Study a Creative Writing Foundation course with OCA

Have you always wanted to develop the skills needed to write a novel or become a poet? Perhaps you dream of being the next self-publishing star, like Erin Morgenstern or Becky Chambers?

If so, this course is perfect for you. The Open Foundations Creative Writing course is designed to inspire and encourage you to write regularly and with confidence.

Our Creative Writing foundation will help you understand how to observe and write about the world around you. By keeping a writer’s notebook, you’ll engage with genre and form in creative explorations to find your writer’s voice. You will start writing immediately, drawing from personal experience. Together with feedback from your tutor, you can expect to make rapid progress.

Over five assignments, you will move from building confidence via unedited, unfinished freewriting, through generating and researching your own ideas, and finally developing your self-reflection, to understand and improve your own work. 

The course will largely focus on writing fiction, but also covers poetry (such as Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney), and short story writing. You will also learn the basic skills of research, to help you add detail and colour to your writing. Research can make the difference between amateur and professional level prose, so this will be a key element of study.

Whether you’ve not studied for a while, are ready to engage in degree level study, or wish to study to develop your skills and understanding, this course is for you. You don’t need any prior qualifications, this course is open to everyone, whatever level you are at.

This course is a great stepping stone onto a degree level. On completion of the five parts of the course you can go with confidence to further study with the Open College of the Arts or elsewhere, and decide on the nature and direction of your future studies or writing practice.

So start your journey today, pick up your pen and notebook, and enrol with OCA.

Apply Now

Course Aims

The course aims to:

  • Inspire and encourage new students.
  • Support early efforts in creative writing.
  • Gain skills in how to draw from personal experience.
  • Develop strategies that support further learning.

Course Outcomes

On completion of this course, you should be able to demonstrate competence in the following strategies and techniques:

  • Freewriting.
  • Analytical reading.
  • Notebooking.
  • Writing from personal experience.
  • Researching and saving material for further use.

You will have an understanding of the writing process, what is meant by ‘genre’ and ‘form’ and you will practise using your creative imagination.

You will have produced a short story and some poetry.

Apply Now

Nina Milton

Unit Leader for Foundations in Creative Writing

“As a tutor with the Open College of the Arts, I believe that writing should be a joy in itself, as well as a means of wide communication.

I encourage students to experiment with a personal voice that will make their writing unique to them, while offering strong technical advice that will support their development.

I have been writing fiction since my reception teacher, Mrs Marsden, put paper and pencil in front of me. Suddenly I grasped that real live people were responsible for all those lovely books.

I am most well known for my crime fiction, the Shaman Mysteries Series (Midnight Ink Books, Llewellyn Worldwide).”

Read more

Foundations

£935

Per course

Level 1 (HE4)

£4,500

For the level

Level 2 (HE5)

£4,500

For the level

Level 3 (HE6)

£4,500

For the level

Total approximate undergraduate fees

Breakdown of costs...

Level 1 (HE4)

£1,500

Per course unit (4o credits)

All of the OCA’s Level 1 (HE4) course units are worth 40 credits each. If you’re studying towards an Open degree, you’ll need three Level 1 (HE4) course units to gain the necessary 120 credits to move on to Level 2 (HE5).

Deposit is £465 followed by 7 monthly instalments of £155.
Level 2 (HE5)

£2,250

Per course unit (6o credits)

Some of the OCA’s Level 2 (HE5) course units are worth 60 credits each. If you’re studying towards an Open degree, you’ll need two Level 2 (HE5) course units to gain the necessarry 120 credits to move on to Level 3 (HE6).

Deposit is £595 followed by 11 monthly instalments of £155.
Level 3 (HE6)

£4,500

For the level

OCA’s Level 3 (HE6) course units hold differing amounts of credits depending upon the given Open degree pathway.

Foundations

£1,075

Per course

Level 1 (HE4)

£5,160

For the level

Level 2 (HE5)

£5,160

For the level

Level 3 (HE6)

£5,160

For the level

Total approximate undergraduate fees

Breakdown of costs...

Level 1 (HE4)

£1,560

Per course unit (40 credits)

All of the OCA’s Level 1 (HE4) course units are worth 40 credits each. If you’re studying towards a degree, you’ll need three Level 1 (HE4) course units to gain the necessary 120 credits to move on to Level 2 (HE5).

Deposit is £580 followed by 7 monthly instalments of £170.
Level 2 (HE5)

£2,580

Per course unit (60 credits)

Some of the OCA’s Level 2 (HE5) course units are worth 60 credits each. If you’re studying towards a degree, you’ll need two Level 2 (HE5) course units to gain the necessary 120 credits to move on to Level 3 (HE6).

Deposit is £760 followed by 11 monthly instalments of £170.

 
Level 3 (HE6)

£5,160

For the level

OCA’s Level 3 (HE6) course units hold differing amounts of credits depending upon the given degree pathway, and therefore are varied in cost. For individual pricing, please see the individual course unit pages on this website.

Fees, Funding, and other costs

Foundation courses are ineligible for Student Finance funding, but we have deposit and instalment options available to help spread the costs.

There are also bursaries available for students on low incomes. See our fees and funding page for more info.

Other costs you may find on your degree include purchasing books/texts/videos to assist in your research. These can be around £150 for a foundation course.

Fees, Funding and other costs

BA Creative Writing

Ready for degree-level study? Explore our BA Creative Writing qualification.

Learn more

BA Creative Arts

If you’re interested in a broader range of artistic disciplines, take a look at our BA Creative Arts degree.

Learn more