BA English and Creative Writing
Royal Holloway, University of London
About this course
BA in English Language and Literature and English with Creative Writing. Core topics include Research Methods and Critical & Analytical Thinking. Creative Writing Special Focus modules are open to both creative writing and non-creative writing students. The course covers Old English through to contemporary fiction, with dedicated creative writing modules in playwriting, fiction, and poetry.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: AAB-ABB (Required subjects: A in an essay-based Arts and Humanities subject at A-Level We require English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade 4 (C)) IB: 6,6,5 at Higher level or 34 points overall. Including a 6 in an essay-based subject at Higher Level
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What students say
Based on about 27 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 98%
- Learning opportunities: 86%
- Assessment and feedback: 91%
- Academic support: 94%
- Organisation and management: 93%
- Learning resources: 90%
- Student voice: 82%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 50 students who started
- Continued on course: 90%
- Left higher education: 10%
What graduates do next
Based on about 9 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 85%
- Further study: 5%
- Unemployed: 5%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 25%
- Administrative occupations: 15%
- Secretarial and related occupations: 15%
- Teaching Professionals: 10%
- Media Professionals: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 90%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 30%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 50%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 190 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 3%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 2%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 1%
- East of England: 13%
- London: 38%
- South East: 31%
- South West: 8%
- Wales: 2%
- Scotland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 40 students who started
- A levels: 95%
- Baccalaureate: 5%
- Other HE qualification: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Introduction to Creative Writing
- Why Write? The History and Theory of Creative Writing
- Reorienting the Novel
- Introduction to Poetry
- Critical Foundations: Thinking As A Critic
- Playwriting
- Fiction
- Poetry
- Middle English Poetry
- Tolkien's Roots
- Medieval Dream and Vision
- Strange Fictions: Romance in the Middle Ages
- Old English Riddles
- Intensive Shakespeare: Comedy, History, Tragedy
- Drama and Witchcraft
- Early Modern Bodies
- Literature after the Conquest: 1066-1340
- Creative Writing: Structure and Style
- Literature of the Fin de Siècle, 1883-1903
- Contemporary Debates in Literary and Critical Theory
- Renaissance Literature
- Victorian Literature
- Romanticisms
- Modernisms
- Literature and the Digital
- Creative Writing Special Focus (Term 1)
- Creative Writing: Special Focus (Term 2)
- Playwriting 2
- Fiction 2
- Poetry 2
- Advanced Shakespeare: The Problem Plays
- Literature and Philosophy
- James Joyce: Revolutions of the Word
- Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
- Literature, the Digital and the Creative Industries
- Poetic Practice
- Visual and Verbal in the Long Nineteenth Century
- The New York Schools: Poetry, Painting, Composition
- The 1930s British Fiction and the Road to War
- The Girl in the Book
- Children's Literature
- The Post-Colonial Novel
- Special Author: Chaucer
- Special Author: Charles Dickens
- Reading the Waste Land
- English Dissertation
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London earn?
The median salary is £26,000 after 15 months, £24,500 after 3 years, £30,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £24,000 and £37,000. The £30,500 median after five years is £2,500 more than the UK median for Literature in English.
What do graduates of BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London do next?
95% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London?
98% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 34 points in the IB. The average entrant had 133 UCAS points.
Does BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional placement year and an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London?
90% of students continued into their second year, and 10% left higher education.