Will my work be read by an agent on the Higher Diploma in Creative Writing?

Yes — the agent and editor sessions are a built-in part of the course. Your work is read and commented on by a working UK literary agent and an editor at a UK publisher. This is not a guarantee of representation, but it is direct industry feedback.

Can I take the Higher Diploma in Creative Writing online?

Yes. Creative writing translates particularly well to fully-online delivery, with synchronous workshops, recorded craft sessions and the same portfolio requirement. Distance-learning students complete on extended deadlines with named tutor support.

Does the Higher Diploma in Creative Writing teach screenwriting?

Drama and adaptation are covered as adjacent forms, with introductory screenwriting workshop sessions. Students wanting a screenwriting-specific path should consider a specialist MA in Screenwriting after the Higher Diploma — the Higher Diploma is excellent preparation for that route.

Higher Diploma in Creative Writing | LSJHML London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The Higher Diploma in Creative Writing at the London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages (LSJHML) is a fifteen-to-eighteen-month UK qualification for writers ready to sustain a long project across the academic year, deepen their craft across multiple forms, and graduate with a polished submission portfolio. You will work on a novel section, a poetry sequence or a long-form creative non-fiction project, run sustained workshop practice with a small cohort, and have your work read by a published author and a working literary agent.

The Higher Diploma in Creative Writing is taught in dialogue with the Society of Authors and the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). It is built for the writer who wants a structured year of sustained work — not occasional inspiration — and a credential that takes them into a Bachelor's final year or onto an agent's reading pile.

Key Features

UK Higher Diploma (Level 5) in creative writing — fifteen to eighteen months full-time, with online and distance routes.
Sustained project module — a novel section (40,000 words), poetry sequence or long-form creative non-fiction across the academic year.
Cross-form craft strand — short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, drama and adaptation as adjacent forms.
Workshop practice in small fixed cohorts with structured peer-feedback discipline.
Agent and editor sessions — your work read and commented on by a working UK literary agent and an editor at a UK publisher.
Direct top-up into the final year of a UK Bachelor's degree at LSJHML or a partner university.

What You Will Learn

The Higher Diploma in Creative Writing is structured around the sustained craft of a working writer — the project, the revision, the workshop, the submission, the rejection, the next draft. You graduate with a polished submission portfolio, the editorial vocabulary to talk about your own work, and a working sense of the UK literary market.

Long-form structure — novel architecture, poetry sequence shape, long-form creative non-fiction arc.
Voice and craft — the distinctive sentence, the consistent point of view, the trustworthy narrator.
Workshop discipline — giving structured feedback, receiving it without collapsing, applying it without becoming somebody else.
Revision craft — structural revision, line-edit discipline, the writer's relationship with cuts.
Cross-form work — what fiction can teach poetry, what poetry can teach prose, what drama can teach both.
Submission craft — covering letters, query letters, pitches, agent and editor research.
Reading as a writer — analytical close reading of contemporary published work.
The UK literary market — agents, publishers, prizes, magazines, residencies, public funding.

Who This Higher Diploma Is For

Writers with a Diploma or significant practice ready for a sustained year on a long project.
Working professionals with serious writing practice wanting structured craft training before submission.
Returners to writing after a long break, seeking workshop discipline and a credential.
Students preparing for a Bachelor's top-up year in Creative Writing or English at LSJHML or a partner university.

Career Pathways

Creative writing is a portfolio career for most of its practitioners — publication, teaching, residencies, editorial work and adjacent writing for film, television and audio. The Higher Diploma in Creative Writing supports a credible move into the writing market and into postgraduate study. Typical destinations include:

Novelist (with agent representation and publication)
Screenwriter (television, film, streaming-platform commissioning)
Poet (publication, residency, prize circuit)
Creative Writing Tutor (further education, adult education, community writing programmes)
Literary Agent's Reader (agency, in-house publishing reader)
Editorial Assistant (publisher, literary magazine, longform digital publisher)

The Higher Diploma articulates directly into the final year of a UK BA in Creative Writing, English Literature or a related discipline at LSJHML or a partner university.

Entry Requirements

An Advanced Diploma (Level 5) or equivalent in a related subject, OR a Diploma plus two years of relevant work experience.
IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
Personal statement, CV and a substantial writing sample (3,000–5,000 words of prose, or 6–10 poems).
Mature applicants (25+) without standard qualifications may apply with significant writing practice and a portfolio submission.

Why Study at LSJHML

The London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London. Our programmes are designed in dialogue with working professionals — journalists, translators, civil servants, academics, broadcasters, editors, publishers and policy researchers — so what you learn in seminar on Monday is what your future employer is using on Tuesday. We deliberately keep cohorts small, give every student named tutor support, and treat employability as a structural part of every programme rather than an optional add-on.

London is the work — politics, courts, capital markets, theatre, broadcasting, publishing, public service, the global press. Your studies are taught in the same square mile where the stories you read about happen. Whether you join us on-campus, online or by distance learning, the city is your classroom and our industry network is your launchpad.