MA Fine Art - Canterbury

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has launched an Integrated International Pre-Masters year, which is based at UCA Farnham.

On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Master’s, and you’ll also improve your English for academic study.

Context and Method
In this unit, you’ll be asked to consider specific texts to address key themes and ideas, which have influenced thinking and practice in contemporary art. In seminars and lectures you’ll discuss texts drawn from artistic, literary and philosophical contexts. This will help you consider your own ideas, and you’ll also learn about what research methods are available to you for your studies.

Exploring Practice
Running in parallel with Context and Method, you’ll explore your own creative practice - and how it fits into the wider context of contemporary art - through practical enquiry, group discussion of ongoing work and one-to-one tutorials. This will help you refine what areas of art interest you most, and help you put together your MA project proposal, a written document, which is assessed at the end of the unit alongside a presentation of your practical work.

Project Development
You’ll begin developing your MA project proposal, evaluating and testing out methods and theories as you go. You’ll be guided and questioned through one-to-one tutorials and group critiques and you’ll be encouraged to continue questioning and exploring your ideas throughout. Additionally, you’ll produce a critical research paper, and you’ll be actively encouraged to show and distribute your work outside the university context.

Final Project
The culmination of what you’ll have learned through the course, your final project is the focus of your final term. You’ll generate an idea for a piece which can be either disseminated, displayed or published, either for the public or to other professionals. You’ll be encouraged to produce something ambitious but to a professional level of resolution. As well as your final body of work you’ll produce a critical evaluation paper and a professional practice folio.

Tuition fees - 2023 entry

UK students (full-time):

• Integrated Pre-Masters course - £10,500
• MA course - £10,500

UK students (part-time):

• MA course - £5,250

EU students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)
• MA course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
• MA course - £17,500

Further information
For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.

The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. Costs may increase each year during a student’s period of continued registration on course in line with inflation (subject to any maximum regulated tuition fee limit). Any adjustment for continuing students will be at or below the RPI-X forecast rate.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources.

Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

You'll find everything you need to know for your level of study on our scholarships page.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.

Working internationally with other universities, local and national galleries and museums, and specialist partners within industry, our course draws on a number of industrial links and expertise from a range of creative fields.

You'll be actively encouraged to show and distribute your work outside of the university context. And guest lectures and professional practice seminars will enable you to develop your personal networks and awareness of professional practice.

Connections include local arts organisations such as:

• Stour Valley Arts
• Strange Cargo
• The Creative Foundation
• The Whitstable Biennale
• Turner Contemporary

Our MA Fine Art course features regular Professional Practice talks, tutorials and crits with the likes of:

• JJ Charlesworth, Editor Art Review
• Jean Wainwright, independent curator and art critic
• Emma Lewis, Curator Tate Modern
• Sid Motion, Gallery Owner Sid Motion Gallery London
• Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Projects, National Gallery London

Lots of our graduates go on to develop careers in fields such as:

• Arts administration
• Creative media management
• Curatorial practices
• Education
• Filmmaking
• Fine art
• Freelance photography
• Pre and post production work
• Printmaking and reprographics
• Producing
• Public art
• Publishing
• Sound production
• Video editing.

You may like to explore an MPhil or PhD to deepen your knowledge even further.

MA course

• A good honours degree or equivalent qualification in a related discipline
  
  

and/or

• Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.
  
  

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course

The entry requirements for this course will depend on the country your qualifications are from, please check the equivalent qualifications for your country:

• Non-UK equivalent qualifications

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

• A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

English language requirements

To study at UCA, you'll need to have a certain level of English language skill. And so, to make sure you meet the requirements of your course, we ask for evidence of your English language ability, please chcek the level of English language required:

• English language requirements