Our MA Playwriting course is an intensive one-year programme designed to provide a genuine gateway into a writing career in the theatre and performance industries. Like our successful MA Screenwriting course, the MA Playwriting is taught by practitioners and is vocationally-oriented and industry-focused. Over the course of the year, you will work with leading industry practitioners to develop your playwriting, pitching and dramaturgical skills. You will learn about and develop skills in writing for performance across a diverse range of contexts, genres and themes. By the end of the course, you will have developed at least one full-length stage play, a collection of one-act dramas, a full-length festival play and at least one play that adapts elements of a classic text to engage with a contemporary context. You will have access to individual career guidance and training in how to navigate entry-level writing work in the theatre and performance industries. The course features regular speakers from the industry, including returning alumni who have established successful careers as writers, dramaturgs and producers.
Which department am I in?
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Study options
Full Time
(1 Year)
Tuition fees
£29,900.00 (US$ 38,614)
per year
This is a fixed fee
Start date
September 2026
Venue
Main Campus
Oxford Road,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M13 9PL, Northern England, United Kingdom
Entry requirements
For international students
We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area. An overall grade of 7
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.