Creative Writing Summer School

Overview

Immerse yourself in your writing over three intensive weeks spent in Oxford.

Under the guidance of experienced tutors, you will write, develop your technique, sharpen your critical faculties and discuss your work in small, focused seminars. Each weekday you will attend a talk given by an author, publisher, agent, or editor. You will live and work in beautiful Exeter College – founded in 1314 – the environment that nurtured J R R Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Martin Amis, William Morris, and many others.

At the end of your three weeks, you will have acquired new skills, made new friends, and developed a fresh portfolio of creative writing.

The academic programme consists of

  • small interactive seminars featuring writing exercises and group discussion;
  • guidance by tutors who are both published authors and experienced teachers; and
  • daily talks and readings given by established authors, agents, editors and others.

Seminars are offered at two levels (Advanced and Intermediate) - see "Selection Criteria" (below) to ensure a good fit with your experience as a writer.

Advanced applicants choose two seminars from the following writing genres:

  • Creative Non-Fiction
  • Crime Fiction
  • Fiction (two options)
  • Poetry
  • Scriptwriting
  • Short Story
  • Teen/Young Adult Fiction.

(See "Programme details", below, for advanced seminar descriptions.)

Intermediate applicants take two mandatory seminars:

Creative Non-Fiction

Writing about real lives and experiences – your own, or someone else's – is rewarding but also daunting. What if you have too much information, or your story involves other people? How do you fill the gaps? How do you keep the reader reading? What if your core purpose is to write creatively not about a life, but about a specific place or time, journey or sickness, idea or vocation? And when does storytelling tip over into fiction? In this course we will use practical exercises, examples, discussion and the sharing of writing to explore ways of imagining, researching, developing, shaping and voicing real-life material to form a narrative.

Tutor: Emma Darwin's memoir, This is Not a Book About Charles Darwin (Holland House Books, 2019), explores her disastrous attempt to write a novel about her family. Her debut novel, The Mathematics of Love (Headline Review, 2006), was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' and other awards; her second, A Secret Alchemy (Headline Review, 2009), was a Sunday Times bestseller; Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction (John Murray Learning) was published in 2016. She has a PhD in Creative Writing (London) and was an Associate Lecturer at the Open University; she blogs at This Itch of Writing.

Fiction

Want to improve your creative writing? This course will offer you the chance to develop your creative prose in an inspirational and nurturing environment. By looking at techniques used by published writers, we shall learn how we can bring our own stories to life. Practical exercises and discussion of each other's work will deepen our understanding of fundamentals such as character, description, plot, dialogue, point of view and suspense. We shall also experiment with different narrative forms. Last but not least, the course will explore how to rewrite and edit - vital skills for your creative writing in the future.

Tutor: Frank Egerton read English at Keble College, Oxford, and has reviewed fiction for The Times, Times Literary Supplement and Financial Times. He teaches creative writing at undergraduate and postgraduate level for Oxford University. He is the author of The Lock (Smaller Sky Books, 2003) and Invisible (StreetBooks, 2010). He is interested in both the close examination of fiction and how new technologies are changing the publishing industry. The e book edition of The Lock reached the finals of the Independent eBook Awards. He is a former editor of The Oxford Writer and Chair of Writers in Oxford. He has recently completed a work of life writing, entitled Trust: a Family Story .

All seminars will involve writing exercises, group discussion, and the development of a portfolio of creative writing.

Each advanced and intermediate seminar has two two-hour meetings per week. Classes typically contain no more than 14 students.

Contact hours

The programme provides a minimum of 46.5 contact hours, comprising:

  • 24 hours of seminar meetings (12 hours per seminar); and
  • 22.5 hours of talks and readings (15 sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours).

Social programme

Optional social events are offered throughout the summer school, and may include a walking tour of Oxford, after-dinner talks and weekend excursions to sites of literary and/or historical interest. Most of these activities incur additional costs.

Students will have an opportunity to share their ideas and work with the group at open mic nights (one per week) and informal peer-led workshop sessions (two per week).

Beyond the summer school, Oxford is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with a busy cultural and social scene offering a wide variety of plays and shows, concerts, films and exhibitions.

Programme details

Seminar options

Advanced courses

Timetable

Please check the seminar timetables carefully to ensure that your first and second choice courses do not run at the same time.

Advanced courses

Creative Non-Fiction

We tell stories about ourselves every day and we read and talk about the lives of others. Taking a closer look at autobiography, memoir, and biography, we will discuss how life stories are told and the way they influence what we think about the lives they tell. This course will explore different aspects of writing lives and the relationship between non-fiction and fiction. It will discuss the relationship between narrator and subject, facts and invention, as well as content, style and form in creative non-fiction life-writing. There will be opportunities to share our life writing journeys and writing.

Tutor: Dr Jane McVeigh is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton. She publishes on different aspects of life-writing and her biography of twentieth century British author Richmal Crompton, author of Just William stories, will be published in 2022. In Collaboration with British Literary Biography: Haunting Conversations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), explores the nature of contemporary biography and the haunting relationship between a biographer and his or her subjec his or her subjects.

Reading and Writing Crime Fiction

Does crime pay? Crime fiction is a captivating genre which fascinates readers by exploring this and other questions. On this course we will study examples of classic crime fiction and critical perspectives, as well as writing our own crime texts. In the company of well-known fictional detectives, we will investigate crime texts and cases and follow the clues laid out by the author to help us solve the crime. Delivered through group seminars and tutorials by a highly experienced academic and crime fiction expert, this course offers an exciting opportunity to learn more about reading and writing crime fiction.

Tutor: Dr Charlotte Beyer is Senior Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire. She is a highly experienced lecturer and crime fiction specialist. Her recent books include Teaching Crime Fiction (Ed., Palgrave, 2018), and her books The Crime Short Story (McFarland) and Contemporary Crime Fiction: Crossing Boundaries, Merging Genres (CSP) are forthcoming in 2021.

Fiction: Turning Ideas Into Narratives

This course is aimed at those who are starting to write prose but do not yet feel fully confident. Using a variety of exercises and some examples from literature, we shall investigate the formation of character, and develop character arcs. Then we shall develop story and plot outlines together, planning scenes. Finally, we shall attempt to identify and discuss your unique strengths and preferences with a view to finding your USP - unique selling point.

Tutor: Dr Rachel Bentham has been Royal Literary Fellow at Bath University, and teaches for both Bristol and Bath Spa Universities. Her plays and short stories have been regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and her poetry is internationally published. She has recently completed a novel set in nineteenth-century Tahiti. A recent collection of haiku was called Let All Tongues Flower (Firewater Press, 2013); and her most recent collection, also of haiku, is titled Other Roads North (2019) and reached number one on Amazon.

Fiction: Fine-Tuning Your Writing

This course is designed to help you hone your craft as a writer and see your project through to its completion. We shall start by examining your aims and motivation, troubleshooting any problems you are having in maintaining commitment and progress. We shall explore how to give your writing maximum resonance and power, analysing how you can use voice and point of view, give your characters extra depth and weave together story strands, themes and images. Finally, we shall look at sending your work out into the world, with workshopping and advice on editing and pitching.

Tutor: Lorna Fergusson is a literary consultant, novelist and prize-winning short story writer, who has taught on various OUDCE programmes since 2002. In 2013 she republished her novel, The Chase, originally published by Bloomsbury. Her chapter on 'Pre-writing' appears in Studying Creative Writing (Creative Writing Studies, 2013) and her award-winning story 'Salt' appears in An Oxford Vengeance. Her new book for creative writers, The Unputdownable Writer's Mindset, will be published in 2020.

Poetry

'I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering' (Robert Frost). In this course we shall embark on unpredictable journeys of discovery, in particular exploring the realm of ambiguity and multiple levels of - sometimes conflicting - meaning. In collaborative exercises and individual work, as well as analysis of poems by established poets, we shall try to see what makes a vivid or striking poem, and how best to channel and shape the 'spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' (Wordsworth). The course will consist of taught seminars followed by workshopping of students' work.

Tutor: Matthew Barton has published three collections of poetry,Learning to Row (Peterloo Poets, 1999) Vessel (The Brodie Press, 2009), and Family Tree (Shoestring Press, 2016). His translation of Rilke's Duino Elegies also appeared this year from Shoestring. He has won many awards for his work including BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year (twice winner), second prize in the National Poetry Competition, joint second prize in the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine and first prize in the Strokestown competition (Ireland). He is a tutor of poetry for the Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at OUDCE and the editor of Raceme Magazine.

Scriptwriting

This course is based on the study and creation of scripts for stage, screen and radio and on helping aspiring dramatists to develop a practice to engage with a golden age of script writing.  Convincing characters in coherent plots, with a keen awareness of genre, is the basis of all good fiction. We shall explore such core elements, culminating in the submission of a short script. In the third week, students can workshop a script begun outside the course. Dramaturgy will be strictly focused to help writers to develop individual writing for performance projects, using processes that are 'industry standard'.

Tutor: Shaun McCarthy is a professional stage and radio dramatist. He teaches for Oxford and other universities in the UK and Europe. He is currently writing a resetting of Strindberg's Miss Julie, to May Eve in Oxford 1963, and co-producing a play based on seven after-show discussions about a play we never actually see.

The Short Story

This course encourages you to become a braver, more vital writer by experimenting with the short story form. As close to poetry as it is to prose, the short story is ideal for testing uncommon characters and situations, innovative structures and syntax. Unlock voices and creative techniques that will transform your writing practise. In the final week we will focus on intensive self-editing and how to transform a saggy, weak story into a powerful, shapely narrative, through close examination of language, rhythm, energy and pace. Perfecting short fiction is a great way to build your track record through publication in literary journals and entry to awards judged by agents and publishers.

Tutor: Susannah Rickards' collection of short fiction, Hot Kitchen Snow, drawn from experiences of growing up in North East England and working in East Africa, won the international Scott Prize in for best debut fiction collection in 2010, and is published by Salt. Her writing regularly appears in journals and anthologies and has been broadcast on BBC radio. She read English at Oxford University and now lives in Surrey, UK, where she writes and mentors new and established authors.

Teen/Young Adult Fiction

The teen/young adult/crossover fiction market is one of the fastest growing areas of publishing. This course, run by an established novelist, will look at the way successful writers have used dialogue, tackled taboos, and developed plots to appeal to younger readers. It will also explore such key topics as planning a novel, researching, and finding inspiration. Students will be guided in the development of a story of their own, and there will be opportunities for workshopping of students' work from outside the course.

Tutor: Julie Hearn is the Carnegie-nominated author of a number of novels for young adults: Follow Me Down (2009), The Merrybegot (2005), Ivy (2006), Hazel (2007), Rowan the Strange (2010), Wreckers (2011) and Dance of the Dark Heart (2014) were all published by Oxford University Press. Her eighth novel, I am NOT adorable, was published by Jolly Heron in 2018.

Certification

All students who complete the programme will receive an attendance certificate.

Those seeking credit at their home institution may request a detailed certificate which lists contact hours (for talks, readings and seminars), an assessment of their contribution to seminar discussions, grades achieved for written work, and the number of private study hours required. Certificates will usually be sent to students' home institutions within a month of the end of the summer school.

As Oxford University does not offer credit for this summer school, those wishing to obtain credit from their home institution for attending this programme must make appropriate arrangements with that institution in advance.

Fees

Residential: Standard (shared bathroom) - £3,280; Residential: En Suite (private bathroom facilities) - £3,575; Non-residential (no accommodation or meals) - £1,460

Payment

Programme fees

  • Residential: Standard (shared bathroom facilities) - £3,280
    Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; accommodation in a standard single room with shared bathroom facilities for the nights of Sunday 25 July to Friday 13 August 2021 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 25 July to breakfast on Saturday 14 August 2021 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

  • Residential: En suite (private bathroom facilities) - £3,575
    Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; accommodation in a single en suite room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 25 July to Friday 13 August 2021 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 25 July to breakfast on Saturday 14 August 2021 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

  • Non-residential - £1,460
    Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks and readings); access to IT facilities and the Continuing Education library; no accommodation; no meals, except the programme`s formal opening and closing dinners on Sunday 25 July and Friday 13 August 2021, respectively.

There are no sources of funding (scholarships, bursaries, etc) available for applicants.

Invoicing and payment

Successful applicants who accept their offer of a place on the summer school will be invoiced for the appropriate programme fee once they have been formally enrolled on the programme.

Invoices will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment. Fees may be paid online with a credit or debit card, or by bank transfer.

Students are required to pay the full fee within 30 days of the date on which their invoice was issued. Late applicants (see "Apply for this course", below) are required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date.

Please note that:

  • students need to take out insurance to cover the programme fee and travel costs (see "Cancellations", below);
  • a student's place on the summer school is not confirmed until their fees have been paid in full;
  • places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date; and
  • in no circumstances will students be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

When you have paid your fees

Your place on the summer school is confirmed as soon as your payment is received by OUDCE.

You will receive a receipt for your payment: an automated email from webpayments@conted.ox.ac.uk if paid online, or via email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk if paid by bank transfer.

The Programme Administrator will provide all non-UK students with a standard format pdf letter by email confirming enrolment and course details (see "Level and demands", below).

Cancellations

All enrolments are subject to OUDCE's Short Selective Course Terms and Conditions.

A contract between OUDCE and a student comes into being when a student accepts an offer of a place on the summer school.

You have the right to cancel this contract at any time within 14 days, beginning on the day you accepted the offer.

Please be aware that if you cancel your place at any time after the expiry of the 14-day period you will not be entitled to a refund of the price paid for the summer school.

If you wish to cancel your place on the summer school you must inform the Programme Administrator by email at writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk

You need to take out insurance to cover the programme fee and travel costs, and you should consult your travel agent and/or insurer for information and advice. OUDCE does not provide any insurance cover.

OUDCE reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

Covid-19 guidance for summer school participants

If we have to cancel your course

Should it be necessary to cancel your course, we will make every reasonable effort to give you as much notice of cancellation as possible, and we will refund all course fees paid by you (including the cost of accommodation, if booked through us as part of your course). Where course fees have been paid in currencies other than in pounds sterling, refunds will be subject to the exchange rate on the date they are processed.

The department cannot be held responsible for any costs you may incur in relation to travel or accommodation bookings as a result of a course cancellation, or if you are unable to attend the course for any other reason. You are advised to check cancellation policies carefully and to purchase travel insurance.

Course aims

Each seminar has its own course aim and objectives.

Teaching methods

Students will attend a programme of talks and readings.

Elements of seminar teaching will normally include:

  • mini lectures by tutors;
  • tutor-led class discussions;
  • writing exercises;
  • small group activities; and
  • individual student presentations.

Students will attend short one-to-ones with their tutors to receive feedback on their written work.

Learning outcomes

Each seminar has its own learning outcomes.

Assessment methods

Tutors will monitor and assess students' contribution to class discussions.

Students are expected to submit an assignment of 2,000-3,000 words in length for assessment for each seminar taken.

Application

Before you submit your application

  • ensure you meet the admissions requirements (see "Selection criteria", below);
  • check the seminar timetables carefully to ensure that your first and second choice courses do not run at the same time (applicants for advanced seminars only);
  • make sure you have all the required supporting documents listed below;
  • ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions of enrolment on the summer school, especially those relating to payment of fees and cancellations (see "Payment", above); and
  • read the 'Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements' (see "Level and demands", below).

The application process

Download, print and complete the application form.

Please ensure all sections are completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.

The form must be accompanied by:

  • A brief statement of purpose (350-400 words) detailing your academic reasons for wishing to attend the summer school. This should include what you feel the programme would offer you and your writing, and what you feel you could bring to the summer school. This may include details of creative writing courses you have previously taken, or the relevance of the summer school to your present course of study or professional development. Applicants for advabced courses only: it is essential that you clearly state your reasons for wishing to enrol on specific seminars.
  • Samples of your writing which demonstrate your powers of creative expression.
    • If you are applying for the intermediate courses you should provide two 1,000-word samples: one being a piece of creative non-fiction: the other a piece of prose fiction.
    • If you are applying for advanced courses please provide samples of your work relevant to your first and second choice courses and ensure that the name of the seminar is printed at the top of each sample.
      As a guideline prose fiction, creative non-fiction and dramatic dialogue samples should be no more than 1,000 words in length (please provide an extract of a longer piece of work if appropriate); applicants for the poetry seminar should provide five short poems.

  • All of your official university transcripts. These must be in English.

  • In the case of non-native speakers of English, official evidence of English language competency.

  • A letter of recommendation from a person - usually an academic who has taught you - who can give insight into your academic capabilities and writerly achievements. Where this is not possible, a letter from an appropriately qualified/experienced person who can comment on your motivation, commitment to writing and potential for development is acceptable; however, a reference from a family member or friend is not. Please note that the letter of recommendation must refer specifically to your application to the Oxford University Creative Writing Summer School.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications should be emailed to: writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk

After you have submitted your application

You will receive an email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk confirming receipt of your application materials, and informing you when your application will be reviewed by the admissions panel.

Application deadlines

This summer school operates a gathered field closing date system by which applications are reviewed fairly and equally in batches at specific dates throughout the admissions period rather than on a first come, first served or rolling basis.

There is a limited number of places available on every graduate-level course within each gathered field, and in assigning successful applicants to seminar groups the admissions panel will pay particular attention to applicants' personal statements.

There are three deadlines for applications:

  • Gathered field 1 - 15 February 2021
  • Gathered field 2 - 15 March 2021
  • Gathered field 3 - 15 April 2021

Subject to the availability of places, late applications may be considered on a first come, first served basis until 31 May 2021.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk within 14 days of the relevant gathered field deadline.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond in writing within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting an offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Late applicants will be notified within 7 days of their materials having been received, and successful applicants will then have 7 days in which to accept or decline the offer of a place.

Enrolment

Students will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted their offer of a place.

The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment (see "Payment", above).

Students will be required to provide four photographs (UK passport-sized - ie 4.5cm high x 3.5cm wide), with their full name printed on the back of each. The photographs should be posted to: Creative Writing Summer School, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, OXFORD, OX1 2JA, UK

Further course information

Students will receive the following information by email from writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk prior to the summer school:

  • In May 2021 - academic and course information, including detailed course content and required preparatory reading
  • In May 2021 - joining instructions, containing a wealth of practical information to assist students as they prepare to travel to to the summer school (eg how to get to Oxford, arrangements at Exeter College)
  • In May 2021 - details of the programme of talks and readings
  • In May 2021 - details of the social programme
  • In June 2021 - confirmation of arrival day arrangements.

Any queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at writingsummer@conted.ox.ac.uk

Covid-19 guidance for summer school participants

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of participants is our highest priority. We've introduced a range of measures to protect you when you are in university and college buildings, in accordance with university and UK government guidelines. These measures may include: enhanced cleaning regimes and additional facilities for hand washing and hand sanitising; spaces adapted to support social distancing with clear signage and markings; a requirement for the wearing of face coverings during in-person teaching and in indoor shared spaces.

You'll be required to follow university and UK government guidelines whilst in Oxford, and to sign a 'Student Responsibility Agreement' in advance of the course, confirming that you will do so (this will be similar to the version for university students, which you can review online).  Further information is available at www.ox.ac.uk/coronavirus/health. You should particularly review the university's face coverings policy, which you will need to comply with at all times on university property.

If UK government regulations require you to quarantine on arrival in the UK, then you will need to arrange this yourself at your own expense. Unfortunately, we aren't permitted to let you quarantine in university accommodation. Travel is not encouraged – and may not be permitted – if you are travelling from or through a country on the UK government's 'red list'.

Please also see "Payment", above.

Level and demands

Participants are expected to

  • undertake preparatory reading in advance of the programme;
  • attend all seminar sessions and talks and readings;
  • be actively engaged with their seminar topics;
  • submit an assignment of 2,000-3,000 words in length for each seminar taken; and
  • undertake approximately 96 hours of private study during the programme (elements of private study will include: reading, writing and other preparation between seminar meetings, work in the library, writing papers, etc).

Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements

European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss nationals (excludes Irish nationals)

You do not need a visa to enter the UK to participate in the summer school. You can enter as a visitor for up to 6 months by using your passport or identity card at the eGates. Note that from 1 October 2021, you will not be able to use your identity card and will need to show your passport; this is explained on the UK Government website. The Programme Administrator will provide all non-UK students with a standard format pdf letter by email confirming enrolment and course details once their fees have been paid in full which you should keep in your hand luggage in case you are ever asked any questions on arrival. If you have pre-settled or settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme this paragraph does not apply.

Non-EEA nationals

a. Nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, USA

If you hold a passport from one of these countries you can enter via the eGates as a visitor for up to 6 months. However, you should still keep the standard format pdf letter we will provide you in your hand luggage in case of any queries, or in case you need to attend a staffed desk if the eGates are not working or if the eGates cannot recognise the chip in your passport.

b. other non-EEA nationals

You may need to apply for a visa before coming to the UK depending on which passport you hold. You can check if you need a visa before coming to the UK on the UK Government website

  • If the website shows that you require a visa: you must apply for a visitor visa before coming to the UK. Please check current visa processing times to find out how long getting a visa might take in the country you are applying from.

  • If the website shows that you do not require a visa: you will still need to bring certain documents to show at the border in order to be admitted as a visitor

    If you are not a national in section a. we strongly recommend that you establish whether you will require a visa before submitting your application.

    You should ensure your summer school application is submitted as early as possible to allow yourself sufficient time to complete the visa application process.

    The Programme Administrator will provide all non-UK students with a standard format pdf letter by email confirming enrolment and course details once their fees have been paid in full.

    For legal reasons the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants: all such enquiries should be submitted to Oxford University's student visa and immigration advisers via email at student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk

    It is your responsibility to ensure that you have taken the necessary steps to enable you to be admitted to the UK. The university takes no responsibility for a visa being denied at any point before or during a course.

    If you fail to attend the course and are from a nationality that require a visa before coming to the UK, we may need to contact the Home Office if we have issued you with a standard format pdf letter for visa purposes.

Please note that the standard cancellation policy applies in all cases. (See "Cancellations", above.)

Disabled students (including those with mobility difficulties)

The aim of Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) is to treat all students equally and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Individuals' needs are taken into account as far as possible, providing reasonable adaptations and assistance within the resources available. We ask that people let us know of any disability or special need (confidentially if required) so that we can help them participate as fully as possible.

When applying for OUDCE's college-based summer schools, prospective students with mobility difficulties or visual or hearing impairments may want to make preliminary enquiries to the Programme Administrator, as the age and layout of these colleges often makes them user-unfriendly (although adaptations are often possible). Oxford, as an ancient city, tends to be difficult to navigate for people with disabilities. The number of very old buildings, designed in an age less sensitive to issues of disability, makes access to much of the city centre difficult. However, OUDCE will do as much as it is able to make study with the department possible.

Applicants should contact us if they will have problems gaining access to a bedroom or a teaching room that is located on upper or basement floors, or to the college dining hall (which is reached via a flight of stairs).

Selection criteria

This is an intensive programme of study taught to an informed international audience. Applicants should be confident that they are academically and linguistically prepared for such a programme.

  • All applicants should be keen readers and bring an open-minded, questioning approach to both reading and writing.
  • All applicants should have written regularly and read widely over a sustained period.
  • All applicants should have a proven record of commitment to their craft.

Academic requirements

Seminars are offered at two levels, to cater for students' writerly experience:

  • Intermediate courses are suitable for applicants who have completed 1-2 years of a full-time single honours university degree programme in creative writing or English literature, or a combined honours university degree programme in creative writing and English literature.
  • Advanced courses are suitable for applicants who have completed or nearly completed a full-time single honours university degree programme in creative writing or English literature, or a combined honours university degree programme in creative writing and English literature.
  • Note for those whose degree is in a different, but related, subject: the admissions panel will look for evidence that applicants have taken a significant number of courses in creative writing or English literature, namely the equivalent of one year's worth of credits in these subjects if applying for intermediate courses and two years' worth of credits if applying for advanced courses.

The summer school is not appropriate for those who have already achieved commercial publication.

English language requirements

As students are expected to participate fully in seminar discussions and are required to produce written work it is important that applicants can demonstrate an appropriate level of proficiency in the four language skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Applicants for whom English is not their first language must provide evidence of their competency in the form of an original certificate or a certified copy that is not more than two years old on the date the summer school starts. These applicants must satisfy one of the following requirements:

  • IELTS Academic - minimum overall score of 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in each of the four components
  • TOEFL iBT - minimum overall score of 100, with not less than 25 in each of the four components
  • Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) - grade C or above.

For further information on English language qualifications:

  • Click here for IELTS
  • Click here for TOEFL
  • Click here for CAE

However, non-native speakers of English who have successfully completed a full-time degree-level programme at a university where English is the language of instruction or who have significant business and professional experience in an English-speaking environment may not need to provide a certificate of English language qualification. Please contact the Programme Administrator for further details.

Accommodation

Location

Founded in 1314, Exeter College is one of Oxford University`s oldest colleges and is situated in a prime city centre location.

Bedrooms and meals

Students who choose to attend the summer school on a residential basis will have a single study bedroom.

Bedrooms are located up the four to nine floors of a staircase; bath and/or shower and toilet facilities on each staircase are shared. A limited number of rooms have private bathroom facilities (shower and toilet) and these are available for a higher fee. Early application for these rooms is essential.

Students cannot be accommodated at Exeter College either prior to or beyond their programme dates. Family members and/or friends who are not enrolled on this summer school cannot be accommodated in college.

Residential students will take meals in the college's dining hall. All meals are self-service with a range of options available. The only exceptions are the summer school's opening and closing dinners, which are formal served set menu meals. Should applicants have any dietary requirements (eg vegetarian, gluten-free) they are required to complete the relevant section on the application form.

Please be aware that accommodation at Exeter College is limited and may not be available for those who submit their applications towards the end of the admissions period.

Non-residential students

Students who choose to attend the summer school on a non-residential basis are responsible for finding their own accommodation. Information on accommodation in Oxford is available at:

  • Conference Oxford
  • Experience Oxfordshire
  • University Rooms Oxford

No meals are provided for non-residential students, except the summer school's opening and closing dinners.

IT requirements

Although it is not required, most students bring a laptop to Oxford to assist them with their studies.

For residential students, wireless internet access is available in all bedrooms; for all students, wireless access is available in communal spaces of the college.

All students will be eligible to use the computers and printer in Exeter College's computer room.