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Fine Art MA

Take your Fine Art practise to another level in a supportive environment that encourages artistic innovation, exploration and debate.

Key information

Our MA Fine Art course offers a supportive and collaborative environment for practising artists to explore and innovate. Tailored for individuals seeking critical awareness of their artistic practice, the course encourages engagement with contemporary debates and ideas surrounding your work and for you to master the necessary skills appropriate to your artistic interests. Through self-directed learning and a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, workshops, and tutorials, you’ll shape your projects with staff here to support, encourage, and challenge you to facilitate new ways of thinking.

You will immerse yourself in a diverse and dynamic artistic community, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. You will be guided by expert and visiting practitioners, who challenge and support you in developing critical and professional skills. Norwich has a long and well-established reputation as one of the leading providers of fine art education in the UK. The course’s strong connections with local, regional and national galleries, museums and festivals provide opportunities to participate in significant exhibitions and debates on contemporary art, preparing you for a wide range of career pathways in the arts, including further academic research, curating, and teaching.

Why study with us

Course details

This programme is a one-year course including 30 weeks of direct teaching time and a 15-week final project. You will need to complete three units and one 60-credit Major Project (180 credits in total). All units on the course are compulsory and must be passed in order to complete the award. If you study part-time your modules will be split across two years. For full course details including aims and assessment criteria, download the course specification.

Core Practice and Context (60 Credits)

This unit launches your Masters’ study experience at Norwich. It encourages you to broaden your practice and research by investigating relevant ideas, issues, materials, and processes relevant to your work and creative aspirations. You will consider fine art’s role in responding to global challenges, familiarising yourself with the United Nations’ 17 goals (UN17SG) for sustainable development. The unit offers opportunities to engage with the professional art world through external contextual platforms, while studio practice and reflective analysis provide a deeper theoretical context. The use of studio critique will form a central part of the unit, and you will be expected to interrogate your practice and that of your peers. Consideration of suitable methods for display and the wider dissemination of your work forms part of the group discourse, with an opportunity to exhibit work (or work in progress) as a group in the student project spaces or digitally.

Learning and teaching

The course is delivered through a variety of engaging learning and teaching methods.

Assessment

Our assessment methods will vary based on the unit you choose and provide a comprehensive measure of your learning and progress. These methods may include:

  • Critically reflective essay
  • Course work
  • Presentations
  • Learning journal
  • Reflective evaluation
  • Body of creative work
  • Reflective research report
  • Team project evaluation
  • Major project
  • Supporting documentation

Our facilities

Look around our city-centre campus, and you will find studios, media labs, and creative spaces in 13 buildings that sit among the cafés, bars, independent galleries and shops of Norwich’s cultural quarter.

Here to help you succeed

The UK’s creative sector is thriving, contributing £111.7 billion annually to the economy and offering over 2 million jobs.

Employability and career development are integral to every unit of our courses, ensuring students are well-prepared for the industry. Our students go on to secure exciting roles, launch successful businesses, and make a lasting impact in many sectors worldwide.

From day one, you’ll also get specialist career advice from our Business and Employability Team to help support you as you plan your career.

Typical career paths

  • Practising Artist
  • Artist-Curator
  • Exhibition Organisation
  • Arts Administration
  • Teaching/Lecturing
  • Research/PhD Study

The UK’s creative sector is thriving, contributing £111.7 billion annually to the economy and offering over 2 million jobs.

Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS)

Entry Requirements

Entrants should normally have achieved a BA (Hons) / BSc Degree of 2:1 or above (or its equivalent), in a subject related to your proposed course of study.

Applicants who hold a Degree from another discipline may also be considered for entry, subject to the submission of a satisfactory portfolio of art, design or media-related work in support of their application.

Those with industry experience or relevant skills from non-traditional backgrounds are encouraged to apply, including individuals currently employed. If you’re unsure about your eligibility, please contact us for guidance before applying.

English language requirements (International/EU)

If English is not your first language, IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required, with a minimum of 5.5 in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. we also accept other English language qualifications.

International Qualifications

We accept a wide range of qualifications from all over the world.

For information on entry requirements from your country, see our international pages.

Portfolio requirement

When you apply for this course, we will ask you to prepare your portfolio and a written submission. We might also ask you to prepare for an interview. These methods are used to assess your suitability for the course. All three elements should clearly demonstrate your passion for the subject and your individual creativity.

Further information will be provided once you have applied.

Fees and funding

Full time: £10,000

Part time: £6250 per year

The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you’re classed as a UK
(home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Fees for subsequent years

The rules for inflation on fees in subsequent years depend on the type of fee status and level

For Home and overseas postgraduate degree students starting in 2025, fees will remain the same for each year of your course.

Funding your study

Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for a bursary, scholarship or loan to help fund your study and enhance your learning experience. Find out more about scholarships and funding.

Additional costs

Your tuition fee covers the full cost of tuition. Accommodation, cost of materials, and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees

How to apply

Applications to our postgraduate courses should be made directly to Norwich University of the Arts using a Postgraduate Application Form.
Postgraduate Application Form — Word Document 2025-26 (212kb) (212kb)

Applications should be returned to admissions@norwichuni.ac.uk

Please see our Terms and Conditions and Admissions Policies for further details.

Postgraduate open days

Get a taste of life at Norwich, learn more about our courses, our campus and meet the creators and makers you’ll be learning from.

A photograph of a seminar room at Norwich University of the Arts, where an academic is giving a welcome presentation to visitors at an Open Day.

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