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Our BMus Music offers you the opportunity to develop your skills, knowledge and advanced understanding of the subject needed by today’s musicians. You study a wide range of music, looking at earlier, historical styles as well as music that has evolved over the past few decades. Your technical skills in performance and music notation are an important feature of this degree, and we also encourage you to find your own creative voice with specialist composition modules.
Overview
Within the School of Music and Fine Art, you can also explore music’s relationship with other disciplines and we offer modules in music for film, television and live events. A distinctive feature of this programme is that we encourage you to collaborate with students from our other programmes, such as Fine Art and Creative Events, building important teamworking skills that have a direct relevance to many music careers.
If you are studying on a full-time basis you have the opportunity to take the Year in Industry option. You may also take this year as work experience overseas, or study abroad.
Independent rankings
In the National Student Survey 2014, Music at the University of Kent gained the 3rd highest score in the UK for student satisfaction.
Course structure
The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules that will be available to you and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Year in industry
You can extend your studies from three to four years by taking the Year in Industry option (this option is not available if you are studying on a part-time basis). This provides the opportunity to gain relevant workplace experience as part of your programme of study. We have long recognised the benefits of taking a year abroad and the increased awareness and confidence the experience brings and now want to offer these benefits to students within the workplace.
By taking this option you are given you an opportunity to increase your contacts and network so that you can hit the ground running when you graduate.
The Year in Industry option is only available to full-time students. It is taken in addition to your standard undergraduate programme and normally falls between your second and final year. Students typically work on a placement for the full calendar year, and salary and holiday entitlements vary according to the employer. The year itself is assessed on a pass/fail basis through employer feedback and a written report that you submit.
Year abroad
It is possible to extend your full-time degree programme to four years by spending your third year studying abroad (this option is not available if you are studying on a part-time basis).
The School of Music and Fine Art currently has arrangements for exchanges with universities across Europe, America, Asia and other destinations overseas. Our close proximity to Ebbsfleet International train station makes it easy to access continental Europe as well as London.
For more details on taking an overseas experience as a student Kent, see www.kent.ac.uk/goabroad.
Teaching and assessment
Students receive instrumental tuition as part of this degree, both individually and as part of groups and ensembles.
All assessment is by coursework, including compositional projects, seminar presentations, music performances, audio production tasks, essays and written assignments.
In each module, there are opportunities for one-to-one tutorials where you are given individual support and guidance.
Programme aims
The programme aims to:
- produce graduates equipped to fulfil significant roles within a range of music organisations and industries
- provide an education for those students considering a career in music performance, composition, music production and related areas
- develop specialist knowledge of musical repertoires and their cultural contexts
- provide opportunities for personal development
- encourage critical thinking with regard to current professional practice
- enable students to meet the challenges of a diverse and rapidly-changing field
- provide high quality academic guidance and help students to achieve their full potential
- foster students’ abilities in both autonomous and team-based practices
- provide awareness of music’s relationship with other arts subjects and provide opportunities for interdisciplinary explorations.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You gain knowledge and understanding of:
- how to understand, interpret and manipulate oral, written and visual signs denoting music
- a broad-based body of knowledge of music, including a detailed grasp of appropriate repertoires and texts
- the relevant scholarly literature and its insights into the practice and experience of music
- music’s historical, social, cultural, political, philosophical and economic context
- how to relate processes of change in music to historical, social and other factors
- the professional and ethical responsibilities associated with contemporary music practice.
Intellectual skills
You develop intellectual skills in:
- research and exploration including the gathering and evaluation of information
- the ability to quote from and acknowledge academic sources, relating your insights to the practice and experience of music
- how to plan, implement, evaluate, and reflect critically on work-in-progress
- the use of influences and quotations in one’s own and others’ work
- how to to exercise judgment and to make informed choices
- using reasoning and logic in order to analyse data and formulate your own arguments and hypotheses
- how to express, interpret and discuss your analyses, arguments and hypotheses.
Subject-specific skills
You gain subject-specific skills in the following areas:
- how to recognise, identify and describe musical organisation, style, genre or tradition, whether aurally or by studying a written score
- the artistic and expressive abilities to communicate music convincingly to the listener
- the ability to have musical ideas and manipulate them in an inventive and individual way
- the ability to engage with a variety of music styles through creative and technical projects
- a familiarity with musical ideas and concepts relating to (or combining with) other art forms and media
- the ability to use a range of equipment and technologies for performing, creating, producing and recording music.
Transferable skills
You gain transferable skills in:
- IT, including word processing, email and the use of information from online and electronic sources
- communicating effectively with others as a member of a team
- how to respond positively to self-criticism and the criticism of others while maintaining confidence in your own creative work
- the effective management of resources and time and the ability to organise and prioritise tasks
- flexible thinking, including the ability to be open to new and alternative ideas
- how to manage and carry a project through to delivery.
Careers
Career opportunities include composition, performance, music criticism, music production, music for film, television, video games and the internet, music festivals, concert events, teaching and further study at postgraduate level.
We regularly welcome high-profile visiting performers, composers and experts to talk to our students, and we give specialist advice on current work and employment matters during our Stage 3 module, Music and Professional Practice.
Entry requirements
Home/EU students
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications, typical requirements are listed below, students offering alternative qualifications should contact the Admissions Office for further advice. It is not possible to offer places to all students who meet this typical offer/minimum requirement.
| Qualification | Typical offer/minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| A level | ABB-BBB including B in Music/Music Technology. For non-A level candidates grade 6 or equivalent level of ability in music required. |
| GCSE | C in English |
| Access to HE Diploma | The University of Kent will not necessarily make conditional offers to all access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. If an offer is made candidates will be required to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above. |
| BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (formerly BTEC National Diploma) | Distinction, Merit, Merit |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall or 16 points at HL including Music 5 at HL or 6 at SL |
International students
The University receives applications from over 140 different nationalities and consequently will consider applications from prospective students offering a wide range of international qualifications. Our International Development Office will be happy to advise prospective students on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about our country-specific requirements.
Please note that if you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes through Kent International Pathways.
English Language Requirements
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
General entry requirements
Please also see our general entry requirements.
Fees
The 2016/17 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
| UK/EU | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | ||
| Part-time |
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
The Government has announced changes to allow undergraduate tuition fees to rise in line with inflation from 2017/18.
The University of Kent is currently considering whether to increase its regulated full-time tuition fees for all returning Home and EU undergraduates from £9,000 to £9,250 in September 2017. This would be subject to us satisfying the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework and the access regulator's requirements. The equivalent part-time fees for these courses might also rise by 2.8%.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk
UK/EU/International students on an approved Year Abroad for the full 2016/17 academic year pay an annual fee of £1,350 to Kent for that year. Those on an approved Year in Industry pay an annual fee of £865 to Kent for that year. Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
Funding
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. Details of our proposed funding opportunities for 2016 entry can be found on our funding page.
General scholarships
Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.
The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence
At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. For 2016 entry, the scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of AAA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications as specified on our scholarships pages. Please review the eligibility criteria on that page.