English with Creative Writing

English with creative writing is a degree that treats literature both as an object of critical study and as a living practice that you contribute to yourself. Literary studies trains you to read with precision and to situate texts in their historical, cultural and theoretical contexts. Creative writing develops your own voice and craft, equipping you to produce work across the forms that interest you most, whether fiction, poetry, life writing or other modes of expression.

The two activities reinforce each other: close reading of great writing is itself a form of creative education, and the experience of composing your own work deepens your understanding of how the texts you study achieve their effects.

At Brunel University London, this three-year full-time degree explores storytelling across its many forms and historical moments, from the earliest works in English to contemporary fiction and poetry. You will develop your literary-critical skills through close reading, essay writing and engagement with critical theory, building the ability to make and defend arguments about how texts work and what they mean. The creative writing strand develops your practice through workshops, tutorials and projects, with guidance from tutors who are active writers.

A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to study at an international partner institution and bring a wider perspective to your literary and creative education. Typical entry is around 120 UCAS tariff points.

Graduates from English with creative writing go on to careers in publishing, journalism, copywriting, content strategy, arts administration, education, public relations and communications, as well as pursuing their own writing as novelists, poets, screenwriters and essayists. The critical and communicative skills the degree develops transfer widely across any profession where reading, writing and interpretation matter. Postgraduate routes include MA programmes in creative writing, English literature, publishing or education.