Primary instrument/specialism
- Composition
This course is closed for the 2024 academic cycle. Please contact the provider or view the 2025 courses.
Royal Academy of Music, University of London has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
Course summary
Whether your interest lies in concert music, media, TV and film music, composing for staged productions or electronic music, you can study on the Academy’s undergraduate composition course. Composition at the Academy has an international reputation centred on intensive project-based and highly collaborative degree programmes. Our cutting-edge courses are taught by distinguished and prominent composers, and they reflect the realities and challenges for today’s music creator. Academy composers have a wide range of opportunities for performance and recording, and are fully prepared to work in a variety of creative contexts. Our composition professors are dedicated teachers and active composers with professional musical careers of all kinds. Collectively, they have a wide range of industry knowledge and insight into all aspects of the profession. This course ensures a strong foundation in compositional techniques which, over four years of study, can be focused to support your individual interests and career ambitions. As a composer in the Academy, you are given unrivalled opportunities to have your music played and recorded in numerous contexts – and to develop your individual compositional style and musical personality within our highly collaborative environment. The deadline for the Academy to receive both your UCAS Conservatoires application and also your portfolio is 2 October, 18:00 UK time. http://www.ram.ac.uk/departments/composition
Course details
Principal study options
During the application and audition process, you must select which instrument(s) you wish to specialise in for the duration of your course. On this course, you can choose from the following options:
Main specialism
Only one specialism is studied. It may be possible to study a further instrument, but this will not contribute towards the qualification.
Instrument/specialisms
For all courses, you must select at least one specialism from the 'primary' list. For those studying primary/secondary pathways, two instruments may be selected – one from the 'primary' list and one from the 'secondary' list. Joint pathway students may select any two instruments from either list.
Assessment method
Please see the information on https://www.ram.ac.uk/study/about-our-courses
How to apply
This course is closed for the 2024 academic cycle. Please contact the provider or view the 2025 courses.
*If you are an international applicant, or you are applying for a postgraduate course, or are choosing certain assessment locations, the 'on time' deadline may be later in the year - please contact the conservatoire directly.
02Oct
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
- Course code:
- 301F
- Institution code:
- R53
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
This will require satisfactory transcripts to show that you have passed Year 1 or Years 1 and 2 of a music degree at another institution, and that you have successfully covered the study areas which you would have to complete at the Academy to progress into Year 2 or Year 3. Please note that it is not possible to transfer into Year 4 of our BMus programme.
International applicants
At the Academy we pride ourselves on our diverse international community. Over 800 students study here every year, with around sixty different nationalities from all over the world. https://www.ram.ac.uk/student-life/international https://www.ram.ac.uk/accommodation We are offering a choice of video interview or in-person interview to all candidates who are selected to progress after their portfolio has been assessed - please tell us your preference by your 'audition location' choice.
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - Not accepted
A level - EE
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - PPP
Access to HE Diploma
Scottish Higher - DDD
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - PP
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 24 points
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H3, H5, H5, H5, H5
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal - P3, P3
T Level - P
If you are not taking Music as a subject in your school exams, we recommend gaining knowledge of Music Theory at Grade 6 level (ABRSM or Trinity College London) before you commence your studies with us. For international qualifications, in general, a secondary school certificate of a sufficiently high level to permit university entry will be acceptable, however applications will be examined on an individual basis by the Admissions Board.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
Additional entry requirements
Interview
Your portfolio is assessed by the Composition department entry panel. This is the equivalent of the first-round live performance given by an instrumental or vocal candidate to a panel at the Academy. You will be informed around the beginning of November whether you have been selected for interview.
Portfolio
Information about what your portfolio should contain is published on http://www.ram.ac.uk/departments/composition/composition-application.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 5.5 | Minimum score of 5.5 in every section of the test. Overall score of 6.0 required to join BMus Year 2 or Year 3. |
| PTE Academic | 59 | Minimum score of 59 in every section of the test |
| TOEFL (iBT) | 72 | Minimum scores for Reading: 18, Listening: 17, Speaking: 20, Writing: 17 |
We accept IELTS Online, TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition. PTE Academic, PTE Academic Online and Cambridge C1 Advanced.
English Language requirements are published on our website:
Assessment locations
In the event of a successful assessment, applicants may be invited for a further interview prior to being made an offer.
Remote assessment recordings may be accepted in the event that you cannot attend an assessment in person.
Single specialism assessment
| Location | On-time Fee | Late Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Video interview (Composition) | £100 | £100 |
| London | £100 | £100 |
Joint principal specialism assessment
| Location | On-time Fee | Late Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Video interview (Composition) | Not available at this location | |
| London | Not available at this location | |
Additional information
Your uploaded portfolio is assessed by the Composition department entry panel. The upload portal and the portfolio requirements are available through https://www.ram.ac.uk/study/departments/composition-and-contemporary-music/courses. The portfolio assessment is the equivalent of the first-round live performance given by an instrumental or vocal candidate to a panel at the Academy. You will be informed around the beginning of November whether you have been selected for a panel interview. Interviews for candidates selected after their portfolio submission will take place during the main audition period in London in December. We are offering a choice of video interview or in-person interview to all candidates who are selected to progress after their portfolio has been assessed.
Student Outcomes
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Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
Go onto work and study
The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
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
Tuition fees are available on www.ram.ac.uk/fees
Sponsorship information
Entrance Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit following entrance assessment during our advertised audition sessions. Composers are assessed for scholarships on the basis of their second-round interview. There is no separate scholarship application process, and entrance scholarship awards are confirmed in candidates' offer details. We are offering a choice of video interview or in-person interview to all candidates who are selected to progress after their portfolio has been assessed - please tell us your preference by your 'audition location' choice. The UK Student Finance Company allows eligible students to apply for tuition fee loans to cover the tuition costs, and eligible students can also apply for maintenance awards to assist with living costs. You can find more details about financial support on https://www.ram.ac.uk/study/fees-scholarships-and-bursaries.
Provider information
Royal Academy of Music, University of London
Marylebone Road
Westminster
NW1 5HT