The MFA (Master of Fine Arts) Creative Writing programme at the University of Surrey is a two-year, full-time course of study that offers you a unique opportunity to enhance your creative, critical and professional skills as a writer.
Teaching is research-led, so you will be mentored by passionate, dynamic writers and academics with multidisciplinary expertise, as well as our Distinguished Writer in Residence and Poet in Residence.
Our MFA Creative Writing programme will expose you to the practical skills and challenges involved in a specific branch of creative practice (such as poetry or screenwriting) and offers the option to gain hands-on experience in a creative industry relevant to your own practice, to better prepare you for a wide variety of careers, including writing, publishing, communications, marketing, advertising, journalism, teaching, or to undertake a PhD.
In your first year, you will study alongside students in the MA programmes in Creative Writing and English Literature, where you will hone your research skills to produce critically informed creative work and deepen your practice as a writer.
To prepare for your second year, an academic advisor will offer guidance on choosing an appropriate form of Situated Professional Practice and your summative creative portfolio proposal.
During your second year you will work on producing an extended creative portfolio and critical commentary, as well as complete the Situated Professional Practice of your choice.
This programme is studied full-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules, a professional placement, a critical commentary module and a creative portfolio project.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
A Creative Writing MFA degree builds on the work of a traditional MA but distinguishes itself in a number of ways:
For students to achieve an optimum balance between theory, practice and critical reflection, MFAs traditionally last at least two academic years and this is common practice both in the UK and the USA.
The MFA in Creative Writing is designed to assist aspiring writers to:
These educational aims accord neatly with the defining principles of Creative Writing as set out by the QAA’s NAWE Creative Writing Subject Benchmark Statement.
As a student on the MFA Creative Writing, you will benefit from the expertise of a vibrant, multidisciplinary group of academics and published authors.
You will also have access to a number of conferences, seminars and workshops hosted throughout the year. These events cover a range of topics to broaden your thinking in the fields of literature, language and linguistics, cultural studies and creative writing. Writers to have recently visited the University of Surrey include the novelist Monica Ali and the poet and critic Rod Mengham.
Each year’s cultural activities begin with a poetry lecture on campus by a visiting speaker and feature readings by students at the Guildford School of Acting.
The annual Surrey New Writers’ Festival – affiliated with the Creative Writing graduate programs at the University of Surrey – aims to engage with writing and creativity in dynamic ways, and involves readings, book signings, performances, panel discussions and talks by writers, thinkers, editors and literary agents.
The year’s activities culminate in the annual Morag Morris Poetry Festival, held in Guildford, which combines readings and performances by prominent, innovative and up-and-coming poets with the opportunity for Creative Writing students to present their own work in public.
This event is organised and hosted by our poet-in-residence – a position that is held by a different poet each year. English at Surrey also has a close relationship with English PEN, the charity dedicated to promoting literature and human rights.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
We were the first UK university to offer a specialist degree in marketing communications and we have continued to develop our portfolio since then.
This Master's has been created to enable graduates and professionally qualified managers to gain a greater understanding of marketing communications.
Our programme will build your understanding of communications planning, consumer decision-making and behaviour, traditional and new media to help you better meet the competitive challenges of a changing marketplace.
You will study advertising and promotional strategies, marketing, branding, how to manage direct and digital marketing relationships, and ways to get inside the customer's mind.
This degree will develop your management skills which are central to the relationship between organisations and customers. You will develop an understanding of ethical, global and cultural issues and the impact they have on marketing.
This full-time programme is designed for students who wish to develop a management career in marketing with a particular emphasis on strategic communications.
Our marketing programmes are ranked top five for student satisfaction and second overall in London by the Complete University Guide 2017.
Greenwich is one of the top two most globally diverse universities in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, by Hotcourses Diversity Index.
We have also been named as one of the "most international" universities on the planet by Times Higher Education magazine.
This degree aims to:
The courses shown in the 'Full time' drop down below are being updated. If you have any queries please contact us.
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 15 credits from this list of options.
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 15 credits from this list of options.
You will be assessed through essays, reports, an examination, a research proposal and a dissertation.
Graduates of this programme are currently working as consultants and as marketing and marketing communications managers for companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Co-op Group, Italian automotive technology manufacturer Magneti Marelli and Norwegian food products manufacturer Mills DA, as well as various private companies, non-profits and government organisations around the world.
We have developed strong relations with companies in the financial centres in London, including in the City, Canary Wharf, and Fenchurch Street. This offers you networking, mentoring and internship opportunities, making it a perfect location to develop your career.
You can also reach out to top employers through our dedicated Business School Employability Office (BSEO). Our team focuses on developing your employment skills through CV support, interview skills workshops and guidance through mentors to progress in industry. This includes the opportunity to network with employers and recruiters at career fairs. The BSEO team was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards, which shows its dedication to actively support your career development.
The student Marketing Society has over 100 members. The Society combines a mixture of academic and social activities. It's a great chance to hear about the industry from experts, previous speakers include IBM and Mediacom and an opportunity to create business contacts.
Our marketing students achieved first place in the latest national marketing competition organised by the Institute of Direct Marketing.
At Reading, you can develop your creative practice with a rigorous introduction to business and entrepreneurship.
This innovative programme will take your practical and theoretical skills to a new level and develop a critical understanding of entrepreneurship and management for the fast-evolving creative industries. Whether you wish to set up a business, consider a career change, or advance into a managerial role, this is the course for you.
Module descriptions are correct for modules taught in the academic year 2017/18. Optional module listings are indicative, and may be subject to change.
Compulsory Modules
Optional Modules
In addition students must choose optional modules from the list below up to the value of 60 credits.
Students studying creative enterprise normally progress in entrepreneurial careers, either pursuing start-up opportunities on their own, or taking leading managerial roles in creative firms.
Many students come from backgrounds with considerable exposure to small or medium-sized enterprises within the creative sector. On completion of the programme, they use content from the course in the implementation of creative and commercial strategies for these firms.
We were the first UK university to offer a specialist degree in marketing communications and we have continued to develop our portfolio since then.
Our Master's degree has been especially created to enable graduates and professionally qualified managers to gain a greater understanding of the latest knowledge and practices in strategic marketing.
You will gain comprehensive understanding of marketing strategy, market research, direct and digital marketing, brand management, marketing consultancy and global marketing.
This programme will advance your marketing skills and prepare you for the competitive challenges of the global marketplace. You will develop management skills central to the relationship between an organisation and its customers.
For September start, our teaching runs from September to April followed by dissertation work.
For January start, our teaching runs from January to July followed by dissertation work. For details on term dates refer to our academic calendar.
Our marketing programmes are ranked top five for student satisfaction and second overall in London by the Complete University Guide 2017.
Greenwich is one of the top two most globally diverse universities in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, by Hotcourses Diversity Index.
We have also been named as one of the "most international" universities on the planet by Times Higher Education magazine.
This degree aims to:
The courses shown in the 'Full time' drop down below are being updated. If you have any queries please contact us.
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 30 credits from this list of options.
You will be assessed through examinations, research reports, presentations and a dissertation.
Graduates of this programme are currently working as consultants and as marketing and marketing communications managers for companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Co-op Group, Italian automotive technology manufacturer Magneti Marelli and Norwegian food products manufacturer Mills DA, as well as various private companies, non-profits and government organisations around the world.
We have developed strong relations with companies in the financial centres in London, including in the City, Canary Wharf, and Fenchurch Street. This offers you networking, mentoring and internship opportunities, making it a perfect location to develop your career.
You can also reach out to top employers through our dedicated Business School Employability Office (BSEO). Our team focuses on developing your employment skills through CV support, interview skills workshops and guidance through mentors to progress in the industry. This includes the opportunity to network with employers and recruiters at career fairs. The BSEO team was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards; which shows their dedication to actively support career development.
The student Marketing Society has over 100 members. The Society combines a mixture of academic and social activities. It's a great chance to hear about the industry from experts, previous speakers include IBM and Mediacom and an opportunity to create business contacts.
Our marketing students achieved first place in the latest national marketing competition organised by the Institute of Direct Marketing.
Leicester Castle Business School - created by De Montfort University to meet the needs of 21st century business
School of Social Sciences- a nationally and internationally recognised centre for the study of engaged social science
