Open College of the Arts’ new advanced level creative writing courses ready for 2014/15 academic year

Two new advanced level creative writing courses from education charity The Open College of the Arts will be on offer from this coming September for students studying for a BA (Hons) degree in creative writing. The new courses, Retrospect and Prospect and Independent Project, both offer a flexible framework to help students create their own body of work.

The focus of Retrospect and Prospect is on writing essays, articles and poetry for publication in literary magazines and journals, with an emphasis on drafting and developing the habits of a writer. Independent Project helps students develop the skills they need to structure longer pieces of work, including research, self-criticism and the ability to incorporate critiques of their work into redrafts and revisions.

Assessment for each of the courses is through a reflective commentary, a creative writing commentary and three assignments showing the development of the student’s own writing. The assessment criteria cover presentation, technical correctness, language, creativity, contextual knowledge and the craft of writing. Each course attracts 60 points under the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme.

Curriculum Director Jane Horton said: ‘Students negotiate with their personal tutor how they will work through the courses, depending on what they are aiming to achieve through their writing - completing a body of work, preparing a manuscript for publication or to send to an agent, editing or revising writing they have worked on earlier in their degree course. All OCA creative writing students have a tutor who is a published writer as well being qualified to teach in higher education. At this advanced level, we aim to match the student with a tutor who is writing in the same genre as them.’

The Open College of the Arts was founded by Michael (later Lord) Young in 1987 to widen access to creative arts education at undergraduate level. It has around 3,000 students from across the UK and beyond studying art history, creative writing, music, painting, photography, textiles and visual communications through online and distance learning.

Follow creative writing at OCA on Twitter: @OCAwriters

Notes to Editors

1.In the early 1960s, Michael Young was one of the educational visionaries who inspired what became The Open University later in the decade. OCA aims to widen access to creative arts education at undergraduate and graduate levels through open and flexible learning, offering people the chance to take arts courses without prior qualifications or admission restrictions.

2.The total course fee for a full BA Honours degree for new UK students in academic year 2014/2015 is £8,105.00, excluding accommodation costs at workshops.

3.OCA’s BA (Hons) creative writing degree is validated by the University for the Creative Arts. The creative writing course handbook provides detailed information about OCA’s creative writing degree programme. Prospective students can also find out more by phoning freephone 0800 731 2116.

4. Successful assessment attracts credits for both courses under the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATs), used by many universities in the United Kingdom to monitor, record and reward passage through a modular degree course and to facilitate movement between courses and institutions.