Creative Practice Masters Degree

Course overview

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The Masters in Creative Practice is a practice-led modular programme designed for creative graduates from a range of disciplines to enhance their knowledge and skills.

On this programme you will develop specialist practical skills while refining your practice and enhancing your employability skills. You’ll build a professional creative network to support your career in the Creative industry.

You are supported throughout the programme to critically engage with your creative practice and to refine your creative identity. You will develop your ability to attain work as a creative freelancer, to work for creative agencies and employers, or to progress to further study.

We welcome applications from a range of creative disciplines including Art, Graphic Design, Film, Make-up and Photography. The programme is designed for students with strong technical skills in their specialist practice, but you will work in a multidisciplinary environment, enhancing the potential for cross-subject work and reflecting the collaborative nature of the creative industry.

For the latest version of the course handbook for this course please click here.

For the latest version of the programme specifications for this course please click here.

For the latest version of The Open University regulations please click here.

For all relevant policies and procedures and other relevant documents please see the University Centre Leeds website here.

How to apply:

If you’re interested in applying to study Full-time, these applications must be submitted directly through our website.

Apply for Part-time

Apply for Full-time

This is a University Centre Leeds course, who is a part of Leeds City College and a member of Luminate Education Group. This course is validated by The Open University

• Entry Requirements

  An undergraduate degree (first, 2.1 or 2.2) from a recognised university or substantial work experience in a relevant field or sector.A professional or vocational qualification in education equivalent to Level 6 study is also acceptable.

  A Recognition of Prior Certified Learning (RPCL) or Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL). These consider prior qualifications and work experience presented for consideration. Applicants are required to complete, submit and have a proposal for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)/Prior Learning achieved through Experience (APEL) approved prior to enrolment.

  You will attend an interview and will have a portfolio review.
• Benefits/Skills

  You will develop the following skills:

  Specialist creative and technical skills

  • Critical thinking, study skills, academic writing and time management strategies
  • Entrepreneurial skills

  Plus, you’ll have the benefits of:

  • Working in a multidisciplinary collaborative environment on live work-based projects
  • Working with creative professionals
  • The opportunity to showcase your work to the public
  • Enhanced of employability and career prospects within the Creative industry
  • Opportunities for networking and industry links
• Units/Modules

  Modules may include:

  Exploratory Research Practices – The Exploratory Research Practices Module invites students to critically engage with their own creative practice and to situate their work within the creative and cultural industries. In this module students will consider the relationship between their creative practice, critical debate and other contemporary practitioners to demonstrate the breadth of practical investigations.

  Industry Project – Students will have the opportunity to develop a rigorous understanding of current issues or problems within a given industry context by working on a live brief with a company/employer. They will have the opportunity to experience the complexities of working as part of a creative team whilst also engaging with the focus and priorities of industry professionals, companies or employers.

  Contemporary Cultural Studies – Contemporary Cultural Studies is a forward-thinking module that provides graduates with the opportunity to position themselves, and their practice, within contemporary culture. Students will be encouraged to make creative connections between contemporary culture, its historical foundations, conflicts, and contingencies, allowing students to develop projects vertically and laterally across and between traditional subject boundaries.

  Collaborative Practice – Collaborative practice within creative arts is wide and diverse in its approaches and there is a broad range of creative and professional opportunities within the creative fields. This module allows students to strengthen their collaborative skills in reaching an agreed creative outcome. The Collaborative Practice Module invites students to critically engage with their own creative practice and to navigate their work within other areas of the creative industries.

  Major Project – Whether working in a cultural or commercial context, as a creative practitioner you will create large scale projects that need to engage an audience. The Major Project module provides the opportunity for students to create an ambitious extended practical project for public display that reflects the students’ individual creative practice, critical concerns, and professional identity.

• Careers/Progression
  Following this programme you can progress into a career in the Creative industry or further study. Job opportunities may include:

  • Artist
  • Media make-up artist
  • Filmmaker
  • Photographer
  • Graphic designer
  • Illustrator
  • Editor
  • Fashion designer
  • Community artist
• Assessment Types
  This is a practical programme and the majority of the assessments are practical submissions, either through the submission of a portfolio or via an exhibition. Throughout the programme you will be asked to produce presentations and written tasks.