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This guide explores everything you could need to know about studying in the creative arts at postgraduate level. It’s a diverse and exciting field, known for its competitiveness just as much as the creativity of its practitioners.
A postgraduate course in a creative field is a popular way to build essential career skills, collaborate with others and get an edge when it comes to building a successful career.
Understanding the entry requirements, likely course content and the jobs that await graduates of your chosen subject are all key considerations when applying to postgraduate level study. Lucky for you, this article contains all that and more. So, keep reading to learn more about the creative arts courses and unis out there.
CONTENTS
The creative arts include fine art, illustration, sculpture, music, design, photography, cinema, literature, performance, dance and more. Students of the creative arts set themselves apart due to their study of, and involvement in, the creation of new pieces, products and performances that require imaginative, lateral, and emotional insights to form.
Studying the creative arts at postgraduate level is a fantastic way to develop your interests and abilities as an artist or creator, building on your experiences at undergraduate level and moving towards a professional career in the arts or creative industries more widely.
Whether following your creative passions, gaining industry or professional skills for a certain type of role, exploring a new area or making a name for yourself, the creative arts offer limitless potential to ambitious and dedicated students.
You could work towards a few different postgraduate qualifications during your studies in the creative arts.
The MA is one of the most common master’s level degrees in this field. It’s a taught qualification, usually involving the development of an advanced understanding of the theory, practices and techniques used in your field, where you will apply your new skills in the completion of a dissertation or project.
The MDes is specific to design programmes, representing your training in a particular discipline and a deep understanding of the field’s foundational principles. The MFA is earned by students of fine arts, while the MMus is awarded to students who successfully complete their postgraduate degree in music.
PGCert and PGDip qualifications are available in under a year of full-time study, perfect for students looking to quickly train in a new area.
MRes, MPhil and PhD programmes are all research focused, requiring students to work more independently in the creation of new knowledge and the progression of their respective fields.
As a diverse and wide-reaching sector, creative arts offer postgraduates an almost endless array of career opportunities and life paths after they complete their studies.
Many students continuing their studies in this field are hoping to build experience, develop new skills, cultivate their creativity and make useful connections in order to succeed as an artist or creator. Some of the roles you might be working towards include:
While many students do go on to work as creatives, there is a wealth of industry roles that are directly related to these creative disciplines, while not being concerned with the creation of new works. These are typically concerned with the management, marketing, preservation and distribution of creative works. Roles include:
To successfully apply for a postgraduate course in the creative arts, you’ll typically need to have at least a 2:2 at undergraduate level. However, this will vary between programmes, and some may have a 2:1 minimum.
In many cases, students with alternate qualifications and experience are also able to apply – even if they lack the academic grades outlined above.
Many courses in the creative arts will ask for the submission of a portfolio of work to assess as part of your application. Attendance of an interview can also be required in many cases.
The creative arts encompass many artistic disciplines and related subject areas, meaning you could explore courses like:
While creative arts courses can vary widely in their content, your typical curriculum could include modules like:
Creative arts are a broad field, but in general students will dedicate their time and effort to honing their creative skills, learning useful techniques and theories related to their discipline, and training with professional equipment, software and spaces.
While most courses will focus on helping students develop themselves as creative practitioners, such as artists, performers, craftspeople or authors, many courses will also equip students for success in the variety of industries that surround, enable and market creative output. This could include things like curation, management, marketing, entrepreneurship and more.
Postgraduate students of the creative arts can expect to stand out in areas like idea generation, artistic expression, research, project management and communication after their studies, helping them secure a range of roles or further develop their careers as artists.
Teaching and assessment methods will vary widely depending on what area of the creative arts you decide to focus on for your postgraduate studies.
Pursuing a degree in literature, for example, will see you completing lectures, seminars and tutor group sessions, while assessment will mainly be through graded essays, possibly with some assessed presentations.
Studying in an area like sculpture, fine art or photography will involve a lot of time spent in studios, working on projects and receiving tutelage in small groups. Assessment will be through coursework, a portfolio, and final project assignments.
Subjects like dance and theatre deliver teaching mainly through rehearsals and group learning, while assessment will be through graded performances and coursework.
Creative design degrees usually last one year if studied full time at postgraduate level. This includes MA, MDes, MMus and MFA degrees – though the latter can sometimes last up to 18 months.
Shorter courses like PGCert or PGDip could last as little as one semester, while MPhil and doctorates could take up to four or even five years.
Studying part-time will generally take twice as long as full-time study.
As each course will have an individual length depending on the course content, it’s advised to check the programme profile page for specific details.
There are a huge range of universities offering postgraduate courses in creative arts across the UK. With more than 135 institutions and over 880 programmes to explore, our university search tool makes finding an ideal course manageable.
As creative arts is a broad term encompassing many individual disciplines, there are a number of more focused programmes you might also consider depending on your interests. They include:
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