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Museum Studies MA

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2026/27 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Museum Studies MA (2025/26), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2026/27)

£16,800

£8,400

Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)

£35,400

£17,700

Duration

1 calendar year

2 calendar years

Programme starts

September 2026

Applications accepted

All applicants: 20 Oct 2025 – 20 Jan 2026

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Applicants should also have gained experience of working in museums or related organisations (this experience is often gained in a voluntary capacity).

The English language level for this course is: Level 2

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 programme will equip you with the knowledge and skills required to become a museum professional. You will be taught by experts in museum, archives, and collections.

You will be able to get hands-on experience through your 20 days work placement. Recent placements have included:

The British Museum
London Transport Museum
RAF Museums
Royal Academy
Royal Historical Palaces

Who this course is for

The programme is ideal for those wishing to enter the museum profession or pursue PhD studies on museological topics. It provides a balance of practice and theory for students from a wide range of academic backgrounds and cultures.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

UCL Institute of Archaeology is one of the largest centres for archaeology and heritage in Britain and ranked 3rd in the QS World Rankings by Subject 2025. The Institute brings archaeology, cultural heritage, and museum studies together under one roof, making it a special and exciting place to study.

This programme offers you benefits and opportunities such as:

learn from leading experts in their fields
use of the Institute’s exceptional laboratories, equipment, archives, teaching collections and exhibition spaces
working relationship with UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology Archaeology, the Art Museum and the Grant Museum of Zoology
opportunity to mount an exhibition in UCL’s state of the art exhibition space, Culture Lab, at UCL East
opportunity to work on real-life projects through the Institute’s placement scheme.

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

The foundation of your career

Upon completing this degree, you will have skills well suited for jobs in sectors such as:

tourism and heritage management
collections management and visitor/community engagement work within HE, museums, and private companies
environmental and sustainability sector
Journalism.
Civil Service.

“My time at the Institute of Archaeology helped me to form a platform to launch my career in museums. The focus on practical skills and the efforts to create relevant learning experiences, with inclusive and globally considered perspectives, were invaluable and created knowledge that I use every day in my professional life” - Genevieve Holt (MA Museum Studies)

Employability

On completion of this programme, you will have gained practical skills relevant to the Museum and Heritage sector:

You will also have acquired transferable skills attractive to employers in a wide range of businesses and sectors:

theoretical and critical analysis
writing and communication skills
time management
IT skills.

Networking

Throughout the degree students will have the opportunity to learn from and discuss museum issues with professionals currently working in the sector through museum visits and guest lecturers.

Many of our alumni also return as guest lecturers on core modules and seminars.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through lectures, small group seminars, practical workshops, student-led panel meetings, museum visits and guest speakers. Students are required to undertake a work placement for a total of 20 days.

Assessment is through coursework assignments, projects, essays, field reports, portfolio and the dissertation.

Contact time takes various forms:

lectures
seminars
practical sessions or site/museum visits
assessment feedback sessions.

The contact hours are normally 6-8 hours per week with additional self-directed study time. Outside of lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials, full-time students use their remaining time for self-directed study and completing coursework assignments (approximately 20-25 hours).

The learning hours during the dissertation will mainly be spent researching and writing. You will also have regular contact with your supervisor(s). They will guide and support you throughout your work.

Modules

The taught modules take place in Terms 1 and 2. You will establish a dissertation topic and supervisor in Term 2. In the third term, you will work on your dissertation, which continues over the summer and can be supplemented by research skills sessions organised at the Institute of Archaeology.

There are various ways in which you can undertake your placement. It may be spread over Term 3 or in the vacation period or could be spread through the year over several weeks or months, to suit the individual and the placement provider.

Teaching takes place during Terms 1 and 2. In Term 1, part-time students normally come in two to three days a week, while in Term 2 this will depend on the optional module to be chosen.

Part-time students should aim to attend 50% of the field trips each year. Term 3 and the summer break are used to write the dissertation and complete the placement.

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

The Museum: Critical Perspectives

Managing Museums

Collections Management and Care

Museum Communication and Audience Engagement

Museum Studies Placement

Optional modules

Collections Curatorship

Heritage Ethics and Archaeological Practice in the Middle East and Mediterranean

Exhibition Project

Oral History: Creation to Curation

Antiquities and the Law

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 MA in Museum Studies.

Placement

Students are required to undertake 20 days’ work placement in a museum or similar organisation. This usually takes place one day a week during term-time, although other arrangements may be possible. Students create and present a poster at the end of the placement reflecting on their experience.

The Institute will support you with your application and help you find an organisation that matches your interests. In recent years placements have included organisations such as:

For any queries regarding the placement please contact Prof Theano Moussouri.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2026/27)	£16,800	£8,400
Tuition fees (2026/27)	£35,400	£17,700

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course 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

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a fee deposit will be charged at 2.5% of the first year fee.

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Transport to museum visits outside of London will be arranged by the department. Students will need to make their own way to museum visits within London. A Day off-peak travelcard for zones 1-9 costs around £17.00, but most visits will be within zones 1-3.

Student may need to cover entrance fees to exhibitions or museums at their own expense. Cost for an exhibition typically cost between £15-£20.

The majority of placements are based in Greater London (zones 1-9). Students will need to cover travel (approximately £17) and subsistence costs.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

Institute of Archaeology Master's Awards

The UCL Institute of Archaeology has one studentship of £10,000 available to support a graduate student who is an ordinarily resident in the UK or Ireland and eligible to pay home fee rate. The deadline for applications is 2 March 2026. For further information and to download an application see here.

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

: Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1 year)

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: UK

Institute of Archaeology International Masters Student Award

Deadline: 21 March 2025

Value: Up to £26,000 (1 year)

Criteria Based on academic merit

Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Institute of Archaeology Masters Award

Deadline: 21 March 2025

Value: £10,000 (1 year)

Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need

Eligibility: UK

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this course of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

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.

From your personal statement we would like to learn:

why you want to study Museum Studies at UCL
what particularly attracts you to this programme
how your academic and professional background meets the requirements of the programme
where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

We look for experience of working in a museum or similar organisation, either paid or voluntary.

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

This course requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.