BA (Hons) Creative Writing and English

Combine the study of literature with the practice of creative writing. You’ll graduate with the ability to be curious about literature, and the imagination to turn that curiosity into creativity.

Why study BA English with Creative Writing at Goldsmiths?

You’ll read key literary texts, and experiment with writing prose and poetry. By the end of the creative writing degree you’ll have uncovered your written style and developed an extensive portfolio of creative work.

We’re based in London, a city that’s full of literary inspiration. Take a look at English student Samantha’s favourite places to write.
Our alumni have gone on to win prestigious awards including the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, the European Union Prize for Literature, and the Dylan Thomas Prize. One of our alumni, Sophie Collins, was awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Society of Literature as part of its inaugural 40 Under 40 scheme in 2018.

We’re regularly visited by literary guest speakers. Recent visitors have included Ali Smith, Nikesh Shukla, Michael Rosen, Eimear McBride and Howard Jacobson.

We host an annual literary award – the Goldsmiths Prize – that celebrates work that pushes the boundaries of the novel.

Each level of the degree includes a single year-long creative writing module taught by creative writing practitioners and active researchers. Each of these modules must be passed in order to progress to the next level and (in the case of the final module) for you to be awarded the degree.

This programme is mainly taught through scheduled learning – a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. You’ll also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. This includes carrying out required and additional reading, preparing topics for discussion, and producing essays or project work.

The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:

Year 1 – 15% scheduled learning, 85% independent learning
Year 2 – 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
Year 3 – 12% scheduled learning, 88% independent learning

How you’ll be assessed

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include portfolios of original creative writing and critical commentaries on your work for each of the workshops, coursework portfolios, long essays and examinations (various timescales and formats).

The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:

Year 1 – 63% coursework, 38% written exam
Year 2 – 85% coursework, 15% written exam
Year 3 – 100% coursework
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2018/19. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about how this information is calculated.