University of Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton. BL3 5AB
“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.”
Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.”
Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
Back to menu
Back to menu
Study with an Off-Campus Partner
Back to menu
Create your own master’s degree. This innovative and dynamic MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice offers you the opportunity to develop your creative practice via a range of negotiated projects. You may choose to specialise in a single discipline or follow an interdisciplinary route. On completion, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
Award:
MA
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
12 months
Location:
University of Bolton
Start date:
25/09/2023
If you've been struggling to find a postgraduate course that exactly matches your ambition then the University of Bolton's MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice could be the answer. Our expert team will work with you to devise a series of projects that enable you to develop your creative practice. You may choose to focus on a single discipline, such as Animation, Illustration, Art and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Media, Performance, Dance, Photography, Textiles and Surface Design, Fashion, Creative Writing, Live Events Design and Production, or an associated subject. Alternatively, you may combine several areas of practice to follow an interdisciplinary route. When you successfully complete the master's, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
We'll support you to develop a unique body of creative work through a series of negotiated projects that will be underpinned and informed by industry practice. You'll work with a specialist supervisor who will provide support and guidance throughout the developmental process. Alongside this, you'll undertake two taught modules. The first investigates current contexts for creative practice and offers you the necessary skills to undertake research at an advanced level. The second invites you to place your practice within a professional landscape to help you gain the skills to develop your industry profile and ensure your work reaches your desired audience.
With a strong theoretical underpinning, this MA is designed to develop your skills in research, critique and synthesis. We’ll guide you as you learn to work with self‐direction and originality and develop your analytical and critical competencies. This combination of academic, creative and professional skills development helps to prepare you for a career in the creative industries, as well as providing a sound basis for doctoral-level study.
The MA is designed to enable you to develop a considerable body of work and a plan for its future development beyond the course. This may take the form of applications for funding, exhibitions, publication, or small‐scale tours.
Our industry‐engaged staff are practising artists, writers and performers. You'll benefit from our strong industry links with a range of arts and cultural organisations across Greater Manchester and the North West region, which offers opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects and networking.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
The MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice offers named postgraduate routes for practice‐based areas including Art and Design, Media, Theatre and Performing Arts, and Creative Writing, as well as other associated disciplines. It's also an excellent option if you've graduated with a degree in a subject such as Live Events or Professional and Commercial Dance.
As a graduate of this MA, you’ll possess extensive skills in your field of creative practice and a unique body of work that demonstrates your abilities and style. The course will enable you to take charge of your personal and professional development and reflect on your progress as you work towards your goals.
This is an industry‐focused, practice‐based MA that provides you with an opportunity to develop your creative practice as well as clear plans as to how you will use this to progress your career in the creative industries, or as the basis for doctoral study.
As a graduate of this MA, you'll be well prepared to seek contracted employment with creative and arts organisations or to work as a freelancer on a self-employed basis. You'll possess the knowledge needed to submit funding applications or business plans and to prepare and launch funded projects. How you use your skills will depend on your chosen area(s) of creative practice and your personal interests and ambitions. However, you can rest assured that you'll have the knowledge and skills to drive forward in your creative career.
You may also choose to continue your education. PGCE, MPhil and PhD degrees are available at the University of Bolton.
Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Some of these careers include:
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £7,920 for the academic year 2023/24.
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £13,550 for the academic year 2023/24.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton MA (Specialism) via Creative Practice - 25 September 2023
The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world. We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.
This course is not currently accepting international online applications.
Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom
Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
A variety of teaching and learning strategies will be used to help you acquire and develop appropriate concepts, knowledge and skills. You can expect practice-based enquiry, self-directed study, lectures, seminars, tutorials, and presentations.
It’s important to realise that the time spent with a tutor during formally scheduled activities is only a small part of the learning time identified for a module. You’ll also be expected to spend a significant amount of time in guided independent study, such as general background reading, preparing for seminar activities and working on assignments. We are committed to supporting you throughout your learning journey, but as time progresses our guidance will become less structured and prescriptive. It‘s expected that you’ll demonstrate significant independence in your study, taking responsibility for the management of your own learning time and increasing in autonomy as you progress through the programme.
The assessment strategy is designed to help you achieve the overall aims of the programme, as well as the learning outcomes for individual modules. As well as being a way to assess your achievement, assessment also helps you to organise and develop your learning. Assessment feedback can help you develop your skills and an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.
The types of assessment you’ll be required to complete fall into two general categories: formative and summative. You’ll have formative assessment to help you learn and develop your knowledge and skills and summative assessment on which you are graded. Formative assessment will take place via tutorial discussion, group workshops including peer and tutor review, and guidance on work in progress. Formative feedback will be provided via face-to-face via discussion, online or in written form. Summative assessments consist of both practical and theoretical work. These will include creative outputs, practical projects, presentations, and written assessments in the form of essays, portfolios, proposal documents and academic essays.
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Level | Assesment method |
---|---|
Level one | Coursework 18%, Practical exams 82% |
Level | Learning activity |
---|---|
Level one | Guided independent study 85%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 15% |
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
The academic staff detailed above teach across a range of courses in this subject area and may not teach on this course specifically.
N.Shaw@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903317
enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903903
University of Bolton