UCA Postgraduate Guide 2024

Postgraduate guide 2024

Why UCA?

Creativity is fluid and ever-changing. If you’re a creative looking to evolve your practice, diversify your skills, or carve a route to a career that aligns with your passions, you can do it here at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA).

At UCA, we blend the traditional with the modern, the theoretical with the practical, and in-depth research with experimentation, to help you take your specialism to new, exciting levels.

Our postgraduate community extends across our three campuses – Canterbury, Epsom and Farnham – and incorporates a wealth of facilities, galleries, and exhibition spaces, together with a thriving research community.

You’ll learn alongside students from around the globe and be guided by expert tutors and world-renowned professorial fellows.

In short, you’ll have all the tools, knowledge, freedom, and professional connections you need to create the work you are compelled to make.

Our stories

“I decided to do a Master’s and chose UCA because I needed to do something new, and this course offered me the opportunity to try out new expressions, to trial and experiment with new materials. Here, I can broaden the spectrum.

The best thing about UCA is actually my classmates – I have the coolest classmates, who I can share ideas with and who come from different backgrounds.”

Oluwafemi Babalola, MA Fine Art (Farnham)

“Doing an MA felt like a natural next step for me, both personally and professionally. I had already gained considerable ‘real-world’ experience and I wanted to return to my studies in order to find out what new directions my work could take. The creative freedom that the course offered enabled me to explore many different styles and approaches.”

Angus Fraser, MA Photography

“This course has given me the resources and knowledge to start my film career. From developing a script to shooting a professional short film, it’s given me an extensive overview of all the elements of filmmaking. I’ve found inspiration everywhere, sharing the creative environment with people from different backgrounds and cultures. It’s been fantastic, and I couldn’t be more proud to belong to the UCA family.”

Ana Pico, MA Filmmaking

“As a mature student, I can recommend this course without reservation. The structure of the course, the external speakers, the masterclasses, the administrative and library support – it all adds up to an environment that encourages discussion, experimentation and enquiry, and that really drives developments in your artistic practice. I have benefited greatly from this environment in ways I didn’t anticipate. And as if this weren’t enough, it’s been fun! A true collegiate experience.”

Ian Palmer, MA Fine Art (Canterbury)

Student credit - Oluwafemi Babalola

creditWai Yi Chung

Student creditRuwen Zhang

MA Glass

MA Global Fashion Cultures

MA/MSc Global Marketing & Communications

MBM Global Masters in Business & Management*

MA Graphic Design

MSc Human Computer Interaction*

MA/MSc Human Resources Management for the Creative Industries

MA Illustration

MA Interactive App Development*

MA Interface & Interactive Design

MA Interior Decoration & Styling*

MA Interior Design

MA/MSc International Music Management

MA Jewellery

MA Journalism & Communications*

MA Landscape Architecture*

MA/MSc Luxury Business Management

MSc Luxury Buying & Logistics*

MA Make-up & Hair Design

MA Photography

MFA Photography

MA Product Design

MA Screen Acting & Performance

MA Textiles

MSc Urban Design*

MA User Experience Design

MA Virtual & Immersive Reality*

MA Visual Communication

MA Visual Effects

PGCert in Creative Education

PGCert Professional Practice in Architecture (RIBA/ARB Part 3)

Our facilities

Our campuses are kitted out with everything you’ll need to follow your creative interests wherever they take you – from the latest VR software and hardware to traditional weaving looms and dye labs. Whatever it is you want to create, you can make it here – in a way that will also help you develop the most sought-after skills in your industry.

Canterbury facilities

Large, accessible machine workshop equipped with a mixture of hand tools and machinery including CNC routing and milling machine

Digital Fabrication Lab where you can use laser cutters and 3D/SLS printers

Print Bureau with multiple options on finishing and papers, offering self-service and bespoke printing to professional standards

Sculpture studios equipped with resins, kilns, and facilities for moulding, casting, welding and plasma cutting

Painting studio, where you will learn to construct frames and stretchers, as well as using traditional painting techniques and materials

Printmaking studios for screen-printing, litho, offset, lino cutting, and etching

Three fully equipped digital media suites with the latest Macs and PCs running up-to-date software

Motion Capture studio

Colour and black-and-white darkrooms for developing film, cyanotype, and the use of industry-standard film processors

Photographic studio, where you will be able to book photoshoots and document your portfolio of work

Animation suite installed with specialist software, high-end drawing tablets and scanners

Dedicated research base (Doctoral College) and Visual Communication studios at Rochester House.

Epsom facilities

Extensive fashion studios with sewing facilities

Dedicated Fashion Atelier machine rooms and pattern-cutting studios

The Gerber suite, a unique Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) facility for fashion

Digital Fashion studio

Textiles studios

Make-up and hair design salon

Digital print studio with large and small format printing, bookbinding, guillotine, perfect binding, vinyl cutting, and dry mounting

Screen-print studio for traditional printing

Facilities for traditional oil-based print including intaglio, relief, and hot metal letterpress equipment

Sound studio with equipped sound booth

Woodwork and plaster studios

Fully equipped photographic studios

Colour film processing (C41) developing film, and hi-spec scanners, colour workflows and photographic printing

Laser cutter and 3D printing facilities

Business School for the Creative Industries: dedicated building containing a 250-seat auditorium, seminar rooms, video conferencing, board rooms, IT studios, and breakout spaces.

Farnham facilities

Multiple film soundstages with industry-standard lighting facilities

Virtual Production and Motion Capture studio

State-of-the-art Avid/Media Composer post-production video editing studios, sound editing (ProTools)

Visual Effects studio

Cinema

Animation studios with Mac workstations, lightboxes, line testers, and hi-speed batch scanners

Animation rostrum rooms set up to capture stop-frame animation on DragonFrame

Analogue film processing and darkrooms (colour and black-and-white) and digital imaging studio

Photography studios with an infinity table

Digital print Bureau providing a professional print and finishing service using an extensive range of materials, paper types, sizes, and finishes

Book-finishing room which provides spiral and perfect binding options along with paper-handling machines for creating handouts and booklets

Live performance room with musical instruments, control room for sound mixing, dubbing theatre, radio studios, TV studio, and foley studio

Specialist environments and equipment to support hand and mechanical processes for working ceramic, glass, wood, metal, plastics and jewellery, and a foundry for casting bronze and aluminium

Digital and traditional looms for woven textiles and associated dye facilities

Digital Fabrication Lab with laser cutters and 3D/SLS printing facilities

Dedicated performance and rehearsal spaces

Traditional printmaking workshop including equipment for intaglio, relief, screen printing and letterpress

Three-camera digital television studio, networked to our broadcast newsroom and using industry-leading autocue software

Dedicated School of Games and Creative Technology building with high-end games creation/experiencing environments and facilities, immersive VR studios, 3D printing, animation, and games audio resources

Comic and Concept Art digital studio with Wacom Cintiq drawing tablets

Computer science and creative computing labs.

Libraries and student services

Supporting you through your studies

Libraries are the base for many of our student support services. Whether you are new to the UK, a mature student, or you have additional needs, there are a range of service teams to help you:

Specialist Advisers

This team offers confidential, practical, and personal support.

Wellbeing and Counselling Service

This is the place to go for support with your mental health and wellbeing.

Disability and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

If you have a disability or condition that you choose to let us know about, this team can support you.

Library and Learning Support

This team can help you get the best from your library and help with your academic skills.

For more information, visit uca.ac.uk/life-at-uca

Alongside your practical work, research will play a key part in your time here. Our libraries offer a fantastic wealth of primary and secondary sources to support your written theoretical and contextual work.

Our libraries contain:

400,000 print and electronic books and exhibition catalogues

17,000 print and electronic journals and magazines

500 metres of archives, including the work of Tessa Boffin and Bob Godfrey

17,000 DVDs

More than two million films, television and radio shows online

A wide range of special collections, including zines and artists’ books

80 academic and visual databases.

Research at UCA

Right now, the work being undertaken by our academics, professorial fellows, and PhD students is actively changing how we all work and live.

As a result, we have been named the UK’s top specialist art and design university for world-leading research outputs (REF 2021), and granted prestigious research degree awarding powers by the Office for Students.

And because this groundbreaking work deserves dedicated space and facilities, we have created a new study base for our researchers at the UCA Doctoral College in Canterbury.

The page opposite details just some of the exciting research projects currently running from UCA:

As a creative university, research is embedded in everything we do.

When you join a UCA postgraduate course, you will become a valued member of a research community that, in recent years, has grown significantly in both size and impact.

Fast Forward

Professor

Led by Anna, Fast Forward is designed to promote and engage with women in photography worldwide. The project has published a full report with recommendations on how to amplify women’s voices in the field, along with a book, Putting Ourselves In The Picture.

Centre for Sustainable Design

The Centre for Sustainable Design leads and participates in future-shaping research focused on sustainable innovation and product sustainability, from finding innovative uses for retired fishing nets and cricket equipment to running the successful Farnham Repair Café.

Etude for virtual space

Professor

Alexandros, a composer and expert in music and its relationship with philosophy, created a VR experience featuring a string quartet within a virtual environment, which users can navigate to experience interactive sounds, shapes, and colours.

Architecture Programme Director Sam created an app that allows architects to virtually map spaces and visualise the human experience of navigating an environment.

Anna Fox

Alexandros Spyrou

Professor Martin Charter

Isovist Sam McElhinney

Applying to UCA

Whether you’re progressing immediately from your undergraduate degree or returning to higher education as a mature student, applying for a postgraduate course is simple.

How to apply

When you apply for a taught postgraduate degree at UCA, you apply directly –using the application form on the webpage of the course you wish to study.

When to apply

We accept applications throughout the year, but we advise you to apply by 31 March in your year of entry to allow enough time to arrange your accommodation and funding.

What happens next?

Once we have received your application, we will send you an email which will contain your login details for our applicant portal. This is where you will be able to monitor the progress of your application with us.

We might ask to interview you as part of the application process – this could be in-person, online or on the telephone. We might also ask you to upload a portfolio of work – this gives us a chance to discover more about your ways of working, creative approaches, and individual style.

What about PhD applications?

Studying a postgraduate research degree takes your creative career to the next level, and at UCA we have outstanding research capabilities. In fact, we were named the UK’s top creative university for research outputs in REF 2021.

Interested in applying for PhD study? Visit uca.ac.uk/research-degrees

Entry requirements

A good Honours degree or equivalent international qualification in your chosen subject or a related discipline, or; Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level, and;

Intellectual skills and competencies, a capacity for independent learning and appropriate written, design and technical skills.

If you are an international student, there may be specific requirements related to your home country – use the QR code below to find information for your country:

To gain a place on a taught postgraduate course, you are usually required to have:

Student credit - Rohit Radhakrishnan

Student credit - Helen Restorick

Accommodation

If you need somewhere to stay while you study, UCA has accommodation options at each campus.

Availability of halls accommodation varies through the year so, to maximise your chances of securing a place, we recommend you apply for accommodation as soon as you apply for your course. Accommodation is allocated based on a set of priority criteria –for example, international students and those with additional needs will have priority.

You can find out more about accommodation as well as advice on finding private student lets by scanning the QR code below:

Fees and scholarships

Funding is, for many, the biggest consideration when thinking about further study. We’ve got all the information you need.

Fees for UK postgraduate students range from £9,250 to £13,900 per year, while fees for international students range from £16,950 to £18,500.

You can find the latest information here: uca.ac.uk/postgraduate-fees

Funding your studies

How you pay for your studies will depend on whether you are a UK or international student.

For UK students

As a postgraduate student from the UK, you can apply for a postgraduate loan of £12,167 from the government. The loan is not meanstested, and you can use it however you like – towards your tuition fees, living costs, or other costs associated with your postgraduate study. You’ll only repay the loan once you’ve finished or left your course and are earning over £21,000.

For international students

You’ll need to pay a deposit when you firmly accept your offer and pay your fees via bank transfer. When you apply, we’ll keep in touch with you throughout the process to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Scholarships

Whether you are a UK or international student, you may be eligible for a scholarship or fee discount to help fund your studies.

Visit uca.ac.uk/scholarships to see what you could apply or qualify for.

London Heathrow

London

UCA Epsom

UCA Farnham

London Gatwick

Maidstone Television Studios

UCA Canterbury

Folkestone Eurotunnel le Shuttle

This guide has been a collaborative project between the University for the Creative Arts and the following companies and individuals:

Print: Belmont Press Ltd

belmont.co.uk

Front cover: Sai Chetan

Inner cover: Mads Perch

Campus photography:

Iain Crockart, Michael Bowles, Chris Russell, James Newton, Teresa Dale

Student work:

Students of the University for the Creative Arts, credited where appropriate

University for the Creative Arts

uca.ac.uk

enquiries@uca.ac.uk