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Creative Health MASc

London, Stratford (UCL East)

Gain the skills you need to become a sought after practitioner working at the interface of culture, nature, arts and health. The Creative Health MASc is the first degree of its kind in the world, and will enable you to be a changemaker in the rapidly changing health, social care and voluntary third sector. Taught at UCL, you’ll learn from renowned academics who are helping to shape the future of healthcare through the creative health field.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£15,100
£7,550
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£31,100
£15,550
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2024
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 05 Apr 2024

Applications closed

Applicants who do not require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 30 Aug 2024

Applications closed

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Entry requirements

Normally a minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in psychology, medicine/biomedicine, nursing and other allied health professions, sciences, arts, liberal arts, design-related humanities and social sciences. Professional experience in the fields of arts, culture and health, or social prescribing, is desirable. An applicant whose qualifications vary from UCL standards may be admitted if evidence of an adequate academic background and work experience in an appropriate field can be shown. Intercalating MBBS/BMBS applicants are welcomed provided applicants have an undergraduate degree (2:1 minimum or equivalent) in a relevant subject.

It may be possible to apply based on having completed three or four years of a medical degree programme; candidates wishing to be considered for admission in such circumstances will be considered on a case by case basis.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The MASc in Creative Health is the first of its kind, providing the first Masters level ‘Arts and Sciences’ degree, with a focus on the intersection of the arts and health sciences. The programme seeks to address growing national and international interest in the evolving field of Creative Health. It does this by examining different aspects of this field, including arts, culture and nature in health, health equity, lived experience and community assets. Our approach to teaching and learning focuses on research-led/based practice, community engagement, non-clinical interventions including social prescribing, and experiential learning. 

The MASc will help create a new generation of socially engaged scholars and practitioners to meet the needs of a changing health, social care and voluntary third sector, where personalised care and the patient experience are mainstreamed into primary, secondary and community health. 

Over the last two decades, the field of Creative Health has grown rapidly, facilitated by a number of major advances in research, several key policy documents released by Arts Councils, central government and the World Health Organisation, as well as the growing participation of arts, culture, nature and community organisations in health and wellbeing. However, the 2017 All Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing Creative Health Inquiry has identified a need for more education and training opportunities for those interested in working in the sector. This need is particularly acute given that there are still very limited opportunities available for health and social care professionals, researchers or people from wider backgrounds interested in the field, to receive specific training, let alone an academic qualification. Moreover, this need is more pressing than ever as the world recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. If the field is to continue to develop and promote high-quality research and practice, the development of such training opportunities is going to be vital.

To this end, the MASc Creative Health offers a range of taught and research-led modules providing students with an in-depth understanding of the depth and breadth of Creative Health, including practice, policy shift and research innovation. Taught modules will provide the necessary grounding in Creative Health for students to understand scope of research, policy and practice. The research dissertation will be undertaken in collaboration with a community partner, providing practical experience of the role of community organisations in supporting different aspects of health and wellbeing, with a focus on developing and applying research and evaluation skills.

Who this course is for

This programme will appeal to candidates who are passionate about creating a more socially inclusive society where arts, culture and the natural environment are central to supporting personalised care, tackling health inequity and improving the patient experience.
Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

There is a clearly identified need for more educational opportunities for those interested in working at the interface of culture, nature, arts and health - see Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing Inquiry Report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing (APPGAHW). This need is particularly acute given the very limited opportunities available for healthcare/arts/creative professionals, researchers or people from wider backgrounds interested in creative health to receive specific training. 

To meet this need, the MASc in Creative Health offers a range of taught and research-led modules, providing students with a detailed understanding of the depth and breadth of the field, including professional practice (such as social prescribing), policy shift and research innovation, related to all aspects of socially engaged work across the arts, culture, heritage, creativity, nature and the outdoors. 

Rt Hon. Lord Howarth of Newport CBE, Co-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing: 

"I am delighted to support the development of UCL's exciting new MASc in Creative Health which directly addresses Recommendation 8 in the All Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing's Inquiry Report Creative Health: 'We recommend that the education of clinicians, public health specialists and other health and care professionals includes accredited modules on the evidence base and practical use of the arts for health and wellbeing outcomes. We also recommend that arts education institutions initiate undergraduate and postgraduate courses and professional development modules dedicated to the contribution of the arts to health and wellbeing' (2017, p.155)." 

The MASc Creative Health Programme will primarily operate from the brand new UCL East Campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Apart from the fact that this means that students will have access to the most state-of-the-art facilities, spaces and equipment that the new campus brings with it, there are also a number of programme specific benefits to working at UCL East. In particular, being a community engaged programme, that relies to a large extent on collaboration with community partners – not least for the dissertation research – East London is an extremely exciting place to work. We have close knit relationships with leading creative health and wider voluntary and community sector organisations across the East London Olympic boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. Moreover, the UCL East campus will form part of the East Bank development, a new cultural quarter for East London.  This will provide an opportunity to collaborate and engage with the other cultural institutions that form part of the East Bank, including the BBC, Sadler’s Wells, UAL’s London College of Fashion and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). The programme will also retain a relationship with the Bloomsbury campus in central London, so students will be able to benefit from access to both of these locations.  

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

The MASc Creative Health is a relatively new programme with our first cohort of students graduating in late 2022. We anticipate that graduates will be well placed to take up a position within health or social care, the arts, cultural and creative sectors, as well as community and local government, NGOs, and the voluntary and third sectors. Creative Health is also a growing area of research so we anticipate that graduates may enter PhD opportunities in related fields.

Employability

Students on the MASc Creative Health will develop practical skills in the application of the range of multi- and interdisciplinary concepts, theories and methods involved in creative health, as well as designing, researching and presenting creative health research using a variety of methods and media. They will also develop a deep understanding of the intersections between research, policy and practice in relation to arts, creativity and health, and be able to critically appraise evidence from a variety of sources, along with an ability to work independently and as part of a team, including with external teams such as a community partner organisation.

Networking

The programme grants unique access to experts, practitioners and people with lived experience throughout. In particular two of the core modules BASC0030 Arts, Nature and Wellbeing and BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research contain a significant input from leading Creative Health practitioners. Through these connections, students to date have already been able to develop new opportunities for employment and directions of future work (including research).  

Teaching and learning

The programme will involve a diversity of learning strategies. While there will be an element of traditional lectures and seminars, a significant emphasis of the core modules will be on authentic and experiential approaches to learning. Much of the content of the programme is drawn from the real-world of health and wellbeing and students will therefore be challenged to come up with practical, real-world applications of their learning. This is reflected in the large number of contributors from the health, social care, arts, creative and community sector to the degree core and in particular in the community-based nature of the dissertation module.

The programme is taught with an emphasis on collaborative and co-operative learning to ensure that you enter the workforce capable of joining projects and programmes where working in teams is important. Assessment is through written assignments, projects, oral presentations, group work, and the written dissertation. 

You will receive approximately 140 hours of contact hours for the compulsory modules, plus approximately 50-60 hours for your optional modules. The remainder of the time is spent in self-directed independent study. Each 15-credit module represents a notional 150 hours of study, which is made up of contact time and self-directed independent study.

Core modules are taught across Terms 1, 2 and 3. Optional modules vary according to the host department, but will run in Term 1, 2 or 3. The dissertation runs across Terms 2 and 3.

A Postgraduate Diploma, five compulsory modules (105 credits in total) and one optional module (15 credits), full-time over one academic year is offered. A Postgraduate Certificate, four compulsory modules (60 credits in total), studied full-time over one academic year is offered.

Modules

You will take a total of 180 credits across the year, including the following compulsory modules: 

  • BASC0030 Arts, Nature and Wellbeing: Non-Clinical Interventions in Health (15 credits) 
  • BASC0050 Dissertation Project (90 credits) 
  • BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research (15 credits) 
  • BASC0052 Research Methods in Arts and Sciences (15 credits) 
  • BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity (15 credits) 

For your remaining 30 credits, you will take two optional modules from a pre-approved list.

In exceptional cases, we will allow you to take a module not included in the optional module list. The module should be of general relevance to the topic of Creative Health, including fields like health studies, health humanities, allied health, sports science, nutrition and anthropology. However, this will be at the discretion of the MASc Programme Lead and the relevant teaching department. 

You will take a total of 180 credits across the two years, 60 credits in your first year and 120 credits in your second year. Your second year carries more credits as the dissertation module is worth 90 credits. 

BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity are both compulsory modules but you can choose to take them in Year 1 or Year 2.

You will take the following modules in Year 1: 

  • BASC0030 Arts, Nature and Wellbeing: Non-Clinical Interventions in Health (15 credits) 
  • BASC0052 Research Methods in Arts and Sciences (15 credits) 

Your remaining 30 credits will be from one of the following combinations:  

  • BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity 
  • BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and one optional 15 credit module 
  • BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity and one optional 15 credit module 
  • 2 x 15 credit optional modules 

You will take the following modules in Year 2: 

  • BASC0050 Dissertation Project (90 credits) 

Your remaining 30 credits will depend on whether you took one, both, or neither of BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity in your first year. You will choose from one of the following combinations:  

  • BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity 
  • BASC0051 Lived Experience in Policy, Practice and Research and one optional 15 credit module 
  • BASC0053 Approaches to Interdisciplinarity and one optional 15 credit module 
  • 2 x 15 credit optional modules 

Your two optional modules are from a pre-approved list. 

In exceptional cases, we will allow you to take a module not included in the optional module list. The module should be of general relevance to the topic of Creative Health, including fields like health and community studies, health humanities, allied health, sports science, nutrition and anthropology. However, this will be at the discretion of the MASc Programme Lead and the relevant teaching department.

Compulsory modules







Optional modules












Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MASc in Creative Health. Upon successful completion of 120 credits, you will be awarded a PG Dip in Creative Health. Upon successful completion of 60 credits, you will be awarded a PG Cert in Creative Health.

Placement

Although not a formal placement, you will work with a community partner as part of the BASC0050 Dissertation Project module. 

During the first term, we will provide you with a list of partner organisations and projects you can work on and you will be asked to select a number of them in order of preference. The allocation will be based on this preference in the first instance. 

As most of your teaching will end after Term 2, it's expected you will spend more time at the community partner organisation during Term 3 until you submit your dissertation the following September.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

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Graduate Open Events: Creative Health MASc

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UCL’s Creative Health MASc aims to create a new generation of socially engaged scholars and practitioners. This programme will meet the needs of a changing health, social care and voluntary third sector. Personalised care, social prescribing, health equity and the patient experience are mainstreamed into public health. Join us to hear from our programme leads, find out more about this exciting new opportunity, and ask any questions related to applying and studying with us.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £15,100 £7,550
Tuition fees (2024/25) £31,100 £15,550

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There may be additional costs for students undertaking primary data collection, including travelling to community partners within the greater London area. There is limited funding available but other costs will be at the expense of the student. 

In addition, as the MASc Creative Health is based at the UCL East campus in Stratford, students will need to fund their own travel between the Bloomsbury and UCL East campuses if they choose to take an optional module available only at Bloomsbury.

This programme requires a completed Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for some compulsory modules. You will receive more information from UCL on how to complete the check once you have firmly accepted an unconditional offer for the programme.

A charge for Post Office ID verification (£15.00) needed for an application to the Disclosure and Barring Service is payable by the student. The cost of the DBS check itself is paid for by UCL.

If you have lived, worked, studied or travelled in any single country outside of the UK for six continuous months or more, in the last five years, you will be required to obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct/Police Check from the relevant country/countries. The cost of this check varies by country and is payable by the student. More information on how to obtain these can be found on gov.uk

For more information about the DBS application process, please contact the UCL Graduate Admissions team

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

UCL East Scholarship

The scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MASc at UCL. Further details at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/ucl-east-london-scholarship.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

UCL East London Scholarship

NOW CLOSED FOR 2024/25 ENTRY
Value: Tuition fees plus £15,700 stipend ()
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Creative Health at graduate level
  • why you want to study Creative Health at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver. Candidates with previous experience in the fields of arts/culture/nature and health, social prescribing or other aspects of health and social care are particularly encouraged to apply. Candidates whose qualifications vary from UCL standards may be admitted if evidence of an adequate academic background and work experience in an appropriate field can be shown.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Got questions? Get in touch

Arts and Sciences BASc
Arts and Sciences BASc

uasc-pg-admissions@ucl.ac.uk

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