The Uni Guide has a fresh new look

University of Portsmouth

UCAS Code: W372 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English and mathematics at grade C/4 or above.

About this course

Course option

1year

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Music technology

Do you have an HND or Foundation degree in music technology, music production or similar? Would you like to top it up to a full Bachelor's degree?

On this creative music technology top-up degree, you'll develop your creative and technical skills to degree level using new music technologies. You’ll get experience with sound software and hardware used by industry professionals, and get the chance to achieve additional certifications in the use of leading music technologies.

At the end of the course, you’ll be ready to begin your career in various areas of music technology areas such as games and animation, music recording and production, and television and film.

**What you'll experience**
On this creative music technology top-up degree course you'll:

- Turn your Higher National Diploma (HND), Foundation degree or equivalent qualification into a full Bachelor's degree

- Develop your personal creative practice with emerging sound technologies

- Choose optional modules that allow you to match what you study to your interests and career goals

- Be able to apply for an optional Avid Protools accredited training certificate in Pro Tools Software

- Get the chance to apply for Audiokinetic Wwise certification (we are one of only 2 universities in the UK to offer this)

- Be taught by staff members with industry experience in composition, sound design and music production

You'll use:
- Recording studios to engineer and produce music and sound design for games, film and TV

- Sensors and alternative controllers to create sound installations or perform live

- Hardware and software synths and plugins to create electronic music

- Digital audio workstations to create and mix music

- You’ll get your hands on some exciting gear in our studio suite, including:

A valve 32 channel TL audio mixing desk
An SSL Matrix 2 console with 10 Neve 1074 preamps and 16 channels of Neve and SSL dynamics and EQ
A 7.1 surround studio (Genelec) including a Slate Raven multi-touch console for multichannel work and spatial audio projects
A Buchla System 7 synthesizer (1 of only 2 in the UK and the only one in a European university)
4 Oakley Modular synthesizers
iMac Dual i7 computers running Logic Pro X, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP (including Max for Live), Native Instruments (including Reaktor), Pure Data and Game engine software

**Careers and opportunities**
Music technology is a continually developing field that's key to the creative industries, so there will be lots of opportunities open to you after the course.

**What can you do with a creative music technology degree?**
Previous music technology graduates have gone on to work in areas such as:
- studio recording

- composition

- music production

- acoustics

- sound design for television and film, animation and computer games

- digital media

- education

- What jobs can you do with a creative music technology degree?

When you finish the course, our Careers and Employability service can help you find a job that puts your skills to work in the industry. You can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years after you leave the University as you advance in your career.

Modules

Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
- Final Year Project (40 credits)
- Collaborative Sound Project (20 credits)

Optional modules in this year currently include:
- Composition for Visual Media (20 credits)
- Flexible Client Project (20 credits)
- Free Composition (20 credits)
- Implementing Game Audio (20 credits)
- Music and Sound Synthesis (20 credits)
- Professional Studio Practice (20 credits)
- Spatial Audio (20 credits)

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment methods

The formal assessments you take on this music technology top-up vary according to the modules you choose. They include:

a portfolio of original compositional works
design and development of an audio/software project
oral assessments and presentations
written assignments including essays
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
EU
£9,535
per year
International
£17,900
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£9,535
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

The Uni

Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries

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.

73%
Music technology

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

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
91%
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

90%
Library resources
95%
IT resources
95%
Course specific equipment and facilities
77%
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?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
81%
Male students
19%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

£19,000
high
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

35%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
23%
Design occupations
8%
Sales, marketing and related associate 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.

£13k

£13k

£16k

£16k

£20k

£20k

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...

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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