Creative Writing

Entry requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall with no element less than 6.0 (or equivalent)

Normally a good undergraduate honours degree (2:1 or above), or equivalent from a university outside the UK, in an appropriate subject.

For MA Creative Writing, you will need to submit two examples of your creative writing.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score, you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Months of entry

September

Course content

Develop your flair for writing, with expert guidance and support from published authors, with our MA Creative Writing programme.

Creative writing can simultaneously be a vocation, a career and a transferable skill. This programme focuses on the multiple roles that writing can play in your life. We’re in the top 150 universities in the world for this subject (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).

The University of Reading is 6th in the UK for research outputs in English Language and Literature (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021 – English Language and Literature, when scoring by GPA Output).

Our experts will mentor you in how best to develop and complete mid-sized creative projects – whether you have existing written work or are starting out – while introducing you to a range of modules closely related to the life of writing.

You will work on a writing project of your own devising, which you’ll develop through a combination of individual supervision and group workshops. In your first semester, core modules will focus on the effective planning, research and development of your project, then on the early stages of drafting and revising the text as it develops.

Fees and funding