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Music Education MA

London, Bloomsbury

The Music Education MA will introduce students to research and research-informed practice at the forefront of music education. The course will provide tools for interrogating musical and educational assumptions, values and practices. It will help students to expand their understanding of effective music teaching, evaluation and assessment. It will assist them to consider these aspects of music education, and others, across a range of formal and informal educational contexts involving children and adults as participants.  

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£14,200
£7,100
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£32,000
£16,000
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 27 Mar 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 28 Aug 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Normally a minimum of a second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in music, music education and/or arts education, or a related field of study. There may be particular circumstances where professional experience is considered by the Programme Leader(s) in order to satisfy entry requirements.

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.

This course is suitable for international students on a Student visa – study must be full-time, face-to-face, starting September.

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

Undertaking the Music Education MA course will allow students to develop their critical thinking and ability to interrogate current educational research, literature and practice in the overarching fields of music and music education. They will also have the opportunity to pursue specialist lines of enquiry that are related to their own professional and/or academic interests, working alongside prominent academics in the field.

Who this course is for

This course is suited to those with a passion for music with a specific interest in music education. Applicants are likely to have had previous experience in teaching, performing, composing, producing, advocating, and/or researching in the fields of music and/or arts education.

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

What this course will give you

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is one of the world's leading centres for education and related areas of social science. For the twelfth year in succession IOE has been ranked as the world's leading university for Education (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025).

The Music Education MA at UCL is one of the largest recruiting courses of its type dedicated to music education in the world. It offers a detailed, broad-based view of music education through deep engagement with cutting-edge scholarship. It is an excellent platform for instrumental or class music teachers to develop their practices, or for aspiring music educators, community music leaders, or academics, to learn about key underpinning philosophies, research, and pedagogical approaches essential to music teaching and learning.   

The course is taught by leading academics with current and extensive expertise in externally funded research. Research and publications from our lecturers have significant impact on educational policy and practice both in the UK and internationally. This informs learning and teaching on the course whilst fostering the development of a research-based culture. Many of our students pursue further study at doctoral and post-doctoral level.

Our course meets the needs of a wide range of professionals from across the international communities of music and music education. Our alumni have been and continue to be leading figures in education worldwide.

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

The foundation of your career

Graduates of this course are currently working as:

  • advocates for the arts
  • arts, health and wellbeing therapists
  • doctoral and post-doctoral researchers
  • freelance music teachers
  • university lecturers
  • music teachers in primary and secondary schools
  • performers
  • primary music co-ordinators

(Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017-22)

As a highly regarded institute, I do think studying at IOE is a good investment. It is the leading institute in the world for education, and the lecturers are experts in their own fields. I have already seen the impact on my own teaching practice, and have been able to bring transferable ideas to the wider teaching community.

Kate Retelsdorf, Music Education MA student

Kate Retelsdorf

Music Education MA

Q&A with Kate Retelsdorf

Employability

Our MA students develop confidence in understanding music education research and other scholarship in fields of psychology, philosophy and sociology and, moreover, how these inform e.g., pedagogy, policy and curricular development, etc. As a consequence, past students have a strong record of success as primary, secondary and Higher Education teaching professionals. Graduates have also been successful in entering PhD courses at UCL and other universities.

Networking

The Music Education MA and IOE are networked with a wide array of partner primary and secondary schools in London. Staff members have conducted and published large-scale evaluations and other refereed research on major music education initiatives in UK special and mainstream schools. Staff also work with various charities in the sector, as well as other Higher Education institutions vested in music education. The network in which the course sits, as well as our alumni, benefit students.

Teaching and learning

Students will learn through a combination of interactive face-to-face lectures, synchronous online lectures, engaging with materials on our Virtual Learning Environment, tutorials and seminars, and through self-directed independent study time (including writing academically critical essays). They will be expected to engage with the research literature and other published scholarship on the related fields of psychology, sociology and philosophy. Students will also undergo training and supervision for a practitioner research project in music education.

The main mode of delivery is through a combination of weekly lectures and seminars.

There are ten-week lecture courses for the two core modules, and also for Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice (optional module), with sessions held in the evenings at IOE. However, the Choral Conducting Leadership and Communication optional module takes place over five full days at the Institute, as well as through additional student-led sessions. Students are also required to engage actively with UCL's online learning environments across the course. The Music Technology in Education optional module is delivered online. All students are entitled to face-to-face tutorials with their allocated tutors. 

Module assessments on the course vary, and may include coursework (for example, essays and written assignments), presentations, or a form of examination. You may be expected to complete both individual and group assessments. UCL’s module catalogue details individual module assessments, but please note these may be subject to change on an annual basis.

Full-time students can typically expect between 5 and 10 contact hours per teaching week in Terms 1 and 2 through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, supplementary opportunities offered by the wider institution, online work through our VLE, and tutorials. In addition, full-time students will typically study a minimum 7 hours per week, per module, in self-directed study. In Term 3, i.e., the summer period, students will be completing their own dissertation or report research keeping in regular contact with their supervisors.

Modules

The course can be taken full-time across one academic year. You will take two compulsory modules, with attendance at 10-week lecture courses on the sociology, philosophy and psychology of music education, and have a choice of three optional modules: Music Technology in Education, with its online tasks and portfolio work; Choral Conducting Leadership and Communication, with its taught and student-led practical musical activities; and Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice, again with a 10-week lecture course and either teaching observations or a practitioner project. 

You will also opt for either a report or dissertation, both which entail either a piece of empirical research and/or an extended literature review on an area of music education.

Part-time students choose their own annual module selections for this course. The part-time format is two years of study. You will take two compulsory modules, with attendance at 10-week lecture courses on the sociology, philosophy and psychology of music education, and have a choice of three optional modules: Music Technology in Education, with its online tasks and portfolio work; Choral Conducting Leadership and Communication, with its taught and student-led practical musical activities; and Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice, again with a 10-week lecture course and either teaching observations or a practitioner project. 

You will also opt for either a report or dissertation, both which entail either a piece of empirical research and/or an extended literature review on an area of music education. This is normally taken in the second year.

Modular-flexible students choose their own annual module selections for this course. The modular-flexible format is up to 5 years of study. Across your studies, you will take two compulsory modules, with attendance at 10-week lecture courses on the sociology, philosophy and psychology of music education, and have a choice of three optional modules: Music Technology in Education, with its online tasks and portfolio work; Choral Conducting Leadership and Communication, with its taught and student-led practical musical activities; and Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice, again with a 10-week lecture course and either teaching observations or a practitioner project. 

You will also opt for either a report or dissertation, both which entail either a piece of empirical research and/or an extended literature review on an area of music education. This is normally taken in the final year.

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 MA in Music Education.

Fieldwork

Students may undertake their research fieldwork for their dissertation or report within their own teaching practices or other educational contexts worldwide. They are responsible for arranging access to those sites with the support of their UCL supervisors in line with UCL ethics policy and procedures. UCL does not guarantee access to educational sites for research purposes.  

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.

Where you'll study

Department of Culture, Communication and Media

The Department of Culture, Communication and Media is committed to excellence in research and teaching in the areas of Art, Design and Museology, Academic writing, English education, Applied Linguistics, Music Education, Learning with Digital Technologies and teacher professional development.

Find out more about the department

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £14,200 £7,100
Tuition fees (2026/27) £32,000 £16,000

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

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.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a £350 deposit will be charged.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a £500 deposit will be charged.

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

Students are responsible for covering any travel, accommodation, and other expenses involved in conducting research for their dissertation or report, and should account for these costs when planning their finances.

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

Available funding opportunities can be viewed at IOE's website.   

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

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.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Music Education at graduate level
  • why you want to study Music Education at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen course
  • how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging course
  • what experiences you have as a music educator, including any employment or placements
  • 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 course match what the course will deliver. We are keen to receive personal statements that evidence experiences as a music teacher or other music education professional, including any university practicum taken in schools. We are interested in your reasons for aspiring to have a career in our field. We are not a course that trains musicians for careers in musical performance.

The course is focused on scholarship relating to music teaching and learning, rather than musical performance, etc. Although a high standard of musical performance is expected, candidates must have a significant desire to engage with published research and academic literature, and to produce high-quality written work on music education themes. As such, international applicants must demonstrate English proficiency at the stated level. Experience of working in music and/or arts education is valued too. There is no audition for this course, but candidates may be invited to an interview.  

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.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2026-2027

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Culture, Communication and Media
Culture, Communication and Media

a.slade@ucl.ac.uk

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