MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction (Part Time)
Course options
Key Details
- Attendance
- Part Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Arts
- Course Length
- 2 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2023
Course Overview
Our course will help transform you as a writer, giving you a surer sense of the imaginative, artistic and intellectual challenges involved in any act of writing.
You’ll study the craft of prose fiction with an international cohort of other excellent writers, and you’ll be taught by outstanding and committed faculty – Jean McNeil, Naomi Wood and Tessa McWatt, to name a few – alongside internationally recognised visiting writers – recent examples include Tsitsi Dangarembga, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Caryl Phillips and Preti Taneja.
We’ll challenge you to explore your notions about writing and being a writer, provoking you into play, experimentation and risk, with the intention of making you the best writer you can be.
After these two intensive years, you’ll leave the course confident of technique and craft, as well as your own voice. It’s no wonder that our students’ success is unparalleled, with many of our graduates going on to publish their own work – and others moving into publishing, journalism or teaching.
The MA Prose Fiction at UEA is the oldest and most prestigious Creative Writing programme in the UK. Solely focused on the writing of fiction, we take a rigorous and creative approach to enable you to develop your ideas, voice, technique and craft.
You’ll experience an intensive immersion in the study of writing prose fiction. You will take core creative modules but can also choose from a wide range of critical modules, and benefit from our proven strengths in modernism and creative-critical studies, among others.
Graduates of our MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction have enjoyed extraordinary success in terms of publications and prizes. Our alumni include Nobel Laureate Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Baileys Women’s Prize-winner Naomi Alderman, Emma Healey and Tash Aw. The continuing success of our graduates means we are fortunate in being able to attract the best writers from around the world – writers like you.
While you are at UEA, the focus will very much be on exploring your creative potential, in a highly supportive and well-resourced environment.
In 2011, UEA’s Creative Writing programme was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of our continuing excellence in delivering innovative courses at a world-class level.
Entry Requirements
- Degree Classification
- Bachelors (Hons) degree - 2.1 or equivalent preferred
- Degree Subject
- Any subject
- English Foreign Language
We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:
-
IELTS: 7.0 (minimum 7.0 in writing and 6.0 in all other components)
-
PTE (Pearson): 76 (minimum 76 in writing and 64 in all other components)
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests
INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk
-
- Interviews
Promising candidates will be invited to one of our interview days, which are scheduled across the academic year. Typically a candidate will be interviewed by two members of the Creative Writing faculty and we aim to inform candidates of the outcome within five working days. Unsuccessful candidates are welcome to re-apply, though not within the same academic year. Successful candidates will either be offered a place for the forthcoming academic year or a place for the following academic year (if it is felt that they need more time to develop as a writer). Once the forthcoming year is ‘full’ candidates will be offered a place on our reserve list with the option of a place for the following academic year if a place does not become available.
- Intakes
This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
Candidates are required to submit a portfolio of writing for assessment of between 3000 and 5000 words with their application. This could be part of a novel in progress or a piece or pieces of short fiction.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2023/24 are:
-
UK Students: £10,500 (full time)
-
International Students: £21,000 (full time)
If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home students).
We estimate living expenses at £1,023 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships. The following have the most relevance to the MA in Creative Writing:
Annabel Abbs Scholarship
The Difference scholarship
Global Voices Scholarships
Kowitz Scholarship
Maggie Humm Scholarship
Miles Morland Foundation African Writers' Scholarship
Seth Donaldson Memorial Bursary
Sonny Mehta India Scholarship
Sonny Mehta Scholarship for Writers
UEA Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship
UEA Crowdfunded Writers' Scholarship
To find out more, please go to the Scholarships Finder. Select the name of the scholarship, then select ‘view more’ to see if you meet the criteria, and ‘apply here’ to make an application.
Please note that the closing date for receipt of applications is 5 May 2023.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
The Part-time version of MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction is no longer accepting applications for 2023 entry as it is nearing capacity. The Full-Time version of the course remains open to outstanding writers from around the world.
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
To apply please use our online application form.
Early applications are advised, as the course will close once it is full.
Please note that those candidates offered a place on the course will not be able to defer their offer to the next year if they are unable to take up the offer of a place, however they are welcome to reapply the next year.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
You’ll graduate as a better writer, reader and editor. You will graduate knowing how to best critique others’ work and your own. Many students go on to publish, others go on to a career in publishing, journalism, or teaching.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Examples of careers you could enter include:
- Writing
- Publishing
- Journalism
- Teaching
- Advertising
- Film and television