Entrepreneurship and Creative and Professional Writing

Develop your writing and editing skills and explore the context in which writing is produced, while studying key business themes that allow you to generate innovative business solutions to succeed in the writing industry and beyond.

Explore a range of subject matters across Creative Writing including poetry, literary prose fiction, journalistic and non-fiction writing, editing and sub-editing, as well as collaborating on large and small-scale writing projects.

Alongside this you’ll explore wider themes of business, enterprise and entrepreneurship which will enable you to develop skills to start your own business or provide innovation to existing businesses.

Put your skills into practice

We also encourage you to gain as much experience of the industry as you can. We also provide opportunities for you to enhance your learning through work placements, volunteering and engagement with the community through specific modules and continuous extracurricular activities which are promoted in this programme.

Building on centuries old tradition of literary and cultural innovation in the city, Derby has a thriving student and graduate live writing scene, and you will be encouraged to develop your creative impulses by taking full part in the opportunities on offer.

Building innovation

Our Creative and Professional writing modules are designed to create space for you to choose your professional and vocational goals, and to execute the planned development of your own writing and working practices towards achieving these goals. Our vision at Derby is to fully enable this discovery of creative potential to maximise your writing abilities.

Our Entrepreneurship modules aim to equip you with a broad enterprise and entrepreneurship education which will better enable you to start your own business, act in a freelance capacity or be enterprising within an SME or large company environment. We seek to offer an enterprise and entrepreneurship curriculum that is leading-edge, vocationally relevant and reflects the complex and challenging nature of the contemporary business environment.

What is a Joint Honours degree?

A Joint Honours degree offers students the opportunity to study two subjects.

A Joint Honours degree is a great option if:

• You want to study two subjects you’re passionate about
• You’ve got a specific career in mind and want to create a tailored degree to prepare you for the future
• You want to study a new subject alongside one you’re already familiar with

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

On your Creative Writing and Publishing modules you’ll learn through a mixture of:

• lectures, seminars and tutorials
• creative writing workshops
• project work
• technology-enhanced learning
• peer reviews and presentations

We also arrange visits to literary festivals, local and national museums, cultural heritage sites and other areas of interest for 'location writing' exercises.

On your Entrepreneurship modules you will learn through methods such as:

• formal lectures which will at times include expert speakers
• Seminars which can be tutor-led or student-led and can include discussions, critical analysis of reading, presentations, group work, debates and general problem solving, interaction with real businesses, case study analysis, computer lab work, practical analysis and formative assessment
• tutorials which are one-to-one sessions with a tutor to discuss the development of assignments
• work experience projects
• self-directed study

How you are assessed

Assessment methods for our Creative and Professional Writing modules are wide ranging and could take the form of:

• a novel extract, novella, or portfolio of stories or flash fiction
• a memoir or portfolio of life writing
• a portfolio of poetry on page, performance or digital media
• a film script or portfolio of short film scripts
• a portfolio of journalism or an individual journalistic assignment
• a blog, podcast, SMS drama or YouTube video, with or without related printed publications
• an industry focused project such as a publishing, production, advertising or marketing exercise with evidence of audience engagement or client satisfaction
• a critical commentary, critical reflection or preface to the creative work discussing creative context, influences, and process
• a multimedia project, produced alone or in collaboration with others
• a research report or research portfolio including items such as location notes or interviews
• a step outline or planning document
• a professional submission package as defined by a literary agent, producer, publisher or scout
• a pitch for creative work or exercise in professional preparation such as a mock interview or funding application
• a journal reflecting on sources, influences, revision and editing choices
• individual and group presentations, either formal or informal

For your Entrepreneurship modules you’ll benefit from an innovative variety of assessment modes. Assessment is mainly via coursework which can take forms such as traditional essays and reports, group project work, research and consultancy projects, presentations, posters and design of digital materials. There are also in-class tests and computer-based assessments.

You’ll graduate with strong, relevant skills for the workplace and a wide range of possible post-graduation opportunities, from employment to freelancing, business set-up, postgraduate research, or work as an independent writer who is fully understanding of the literary, creative and business environment in which they must operate.

2025 entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2025 entry.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

2025/26

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional information about your studies

You will typically study your two subjects equally at stage one, before choosing whether you want to major in one subject at stages two and three.

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

Other courses you might like

• Publishing and Entrepreneurship BA (Hons)
• Creative Writing and Publishing BA (Hons)
• Business Management and Entrepreneurship BA (Hons)
• English BA (Hons)
• Business Management BA (Hons)

Contact us

If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.