Course summary
The Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Management gives you the chance to explore the requirements and benefits of sustainable and strategic arts policy and management. You will analyse leadership contexts and power relations in bringing together policy and managerial approaches related to current trends and issues. Examples of this include work to address gender imbalances through art activism, diversity and equity through intersectional applications and the interpretation of cultural values as cultural policy rationales. You will evaluate art productions and audiences as seen through an art policy and management lens. The course balances theory and practice within the context of the current social, political, economic and technological environments. We invite you to develop and expand your key critical-thinking skills in smaller discursive seminar groups focusing on public and voluntary sector arts organisations, but also address key commercial sector issues. For those who want to deepen their sector experience, we offer a placement option that encourages students to work on their own research interests within an arts organisation. Past students have had valuable experiences in organisations ranging from the Greater London Authority to the Hackney Museum, and from the Big Dance Project to the Wallace Collection. This course is part of our new Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both. Highlights
- Birkbeck was ranked as one of the top four universities in the UK for its Art and Design research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
- You will benefit from links with arts and cultural organisations, including an optional work placement.
- Birkbeck has established a growing international reputation combining cultural studies with the latest ideas and techniques across film studies, journalism, screenwriting, arts management, digital media. You are welcome to attend events at BIRMAC (Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture) as well as the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and the Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology.
- development and marketing
- audience development
- strategic planning
- programming and curating
- management of art collectives and networking hubs.
- Director of the Jerwood Foundation
- Co-ordinator at Nordic Council of Ministers
- Tour Manager at Sadlers Wells
- Development Officer at Bow Arts Trust
- Executive Producer at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design
- Marketing Officer at the opera company Teatro Real, Madrid
- International Programmer at Taipei Performing Arts Centre
Modules
For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.
Assessment method
Coursework: a combination of written work-related assignments, presentations and special projects.
How to apply
International applicants
If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this programme is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses, foundation programmes and language support services to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.
Entry requirements
You should have a second-class honours degree (2:2) or above in an arts subject, or in any subject together with experience of administration/management in an arts/cultural organisation, or three years’ relevant experience, for example in a senior management role in an arts/cultural organisation. On the basis of prior learning and achievement, exemption may be possible for up to 50% of Year 1 elements of the course. Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.
English language requirements
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| England | £3600 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £3600 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £3600 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £3600 | Year 1 |
| International | £6610 | Year 1 |
Additional fee information
Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Provider information
Birkbeck, University of London
Malet Street
Bloomsbury
London
WC1E 7HX
Course contact details
Visit our course pageBirkbeck Student Advice Service
0203 907 0700