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Music with a Year of Study Abroad

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B-B,B,B

Including Music. Applicants without an A-level in Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

Extended Project

A

For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example an AAB offer would be "AAB from 3 A levels or ABB from 3 A levels and a grade A in the EPQ". Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

You must have or be working towards English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent (if you require a Tier 4 visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements) and GCSE Maths grade C/4 or equivalent qualification (subject and grade). If you are taking A-level Maths (or equivalent), GCSE Maths is not required. Core Maths may also be accepted in place of GCSE Maths.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

31-32

32-31 overall or 665 in 3 HL subjects. Must include grade 6 in HL Music. Applicants without HL Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

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

DDM

Accepted subject: Music Applicants without BTEC Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

Acceptance of T Levels for this programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Academic School. Consideration will be given to the T Level grade/subject and grades/subjects achieved at GCSE/Level 2.

The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the A Level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

UCAS Tariff

120-128

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time with time abroad | 2024

Subject

Music

Our undergraduate courses allow you to specialise and develop your own musical interests whilst acquiring a solid, broad-based education in aesthetics, analysis, composition, ethnomusicology, music history and performance.

The BMus is the ideal choice if you would like to concentrate on music. Of all our courses it offers the most in-depth study, allowing you to spend all your time specialising and studying music. It also enables you to take the specialist 30-credit options of Composition and / or Public Recital in year three (options which are not available on our BA or BSc courses).

Home to the arts, Cardiff is a great location for the study of music in the UK. The city has a professional opera company, Welsh National Opera, and a professional symphony orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The School of Music enjoys a fruitful relationship with both organisations that allows, for instance, students to attend dress rehearsals and buy cut-price tickets for concerts.

We offer a number of instrumental and vocal entrance scholarships. You do not need to apply for these scholarships as you will be automatically considered when applying through UCAS. Visit the School of Music’s website for more information.

You are expected to have gained or shown evidence of working towards Grade 8 in one or more instruments or voice at the time of your application. You may be considered if you are not taking A-level Music but have Grade 8 Practical and Grade 7/8 Theory and are studying appropriate subjects at A-level.

For the year of study abroad you will take modules in music and possibly other subjects that relate to those in your Cardiff degree programme, with opportunities to develop further one or more pathways in composition, historical/critical musicology, performance, music analysis, and/or ethnomusicology. At a host university it is likely that you will gain different perspectives and approaches to a pathway already started and will have, in addition, the possibility of choosing subject areas that are unavailable at Cardiff. The programme aims to provide an important stepping-stone to a more specialized project in the final year, when you return to your final year of study at Cardiff.

**Distinctive features**

The distinctive features of the course include:
- instrumental tuition which is fully funded by the School of Music on your principal study instrument

- Business of Music modules which offer a short work placement

- composition workshops, performance masterclasses, the University concert series, the John Bird lectures presented by visiting academics and the careers talks which provide many opportunities for contact with active music professionals

- major composition and public recital options in year three

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,000
per year
England
£9,000
per year
EU
£22,700
per year
International
£22,700
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,000
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,000
per year
Scotland
£9,000
per year
Wales
£9,000
per year

Extra funding

Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.

The Uni


Course location:

Main Site - Cardiff

Department:

School of Music

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.

81%
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

90%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
75%
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

77%
Library resources
70%
IT resources
77%
Course specific equipment and facilities
65%
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?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
37%
Male students
63%
Female students
88%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
A
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.

£16,809
med
Average annual salary
100%
high
Employed or in further education
52%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

21%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
14%
Teaching and educational professionals
9%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£18k

£18k

£23k

£23k

£27k

£27k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Cardiff University | Cardiff
Mathematics and Music with a Year Abroad
BMus 4 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 128-136
Same University
Cardiff University | Cardiff
Music with a Year of Study Abroad
BMus 4 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 120-128
Lower entry requirements
Royal Holloway, University of London | Egham
Music with Integrated Foundation Year
BMus 4 Years Full-time with time abroad 2024
UCAS Points: 96

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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):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the 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