Course summary
The course will develop your technical, conceptual and critical skills, allowing you to specialise in performance, composition and/or musicology, guided by internationally-renowned staff and supported by stunning facilities. The curriculum is designed to take your specialisms to an advanced level, including undertaking an extensive independent practical project or dissertation of your choosing, while developing a keen sense of context for those fields. Situated halfway between London and mainland France, Canterbury is a UNESCO World Heritage City with a tradition of innovation in music. The choral tradition stretches back 1400 years; in the 1960s and 70s, the city became famous for the progressive rock of the Canterbury Scene, and trailblazing electronic composer Daphne Oram taught at Canterbury Christ Church University in the 1980s. Contemporary Canterbury is now bustling with musical life: a scene of internationally-recognised bands including Syd Arthur and Jack Hues and the Quartet; Free Range, a weekly series of experimental sound, music and poetry events; The Crash of the Moons club featuring the best new bands, the Wintersound festival for new music and sound and the City Sound Project, featuring the best in urban music.
Assessment method
You will be assessed through a wide range of assignments throughout the programme. These include musical performance, composition portfolios, written work, research posters, presentations and learning journals, and will be specific to the disciplines and modules that you choose to study. The independent study modules will be assessed through a major project in each, with performance and conducting assessed through a recital, composition through a portfolio, and research project through a dissertation. Within core modules, you will undertake coursework assignments that assess skills and techniques that are central to research and professional work in music. There is an element of peer learning and support in Contextual Studies which will provide you with continuous formative feedback, while the preparation of final projects in this module and in the Performance Project and Creative Project options will test your ability to develop and demonstrate an independent approach to critical engagement with a topic. Assessed seminar presentations in Contextual Studies will invite you to realise or speak and write about your work as a composer, performer or researcher. The range of assessment tasks in the option modules further reflects the range of subjects that you might study and assessment tasks may include learning journals, essays, posters, workshop presentations, compositions and performances.
Entry requirements
A good honours degree (2:2 or higher) in music, or equivalent academic or professional experience. Applicants must be able to show that their background in their chosen independent study is sufficient for development at postgraduate level. The selection of entrants is normally based on audition or interview in the School of Creative Arts and Industries. Performance audition programmes should be approximately 20 minutes long, and demonstrate the breadth of your command of style and technique. Portfolios of creative or academic work should be of comparable scope and submitted in advance of interview.
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 |
*This is a provisional fee and subject to change.
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
The fees above are for the 2025/26 academic year but may be subject to change following any announcements by the UK Government (approved by Parliament) regarding maximum Undergraduate tuition fee caps for 2025/26.
In addition, the University reserves the right to increase all full-time and part-time Undergraduate tuition fees mid-course, in line with any further inflationary increase in the Government tuition fee cap which is approved by Parliament. The University will publish information about any changes to tuition fees on its website.
International Tuition Fees (including EU fees): To be confirmed
Undergraduate tuition fees for International students are not subject to the Government’s regulations on maximum tuition fees.
Provider information
Canterbury Christ Church University
North Holmes Road
Canterbury
CT1 1QU