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BA (Hons) English: Creative and Professional Writing with Integrated Foundation Year

Explore and develop your own creative talent. Gain skills in pitching, presenting, and networking. Work with organisations and develop your portfolio for a fulfilling writing career.

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A student writing notes in a notebook
UCAS codeQ301
Duration4 years
Fee (UK)£5,760
LocationOn campus

Course summary

Are you passionate about storytelling and want to build a career doing what you love? The BA (Hons) English: Creative and Professional Writing degree is for you. We'll help you find your unique voice, grow your writing skills, and prepare for an exciting future.

This course will help you thrive as a modern writer. It blends the best of a traditional English degree with links to the creative industries. You'll explore fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and storytelling. Teaching is delivered by published authors and academic experts.

As a reader and writer, you’ll explore literary themes such as gender, identity, post-colonialism, and eco-criticism. There's a strong focus on practical creative writing and employability through each stage. You'll develop career-ready skills including:

  • Effective writing
  • Editing and proofreading
  • Building your brand
  • Storytelling through social media
  • Pitching work to publishers.

In your second year, you'll complete a placement tailored to your own career goals. This helps you gain crucial real-world experience. In your final year, you'll produce a major piece of writing to reflect your own interests. You'll receive support and guidance from both your lecturers and industry professionals.

You’ll also have access to our mediaHUB, Spark Sunderland radio station, guest talks from creative professionals, and literary field trips. In 2025/26, we partnered with Pan Macmillan. Our students visited their London offices to learn about the different stages of publishing a book and meet Steph McGovern. We'll encourage you to build your professional network through a packed programme of author and publisher visits.

When you graduate, you’ll be well-prepared to go into a range of roles such as:

  • Novelist or poet
  • Social content editor
  • Features writer
  • Publisher or publishing assistant
  • Copywriter
  • Games narrative designer
  • Freelance writer
  • Publicist
  • Advertising executive.
Why Sunderland for English

Integrated Foundation Year

This course is available with an Integrated Foundation Year, an extra year of your degree. This route offers a supportive way of transitioning into university study. It may be suitable for you if you:

  • Have valuable work or life experience but no formal qualifications
  • Are returning to education after a break
  • Want to change direction or explore a new career path
  • Have just missed the entry requirements for the three-year course.

We’re enhancing our Integrated Foundation Year to give you an even stronger start to your degree. The updated modules will align more with your chosen subject area. This will help you build the knowledge, confidence, and skills you need for your studies. We'll share full details soon and can't wait to tell you more.

Please note, this route isn’t available to international students.

What you'll study

Many of our courses include a range of modules you can choose from. Some options may only be available if you’ve already studied specific modules. If you’re not sure what you need before picking a module, your course leader can help.

Undergraduate module credits should total 120 credits per academic year. If optional modules are available, choose an amount that totals 120 credits.

How you'll learn

Teaching is via lectures and seminars, with access to our virtual learning environment. This will help you become an active, independent, and reflective learner.

Lectures cover the core module content while seminars develop your knowledge and skills. This is through activities including creative writing practice, peer review groups, and redrafting. It also includes academic skills like textual analysis and guided reading. We'll encourage you to work independently, in pairs, and in small groups.

Assessment is through portfolios of creative work and essays. It can also include pitches, group projects, and presentations. You'll have the opportunity to complete an industry placement.

We'll support you through one-to-ones, either in-person or online, depending on teaching conditions.

Entry requirements

Fees and finance support

UK£5,760

Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. If you're a Home fee-paying student, the fee for your first year of study for 2026/27 will be £9,790. You'll pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.

Check your fee status(opens in new tab).

See all course tuition fees.

Full-time UK/Irish/EU settled/EU pre-settled students may be eligible for financial support. This would cover your fees for the full four years. UK and EU settled students may also be eligible to receive a maintenance loan.

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UK students

Disclaimer

We want to make sure you have clear and accurate information about our courses. Our website always shows the latest updates. If you’ve applied and you're offered a place, we’ll contact you in writing if anything important changes.

For more information, view our programme specifications. These include course content, learning outcomes, and the skills you'll gain.

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