Key Information
- Duration: Full-time — 36 months; Part-time — 72 months (flexible).
- Start dates & application deadlines: Starting January 2027: Apply before Dec 2026 (estimated; applies if you have the same nationality as the university), Apply before Oct 2026 (estimated; applicable to international students). Starting September 2027: Apply before Jun 2027. If you are submitting your own research proposal, applications are accepted all year round, but if you wish to start in September, you should apply by 1 June.
Overview
Explore creative and critical practices and be inspired by the award-winning writers and the bustling literary scene on campus and in Birmingham.
Develop your creative and critical practice, whether you're looking for the right environment to work on an extended writing project or want to conduct practice-based research to prepare for an academic career with this Creative Writing doctorate degree from University of Birmingham. Visit the programme website for more information.
Career opportunities
By the end of this PhD, you'll complete a creative piece of publishable quality and possess knowledge of where your writing sits in a wider literary context, which will be useful when pitching your work to agents and publishers.
What's more, you'll be supported by academics who are published authors pushing the boundaries of form. Their personal knowledge of the publishing industry, such as relevant publishing presses for short stories and poetry, will help you navigate the industry during and after the PhD.
Programme Structure
Curriculum:
- For prose: you’ll produce a creative document of either long-form prose/a novel, or a collection of short-form prose/stories supported by a critical paper. The total word count will be between 80,000 and 100,000 words. A novel is usually between 60,000 to 80,000 words with a critical paper of 20,000 to 40,000 words.
- For poetry: you’ll produce a creative document of collected poems or a single work of poetry supported by a critical thesis (usually 20,000-50,000 words).
- For scriptwriting (film or live performance): you’ll produce a single project or a collection of multiple shorts, which should be a similar length to the prose word counts, again with an accompanying critical element between 20,000 to 40,000 words.
- Other creative formats (for example a script for a graphic novel) will follow the above model/weightings.
Admission Requirements
Academic Requirements
We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.
English Requirements
- TOEFL iBT: 88 OR 4.5 (New TOEFL iBT 1-6 score, CEFR-aligned; equivalent to the 0-120 score).
- PTE Academic: 67
- IELTS: 6.5
Other Requirements
- We can only consider applicants who have successfully completed an MA in Creative Writing, or applicants who can demonstrate extensive professional experience (which includes publishing).
- You'll need to clearly detail your academic / professional experience in your application and outline how the research project relates to your current creative practice.
Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees are shown in AUD. International tuition fees apply to students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the study country: 44,021 AUD / year (≈ 23,390 GBP / year). Domestic tuition fee for the domestic students applies to citizens or residents: 9,858 AUD / year (≈ 5,238 GBP / year).
Additional details:
- UK: £2,619 part-time
- International: £11,695 part-time
Living Costs
Birmingham, United Kingdom: 1,440-2,134 AUD / month.
The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.