English with Creative Writing

English with creative writing is a combination that asks you to be both a rigorous reader of literature and a practising writer in your own right. Studying English literature develops your understanding of how writers across centuries and traditions have used language, form, and narrative to create meaning. Creative writing then applies that understanding to your own work, asking you to make the choices that published writers make and to develop a distinctive voice and craft.

The two practices are mutually reinforcing: reading as a writer sharpens your literary analysis, and developing your own writing deepens your understanding of how literary effects are achieved.

At Loughborough University, this four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, giving you the chance to engage with literary and cultural traditions from an international perspective and to develop your writing in a new context. You will study literature across a broad range of periods, genres, and national traditions, developing skills in close reading, critical argument, and literary research. In creative writing, you will experiment with prose, poetry, and other forms, developing your craft through workshop sessions, directed reading, and sustained practice.

The degree encourages you to bring your own ideas to life while engaging seriously with the inspiring work of other writers, understanding both as part of the same continuous conversation about what writing can do.

English and creative writing graduates develop skills in reading, writing, communication, and critical analysis that transfer across a very wide range of careers. Many go on to work in publishing, journalism, copywriting, content creation, broadcasting, and the arts. Teaching, both in schools and in community settings, is a common destination, as are roles in public relations, arts administration, and charity communications.

Writers who establish their own creative practice often combine this with portfolio careers across several of these areas. Postgraduate study in creative writing, English literature, publishing, or journalism is available for those who wish to develop their expertise further or pursue research.