Where this relates to learning completed through an earlier course of study, this is called Prior Certificated Learning, and where learning has been achieved through relevant work or experience, this is referred to as Prior Experiential Learning. Claims must be approved before you commence a course.

EXEMPTIONS BASED ON ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR EXPERIENTIAL CERTIFICATED LEARNING (APEL)

It is important to understand that the APEL process does not award academic credit for experience alone, but for learning which can be shown to have been achieved through that experience. Students are required to prepare an individual case for the credit arising from their learning experiences. This normally means that a student receives support in the preparation of a portfolio, which evidences their claimed exemptions for entry. This portfolio of evidence is then submitted for assessment and the possible award of academic credit. Alternative methods of assessment of evidence may be available but needs to be discussed with the Admissions team or Course Leader.

You must take modules worth 120 credits at each level of the course. Each module is worth a specified number of credits.

Year one for full-time students (Level 4)

• Writing Matters: Academic and Professional Skills (15 credits)
• Introduction to Creative Writing 1: Writing Prose (15 credits)
• Dead Heroes Society: Tragedy (15 credits)
• Contexts and Canons: Murakami to Blake (15 credits)
• Approaching Criticism (15 credits)
• Contexts and Canons: Equiano to Chaucer (15 credits)
• Introduction to Creative Writing 2: Writing Poetry (15 credits)
• 20th Century Practitioners (15 credits)

Year two for full-time students (Level 5)

• Shortcuts: Writing Short Fiction (15 credits)
• Writing WW1: Memory and Forgetting (15 credits)
• The Image: Exploring Visual Literacy in Media, Culture and Literature (15 credits)
• Stranger on the Shore: Placing the Postcolonial (15 credits)
• Preparing for Employment: Research and Employability (15 credits)
• Shakespeare Unstuck (15 credits)
• Writing for Newspapers and Magazines (15 credits)
• Vampires, Virgins and Villains: Reading the Gothic (15 credits)

Final year for full-time students (Level 6)

• Undergraduate Major Project (30 credits)
• Decade: The Literature of the 1950s (15 credits)
• Publishing in Practice (15 credits)
• Adaptations and Afterlives (15 credits)
• Working in English, Film and Media (15 credits)
• Neverland to Wonderland: Explorations in Children’s Literature (15 credits)
• Reading the Now: Contemporary Literature (15 credits)

A typical 15 credit module is 150 hours which includes 36 hours of tutor led delivery and 114 hours of recommended independent study.  A typical 30 credit module is 300 hours which includes 72 hours of tutor led delivery and 228 hours of recommended independent study.  A full-time student should expect to undertake 30 additional hours per week during term-time.

When studying this course at University Centre Peterborough, we will timetable your lectures as two full days a week over two semesters per year (part-time will be one to two full days a week over two semesters per year).

We are able to offer this convenient timetabling to our students as we are a smaller institution so we can timetable our staff and resources more efficiently.

Over the duration of your course, teaching will be delivered by the following methods:

Year one for full-time students (Level 4)

• 20%     Lectures
• 70%     Seminars
• 10%     Workshops
  

Year two for full-time students (Level 5)

• 20%     Lectures
• 70%     Seminars
• 10%     Workshops

Final year for full-time students (Level 6)

• 80%     Seminars
• 20%     Workshops
  

There are two semesters per year and each semester is up to 15 weeks which includes up to 12 teaching weeks and 3 assessment weeks.

If studying full-time you will be in classes, seminars and tutorials for approximately 15 hours per week and will spend the rest of your time in independent study and extra-curricular activities including work placement if not embedded in your course. We recommend that full-time students allow an additional 30 hours per week for additional study.

The campus is open Monday to Friday throughout the year and you will also have 24/7 access to a virtual learning environment (VLE) with e-books, journals and abstracts plus teaching resources and interactive tools.

Timetables are available at least 6 weeks before registration and you can refer to the academic calendar for examination weeks and resit periods.

The days of the week you study may change each year and in some circumstances one of the full days might have to be split into two half days, but we aim to keep these as full days where possible.

Throughout the duration of your course you will be assessed by the following methods:

Year one for full-time students (Level 4)

• 80%     Coursework
• 20%     Written Exams
  

Year two for full-time students (Level 5)

• 80%     Coursework
• 20%     Written Exams
  

Final year for full-time students (Level 6)

• 70%     Coursework
• 20%     Written Exams
• 10%     Practical Exams

We will provide, by the beginning of the first week of each semester, a current module guide with all the information you need for each module, including details of assessment tasks, the deadlines for these tasks, the required format and any relevant guidance.

Formative assessment opportunities are written into all module plans to provide students with on-going feedback.  End of semester assessments will have formative opportunities in weeks 9 or 10 of the semester.  In addition revision sessions will be held in week 12.

Your final degree classification is calculated as an average of your highest 60 credits at Level 5 and all credits at Level 6.

• 70%+         First
• 60-69%     2:1
• 50-59%     2:2
• 40-49%     Third

Visit our published documents and policies page for The Open University regulations.

As part of the Working in English, Film and Media module in the final year, students on this course will undertake a 120 hour work placement with an arts or media organisation.

As the course is timetabled as full days during the week when studied full-time, this also gives you the flexibility to find a work placement, internship or volunteering opportunity which will improve your employability after you graduate. All students are encouraged to identify work experience in addition to their work placement to aid their career development.

Andrew McDonnell is the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) English Literature and BA (Hons) English Literature with Creating Writing degrees at University Centre Peterborough. He joined University Centre Peterborough in April 2016 and lecture in Modernism and Contemporary Fiction. He has been teaching since 2003, starting off in creative writing at University of East Anglia (UEA) before branching out into further education with Norfolk Adult Education.

His first degree is in Cultural Studies with what was then Norwich School of Art & Design, before taking an MA in Creative Writing at UEA. He took a route into further and higher education as he wanted to give back my knowledge and skills to people who were returning to education.

My subject specialism is 20th century poetry and prose with corresponding criticism and theory thrown in, as well as being a practitioner in creative writing, with poems and short stories published across journals and anthologies. I have a particular interest in walking as a creative act, how it can be a way of generating ideas and responses to external environments and internal thoughts.

He run’s Gatehouse Press, home to Lighthouse Literary Journal as well providing leisure classes in arts and languages in Norwich.

Qualifications

• MA Creative Writing, University of East Anglia
• BA (Hons) Cultural Studies, Norwich School of Art & Design
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), Anglia Ruskin University

Each year, there are many students who complete the BA (Hons) English Literature course who go on to either secure a teaching placement locally or study a variety of postgraduate courses.

Just some of the future careers for graduates after completing the course include:

• Teaching
• Copy Writing
• Editing and Proofing
• LibrarianshipTypesetting
• Creative and Professional Writing
• Writing for the Games Industry
• Journalism / Publishing