You'll be introduced to the University and the technical workshops and facilities available to you. The first term includes a range of lectures and seminars and you’ll start to explore your creative practice.

Research Methods: Practice and Context
This forms the foundation of your developing postgraduate studies by reflecting on the diverse history, practice, function, theories and consumption relating to illustration. It will enable you to critically evaluate and reflect on your creative practice and apply appropriate research methods in support of your creative development.

Exploratory Illustration Practice
This unit focuses on self-directed practice, in which you'll define and develop individual rationales and methods of working.

During term two you begin developing your MA project, evaluating and testing out the aims of your proposal over a sustained period of self-directed study.

Illustration Practice and Development
In this unit, you'll develop and explore your practice further in response to your developing project proposal. The work undertaken in this unit should build on the research questions you initiated and explored in the Exploratory Illustration Practice unit. You'll continue to evaluate and test the aims of your proposal over a sustained period of self-directed study. This unit encourages the continued exploration, development and refinement of individual working methodologies and strategies.

Illustration: Collaborative Practice
This unit provides a framework in which to evaluate and reflect on the development of your creative practice and proposal in relation to potential areas of collaboration and dissemination.

In the third term of the course, you'll apply the knowledge gained through your research to create a final body of work.

Illustration Final Project: Realisation and Dissemination
This is the culmination and consolidation of your studies - it should be a resolved piece or body of work demonstrating evidence of advanced conceptual, theoretical and technical capability over an extended period of self-directed study.

Tuition fees
The course fees per year for 2020 entry are:

• UK and EU students full-time - £8,000
• UK and EU students part-time - £4,000

• International students full-time - £16,250 (standard fee)
• International students full-time - £15,600 (full early payment fee)

Additional course costs
In addition to the tuition fees please see the additional course costs, these are still to be finalised for 2020 entry but as a guide please see the additional course costs for 2019 entry.

To support all of our current students and our recent UK and EU alumni to progress to the next level of study, we have developed a new range of fee discounts across a range of courses.

• Read more about fee discounts

Illustration at UCA has a long tradition of original narrative and storytelling through images, reflecting staff expertise and practice in these areas.

Students on MA Illustration also benefit from well-established industry connections.

Graduates from our MA Illustration course go on to establish careers in a diverse range of exciting areas, such as:

• Freelance illustration
• Self-publishing
• Artist practice
• Printmaking
• Curation
• Editing
• Animation
• Project management
• Education
• Design
• Digital imaging
• Web authoring
• Multi-media production.