Course details

Summary

About the programme

This programme allows students to explore and develop their writing skills as a vocation, with a strong focus on transferable writing skills, using new media and establishing a strong writing CV.

The teaching in this programme is largely experiential and project-focused. From almost day one, you will work, with guidance and support, on local industry-based projects, both in teams and individually, and covering a range of genres.

At the same time, you will be able to pursue your personal aspirations as a writer, whether it is to write the next blockbuster novel, a collection of poems or develop a script for film or a TV series.

Flexible

• Study full time (1 year) or part-time
• This programme uses a blended learning model; majority of the programmes content is available, to enrolled students, online. In some cases, in consultation with your tutor, courses maybe studied remotely.
• Courses in fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scriptwriting run in both semesters.

Key skills

• The following key skills are built into all courses in the programme;
• The principles in writing for a range of genres
• Ways of making a career out of writing
• Writers use of new media

Graduate outcomes

Graduates of the NMIT Writing for Creative Industries programme now work as writers in various roles in local industry, some as journalists and media writing specialists. Many students have had work published in local and national journals, achieved success in competitions or gone on to have books published. Others have progressed into study in the Master of Creative Writing programme at Victoria University of Wellington, or similar writing programmes.

Entry criteria

Applicants under the age of 20:

A minimum of 42 credits at Level 3 or higher on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), including at least 14 credits at NCEA Level 3 (or equivalent) in each of two subjects, of which at least one relates to English; and at least one is from the subject list below; with a further 14 credits at Level 3 or higher taken from no more than two additional domains on the NZQF.

Design
Painting
Printmaking
Graphics
Technology
Sculpture
History of Art
Photography
Media Studies
Design (Practical Art)
English
Social Studies
History
Media Studies
Music Studies
Painting (Practical Art)
Photography (Practical Art)
Printmaking (Practical Art)
Sculpture (Practical Art)
Technology Drama

OR

Successful completion of a recognised arts/media/foundation programme or equivalent, for example, the Certificate in Tertiary Study (level 4) (Pathways).

Applicants aged 20 years or above:

No academic qualifications are required.

English Language Requirements:

All applicants must have a level of English sufficient to be able to study at the level at which they enter the programme.
Those students whose first language is not English will have:

An International English Language Testing System (IELTS) overall academic score of at least 6.0 issued within the last two years, with no band score less than 5.5.

OR

An equivalent qualification such as TOEFL (Testing of English as a Foreign Language) or Cambridge ESOL (English as Second Ordinary Language)