This is Level 6 Top-up programme designed to allow you to progress from a prior approved qualification to an honours level degree.

The programme underpins the development of your practical skills as a musician with key theories, context and the development of academic skills. It is intended to be predominantly practical in its assessment and delivery, but with key theories and contextual information delivered as part of the course programme to underpin these practices. You are expected to develop vocational skills that will help you to learn in a more real world and vocational scenario. This could be through putting on a performance project or working with students from a different department to produce the piece of assessed work.

The programme is delivered by experienced practicing music professionals and academics, all of whom have a wide range of skills and relevant industry experience.
It encompasses a broad range of learning and teaching opportunities in Music, including conceptual, technical and commercial, and builds on your previous learning and experience, giving you the opportunity to produce work of a professional standard within your music specialism. The programme includes the option for you to develop skills in project management, or develop the pedagogical skills and knowledge required to begin a career as an educator.

We have significant partnerships with local venues and music service providers to ensure that professional experience is embedded within your programme, which provides the opportunity to work collaboratively across different disciplines, creating a professional and vocational experience at every opportunity. The department is fully equipped with industry standard equipment and facilities. We use the Logic and Sibelius software packages and the IT equipment is all Apple Mac based, as is the norm in the music industry. There is live sound and production equipment available, including a state-of-the-art control room and live room. The PA equipment is of professional standard, with RCF speakers, Allan & Heath and Behringer digital mixing desks and industry standard.

The programme offers significant opportunities to enhance your learning: overseas trips, visiting guest lecturers, live performance opportunities and professional commissions. We offer students a high level of pastoral and academic support with accessible and helpful tutors. The College is committed to working in partnership with students – recognising the importance of the student voice and providing regular and timely informal and formal feedback to all students to support their learning experience and development as a practitioner.

You will use technology within some of the sessions for composition and notation. You may also notate pieces of written work by creating a blog or website. You will also utilise the College’s own VLE (Moodle) to embed. All the resources are posted on here, and you can engage further with it by taking quizzes and submitting assignments via Turnitin.

Tutorial sessions are worked in to the scheme of work for each unit to ensure that you are offered one to one support with your transition and to ensure that you have a clear understanding of what is required in each unit. You will also be supported through regular assessment workshops.

There will also be guest masterclasses from visiting professionals periodically throughout the year to give further context to the content delivered in lectures.