Graduate Certificate or Diploma of Creative Writing

Certificate and diploma level courses in creative writing are ideal for students wanting to greatly improve their writing ability in a short period of time. Programs like those offered by the University of Sydney host a number of workshops that provide specific advice to attendees. They also tend to engage students with the wider writing community, providing access to published professors, festivals, competitions and performances.

Certificate level courses tend to take six months to complete if studied full time, or a year if part-time. Diplomas are double this at one-year full time and two years part-time.

Employment options

Graduates from these courses will find themselves better equipped to enter any of the careers listed here. Companies such as Showpony Advertising or McCann are always looking for skilled writers to produce high-quality ad copy, for instance. Places like Lexington Writing Firm, on the other hand, look for skilled editors to join their ranks. The improved level of skill gained from graduate certificates and diplomas is desirable to many of these companies, making postgraduate study in these fields a potentially lucrative choice.

Scholarships and funding

Funding opportunities for creative writing at the certificate and diploma level are quite rare, but there are still plenty of general scholarship opportunities. The Endeavour Scholarships & Fellows award and General Sir John Monash Scholarships are examples of these, although these tend to have requirements well beyond GPA. For instance, the latter requires students to study at an overseas university and argue the merits of their chosen institution. Others like the Gallipoli Scholarship require students to have a descendant that fought in WWI. Students should, therefore, be wary of these before applying.

Prerequisites and selection process

These courses tend to be quite accessible, in most cases requiring a bachelor degree in any field. Others have the added option of entering without a prior bachelor degree so long as applicants have several years of work experience. Prestigious institutions like the University of Sydney or Macquarie University often require a high level of demonstrable written English to be assessed via test as well.