Overview

Undertake our PhD Creative Writing programme at The University of Manchester and you will become part of the University's Centre for New Writing, which has been championing contemporary fiction, poetry and creative writing since 2007.

The Centre is home to writers including Jeanette Winterson, Kamila Shamsie, Ian McGuire, Kaye Mitchell, Jason Allen-Paisant, Beth Underdown, Honor Gavin, Frances Leviston, Horatio Clare and John McAuliffe, and Luke Brown.

Career opportunities

Former doctoral students have secured academic positions, both nationally and internationally, teaching and researching at various universities.
Others have been offered post-doctoral fellowships enabling them to complete specific projects or giving them support to develop new research after their doctorate.
A doctoral degree in EAC puts you in a strong position to develop a career in teaching, education, and the creative economy.

Programme Structure

Structure:

There are two elements to the programme. The first is a creative element that can be a novel or a collection of short stories of up to 100,000 words, or a book-length collection of poetry of up to 60 poems.
The PhD also has a critical element, which is a piece of literary or cultural criticism of 30,000 to 50,000 words maximum.

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 36 months
Part-time
- 72 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-09-28 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-06-30 00:00:00
Starting 2027-01-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-09-30 00:00:00

Language

English

TOEFL^® IBT

100

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PTE Academic

76

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IELTS

7

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Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Manchester, United Kingdom

Disciplines

Creative Writing View 60 other PhDs in Creative Writing in United Kingdom

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Academic requirements

GPA

Upper Second Class

English requirements

TOEFL^® IBT

100

Schedule TOEFL®

PTE Academic

76

Schedule a PTE test!

IELTS

7

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent)
Master's degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 70% or above
Any strong relevant professional experience will be considered on a case by case basis.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

21500 GBP / year

≈ 21500 GBP / year
Domestic Applies to you

Applies to you

Citizens or residents

4786 GBP / year

≈ 4786 GBP / year

Living costs

Manchester

United Kingdom

645 - 1197 GBP / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find PhD's scholarship opportunities for Creative Writing.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

About

Overview

Career opportunities

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic Applies to you

Living costs

Manchester

Funding

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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