Creative Writing MFA

There are 3 distinct routes to this course:

Publication route

You will produce a 40,000-70,000 (book length) work, such as a novel, poetry collection, script or biography. You will write for publication, performance or dissemination. Your reflective commentary will focus on this piece. Your creative submission can be any genre or style. 

Community and heritage route

Working with a partner, you will write a novel length work as prose, performance or account. You will explore an outreach project in health, the arts, music or heritage. Your commentary will be reflection on the process of creating this work and can incorporate case studies. 

Critical and theoretical route

You will create a book length piece of writing in any form, such as a prose, poetry or script work. The commentary you write will be theoretical in nature. Your writing will explore a concept or idea you are passionate about, or a literary movement. The creative work will involve a practice based exploration of the topic as your commentary.

York Centre for Writing

York Centre for Writing is a space for York St John's creative writing community to thrive. We compose 2 annual publications:

• Beyond the Walls, an anthology written by students
• The York Literary Review, a creative writing journal featuring international contributions

The Centre has welcomed celebrated authors, who have given talks that inspired students in their work and beyond. This includes Daljit Nagra, Michel Faber, Margaret Atwood and more.

York Centre for Writing

How you will study

You can study this postgraduate course full time or part time. This allows you to fit your studies around other commitments.

If you choose to study full time the course will take 1 year to complete. You will study:

• 2 compulsory modules

If you choose to study part time the course will take 2 years to complete. The modules will be split across both academic years.

You can find out which modules are available in each term in the Course Specifications.

Modules

Teaching and learning

You will receive up to 10 hours of 1 to 1 supervision, either in person or online. Every semester, you will be part of a workshop where you can share work in progress with other course members. In a supportive and creative atmosphere, you will discover new ways of working and further your approach to creating pieces of writing.

In April and May of your final year, you will be invited on a residential community writing retreat. The retreat is run by your tutors and can take place in a number of different locations. The only requirement is that the places be beautiful and inspiring.

We encourage you to attend the variety of events provided by the York Centre for Writing. These include visits from agents, publishers, editors and writers. This allows you to network and develop professional relationships within the literary community.

Our teaching draws on both our research and professional experience. This means your learning is informed by the most current thinking in the subject area. You can find out more about our research and backgrounds by visiting our staff pages.

Assessment

Your final manuscript will be a piece of written work that will comprise of 40,000-70,000 words of prose or approximately 1,200 lines of poetry. If you are aiming to produce a script, it must be an equivalent length. Your final manuscript will be accompanied by a critical commentary of 6,000 words which reflects on the writing process. You will submit your final manuscript in September of the final year.

Qualifications

If your degree is in an unrelated subject, but you can provide evidence of relevant professional experience, your application may still be considered.

International Students

If you are an international student you will need to show that your qualifications match our entry requirements.

Information about international qualifications and entry requirements can be found on our International pages.

If English is not your first language you will need to show that you have English Language competence at IELTS level 6.0 (with no skill below 5.5) or equivalent.

International entry requirements

Additional Requirements

For entry onto this course, you will also need:

• A sample of creative writing, either in prose, script or poetry of at least 1,000 to 2,000 words, or 3 to 4 poems
• A completed MFA Creative Writing Proposal Form

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)

If you do not have traditional qualifications, you might be able to provide evidence of professional experience in the subject as an alternative way to meet the entry requirements. This is called Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL). Appropriate references and records of employment would need to be presented to support your case for admission. 

Terms and conditions

Our terms and conditions, policies and procedures contain important information about studying at York St John University. You can read them on our Admissions page.

UK 2023 - 2024 entry

• £4,500 for full time study
• £2,250 per year for part time study

This cost applies to all UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man students.

Postgraduate loans are available to help you pay for your master’s course. Find out more about funding your postgraduate studies.

Funding opportunities

International 2023 - 2024 entry

• £13,000 for 1 year of full time study
• £6,500 for 2 years of part time study

This price applies to all students living outside the UK.

Due to immigration laws, if you are an international student on a student visa, you must study full time. For more information about visa requirements and short-term study visas, please visit the International Visa and Immigration pages.

Find out more about funding your postgraduate studies.

International Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees

Alumni Scholarships

If you are alumni of York St John University we have scholarships available to help you continue your studies.

Scholarships for alumni

Additional costs and financial support

Course-related costs

While studying for your degree, there may be additional costs related to your course. This may include purchasing personal equipment and stationery, books and optional field trips.

Accommodation and living costs

View our accommodation pages for detailed information on accommodation and living costs.

Where could Creative Writing take you?

By developing your writing and creative process, you will be well positions to enter into a various careers. Your skills in critical analysis, working to deadlines and both independent and collaborative work will can be applied in industries such as:

• Journalism
• Copywriting
• Academia
• Political analysis

Stand out from the crowd with postgraduate study.

Far fewer people have postgraduate degrees than undergraduate qualifications. This gives you something extra to set yourself apart in a competitive graduate job market. Those with a postgraduate qualification will earn an average of £7,000 a year more than those with only an undergraduate degree. (Department For Education Graduate Labour Market Report 2020)

Our careers service, LaunchPad, provides career support tailored to your ambitions. Through this service you can access:

• Employer events
• LinkedIn, CV and cover letter sessions
• Workshops on application writing and interview skills
• Work experience and volunteering opportunities
• Personalised career advice

This support does not end when you graduate. You can access our expert career advice for the rest of your life. We will help you gain the experience and confidence you need to succeed.