Practitioners from many companies, venues and national organisations teach on the programme, providing a direct link with the profession. See our partners in learning.

Through individual research and placement with an arts company or management organisation, you will develop essential practical skills to enhance your potential and your employability as an arts administrator.

Please note that a placement with any specific arts organisation is not guaranteed, however, we take you through a supportive process to gain a placement with an appropriate arts organisation.

The programme also offers you one module in a complementary area, offered by the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Department of Theatre and Performance, Department of Design, and Music Department. An indicative list of option modules is listed in the "What you'll study" section below.

The programme enables you to develop the following skills:
- Critical awareness of cultural policy issues
- Preparation of specific audience development (marketing) and fundraising strategies for arts organisations, and more generic organisation strategic plans
- Leadership and teamwork skills
- A range of knowledge and skills required for operating in the cultural sector
- An understanding of how new technologies impact on culture at all levels

Compulsory modules

You will take the following compulsory modules. Full-time students study for two-and-a-half days a week, while part-time students study for one day a week.

Cultural Policy and Practice - 30 credits
Management and Professional Practice 2: Business Planning for Arts Organisations - 30 credits
MA Arts Administration & Cultural Policy: Dissertation - 60 credits

You will also take one of the following modules.

Management and Professional Practice 1: Work Placement - 30 credits
Management and Professional Practice 1A: Culture of Management Report - 30 credits

Option modules

In addition to the compulsory modules above, you will also choose one 'shared module' which will allow you to develop your understanding of creative practice, or specialist area of management. These are focussed on one area of creative practice: Music, Theatre and Performance, Visual Arts, Entrepreneurship, or Cultural Diplomacy. Students can select one interdisciplinary module from a range of departments. Examples of modules previously taken on the programme have included
Please note: some modules may be required that you have a background in the area you wish to study as they are primarily concerned with the discipline rather than its administration/management – for example in music.

Theatre and Performance
Theatre and Performance
Disability Theatre - 30 credits
Radical Performance - 30 credits

ICCE
Entrepreneurial Modelling - 30 credits
Interpretation, Education and Communication in the Art Museum- 30 credits
Culture, Tourism and Regeneration - 30 credits
Contemporary Issues in Cultural Policy - 30 credits

Music

Modules from MMus Programmes

Design

Enterprising Leadership: An Introduction to Leadership, Enterprise, and Innovation Theory - 30 credits

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.