Creative and Critical Writing MA/PgDip/PgCert

Entry requirements

• You will need at least a 2.2 honours degree or equivalent.
• Applicants will be considered on an individual basis.
• You will be required to submit a portfolio to evidence your writing. The portfolio should be 3,000 words of creative prose (eg a short story or novel extract) or 12 poems or 30 minutes of dramatic writing in standard format.
• EU and international students need IELTS 6.0 overall (with a minimum of 5.5 in each component) or equivalent.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Choose your own path through the course, focusing either on creative or literary critical writing, or a combination of both.

You’ll work with practising authors, poets, and playwrights – as well as leaders in the field of literary criticism – to develop your own distinctive voice. You’ll develop as a writer, not only in the classroom, but in the world, and you’ll be advised on the routes you can take to publication. Modules with a more academic focus allow you to engage with literary theory and academic studies of influential writers’ work.

Our students have the opportunity to edit and produce the annual university anthology and our close links with Cheltenham Festivals may offer performance opportunities throughout the year.

Study style

You’ll be assessed through coursework and presentations.

This highly successful MA in Creative and Critical Writing was one of the first in the UK to offer modules dedicated to the theory and practice of teaching creative writing, and the theoretical and practical analysis of the creative process. These options complement the creative and critical strands of the degree and offer you the chance to become a writer prepared for the modern professional arenas in which you may find yourself.

Possible careers

Graduates from this course can go on to work as:

• Writer – many of our students have gone on to successfully publish in journal and book form
• Editor – a number of our graduates now work in publishing and on journals in an editorial role
• Teacher of creative writing – several of our students have gone on to teach, or have enhanced their own practice.
• Community Arts Manager – some of our students have gone on to run community arts organisations.

Graduate story

Anna completed her Master’s in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Gloucestershire. Since then she has published five collections of poetry: Communion (Wild Conversations Press), Struck (Pindrop Press), Kissing the She Bear (Wild Conversations Press), Burne Jones and the Fox (Indigo Dreams) and Ghosting for Beginners (Indigo Dreams).

Anna is also the founder of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival. Since the festival’s launch in 2010, it has grown to become one the UK’s most vibrant poetry festivals – and was recently described by The Guardian as ‘a poetry party with a healthy dose of anarchy’. Anna also runs poetry workshops and works as a creative writing mentor.

Fees and funding

Learn more at the postgraduate fees, loans and finance page.