Primary instrument/specialism
- Composition
Course summary
Study as a postgraduate composer at one of the UK's most innovative composition departments. In recent years, Birmingham Conservatoire's Composition department has produced outstanding contemporary artists such as Laura Mvula, Raffertie and Charlotte Bray. Our composition route actively celebrates the diversity of today’s musical genres and fosters artists who challenge, innovate and transform notions of artistic practice today. You’ll have opportunities to collaborate with performers, to have your works performed by professional musicians and to collaborate with film, TV, theatre and gaming practitioners. You'll be encouraged to express yourself in multiple musical and artistic genres. By studying composition within a thriving conservatoire setting, you'll have excellent opportunities to collaborate with performers and to have your works performed. Alongside your focus on composition, our course provides opportunities for you to develop other skills relevant to a future career in the music profession. We also offer the opportunity to study for an MMus via our 12-month route. To be eligible for this route, applicants must be able to show evidence of an extremely high level of achievement in the Principal Study area and a strong academic record at undergraduate level (or equivalent). If you are interested in the 12-month route, please email an initial enquiry about your potential eligibility to [email protected] as it is not possible to apply for this route via UCAS.
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.
How to apply
This course is not open to application until the 10th July 2025.
*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.
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
Entry requirements
Honours degree, ideally but not necessarily in Music. Non-UK students should hold a Bachelor's degree or a similar degree-equivalent diploma, ideally but not necessarily in Music MMus Intensive applicants must be at Level 7 standard in their Principal Study Area and be well-suited to the intensive period of study. If you do not have a degree qualification, we may consider your application if you can demonstrate a significant amount of professional experience and achieve a high scoring audition IELTS overall score of a minimum of 6.0 with no sub-test below 5.5
Additional entry requirements
Audition
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Audition | £80 | £80 |
| Royal Birmingham Conservatoire | £80 | £80 |
Joint principal specialism assessment
| Location | On-time Fee | Late Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Audition | £120 | £120 |
| Royal Birmingham Conservatoire | £120 | £120 |
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
£2,147 per 20 credits.
Provider information
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Birmingham Conservatoire
200 Jennens Road
Birmingham
B4 7XR