Breakthrough novel-writing scholarship for writers with low income

Course dates: 18th May to 23rd November 2026

If you’re working on a novel and need time, support and expert guidance to develop it, this fully funded six-month course could be the opportunity that gets your writing to the next stage.

We're the creative writing school affiliated to the major UK literary and talent agency. Curtis Brown Creative has been helping writers tell their stories for over 14 years. We launched in 2011 with our flagship London-based Writing Your Novel courses with the aim of finding talented writers, and helping them to get the best out of their writing and to develop their novels to their full potential.

We are thrilled to announce that this Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship will provide the full course fee for a talented writer with limited financial means to study on our six-month online Writing Your Novel course led by Anna Freeman and Holly Seddon. Course runs 18 May to 23 Nov.

This scholarship is part of the Breakthrough Writers’ Programme, our outreach programme which offers opportunities to under-represented writers. We aim to promote diversity in our student groups and to enable talented writers to join our courses who we might not otherwise have heard from.

If you have the desire to write, a great idea and a compelling voice – and if you’re without the financial means to attend a Curtis Brown Creative course, this scholarship opportunity is for you.

Course Details

Eligibility

The scholarship is open to writers over the age of 18, who fulfil our low-income eligibility criteria.

• Unmarried and not co-habiting with a partner, with an annual (gross, pre-tax) income of less than £30,000 and personal savings of less than £10,000.
• Married or co-habiting with a partner, with a total annual (gross pre-tax) household income of less than £45,000 and personal savings (jointly or individually) of less than £10,000.

If you don’t quite fit our financial criteria but are nonetheless financially challenged, then do apply, explaining your circumstances in the form.

Our form asks you to make a statement about your financial income and the reason you deserve this fully funded opportunity.

Terms & Conditions

• Applicants to the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers with Low Income must fulfil our eligibility criteria. Our form asks you to make a statement about your financial income and the reason you deserve this fully funded opportunity.
• With respect to the earnings thresholds set out in our eligibility section: for salaried applicants, your current salary at date of application must be under the threshold. For self-employed applicants, your gross pre-tax profits (average figure for the last two financial years) must be under the threshold. State benefits such as jobseeker’s allowance should be counted as income.
• Applicants may be asked to provide proof of their financial circumstances in support of their scholarship applications.
• Because the scholarship is open only to those who do not have the means to attend the applicable course without financial assistance, applicants should bear in mind that their application will be considered only for the scholarship places and not for other fee-paying places on the courses.
• Applicants must not be currently represented by a literary agent.
• Applicants must not have previously published a full-length book with a traditional, non-academic publisher.

Ready to apply?

Curtis Brown Creative offers places on our courses on the basis of proven writing ability. Please apply with the first 3,000 words of the novel you’d like to work on during the course, and a synopsis of no more than a page (both need to be in the same document, as you can only upload ONE file in the application below). Please note that those with the financial means to attend our courses should not apply to this scholarship.

This scholarship will be awarded to the applicant whose submission material shows the greatest potential and promise in our view. The decision will be made by the Curtis Brown Creative team.

Our application process is simple, and we encourage all writers meeting the eligibility criteria to apply.

Don’t worry if you have little or nothing to say in response to questions about e.g. writing experience or employment. Just fill out the form, upload your work and we’ll be in touch soon.

The deadline for applications is Monday 20 April and we will respond to applicants by Friday 24 April. If you encounter any problems during the application process or have any more questions about the courses, please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk for assistance.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.