Arts and Cultural Management

This innovative master’s course is specifically designed to meet the needs of an arts and cultural manager. You will learn the vital importance of creativity, given the increasingly global nature of competition, as well as the opportunities and challenges posed by new technologies.

Our Arts & Cultural Management MA is suitable for you whether you are new to the field or if you already have relevant professional experience. The course works in partnership with a range of arts organisations from across the city to offer you unparalleled exposure to the practicalities of cultural management. Through our required modules, you will engage with experienced cultural managers and leading London-based arts organisations. We will support you in your search for an internship, if you want to gain work experience in the arts or creative industries and develop the skills, knowledge and motivation needed to build a career. We can also provide careers guidance through a dedicated member of staff. 

Previous students from within the Department have interned at the National Theatre, Barbican Centre, British Council, British Film Institute, Hayward Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Screen Digest, The British Museum, CIDA (Cultural Industries Development Agency), MTV, Donmar Warehouse, Google and the V&A Museum, which gives you an idea of the exciting opportunities on offer.

Key benefits

• Head start your career through focused teaching.
• Insights into management, planning and leadership.
• Gain knowledge of arts and culture across national and international contexts.
• Strong links with London’s cultural organisations.
• Lectures and workshops from leading arts and cultural industry professionals.
• Emphasis on creativity and arts-based learning.

Required Modules

You are required to take:

• Arts & Management (20 credits)
• Cultural Management: The Experience (20 credits)
• Research Approaches (20 credits)

You are also required to take one of the following:

• Dissertation (60 credits)

or

• Arts-based Research Project (60 credits)

Optional Modules

In addition, you are required to take 60 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• Marketing the Arts: Theory & Practice in the Real World (20 credits)
• Inside Today’s Museum (collaboration with Tate) (20 credits)
• Cultural Policy (20 credits)
• Visual Culture (20 credits)
• Cultural Management in Small Arts & Cultural Organisations (20 credits)
• Culture & the City (20 credits)
• Music & American Culture (20 credits)
• Cultural Markets (20 credits)
• Gender, Media & Culture (20 credits)
• Fashion, Culture & Society (20 credits)
• Aesthetic Economy & Aesthetic Markets (20 credits)
• Transnational Screen Production (20 credits)
• Art & Globalisation (20 credits)
• Entertainment Industries (20 credits)
• Contextualising Creativity (20 credits)
• Towards Tomorrow’s Museum (collaboration with Tate) (20 credits)
• Readings in the Music Business (20 credits) 
• Cultural Memory (20 credits)
• Conflict, Diplomacy & International Relations (20 credits)
• Cultural & Creative Industries in China (20 credits)
• Children, Media Industries & Culture (20 credits)
• Media on the Move: Products & Power (20 credits)
• Future Memory: Creating Connected Worlds (20 credits)
• Festivals: Arts, Public Spaces & Communities (20 credits)
• Entrepreneurial Opportunity: Arts & Culture (20 credits)
• Museum Curating Now (collaboration with Tate) (20 credits)
• Digital Media Production Cultures (20 credits)

You may choose 20 credits of modules from within the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Modern Language Centre, subject to approvals.

You may also choose from a range of modules offered by the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (notably the Department of Education and Professional Studies, and Department of Management), or the School of Law, subject to approvals.

Minimum 2:1 honours degree in any discipline or equivalent. For those returning to study, evidence of appropriate experience will be required. A written personal statement, emphasising both qualifying background and reasons for selecting this programme, will be required. A sample of academic writing should be submitted.

Please note: Meeting the minimum requirements for your application to be considered does not guarantee an offer as applications for this programme are very competitive.

In order to meet the academic entry requirements for this programme you should have a minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree with a final mark of at least 60% or above in the UK marking scheme. If you are still studying you should be achieving an average of at least 60% or above in the UK marking scheme.

English language requirements

• Cambridge Advanced Certificate (CAE) / Cambridge C1 Advanced. 185 overall; minimum 176 in all skills
• IELTS (Academic). 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in each skill
• Pearson Test of English (Academic). 69 overall with a minimum of 62 in each communicative skill
• TOEFL iBT Institution code: 0394. 100 overall with a minimum of 25 in writing and 23  in each of the other skills

Application procedure

An application fee of £80 applies (non-refundable). To apply for a place on MA Arts & Cultural Management, please complete the online application process, myApplication, making sure to provide the required supporting documents:

• Two references from previous or current academic tutors.
• A complete or partial transcript of your first degree results. This is obtainable from your degree-awarding institution.
• Create a new piece of writing specifically for your application (see guidelines below).
• A personal statement of 500 words (following the guidelines below).

If English is not your first language, and your degree was not taught and assessed entirely in English, we require relevant English language qualifications to be provided. Please note that we will still be able to consider your application even if you do not yet have an English language certificate. In this case, any offer made will be given on more the condition that you meet King’s College London's English language requirements, which will be detailed in your offer letter.

In assessing your application we will look for the following: academic capabilities: broad understanding of arts and cultural management; and interest and ability in studying arts and cultural management. Your academic interests should match the broad themes that inform MA Arts and Cultural Management teaching, i.e. arts management, cultural theory and history, cultural production and consumption, cultural governance, and arts-based research. It is ideal that your career interests correspond to the sectors on which MA Arts and Cultural Management teaching focuses including performing arts, visual cultures, museums, galleries, arts and heritage, and digital culture.

We expect the graduates of this new MA to move on to arts and cultural management roles in a wide variety of contexts and international locations. Graduates from this Department currently go on to a wide range of roles in the cultural and creative industries, for example, in performing arts management, museum and gallery management, arts funding, cultural industries development, film distribution, freelance research, creative business development, arts administration, publishing, art marketing and local governance. A number of our students go on to do further academic research.