Songwriting
Entry requirements
A level
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
Minimum of 2 A-levels at Grade E or above (32 UCAS points), OR BTEC Level 3 equivalent, and normally three GCSEs at a minimum grade C/4, including English Language. Mature applicants (19+) who do not hold the minimum entry criteria can be considered for RPP - Recognition of Prior Practice. This is an essay based submission focused on prior professional practice or experiential learning.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Perform an audition
About this course
**About the course**
Explore your creativity and develop an in-depth knowledge of your art and the industry with our BMus (Hons) Songwriting course. You’ll learn all about this music industry cornerstone. You’ll focus on areas such as lyricism and aesthetics, creating music with technology, and music publishing.
Working with a diverse range of talented artists to bring your aesthetic, academic and industry goals to life will be at the heart of the course. Day-to-day interaction and collaboration with fellow songwriters, performers, producers and business and events students will help you gain invaluable real-world experience.
As well as being surrounded by this creative and vibrant atmosphere, you’ll have access to our state-of-the-art facilities. Each day, you’ll learn within large live rooms, recording suites and seminar-based classrooms.
From day one, you’ll be encouraged to form your personal stylistic development through a range of disciplines: from solo and group performances to commercial songwriting and music production for film, television and online channels. As the course progresses, you’ll be able to choose options that best suit your interests and career aspirations. These options will help shape you to become a multi-skilled music professional valued in today’s industry.
Highly experienced lecturers currently active in the industry will guide you through the core topics. These include styles and genres, songwriting techniques, musicianship, music publishing, events and releasing and Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) technology. You’ll also get to attend unique and inspiring Masterclasses with some of the best artists in the world, which will stretch you as a songwriter.
So, what are you waiting for? Start your career in Songwriting today.
**The BIMM Graduate**
We make sure that when you graduate, your attributes and skills mirror the employment and creative needs of the music industry – both today and in the future.
We aim to equip BIMM graduates with the following qualities, so they have a long lasting career.
- Employable and Entrepreneurial
- Creative, Collaborative and Connected
- Resilient and adaptable
- Globally Aware
- Professional
- Intellectually Curious
- Self-aware
Modules
Students can expect to study the following Core modules:
Year 1
The creative industries and you 1: Finding your path
Context and culture of the creative industries
Songwriting techniques
Songwriting skills for ensemble
collaboration and performance
Styles and Genres
Creative Technology
Digital Music
Year 2
The creative industries and you 2: Creative Collaboration
Creativity, Identity and Agency
Music Publishing, Events and releasing
Music Creation with Technology
Songwriting and Arrangement
Year 3
Final Project
Creative industries and you 3: Professional Portfolio
Showcase and showreel.
A range of optional modules can be selected in years 2 and 3, subject to availability and student demand. Please visit the course information page on the BIMM Institute website for a full break down.
Assessment methods
Assessment methods are varied and balanced to suit a wide range of learners:
Practical Exams
Written exams
Practical coursework
Multimedia coursework
Written coursework
Presentations
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Applicants from low income backgrounds can access our Bursary Schemes.
Further information can be found on our website: https://www.bimm.ac.uk
The Uni
BIMM Music Institute Birmingham
BIMM Music Institute Bristol
BIMM Institute Berlin
BIMM Music Institute Brighton
BIMM Music Institute Manchester
BIMM Music Institute London
Music UK
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.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
After graduation
We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.
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
£17k
£19k
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 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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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:
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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?
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