Creative Writing Degree

[UNmaturestudent]

Thinking of returning to Education as a Mature Student. I'm twenty five and looking to do a degree.

Has anyone got any advice or guidance for this? Real life experiences, the application process, funding, etc. I won't be able to do it without qualifying for the maintenance loan.

The whole thing is pretty new and scary!

For further information, I have a part time job, two days a week and an almost three year old who will receive free nursery funding in September. I'd like to hang on to my job as I enjoy it.

Thanks!

Anyone? :)

I started an English Lit/Creative Writing degree with the OU at age 30 which took six years. The application process was fine but I paid for it outright so not sure about loans etc.

I carried on working full time and had two children during my degree so I had to be disciplined but I did it and loved it!

There were a few face to face seminars and some online forums so we could compare and talk about our work, which was good because we could dip in and out. I'm not sure how I'd have done if I'd had to commit to a timetable with more lectures and seminars.

Which university are you considering? From memory, the OU said we'd need to commit around 16 hours of study a week, so you could carry on working with that. Obviously then the degree takes six years instead of three.

What's your aim with the creative writing degree? Does it align with your career goals? I drew up an "cost versus benefit" calculation looking at the cost of my degree versus my project earnings first.

Right so applications for September 2021 should have been submitted in January, however you’ll still be able to get a place through UCAS Extra or Clearing. I’m assuming you’ve got a pretty set idea of the university you’d like to go to? You can check on their website if they’re still accepting students for this year.
If you’re planning to start in September 2022, you’ll apply by January 2022.
Applications are done through UCAS, you’ll need your previous qualifications, someone to do a reference and a personal statement.

Funding wise, if you’ve been resident in the UK for three years, you’re British and it’s your first degree you should be able to access a tuition fee loan to cover tuition costs and a maintenance loan for living costs. There’s also support with childcare and a parents learning allowance.
If you want to start in September 2021 you need to apply for finance now - you don’t need a confirmed place, just put down where you hope to go and you can amend later. The deadline is sometime this month to make sure you get it in September.
If you want to start in September 2022, you’ll apply around March 2022.

Let me know if you have any other questions, happy to support.

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

Right so applications for September 2021 should have been submitted in January, however you’ll still be able to get a place through UCAS Extra or Clearing. I’m assuming you’ve got a pretty set idea of the university you’d like to go to? You can check on their website if they’re still accepting students for this year. If you’re planning to start in September 2022, you’ll apply by January 2022. Applications are done through UCAS, you’ll need your previous qualifications, someone to do a reference and a personal statement.

Funding wise, if you’ve been resident in the UK for three years, you’re British and it’s your first degree you should be able to access a tuition fee loan to cover tuition costs and a maintenance loan for living costs. There’s also support with childcare and a parents learning allowance.
If you want to start in September 2021 you need to apply for finance now - you don’t need a confirmed place, just put down where you hope to go and you can amend later. The deadline is sometime this month to make sure you get it in September.
If you want to start in September 2022, you’ll apply around March 2022.

Let me know if you have any other questions, happy to support.

Oh gosh, thank you for that! I really want to start September 2021. I didn't realise I was actually so late in applying. I set up a UCAS account last night. So, it looks like I better get cracking over the next few days to get Student Finance applied for and the ball rolling with my application on UCAS. I'll definitely need a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan. It's not doable for me otherwise. I just want to go to my local Uni. I'll have to apply for the foundation year too.

@TillyTopper

What's your aim with the creative writing degree? Does it align with your career goals? I drew up an "cost versus benefit" calculation looking at the cost of my degree versus my project earnings first.

There's no particular aim. I've chosen that subject because it's what I enjoy.

With no particular aim, OP, I’d say it’s a waste of time.

I’m almost done with my STEM degree as a mature student and I’m starting a Masters after, I had a very clear goal before I even did my Access Science course.

Don’t waste your only funding on a degree that has no particular aim after. Do one that enhances your job prospects.

@MyGorramShip

With no particular aim, OP, I’d say it’s a waste of time.

I’m almost done with my STEM degree as a mature student and I’m starting a Masters after, I had a very clear goal before I even did my Access Science course.

Don’t waste your only funding on a degree that has no particular aim after. Do one that enhances your job prospects.

I understand what you're saying. But honestly, I don't have any job prospects. I don't have a career and genuinely, the only thing I want to do and that brings me enjoyment, is writing.

You need to make sure there are still spaces before you start your application, the university website will tell you this

But you can have job prospects with a different degree. If it won’t bring you money, what’s the point?

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

You need to make sure there are still spaces before you start your application, the university website will tell you this

Definitely looks like there's places still. It has an 'apply now for 2021 through UCAS' button.

I'm not sure I'd want to take a Creative Writing degree with 18 year olds. Those 7 years make a hell of a difference. Do you have any work to show? A lot of people on my MA in Creative Writing didn't have a degree or other qualifications - they just showed a portfolio.

@MyGorramShip

But you can have job prospects with a different degree. If it won’t bring you money, what’s the point?

But I don't want to do anything else? Some things are about more than just money. Personal fulfilment, passion, etc. My PT job earns me about 4k a year. I still love the job though.

I would take an English degree and see if Creative Writing is a module on it. Those years spent critiquing other people's writing will stand you in huge stead.

@HollowTalk

I'm not sure I'd want to take a Creative Writing degree with 18 year olds. Those 7 years make a hell of a difference. Do you have any work to show? A lot of people on my MA in Creative Writing didn't have a degree or other qualifications - they just showed a portfolio.

I did look into an MA but with no formal qualifications and no published works or anything of any value to show it would be pointless. I write because I enjoy it. It's only recently I've started to take it more seriously. But I do have reservations about having to do the degree with a foundation year first. I feel capable enough to dive straight in without the foundation year but again, I've no qualifications or anything to prove that I'm capable of doing the degree without the foundation year. I also wanted to do the MA afterwards but with the foundation year, the degree and then the MA, it'll be five years in total and I don't think I'd get funding to do the MA anyway.

Post Grad funding is different and you would get it, but it’s 11k total and you pay the 9k fees out of it. So would have to work around it. I’m still trying to figure that one out myself...

I'm a writer and have an MA - I only know one other writer with a qualification. Tons have an English degree - I really think that would be better for you.

I went to university when I was 23 and wasn't judged alongside 18 year olds for entry requirements. It might be worth speaking to the uni about that.

You don't get funding to do the MA but some universities give a discounted rate if you took their degree.

@HollowTalk

I'm a writer and have an MA - I only know one other writer with a qualification. Tons have an English degree - I really think that would be better for you.

I went to university when I was 23 and wasn't judged alongside 18 year olds for entry requirements. It might be worth speaking to the uni about that.

You don't get funding to do the MA but some universities give a discounted rate if you took their degree.

I know you are, I recognise your username and recall you from the creative writing board. Always happy to take your advice!

I just fear that I wouldn't enjoy an English Degree half as much. Though, I'm basing that on my experience of English Literature at A Level which I really didn't enjoy.

OP, have a look on the Uni website, there might be a reading list... I also didn’t enjoy Eng Lit at A Level (although I’m going back 17 years now) but the list of texts on my Unis website would definitely have caught my eye if I’d gone to Uni when I finished my A Levels (a whole other thread)

On a more positive note,

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/creative-writing

The op is happy earning £4K a year part time. I don’t think this is about work and earning. It’s about enjoyment and the government paying as the loan will never be paid off.

@PresentingPercy

The op is happy earning £4K a year part time. I don’t think this is about work and earning. It’s about enjoyment and the government paying as the loan will never be paid off.

I mean, I love my degree, and I can’t wait to get cracking working for either PHE, the NHS or as a Lecturer (I have a while before I’m qualified but they are my 3 dream jobs!)

I’m not much better off financially as a student, I was on benefits before and have 3DC, and I wanted to increase my earning potential as much as I possibly could. And it just so happened that I’m good at STEM, love it, and it has fantastic earning potential. I’ll likely be paying my student loans off from the get go once I’m employed.

But yes I agree with you.

Mine never helped get me a job. However, I was in the intern for 5-10 years for free generation - which I did. After all this interning, I finally got offered a job but my son had a long term health condition that prevented me taking it. However, I am published and do write anyway. It’s tricky - there are good parts, but in many ways I’ve taught myself more than Uni taught me. I’m looking at retraining in a different career for part time work and my husband and I have started a business as well, so the degree hasn’t led to employment, really. It does depend where you go but I’d be willing to get your wage elsewhere after and train in something else alongside and write what you enjoy on the side. As I say, I’ve still managed to write and will never stop writing, but I would have been that way without the degree too. The degree can help teach you how to structure your work in traditional structures (or know what these are so you can break them) and identify your own issues as well whether your style of work is ‘in’ right now (sounds harsh but there are always trends and in many cases mine doesn’t fit - especially poetry. I’m published but it takes a bit more work as people prefer straightforward chat poems rather than symbolic atm.) Reading is definitely the key to all of it. Devour books and learn from them and you can’t go wrong.

@PresentingPercy

The op is happy earning £4K a year part time. I don’t think this is about work and earning. It’s about enjoyment and the government paying as the loan will never be paid off.

It’s still important to give job prospects which are very low with this degree. It’s still worth doing if that’s ok with the person, but it’s worth knowing it’s highly unlikely to improve employability and that it can be very time consuming and take lots of effort to get anywhere in the industry. That’s fine if you adore it, have some natural ability and dogged determination (as I say, I’d write with or without the degree) but it’s always worth mentioning. From my course, there’s a very small percentage who continued writing at all, but as I say, unpaid internships put lots of them off and many weren’t natural writers who wrote whatever anyway - they did their work, but that was all. For those personalities, it’s a nice experience but it won’t get you too far very often.

@MyGorramShip
I am sure you do want a job but the op says she doesn’t. I was referring to paying the grad tax. Working part time on £4K a year isn’t going to pay any grad tax. Therefore it’s a free degree. It’s not a work based degree and it’s for enjoyment. Stem is no doubt career based but creating writing when you don’t want a job is the opposite in my view. And it will be free.