Lecturer holding a book and having a discussion with a student.

Year of study

2025

Key details

Start date(s)
September 2025
Location
Main Campus (Horsforth)
School
Digital and Screen Media
UCAS tariff points
104-136
Study Mode
Full-time (3 years)
Study abroad
Yes

Where will your words take you? English graduates have a cultural impact on the world we live in through their writing, from books and films to TV and news.

English graduates produced A Handmaid’s Tale and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race, both books of profound cultural impact.

English produces key cultural figures, e.g. broadcasters, filmmakers and novelists, so cinema trips we go on, news and current affairs we watch, and satirical TV and sitcoms we enjoy, owe much to English and Creative Writing.

The Student Contract

About this course

This programme offers an opportunity to develop your creative writing skills, and imaginative flexibility, and study literary texts in English from different historical periods and a variety of genres.

You can develop your key skills in English and Creative Writing, with options to study English Language and Linguistics.

Working with published writers and subject specialists, you'll learn how to communicate and create for both professional purposes and pleasure. Our creative writing workshops will teach you how to give and receive constructive criticism about writing. You’ll be introduced to speech-writing and the power of words, as well as learning how to write your own life story and the stories of others.

You will develop your knowledge of writing in English as you read, and discuss and respond creatively to a range of great literary texts. We’ll teach you how to read and analyse poetry and short stories, as well as how to compare past and modern texts in the same genres.

You'll have the opportunity to work with an experienced writer on a final-year writing project and, beyond the curriculum, you’ll be part of Leeds Trinity's acclaimed writing culture, taking part in events like our annual Writers' Festival, monthly open mic nights and podcasting.

Why study with us?

  • Combine your passions. You'll study literary texts while developing your own creative writing skills.
  • Learn from the experts. You'll work with published writers and creative writing specialists.
  • Feel supported. You'll be part of an exceptionally supportive and encouraging literary environment, with links to the publishing world.
  • Increase your confidence, with student-led presentations and debate.
Student working on laptop.

Course modules

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Year 1

During your first year, you'll study four core modules.

English Skills and Employability - Core

Audit and reflect on your employability skills and career plans.

Reflect on how your academic skills apply to your employability, such as preparation, attention to detail, and clear and precise communication.

You'll do a work placement or Professional Challenge Project at the end of the module.

In the first semester, you'll closely, critically and analytically read short stories from different eras and cultural settings.

In the second semester, you'll focus on poems representing early modern, romantic and modernist forms and periods.

You'll think about how poems are represented online, in education and the media, and work towards discussing and analysing a poem in a podcast or other artefact.

Writing and Expression - Core

You'll begin by getting to grips with how to express thoughts and opinions in prose writing, before moving onto poetry.

You'll develop into skilled manipulators of style, voice, structure, editing and presentation.

We'll focus on the transferable nature of writing practices between different types of writing.

Writing, Performance and Persuasion - Core

You'll study political speeches and debates in multimedia format.

The focus will be on the power of words to persuade and influence.

You'll be introduced to rhetoric through classical material and recent theory.

You'll construct and perform speeches in debates on seminal cultural topics.

You'll acquire skills in speaking, articulating arguments, and making a case, and learn the importance of language and style in persuasion.

These skills will help you make a case in your assessed work, improve your public speaking, help you put ideas succinctly and persuasively into words, and give you a heightened awareness of how marketing, politics and PR work.

Understanding Literary Genres - Core

Develop awareness of genre and analyse contemporary fiction in terms of particular genres and their historical development.

You'll also develop your confidence in reading and engaging with pre-1900 writing.

We'll look at two or more core texts from contemporary and pre-1900 periods in each genre, reading, discussing and comparing them.

For example, we may analyse and compare a 20th-century detective novel to a Victorian detective story, or compare a contemporary vampire novel to Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Year 2

During your second year, you'll study three core modules and will be required to choose up to two option modules.

Literature, Empowerment and Employment - Core

You'll study literary theories addressing issues of empowerment, such as feminism, masculinities, postcolonialism and intersectionality, and apply these to a range of texts.

You'll apply and develop employability skills through a presentation and career-development portfolio.

You'll also have a series of workshops to prepare for your work placement, which is usually six weeks in total.

Life Writing - Core

You'll explore 'writing the self', producing a portfolio of original autobiographical writing.

You'll then bring your own perspectives to writing about the lives of others, producing a biographical narrative on a subject of your choosing.

The module will reflect the make-up of the class as all students - BAME, international, of different sexualities, with disabilities, from different class backgrounds - will bring their racial, cultural and other life perspectives to the weekly group discussions of autobiography and biography.

Writing and Theme - Core

You'll study, discuss and respond creatively to a range of poetry and prose dealing with myth, childhood, love and loss.

The myth element will draw on Greek and Roman mythology and that of other cultures.

Childhood, love and loss will draw on contemporary and non-contemporary literature.

You'll do creative exercises based on the texts studied, producing a body of original writing and a reflective commentary.

Language: Gender and Sexuality - Option

You'll become familiar with key theories and approaches in the study of language, gender and sexuality.

You'll develop a critical mindset allowing you to evaluate conflicting theories.

We'll then look at ways this field of study is applied in areas such as education and media.

You'll work closely with authentic linguistic data and take an informed and critical stance towards current issues

Medieval to Modern Literature - Option

You'll read texts within context through study of four periods. You'll examine literary works in relation to socio-cultural and political debates, and to understand how these themes continue in contemporary literature, media, film, etc.

You'll read texts such as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales and Gawain and the Green Knight, works by Webster and Shakespeare, and a range of texts from the Victorian period, e.g. by Dickens, Collins, Gaskill and Conan Doyle, representing genres invented or refreshed in the Victorian period. You'll then finish with a selection of postcolonial texts, such as Wide Sargasso Sea.

Year 3

During your final year, you'll study four core modules and will be required to choose up to two option modules.

Writing Project - Core

You'll work with other students and your tutor to produce a writing project, bringing together work from your other modules.

This could be prose fiction, poetry, drama, a short film, an article or a blog post.

You'll do an assessed presentation before working on your project, supported by workshops and one-to-one meetings.

You'll use a notebook to write a formal reflective commentary on the process of formulating, drafting and completing the work.

Writing: Breaking the Rules - Core

Combine creative writing, critical reading, and historical and theoretical components to develop your experimental writing.

You'll write using a range of procedures and strategies, looking at innovations in prose and poetry.

You'll explore techniques such as chance and substitution, and fractured narrative and time structures.

We'll also look at historical and theoretical aspects of experimental writing, drawing upon literary texts from diverse writers outside of the cultural mainstream.

Experiments: Modernism and Postmodernism - Core

Study modernist and postmodernist literature from the early 20th century to the early 21st century.

You'll examine the modernist preoccupation with 'newness' and the development of literary forms that break with earlier artistic conventions.

Then you'll turn to the forms of experimentation and innovation found in postmodern literature from the second half of the 20th century onwards.

You'll examine literary texts in the context of social, political and cultural upheavals.

You'll study themes including war, 'stream-of-consciousness' writing, modernism and race, postmodern indeterminacy, narrative unreliability, the role of the reader, postmodern quest narratives and historiographic metafiction.

English: Professional Learning Through Work - Core

Develop your employability skills and experience by undertaking work-based learning in your final year. You'll have the opportunity to spend time working with an employer, focusing on a specific project and reflect on what you have learnt from the experience. 

 

 

Austen, the Brontës and Woolf - Option

Study significant novelists from three centuries - Jane Austen, the Brontës and Virginia Woolf.

You'll put their writing into historical and biographical contexts, engage with critical responses and theoretical approaches, and look at their international reception.

You'll also develop your research skills by devising a project on a topic of your choice.

Multilingualism and Identity - Option

Explore bilingualism and multilingualism as an individual and social phenomenon.

You'll build on your understanding of how children acquire language skills, and look at sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic approaches to the study of language.

Develop your understanding of language and identity by exploring the different social and discursive aspects of this phenomenon and key theoretical and methodological approaches.

Professional work placements

Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within the majority of our standard undergraduate degrees.

How does it work?

Careers and Placements will work with you to find a placement or help you to arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.

During your placement, you could have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.

You'll complete your placements in a variety of settings, including schools, museums, local councils, charities, and media outlets, experiencing the types of careers that your degree could lead to. 

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Professional Work Placements

Learning and teaching

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.

For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Programme delivery

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.

Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:

  1. Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
  2. Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
  3. Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.

Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.

Learning and teaching

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

  • high quality teaching
  • an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
  • a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

  • Student Involvement and Engagement
  • Inclusion
  • Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
  • Digital Literacy and Skills
  • Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

  • Personalised support
  • Expert lecturers
  • Strong connections with employers
  • An international outlook
  • Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Entry requirements

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.

Entry requirements for this course:
QualificationGrade
UCAS tariff104-136
GCSE requirementsGCSE English language at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required

Fees and finance

UK Home fees £9,250 per year
Full-time

Funding

UK Home Students:

Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2024/2025.

Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.

Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.

Tuition fees for 2025/2026 entry will be confirmed, subject to government approval, later in 2024.

Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.

Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.

International Students, including EU Students:

Visit our webpage for international students.

Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa. 

Additional costs

We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:

  • Recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
  • On some courses there may be additional costs, such as field trips, equipment, accreditations, that may be part-funded by the University. More details will be provided at the start of the course.
  • You'll need to include placement/s travel and associated costs too, however the University will contribute a standard amount towards your total expenditure.
  • The University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.

How to apply

For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.

On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.

You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.

Applications are now open for courses starting in September 2025. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2025 is 29 January 2025.

There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our admissions team who will be happy to help:

Graduate opportunities

Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.

Our students have gone on work in a wide range of organisations – from film production companies and recording studios, to local newspapers and MPs' offices and to teaching, after further study. Some graduates go on to complete the MA in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity.

After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Careers

Meet the team

English Linda Walz FHEA
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Media Nathan Kelly
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