Bachelor of Arts - Creative Writing and Drama (Honours)

This joint degree pairs writing practice with theatre making: workshops in script and prose alongside performance, devising, theatre history and production, so that students write for the stage with practical knowledge of how it works.

Writing for performance is learned by seeing work staged, and the course structures that — scripts drafted, rehearsed, tested with actors and revised in light of what the room reveals — which is how professional playwriting actually develops.

Applied and community theatre modules open the sector where most reliable drama employment sits, and The portal export lists January windows alongside every September cycle, five entry points in total.

Applied theatre deserves emphasis in any honest conversation about this degree’s employability, because it is where the sustainable work sits: schools, healthcare trusts, prisons, youth services and community organisations all commission theatre practitioners, and the roles are salaried, meaningful and considerably more numerous than performance opportunities. Students who build facilitation experience during the degree — running workshops, volunteering with community groups, assisting on outreach projects — graduate employable rather than hopeful. The writing strand adds a second income stream through scripting and content work, and Leicester’s diverse community arts scene supplies practice opportunities within the city itself. Facilitation experience gathered during the degree also strengthens applications for postgraduate drama therapy and applied theatre training, both of which lead to regulated, salaried careers.

Income typically mixes facilitation, education and writing work at £19,000–£23,000 equivalent early on. As a completed honours degree the course qualifies for the Graduate Route’s 18-month allowance under post-2026 rules, with dependants excluded during taught study.