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“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
The University of Bolton’s MA Arts Management offers you the opportunity to develop high-level skills working in partnership with a range of cultural and arts organisations across Greater Manchester and the North West region. Our experienced team will support you to develop the real-world, essential skills needed for success as a professional arts manager, including project management, leadership and networking.
Key information
Award:
MA
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
12 months
Location:
University of Bolton
Start date:
To be confirmed
Course Details
If you have a passion for the arts and culture and a keen interest in areas such as creative producing, galleries and curation, and cultural heritage and museums, this master’s degree offers you a route into a rewarding career in arts management. Whether you are progressing straight from undergraduate study, or are already working in the sector, this programme aims to prepare you to work in partnership with a range of arts, theatre and cultural organisations to develop and manage projects that have tangible social, educational and commercial benefits.
Our dedicated team will support you as you investigate the current arts landscape to develop your understanding of the social, political and cultural contexts for the arts, examining growth areas such as arts and wellbeing, social prescribing, social engagement and regeneration. The applications for arts and culture are varied and you’ll have the opportunity to explore areas such as social enterprise, creative engagement, and arts and culture for health and wellbeing.
Your studies will focus on key aspects of arts management practice, including leadership and management, networking and collaboration, logistics and managing risk. Audience engagement, project planning and development, and impact evaluation will also form key cornerstones of your learning. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a number of arts and cultural organisations via live briefs and work-based learning, as well as to gain additional qualifications such as safeguarding, health and safety in the workplace, equality and diversity, and risk assessment to further strengthen your professional profile. Our aim to support you to develop the real-world skills that will enable you to work freelance, on contracted roles within existing organisations, or to set up your own company.
Highlights
This MA offers opportunities for you to work with a range of arts and cultural organisations across Greater Manchester and the North West region on live projects.
Our industry-engaged staff are experienced in developing and leading arts and cultural projects, so are well-versed in the skills and knowledge needed for success in the field.
We’ll focus on helping you develop the practical, real-world arts management skills you’ll need to work freelance, start your own company, or secure employment with established organisations.
We'll help you learn about tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as offer business start-up sessions to prepare you to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.
Key Features
Teaching and supervision are delivered by our dedicated team of experienced and well-qualified staff who are engaged in arts practice, management and research.
We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from industry professionals.
You’ll have opportunities to gain additional qualifications such as safeguarding, health and safety in the workplace, equality and diversity, and risk assessment, alongside your master’s degree to ensure you achieve a strong professional profile in preparation for employment.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
You should have at least an upper second class (2.1) honours degree in an arts subject. Relevant subjects include Animation, Illustration, Art and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Media, Theatre, Performance, Dance, Photography, Textiles and Surface Design, Fashion, English, and Creative Writing. However, those with a degree in another subject area with a passion for the arts will also be considered.
If you don’t have this qualification but do have alternative qualifications or significant experience in a relevant field, then we’ll be happy to consider your application.
We'll also consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
This course involves working unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable young people and adults and you must gain an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting your studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
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.
Our industry-focused MA Arts Management is designed to appeal if you hold a degree in an Art and Design subject, Theatre, Performing Arts, English or Creative Writing, and are looking to forge a career in arts management. The University of Bolton’s strong and growing links with arts and cultural organisations across the North West means we can offer you relevant practical work experience that complements your on-campus studies of the theories and principles that underpin the practice of arts management.
As a graduate of this MA, you’ll possess valuable skills in collaborative working with artists, industry professionals, community members, and cultural and commercial organisations in a host of arts and cultural settings. You’ll be able to act autonomously, and use your initiative, problem-solving and leadership skills to manage complex situations. You should also have the skills to take charge of your personal and professional development and be able to reflect on your progress as you work towards your goals.
What can I do with this qualification?
After graduation, you’ll be well prepared to seek work on an employed or self-employed basis. There is enormous scope to undertake projects working with a range of arts and cultural organisations including performance venues, galleries and museums, as well as with companies, artists and communities. You may apply to join existing projects that are already in progress or seek funding for your own initiatives. As a graduate of this course, you’ll have the skills and commercial awareness to prepare your own funding bids and manage high-quality arts projects.
You may also choose to continue your education. PGCE, MPhil and PhD degrees are available at the University of Bolton.
Alternative career options
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:
Arts administration and fundraising
Arts and cultural leadership
Marketing and public relations
Social enterprise
Policy management
Education and teaching
Course fees
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £7,020 for the academic year 2022/23.
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £12,950 for the academic year 2022/23.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2021-2022 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 eligibility 2021-2022 policy 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
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.
How you apply is determined by your current location and what you are choosing to study:
Apply direct to the University. Links for the next available intakes of this course are shown below.
Please click the link which will direct you to the online application form. Please read the user
guidance before completing this.
Apply via one of our approved in-country referral partners. A list of our partners may be found on the
International pages of this website.
Apply via UCAS for courses starting in September only – visit
www.ucas.com.
Should you have any queries please contact the International Team on +44 (0) 1204 903110 or email
international@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton
MA Arts Management - 19 September 2022 (Intake not currently accepting international applications)
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, presentations and work-based learning. You may also wish to undertake a negotiated placement in an arts and cultural management context.
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 your progress through the programme.
The assessment strategy for the programme 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 face-to-face via discussion, online or in written form. Summative assessments consist of both practical and theoretical work. These will include practical projects, presentations, and written assessments in the form of essays, portfolios, funding bids and impact reports, practical portfolios, proposal documents and academic essays.
Modules
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.
The Arts and Cultural Landscape
The Professional Practitioner
Arts Management Structures
Inception to Impact: Project Design, Funding and Evaluation
Masters Project (Full Time)
Masters Project (Part Time)
Masters Dissertation (Full Time)
Masters Dissertation (Part Time)
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 43%, Practical exams 57%
Learning activities
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.
