University of the Arts London
UCAS Code: W381 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
96 UCAS tariff points from A Levels at grade C or above (preferred subjects include: English; History; Media; Business; Art and Design, or other subjects within Social Sciences)
96 tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma (preferred subject: Digital and Creative Media, Film and Production, Computing)
Merit, Merit, Merit at BTEC Extended Diploma (preferred subjects: Art and Design, IT & Computing, Music and Performing Arts)
96 UCAS tariff points from one or a combination of accepted full level 3 qualifications
About this course
BA (Hons) Sound Arts: Experimental Music will develop your passion for sonic experimentation as you explore methods and techniques in composition, performance, improvisation and installation. You’ll immerse yourself in contemporary music-making technologies, learn about experimental music scenes and practices, and work collaboratively across a diverse range of media and contexts.
**Why choose this course at London College of Communication**
• Expertise: operating within London’s sound arts and experimental music scenes, internationally-renowned tutors will guide you to develop a unique portfolio of sound and music within a critical framework at the University ranked 2nd in the world for Art and Design in the QS University World Rankings by Subject 2024
• Facilities: Industry-standard facilities include a high-spec Mac Lab, instruments, extensive audio hardware, recording devices, and analogue/digital synth studios, a multi-channel Sound Laboratory, Dolby Atmos Composition Studio and 5.1/Stereo Postproduction Studio – all supported by a dedicated technical team. You’ll also utilise shared College facilities such as the 3D Workshop and Creative Technology Lab to design physical instruments or devices
• Research: The course is closely linked to MA Sound Arts and the Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP) centre, whose doctoral students and research staff contribute to course tuition, highlighting the possibilities for academic progression beyond undergraduate study
• Collaboration: The course emphasises the importance of collaboration and the global, interdisciplinary nature of sound art and experimental music. As well as working closely with your classmates, you'll also have opportunities to collaborate with students studying other Screen School subjects, including animation, music production, games design, and film. You'll also be encouraged to collaborate with relevant musicians, as well as partner organisations like IKLECTIK, Corsica Studios and Resonance FM
• Career support: Learning how to support yourself as a musical artist is integral to the course. There are opportunities to exhibit in galleries and live performance spaces, and participate in events involving the creative experimental music community to help your artistic development and networking
• International exchanges: You’ll also have opportunities to engage in international exchanges with institutions such as RMIT in Melbourne and UTS in Sydney
• Graduate success: Our graduates have gone on to work with leading organisations such as Tate Britain, Warp Records, Venice Biennale, Channel 5, BBC and Red Bull Music Academy
• Professional accreditation: Study on a course accredited by, and delivered with support from, the music industry professional body Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES) - a recognised Professional Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) for higher education courses
**What to expect**
Skills and Knowledge that you will develop include creative ideation, composition, performance, improvisation, technical expertise, workflow, production techniques, and more. Art is at the heart of this course; your own creative practice is at the centre. You'll gain a firm grounding in established and emerging fine art approaches to sound, including sound installations, environments, and sculpture.
Creative development is genre-agnostic, focusing on your individual sonic practices, with opportunities for collaboration, including those times when, as well as specific pathway teaching, you’ll come together as a larger group. Technologies for the control and manipulation of sound and music are central, including analogue and digital, hardware and software, conventional instruments and electronics, to support composition, improvisation, and sonic experimentation.
Contexts in which your sonic and musical art may be heard include: galleries, mixed-media events, installations, independent or self-released recordings, venues for improvised music, clubs.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
London College of Communication
London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
£18k
£22k
£26k
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