Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time. If reading is a pleasure and creative writing very much a part of you, then an English degree with creative writing might appeal.

If you’re ready to explore more widely, think more deeply and consider how you, as a reader, are placed in relation to a text and how that affects your interpretation, you’ve come to the right place.

Brunel offers one of the most highly regarded creative writing courses in the UK, with many staff members active as novelists, writers for performance, or as cultural critics.Through them you will learn and practice the fundamentals of writing in a variety of forms including poetry and film.

After a first year of introductory writing modules with options in literature to develop your critical reading, your exploration in English and creative writing is very much down to your own interests.

In years two and three a wealth of optional modules await you, covering every period and genre in literature from Shakespeare to Austen, comedy to horror and world literature, alongside further writing options in journalism and modern fiction.

Throughout your course you will be encouraged to express your own thoughts and creativity in your coursework and seminars, which will help you to grow as a critic and writer.

English with Creative Writing BA will equip you with personal skills employers’ prize in graduates – exceptional written and verbal communication and the ability to work collaboratively in teams. At Brunel you will be able to develop these in abundance.

Opt for a placement year and you will gain real-world work experience while you study which will further increase your attractiveness to employers when you graduate.

Outside of your classroom, you can look forward to events and activities organised by the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing, including the annual Hillingdon Literary Festival: a free weekend of literary performances from internationally renowned authors, writing workshops and lively debates, right here on campus.

Mathematics is a fundamental subject that is critical to our understanding of the world. Through the study of mathematics you’ll advance your problem solving skills, develop your reasoning and increase your analytical thinking. This is why mathematics forms a basis to so many careers. Yes – it is a discipline in its own right, but it is also the thinking behind countless commercial, industrial and technological activities. Mathematical models underpin engineering, the applied sciences, computing and many aspects of management today.

Follow the four-year ‘Professional Placement’ degree programme and you‘ll benefit from our extensive experience in helping students to find well-paid work placements with blue-chip companies. Our sandwich students find that their mathematical and transferable skills are in demand in many sectors, both in the UK and abroad.

Areas recently offering placements include: accountancy, aviation, banking, defence, finance, insurance, IT (software development, network management and design), management (public and private sector), marketing and telecommunications.

The Financial Mathematics BSc covers the application of mathematical methods to financial problems so if you’re looking to work in the fast-moving world of finance or commerce then this is the course for you. Two thirds of the course content focuses on developing your mathematical knowledge and skills. The rest of the course covers financial markets, corporate investment and finance.

This programme will meet the educational requirements of the Chartered Mathematician designation, awarded by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, when it is followed by subsequent training and experience in employment to obtain equivalent competences to those specified by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for taught master's degrees.

The human body runs on complex internal processes, with cells and organs functioning in incredible ways to make us who we are. But, what happens when our health is compromised? This dynamic biomedical sciences degree is perfect for those with a fascination of how we work and how we treat human diseases.

At Brunel, we understand that your interest in biomedical sciences at this stage may be very broad and perhaps you're not ready to specialise. For this reason, we have made our Biomedical Sciences BSc flexible. As you continue through your degree, you can pick your own options and tailor your course to fit your interests. You can even switch over to a specialist pathway in the second year so there's no need to feel pressurised to commit to a specialist area yet.

The Royal Society of Biology has awarded its accreditation to all of Brunel’s biomedical sciences undergraduate programmes. This means you can be confident that our Biomedical Sciences BSc will prepare you for the working world – and your prospective employers will know this too. You'll receive a one year’s membership as an Associate Member once you graduate, integrating you into the sector with access to key contacts and up-to-date knowledge.

In your final year you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to our research programmes in cellular and biochemical pathways, the regulation of gene expression, DNA repair and immunological responses to microbial infection. This will give you first-hand experience of real-world laboratory research and prepare you for your future career.

The Theatre and Creative Writing BA is ideal if you want learn more about the richness of theatre past and present while incorporating your passion for creative writing.

Within the theatre side of your degree, you’ll develop creative skills in a number of practical ways: acting, directing, applied drama, physical theatre, digital performance, musical theatre and playwriting.

On the creative writing side of the course, you’ll get to explore a number of writing styles including journalism,screenwriting, comedy writing, short stories and the contemporary novel.

You’ll also grow your knowledge through an understanding of the concepts and models used in the practice and study of theatre, together with the themes and techniques used by historic and contemporary authors.

Study at Brunel and you’ll become part a rich community of creative students, artists and academics with a variety of opportunities to collaborate through acting, directing, playwriting and production.

You’ll learn in Brunel’s purpose-built Antonin Artaud Performance Centre (AA), which is rather like being in drama school with its main theatre, two studio spaces, rehearsal rooms and recording studios.

AA facilities regularly host Arts@Artaud nights showcasing new music, film, creative writing and drama presented by Brunel students.

Established links with the creative industries offer plenty of opportunities to hear from guest speakers and alumni on campus. Off campus, Brunel’s easy access to central London helps to facilitate regular class trips to see West End productions and other events.

For your professional development, the option of a work placement year is an unmissable opportunity to find out where your interests lie and to increase your attractiveness to future employers.

Students from the course have completed placements in a variety of organisations including the London’s Park Theatre, Rose Wisksteed Casting, The Vaults, Unicorn Theatre, Icarus Theatre Company, and the Grieg City Academy.

What is the social and cultural impact of media communications in today’s world? How do communication and information media actually work and what are their importance to our society?

This course enjoys a very close relationship with sociology at Brunel and combines the theoretical elements of sociology with the practical elements of media studies. You’ll focus on all aspects of society: its personal, social and cultural dimensions.

Studying communications and media at Brunel is not just limited to the classroom. You’ll have the opportunity to broaden your mind by going on field trips and joining film sessions, where you’ll learn about cameras lighting and editing. You’ll be able to attend optional company visits, for example IMG studios, where you’ll receive a tour of the studios.

On this course you’ll have the chance to make your own films in groups. You’ll develop your skills in our media services suite which has industry-standard facilities. You’ll be taught about the software Final Cut Pro and how to use different types of Canon cameras. You’ll experiment with different lighting styles and practise sound editing techniques. This practical work will equip you with the skills you’ll need for a media related career or for working in the field of production.

You’ll also be able to take your learning outside the classroom – on field trips and company visits. Previous students have toured the IMG studious right here in Uxbridge.

If you choose to go on a placement, you’ll benefit form Brunel’s contacts and location. Examples of recent student placements have been in advertising, digital marketing and public relations in organisations such as Cartoon Network, IMG Media, Sweet Images and the Walt Disney Company.

Mechanical engineering covers the design, development and manufacture of mechanical objects – from large-scale industrial machinery to trains, planes and automobiles to medical devices, mobile phones, bicycles, even chairs.

In fact, every product, technology or system has probably been touched by a mechanical engineer.   

The Brunel Mechanical Engineering BEng will give you the specialist knowledge and skills needed to get started on a lucrative career in this diverse and challenging profession.

You’ll get a solid grounding in the core principles of engineering science including solid body mechanics, thermodynamics and materials science as well as in the fundamentals of design and manufacturing.

You’ll also get training in related disciplines integral to mechanical engineering such as computing – used in modelling and predicting outcomes; electrical engineering – to gage how much energy is needed to run a machine and how it can be generated and controlled; and electronics - because parts in many machines are electronic as well as mechanical.

And, as mechanical engineers not only design many exciting products but venture into managing projects and companies, you’ll study elements of management, ethics, finance and law.

Throughout your studies you’ll have use of our modern, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and 24-hour access to industry standard engineering design software at dedicated computer clusters on campus, so you’ll have the opportunity and equipment to explore ideas and tackle problems.

Our mechanical engineering BEng course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).We offer two study options. You can choose three years full-time or four years full-time with a one-year work placement between years two and three that will give you the chance to apply what you’ve learned to real-life situations.

If you start on the full-time course, you can transfer to the professional development option at any time before the end of Level 2.

In a global economy where progress depends heavily on technological innovation, graduates with the knowledge and skills to design, develop and improve the machines and processes fuelling growth are in demand. Your Brunel BEng will give you that expertise and help open doors to a career in engineering.

The Brunel Finance and Accounting MSc gives graduates interested in pursuing careers in financial management or accountancy the opportunity to develop their knowledge of accounting and finance to international levels.

Along with sharpening your quantitative and problem-solving skills, you’ll study the theory of finance, corporate governance, valuation, international accounting standards, risk assessment and financial statement analysis.

Importantly, you’ll develop your ability to interpret complex financial and numerical data and to critically evaluate and deliver midterm and long-term strategic solutions. 

Throughout the course you’ll have access to a variety of professional databases used in business and finance including Datastream, Bloomberg, Bank Scope, Osiris, Reuters 3000 Xtra and Thomson One Banker.

You can choose to study one year full-time, two years full-time with a year's work placement or 16 months full-time with a 6-12 week work placement.

This programme is accredited by ACCA and CIMA.

With growing globalisation and the convergence of international accounting practices, the demand for job candidates with the advanced, specialised skills needed to keep ahead of changing regulation is on the rise. Your Brunel MSc will pave the way for careers across the financial sector.

This course has a professional practice option. Find out more about work placements available.

Our Civil Engineering with Sustainability BEng degree is a highly innovative course that has been developed to equip you with a broad range of knowledge and skills to meet the real world needs of the civil engineering and construction industry.

You will study the traditional elements of civil engineering including design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, geotechnics and maths. You’ll be introduced to a range of sustainable infrastructure topics and then progress to specialist subjects such as water and wastewater engineering.

Access is available to custom-designed technical facilities to work on your laboratory experiments. These include fluids and hydraulics laboratories, and structures, materials and geotechnics labs. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in dedicated computer clusters.

During your studies, there is a residential field trip with hands-on experience in surveying and geology using industry standard equipment. You will also benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals, as well as visits to construction sites and civil engineering development projects.

Due to recent changes to the engineering curriculum, our accreditation is currently being reconfirmed with the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM). The JBM compromises the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers. We have every expectation that our accreditation will be renewed later in the academic year.

This BEng degree in civil engineering with sustainability can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. The BEng degree meets the educational requirement to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng). You may wish to transfer to the MEng route of study at the end of your second year, subject to meeting the progression requirement. The MEng degree fully meets the educational requirement to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and involves a further year of academic study.  

We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on an engineering placement year, you will have the opportunity to work in the civil engineering sector. It could be for a contractor, consultant or government authority.

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course. 

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK! 

There are guest lectures covering lots of different digital media topics and the visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on a digital media placement year, you will have the opportunity of working in the ever-growing creative industries.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s visual effects and motion graphics course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

Brunel's Business and Management degree course will equip you with a broad knowledge and appreciation of issues faced in the world of business. You’ll gain the analytical, technical and interpersonal skills required to understand, analyse and address the challenges faced by today’s companies.

The components of this degree offer you the widest range of core skills in business and management out of all the pathways. This includes market economies; theoretical and practical characteristics of organisations; various business models and frameworks; coping with future uncertainty, and managing change.

Emphasis on this pathway is on globalisation issues generated by multinational enterprises (MNEs). As they account for over fifty percent of global output, a deeper understanding of the commercial power of MNEs will help you position yourself strategically in a competitive job market.

This pathway will broaden your knowledge of business concepts as you work on real life business issues and live case studies, to develop managerial skills and enhance your career prospects.

You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way including numerical methods and how to use statistical software packages such as SPSS and EXCEL, without the need for A level maths or the overseas equivalent.

The course includes a module on Management Enquiry to help you adapt to university study through active learning sessions on topics such as working in groups, report writing and time management.

Our Business and Management BSc is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which means you will gain exemptions from some of their professional papers if you wish to undertake further study towards being a chartered management accountant after you graduate.

There is the option to take a year’s work placement between your second and third year. Previous employers have included Adidas, Microsoft, British Airways, PwC and Nissan. This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience and make valuable contacts for your future career. Find out more on our work placement year page.