Shakespeare and Creativity

Entry requirements

You should have, or expect to get, a 2:1 Honours degree in English or a related subject, or you’ll need relevant professional experience instead.

If you don't have the required academic background, you can study our Fall in with Shakespeare or Spring into Shakespeare short course before applying for the MA. Completing one of the short courses can be used instead of a 2:1 Honours degree as entry onto the MA Shakespeare with Creativity.

If you're applying based on your professional experience, you'll need to document your experience in a portfolio. This needs to catalogue and contextualise your work (e.g. catalogue of a recent art installation, actor’s CV, transcript giving indication of professional training, web-based archive of recent work, folio of published poems, etc.) In your application, you should use the 5,000 character personal statement to indicate your creative potential and reflect on your existing creative work. Your statement should address the following research questions:

• What were/are the objectives of the piece of work, and why did you choose these objectives?

• What obstacles did you encounter in producing this creative work? How might these have been avoided?

• What tradition does this piece of creative work belong to?

• What critical conversations does your creative work contribute to and what are your contributions?

• What are the implications of this creative work for your future works?

• How does your work impact the field of Shakespeare studies?

All prospective students must also submit a 2,000-word writing sample about Shakespeare, his contemporaries, or work adapted from/based on Shakespeare.

If you don’t have an existing piece of writing to submit, you can use a short passage of up to 60 lines from any Shakespeare play and write an essay of around 2,000 words which discusses the performance possibilities of your chosen extract and how it contributes to the play as a whole.

You'll need to provide this to us when you make your application or within two weeks of submitting your application to us. If this is not provided in the stated timeframe then your application may be declined.

Your application must also be supported by two letters of recommendation, either from academics or equivalent authorities from creative industries as appropriate.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Do you want to explore what Shakespeare means in today's world? Immerse yourself in Shakespeare's works and learn from expert academics at our Shakespeare Institute. You'll also get to work with theatre practitioners at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as part of our unique collaboration.

Pursue your creativity and your passion for Shakespeare and experience the thrill of producing your own creative response to his poetry and plays. This course is ideal for any aspiring academic, actor, writer, or director looking to explore Shakespeare from perspectives like academic research, theatre performances and public engagement.

Information for international students

If you are an international student, you will need to demonstrate you have a suitable level of English proficiency, usually through the form of an IELTS or equivalent qualification.

For this course we require IELTS 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any band, which is equivalent to:

• TOEFL: 88 overall with no less than 21 in Reading, 20 Listening, 22 Speaking and 21 in Writing
• Pearson Test of English (PTE): Academic 67 with no less than 64 in all four skills
• Cambridge English: C1 Advanced - minimum overall score of 176, with no less than 169 in any component
• LanguageCert ESOL SELT (UKVI): B2 'Communicator' with no less than 33 in each skill

Fees and funding