BA (Hons)
Creative and Media Writing
Learn from published authors and media specialists
Course Overview
Why take this course?
From old folk tales to new media and from children’s fiction to travel writing, whatever your preferred writing theme or style, you can pick and choose or fuse your favourite topics together.
Create your own course and produce original material inspired by what you learn.
What will I experience?
On this course you can:
- Learn from our team of published authors, poets, scriptwriters and media specialists
- Perform your own poetry in one class and then write an online travel review in the next
- Create your own film script or write a TV drama
What opportunities might it lead to?
Have you always dreamed about writing your own novel, or perhaps you picture yourself reviewing films? On completion of the course, you will have the necessary knowledge, skills and market awareness to enter a range of exciting careers.
Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:
- creative writing (prose, poetry, script)
- copywriting
- publishing
- advertising and marketing
- arts and events management
- local and community broadcasting
- teaching
This course teaches you both the tricks of being published both in the media and also on a personal level whether your vice for writing is fiction, autobiographical or even poetry.
Holly Andrews, BA (Hons) Creative and Media Writing student 2013
Key Facts
- UCAS Course Code:
- W800
- Duration
- 3 years full time, 4 years sandwich with work placement
- Entry
240-300 points from 3 A levels or equivalent, to include 100 points from A level English.
Other qualifications- Fees
UK/EU/Channel Islands and Isle of Man full-time students: £8,750 p/a*
International full-time students: £10,500 p/a*
*Please note that all fees are subject to annual increase.- Contact
- create.admissions@port.ac.uk
+44 (0)23 9284 2421 - Department
- School of Creative Arts, Film and Media
Subject:
English, Film, Journalism and Media
Find out what our students say about studying at Portsmouth, including:
- Getting the chance to develop practical skills alongside learning the theory
- The high-quality teaching and flexibility of options that enables you to tailor your course to your own interests
- The passion and knowledge of the lecturers that makes studying so enjoyable
Visit us at our open day
Wed 10 Jul
Structure & Teaching
Year one
Your first year is an introduction to storytelling and the beginning of your training in the skills and techniques you’ll be using throughout your course.
Core units in this year include:
- True Stories
- Telling Tales
- Tips, Tricks and Techniques
- Professional Writing
- Media Writing: Critical Reviews and Features
- Contemporary Media Events
Year two
This year allows you to start to specialise in the areas that interest you most. Choose to focus on specific writing forms such as magazines, scripts or poetry, and also look in depth at certain topics.
Core units in this year include:
- Creative Writing and Critical Thinking
- Print Media
- The Short Story
Options to choose from in this year include:
- Analysing Comic Books
- Approaches to Popular Culture
- Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults
- Media Writing for Public Relations
- Media Writing for the Press
- Media Writing for the Screen and Radio
- Music: Practice, Performance and Research
- Poetry for Page and Stage
- Professional Experience
- Researching Genre
- Sport and the Media
- Student Enterprise
- The Magazine
- The Media and Propaganda
- The Script
Year three
The final year offers you a broad range of options to choose from. Depending on your interests, you can choose a dissertation, a writing project or undertake a special exercise that boosts your professional writing skills.
Options to choose from in this year include:
- British TV Drama and Society
- Comedy Culture and Form
- Cultures of Consumption
- Fact and Fiction
- Film Stardom and Celebrity Culture
- Marketing Movies
- Media Fan Cultures
- News, War and Peace
- Representing Science in the Media
- Researching Animation
- The Literary Journalist
- Travel Writing
- TV Talk Shows
Teaching and Assessment
A great feature of our course is that it allows for your intellectual freedom and choice. By attending workshops, seminars, lectures and one-to-one tutorials, you’ll develop a range of skills that will be tailored to your planned career path.
How are you assessed?
Assessment takes many forms enabling you to demonstrate a variety of your skills. Here’s how we assess your work:
- short stories
- a novel in progress
- a screenplay
- a collection of poems
- a magazine pitch
- public relations campaign
- reports
- a research portfolio
- examinations
- dissertation/project
Visit us open day
Facilities & Features
The Study Centre
There are also several study rooms where you can rehearse
Borderlines
Showcase your innovative writing abilities
The New Theatre Royal
Benefit from a range of opportunities
University Library
Our library offers a wealth of information
The Study Centre
A suite of rooms with a comfy seating area, desks where you can work, printers, Mac workstations and access to the wireless network so you can log in using your own laptop. There are also several study rooms where you can rehearse or work on group projects.
Borderlines
Each year you’ll be given the opportunity to contribute to Borderlines, our acclaimed anthology allowing creative students to feature their work and showcase their writing abilities.
The New Theatre Royal
Our relationship with the NTR, along with other theatres in the area, means you can benefit from a range of opportunities. Help out with advertising campaigns, find part-time work, shadow theatre professionals or even have your work performed at a theatre.
University Library
Modern, comfortable and a great learning environment, our library offers a wealth of information including 400,000 books, DVDs, maps and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers. Many electronic resources are available anywhere, 24/7 and our friendly staff are always on hand to help.
Careers & Opportunities
Career prospects
Once you’ve completed this degree, you will possess all the skills to succeed in an array of creative and professional industries. It could be film and television, print and online media or public relations and advertising, all welcome the creative graduate who possesses the relevant professional skills for their industry.
Alternatively, you can pursue postgraduate study and continue research into a specialised area of your choosing.
Roles our graduates have taken on include:
- copywriter
- journalist
- public relations coordinator
- theatre manager
- arts administrator
- editorial assistant
Work experience
This course allows you to take the Learning From Experience (LiFE) option, which lets you earn credits toward your degree for work/research placements, volunteer roles or internships undertaken alongside your studies. The option gives you the opportunity to enhance your employability skills, to reflect on the ways in which you've done so, and to learn to express this to potential employers.
Career planning
6.04 minutes
Finding a job is a competitive business, but the statistics show that 89 per cent of our 2011graduates went into employment, further study or training within six months of finishing their degrees.
To make sure you take the right steps on your career path, we’re here to give you help, support and advice throughout your study. Even after you’ve graduated, we continue to give you support for up to five years.
Employers tell us that they want graduates to be able to demonstrate certain skills when they come out of university. Our courses take account of this. We make sure we prepare you for employment through work-related learning, projects, placements and working in simulated environments that are designed to prepare you for the working world.
Open Day
Our next open day is Wed 10 July
VISIT US! Have a look around and get a feel for what it’s like to live and study here. We’ll be on hand to talk to you about your course interests and show you all of our amazing facilities. You’ll also get to meet tutors and other students…
Application, Fees and Funding — find out more