Creative Writing and Publishing (Professional Placement Year)

Publishing is one of the UK’s largest creative industries. The Creative Writing and Publishing combination course highlights the collaborative creative process between authors and publishers, and the important contribution they make to our culture.

This flexible course can be tailored to your unique personal interests and career ambitions. In Publishing, you'll learn how to engage intellectually with research, ideas and stories. You'll apply creativity and critical judgement in conceptualising, shaping and disseminating commercially-viable, engaging content for different audiences.

These qualities, combined with wide-ranging interests and an imaginative approach to cultural creation, are typical of our Creative Writing curriculum, and will help you to develop into an entrepreneurial, creative maker and producer.

Please note Creative Writing and Publishing is a combined honours award, to find out more information please refer to our website: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/ug-creative-writing-and-publishing/

Combined Honour Awards
At Bath Spa University many of our undergraduate programmes can be combined, so you don’t have to limit yourself to one subject. If you choose to study a combined award then in Year One you’ll start by studying both subjects in equal depth, then from Year Two you can choose whether to continue with an equally joint course, or a Major/Minor route.

More about the Professional Placement Year
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where a student undertakes a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between the students' second and third years of undergraduate study. Students can engage in up to 3 placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) themselves with support from the Careers & Employability Team.

Year one In your first year, you'll experiment with different writing forms and learn the core skills of editing and copywriting, design, and layout, while also exploring other subjects and experimenting across media, gaining confidence in your making ability. Year two In your second year, you'll start to work collaboratively and discover your own interests - deciding whether to focus on either the novel, poetry or non-fiction - to hone your writing skills. You'll also become familiar with the processes of marketing and learn about the importance of audience. You'll learn to experiment with design and book forms through research, ideas development, and making. Year three is the placement year. In your fourth year, you'll work on high-quality industry projects and live briefs, which will help you develop your specialism and showcase your skills in a professional digital portfolio. You'll also receive specialist Publishing industry careers coaching. During this time, you can develop your novel, poetry or non-fiction writing to a professional level. You'll also collaborate on a major enterprise challenge to work on an original idea, inspired by user experience and new technology.

You’ll be assessed by coursework, including portfolios, feature articles, essays, reflective commentaries, and industry research reports. In some modules, you’ll share your work through short, informal presentations. This wide range of briefs prepares you for the variety of writing expected in the creative industries. You’ll be taught through industry talks, creative workshops and studio practice, skills labs, challenge days, and lectures. You’ll benefit from the innovative learning environment of the UK's first creative-digital studio-based BA Publishing course in our state-of-the-art Publishing Lab. We work on screen and beyond, creating sketchbooks and prototypes, networking, and finding opportunities.