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Music

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-B,C,C

A Level grades BBB-BCC preferred.

Access to HE Diploma

M:45

Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher) together with evidence of a high level of experience in music, composing, music technology or music performance.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

A minimum of 32 points are required.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-DMM

BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject.

T Level

M

T Levels – grade Merit preferred in a relevant subject.

UCAS Tariff

104-120

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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Music

**Discover who you are as a musician and develop the skills you need to thrive in your future career.**
- Develop your skills through practical music-making every working day.

- Learn how to make a difference in the world through your music.

- Ready yourself for a viable and sustainable career in the wider music sector.

BA Music is a practical and applied degree designed to give you access to a broad range of careers in music through an artist-first approach to study. On the course, you'll consider how music exists in the world around us today, exploring both how music is not only something to do, but something to do things with. You'll learn to use your musical skill and knowledge to make a difference in the world, starting your career as a creator, manager, educator or leader in the community music and wellbeing sectors.

Our Music degree focuses on developing your creative skills as a practitioner in a wide range of musical styles and contexts. You'll have regular music-making opportunities, enhancing your skills as a practical and entrepreneurial musician who understands music as it is made in contemporary society, engaging directly with the music industry and diverse communities. You'll also develop as a music creator, exploring your personal musical identity through making original work.

Your creative and practical musicianship skills will be developed in the context of viable career paths within music. You'll gain the practical training and work experience you need to take music beyond concert venues and into peoples’ everyday lives – into schools, prisons, community organisations, health and social care settings and music societies – in an inclusive and sustainable way. You'll develop a portfolio of tangible experience and materials, ready to kick-start a career in music, such as through public-facing performances, professional placements, websites and online content, or educational materials and workshop plans. You'll work with our external partners across Bath and the wider region, enabling you to acquire the communication, business, entrepreneurial, digital literacy and evaluation skills you'll need to support your artistic and professional activities.

Modules

Year one – Focus on developing and refining your core practical musicianship skills. Through this practical work, you’ll learn about current music in relation to societal contexts, exploring the areas in which your practice can make a difference in people’s lives. You'll also develop your ability to make recordings and videos, learning to edit these for online contexts. Across the year, you’ll undertake a series of short projects, working in groups as well as individually.

Year two – Apply your skills within a series of industry contexts, helping you to understand what careers are available to you as a musician. You'll continue to develop your artistic practice, while considering how external factors such as collaborating with others or undertaking research can open up new ideas. This work is also explored through working with communities, in educational settings, and producing events. You'll also develop your ability to communicate ideas about music in different media, such as podcasts, video creation, and social media.

Year three – In your final year, you’ll be supported in transitioning to work as an independent industry professional. You’ll design and deliver projects in areas such as education, community music, health and wellbeing, and arts management. You’ll be able to focus on your individual career aspirations as a professional musician, and build the CV you need to get you there, supported by placement opportunities. You'll work on two large-scale projects of your choice, focusing on your creative practice and applied research. We help you plan and manage these projects, balancing creative, research and entrepreneurial decision-making to reach your goals. You'll also gain valuable industry experience through a work placement, helping you to demonstrate your potential to employers.

Assessment methods

All of our assessments are based in practical and applied music-making. In addition to the creative work you make through performances and compositions, you’ll create outputs such as audio-visual documentation, podcasts, websites, written reports and research papers, teaching materials, project proposals and public events.

As a result, your assessment projects will form a portfolio that can be used to evidence your skills to employers, as part of a showreel or CV.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,905
per year
International
£16,905
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Bath Spa University

Department:

School of Music and Performing Arts

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

63%
Music

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Music

Teaching and learning

86%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
Staff are good at explaining things
69%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
77%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

64%
Library resources
78%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
55%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
48%
Male students
52%
Female students
89%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Music

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£15,600
low
Average annual salary
98%
med
Employed or in further education
69%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

32%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
9%
Teaching and educational professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Music

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£14k

£14k

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here