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Art Psychotherapy Practice at Sheffield Hallam University - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Please check the Sheffield Hallam University website for the latest information. Course summary

  • Develop core professional knowledge and practical skills to enable person-centred art therapy practice
  • Participate in art-making to learn about client-centred approaches in psychotherapy
  • Develop a professional belief in the positive impact of art therapy on health and wellbeing in complex care settings.
This full time Masters-level Art Psychotherapy Practice course provides you with specialist training, qualifications and opportunities to help you embark on a diverse and exciting career. Allowing study over a longer period which supports students with other responsibilities. Learn directly from HCPC-registered art therapists, engaging with real-world practice throughout. Our staff integrate art-making into theory and experiential teaching. How you learn The course is designed to promote a critical and proactive approach to learning, which will enable you to become an effective and autonomous practitioner. There is a mixed mode of experiential and theoretical learning and teaching adopted in this programme. You are expected to engage fully in the learning process and in some of the modules you will learn with, from and about students from other health and social care courses in the School of Health and Social Care as part of the integrated curricula. This approach will ensure you have strong roots in your chosen profession of art therapy. This approach will ensure you have a strong identity as an art therapist but are also able to deliver person centred care with an understanding of service integration and working within a multidisciplinary team to support the person's journey through health and care services.  The focus of the integrated curricula will prepare you for working in an integrated working environment with multidisciplinary teams and organisations working effectively together to enhance the quality of care to the service user. These attributes will enhance employability not only for graduate employment, but will support career progression to senior positions within the NHS, social care, third sector, education and private organisations. A detailed induction programme aims to facilitate students’ transition into studying at Masters level and introduces students to a range of support mechanisms to which they have access within the art therapy team and across the University. Key themes The course offers a structured progression of academic and practice experience. You will develop a critical, evidenced based and proactive approach to learning, enabling transition into an effective and autonomous therapist.  The course will reflect the cultural diversity within healthcare and practice, identifying global perspectives of health and inequality through a range of inclusive learning and teaching approaches to delivery of content.  The teaching is based around the development of the key transferable skills you need to become a qualified art psychotherapist. The course is designed to promote independent structured learning leading to autonomous practice upon qualification. Employability and associated skills form a continual feature throughout this programme. There is a firm belief that employability is important throughout the engagement on the course but in the final year the modules have a strong focus on the transition to practise. Along with practice learning experience, these key modules will help you to maximise learning, skill acquisition, and professional and behavioural attributes required for employment The focus of integrated curricula will prepare you for working in an integrated working environment with multidisciplinary teams and organisations working effectively together to enhance the quality of care to the service user.

Modules

Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page. Year 1 Compulsory modules Art Therapy Creative Studios | Coursework (100%) Art Therapy Practice Experience A Evaluating Research Methodologies | Coursework (100%) Theoretical Approaches & Contextualising Practice | Coursework (100%) Final year Compulsory modules Art Therapy Practice Experience B Creating Original Practice | Coursework (100%) Evaluating Complexity In Practice | Practical (100%) Thresholds Towards Practice | Coursework (100%)

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • Health and Care Professions Council

Entry requirements

To apply for the course, you must normally have a degree (2:2 or above) in a relevant area, such as Fine Art, Arts Therapies, Humanities, Psychology or Social Sciences. Whatever degree you have, all applicants are expected to have a portfolio of current art work at the time of application that demonstrates a continuing interest in art making. You will be asked to submit examples of artwork as part of the application process once your initial application has been reviewed. Applications from professionals working in caring professions such as Social Workers, Nurses and Teachers, are also welcome. All applicants need to show evidence of relevant pre-courses experience in a related field. It is also an entry requirement that applicants must have, at the time of application, at least a year’s experience of paid or voluntary work in a caring setting. (The BAAT web pages state that this should be the equivalent of a year's full-time work but can be accumulated over a longer period.) In interview we will ask about your art practice and what it means to you, as well as any psychological insights that your art practice provides.

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)7If English is not your first language you will need an IELTS score of 7.0 overall and a minimum of 6.0 in all skills, or a recognised equivalent.

If your level of English language is currently below IELTS 7.0 we recommend you consider an appropriate Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve the required level of English. Please note that the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) require IELTS 7.0 with no element below 6.5 for registration.

Please click the following link to find out more about English language requirements for this course

https://www.shu.ac.uk/courses/Health-and-social-care-management/MA-Art-Psychotherapy-Practice/Full-time/

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
EU £17155 Year 1
International £17155 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate degree courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. These fees are regulated by the UK government and therefore subject to change in future years. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200. If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found at https://www.shu.ac.uk/study-here/terms-and-conditions-and-student-regulations under student fees regulations. Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £17,155 per year. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200. Please refer to our website for up-to-date information on costs and fees: https://www.shu.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate/fees

Sponsorship information

Scholarships, discounts and bursaries may be available to students who study this course.

Art Psychotherapy Practice at Sheffield Hallam University - UCAS