Children’s Literature PGCert (Online)
Explore the stories that shape childhood
100% online
8 months (part-time)
60 credits
3 starts per year
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Combine creative writing with critical insight
The Postgraduate Certificate in Children’s Literature offers a focused introduction to the creative, cultural, and critical study of children’s and young adult (YA) literature. Designed for readers, writers, and educators, this programme explores how stories for young audiences shape ideas of identity, imagination, and belonging while helping you develop the analytical and writing skills needed to engage thoughtfully with the evolving field of children’s literature.
Certificate details
- Join one of the UK’s leading institutions
- Flexible entry and exit routes for lifelong progression
- Curriculum focused on literary analysis and creative writing
- Learning grounded in critical discussion
Curriculum with creative and cultural depth
60 courses
4 courses
The PGCert introduces key areas of children’s and YA literary history, genre, and theory while encouraging critical discussion of representation, diversity, readership, and publishing contexts.
Alongside literary analysis, you will experiment with your own creative writing and gain insight into how texts are produced and circulated within contemporary publishing landscapes. The programme reflects Goldsmiths’ distinctive integration of creative practice and critical scholarship.
View Programme SpecificationRequired Children’s Literature PGCert courses
Phase 1
Analyse how literary genres and narrative forms shape meaning across historical and cultural contexts, and how ideas of childhood influence storytelling conventions.
Explore how identities, power, and representation operate in children’s and YA texts. You’ll engage with questions of marginalisation, intersectionality, and social justice — and reflect on your own positionality as a reader, writer, or researcher.
Examine how publishing industries have shaped the production, circulation, and canonisation of children’s literature — and how ideas of childhood have evolved alongside them.
Develop your own creative work focused on childhood or adolescence, experimenting with voice, perspective, character, and structure.
Please note that occasionally we may make changes to our programme curriculum. You may not always study modules in the order they are listed here.
Career pathways in children’s literature
Graduates pursue careers across children’s and YA publishing, including editorial, digital, and marketing roles, alongside opportunities in creative writing, literary agencies, and cultural organisations. Pathways also extend to education and literacy advocacy, arts administration, and content development for youth-focused media.
Career detailsValue of a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert)
A Postgraduate Certificate is ideal if you want to gain specialist knowledge without committing to a full master’s degree. It allows you to build advanced, industry-relevant skills in a shorter time frame – helping you move forward while balancing work, finances and personal commitments:
- Focus on what matters most – study targeted modules that develop the skills you need.
- Complete in less time – achieve a recognised postgraduate qualification in a shorter study period.
- Lower overall cost – study fewer credits than a full master’s, reducing your financial investment.
- Apply your learning immediately – gain practical, career-focused skills you can use straight away.
- Progress when you’re ready – use your PGCert as a stepping stone to a Postgraduate Diploma or full master’s in the future.
- Earn a recognised Level 7 qualification – strengthen your CV and professional profile with a respected postgraduate award.
Programme outcomes
Upon completion, you will be able to connect core literary knowledge with creative practice in children’s and YA contexts. You will build analytical skills and creative confidence, alongside the critical awareness needed to engage thoughtfully with representation, identity, and the influence of storytelling:
- Demonstrate knowledge of key developments in children’s and YA literary history and genre.
- Critically evaluate representation, identity, and ideology in texts for young audiences.
- Apply theoretical perspectives to literary analysis.
- Develop and reflect on your own creative writing practice.
- Communicate complex literary ideas clearly to diverse audiences.
Entry criteria
We welcome graduates from literature, education, childhood studies, creative and cultural studies, arts and humanities, and other related disciplines. While we seek applicants with a bachelor’s degree, we do consider those with relevant work experience. For typical entry to this programme, you will have:
- A BA or BSc Degree at level 2:2 (or equivalent) or above in any subject.
If you do not meet standard entry criteria, we may accept applications with no degree or significant work experience. Contact us to learn more.
English language proficiency requirement
If English is not your first language, you will need to supply an up-to-date English language test certificate. We accept IELTS certificates with an overall score of 6.5 and no less than 6.0 in any band. Alternative test certificates are also accepted, and exemptions can be made. Please contact us to find out more.
AdmissionsTuition and funding
The estimated total cost of this programme is £5,200 GBP for the full PGCert. You can pay in full or in instalments of £1,300 for each module. All costs are listed to help you make an informed decision.
Programme fees are reviewed annually and are subject to change each academic year. The fees listed above are for the academic year 2025-26.
Fees and Funding
We are excited to be offering discounts. Review our tuition and funding pages for more information.
Funding optionsMeet your faculty
The faculty within the School of Mind, Body, and Society bring together creative practice, literary scholarship, and social consciousness. Comprising writers, critics, and educators, they are deeply engaged with both the artistry and the politics of children’s literature. Their shared ethos is one of critical creativity—approaching children’s texts not only as stories, but as cultural artefacts that shape ideas of childhood, identity, and society.
Dr Emily Corbett, Programme Convenor
Dr Emily Corbett
Dr Corbett is General Editor of The International Journal of Young Adult Literature. As Programme Convenor, she offers a strong grounding in academic and critical perspectives on children’s and young adult literature. Her work often engages with identity, readership, and contemporary publishing, providing students with analytical tools to interrogate the field’s evolving boundaries.
Michael Rosen, Professor, Children’s Literature
Professor Michael Rosen
Since the late 1960s, Michael Rosen has written extensively across books, articles, plays, and scripts, alongside performing poetry for audiences of all ages and broadcasting on literature-related topics across radio and television. He served as the UK Children’s Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Michael studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, before completing an MA at the University of Reading. After earning his PhD in 1997, he has taught children’s literature on MA programmes at universities in the UK and internationally.