Do you believe that music has a key role to play in every young person’s education? Are you determined to bring the subject alive for pupils? If so, our PGCE Secondary Music course will provide you with access to becoming an inspiring teacher.
If you’re passionate about young people and want to introduce them to the exciting world of music and music making in all its forms then we’re excited to train you to ensure you excel as a teacher.
You’ll explore the skills and knowledge that music as an art form offers at secondary education level; and to train to become a confident, dynamic and creative teacher with the ability to make music accessible to all. You’ll discover how pupils learn and explore ways in which you can plan musical activities that will ensure they progress and develop their musicality.
Exploring an inclusive and rich approach towards music, you’ll prioritise active music making to promote musical thinking and learn how to inspire and enthuse your pupils by taking them on an exciting and stimulating musical journey. Techniques used include links many different forms of music and music making. These can be used to help pupils to become more self-confident, informed and culturally aware.
This course has strong links with local musical organisations such as the largest Music Service in the country run by Services for Education in Birmingham. The course provides the opportunity to experience music education from a variety of perspectives, including organisations that form part of the Birmingham Hub for Music Education like Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) and mac Birmingham.
A key feature of the course is how we promote technology enhanced learning both in terms of developing beginning teachers and also how music technology can support teaching and learning in schools.
You must have a good degree (minimum 2:2 but 2:1 or 1st preferred) from a UK higher education institution or equivalent. You must have a GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in both English language and mathematics prior to application and if you are offered an interview you will take a written test to assess your standard of English.
You will also need to pass the Skills Test sin Literacy and Numeracy.
There is an expectation that you will have had some general experience of working with secondary age students in a school setting. In preparation for the selection interview you are required to engage in a teaching episode, observed by an experienced qualified teacher.
As part of the selection procedure, the interview panel will expect you to demonstrate your expertise in music and will assess personal qualities such as the potential to relate well to secondary age students, enthusiasm, sensitivity, communication skills and robustness and resilience for teaching.
Applicants must also meet The National College for Teaching and Leadership requirements for initial teacher training, which means being medically fit and successfully completing an enhanced disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Modules are assessed through a range of directed tasks and targeted assignments. Trainee teachers are also required to complete a profile of evidence towards the achievement of the standards required by the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Evidence for the Standards is verified by mentors.
All applications for 2014 entry need to be made via the UCAS Teacher Training website.
Course code: W3X1
Part-time, distance learning
Drawing students from all over the world, these courses focus on the application of psychological research to musical experiences and professions and attract graduate musicians who work in the fields of music therapy, performance, or teaching.
We provide you with training in the research methods used by psychologists, together with the conceptual framework within which these methods can help to inform and explore musical expertise and understanding.
You will also benefit from newly-written online materials, and from the department´s extensive resources of books and journals in music education.
Music at Sheffield attracts world-leading academics and musicians working in a wide range of specialist fields. This is reflected in the diversity of the MA programmes we offer, both on campus and by distance learning. Our courses are taught by experts and backed by world-class research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 84 per cent of our work was rated internationally excellent or world-leading.
We are influential in composition, ethnomusicology, musicology, performance, music technology, music management and psychology of music. Our MA programmes allow students to take advantage of the department’s distinctive interdisciplinary research environment and to be part of a strong postgraduate community by taking modules from other specialist areas. Our three research centres, Music, Mind, Machine; Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre, and Music and Wellbeing provide a hub for research collaborations in music psychology and audience research.
Performance is an important part of our work. You will have the chance to participate in orchestras, music theatre, contemporary music, folk and world traditions. We have strong links with the community, giving you the chance to volunteer with local arts organisations.
Our graduates are employed by universities, colleges, concert agencies and music promoters. Many work in education; others are performers in various genres, in the UK and abroad. Some work in recording studios.
A number of graduates from our Masters programmes develop their research interests further and continue on to PhD study. Visit: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/music/prospective-pg/research-degrees
We have a postgraduate research suite and several studios for advanced compositional work, software development, sound recording, laboratory and field experimentation, transcription, music notation and other research applications. You will have access to scores, books, periodicals, recordings and online resources.
Through a series of graduate study days you will be able to use the tools for digital recording, video and film. We also have excellent practice facilities and collections of historical and world music instruments.
Our team of professional musicians bring performance expertise to the department – including clarinettist Sarah Watts, pianist Inja Davidovic, jazz guitarist Ronan McCullagh and North Indian tabla and santoor performer John Ball.
The University offers a range of scholarships and funding for the brightest students and the Department of Music offers a number of studentships for the strongest candidates. Small grants are also available to support postgraduate research project.
For more information about funding opportunities including application deadlines visit: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/music/prospective-pg/funding
Find information about scholarships and funding for international students at: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/international/enquiry/money/scholarships
Our tutors Nikki Dibben, Stephanie Pitts, Vicki Rowe, Renee Timmers and Victoria Williamson are renown for their expertise in the field and have been published widely in music psychology and education.
See http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/music/prospective-pg/taught
Much of the course is taught online in online discussions and tutorial groups, email and telephone tutorials.
You’ll also attend lectures and seminars at annual residentials and optional study days. Assessments take a variety of forms such as reports and essays. They are usually individual assessments, even if they concern the processes and outcomes of group work.
The Music Education MA will introduce students to research and research-informed practice at the forefront of music education. The programme will provide tools for interrogating musical and educational assumptions, values and practices. It will help students to expand their understanding of effective music teaching, evaluation and assessment across the lifespan.
Undertaking the Music Education MA programme will allow students to develop their critical thinking and ability to interrogate current educational research, literature and practice in the overarching fields of music and music education. They will also have the opportunity to pursue specialist lines of enquiry that are related to their own professional and/or academic interests, working alongside prominent academics in the field.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), and either two optional modules (60 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits), or three optional modules (90 credits) and a report (30 credits).
Core modules
The two core modules are founded on three strands in the study of music education: philosophy, psychology and sociology. These include historically-significant and cutting-edge contemporary approaches, theories and philosophies across a wide range of topics.
Optional modules
The Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice module examines past and present music education research and practice across a range of social and cultural contexts. Music Technology in Education provides students with opportunities to engage with published commentary and also develop practical skills. Choral Conducting, Leadership and Communication develops the skills of effective choral conducting and rehearsing in educational contexts.
Please note: at the programme leader's discretion, a student might be able to import a maximum of 60 credits.
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project, which culminates in a 20,000-word dissertation or 10,000-word report.
Teaching and learning
The main mode of delivery is through a combination of weekly lectures and seminars.
There are ten-week lecture courses for the two core modules, and also for Critical Studies in Music Pedagogy and Practice (optional module), with sessions held in the evenings at the UCL Institute of Education. However, the Choral Conducting Leadership and Communication optional module takes place over five full days at the UCL Institute, as well as through additional student-led sessions. Students are also required to engage actively with UCL's online learning environments across the programme. The Music Technology in Education optional module is delivered online. All students are entitled to face-to-face tutorials with their allocated tutors.
Assessment is predominantly through a written assignment for each taught module.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Music Education MA
Graduates of this programme are currently working as:
Recent career destinations for this degree
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The Music Education MA at UCL is the only postgraduate programme of its type in the UK, and one of the largest recruiting in the world, that is dedicated to music education.
The programme is taught by leading academics with current and extensive expertise in externally-funded research. Research and publications from our lecturers have significant impact on educational policy and practice both in the UK and internationally. This informs learning and teaching on the programme whilst fostering the development of a research-based culture. Many of our students pursue further study at doctoral and post-doctoral level.
Our programme meets the needs of a wide range of professionals from across the international communities of music and music education. Our alumni have been and continue to be leading figures in education worldwide.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Culture, Communication & Media
78% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
The MMus Music degree is aimed at successful graduates from Music or Popular Music courses who possess particular interests and strengths in the following areas:
Study at Masters’ level in Music will offer you a dual emphasis in Music Performance and Music Performance Studies, aiming to develop your knowledge and critical awareness of current trends and opportunities in the professional practice of music and musical performance.
You will study a range of modules including Performing Music, Professional Practice and Shaping Music in Performance, combined with elements of Research Methods and Independent Study.
You will demonstrate self-direction and autonomy in defining your relationship to the broad field of performance while continuing to advance your understanding and skills. These will inform your final Project that will act as a summation of all that you will have achieved.
The MMus in Music has a strong focus on practical performance-based work as well as equipping you with the analytical and writing skills that are relevant to the Music Industry and pedagogy.
You will be encouraged and be able to focus on issues of technique in the performance and interpretation of music from both practical and theoretical perspectives, enabling you to analyse and reflect on your preferred approach and cultural ‘take’. The application and development of your interests and skills will ultimately determine the precise nature of your degree and its usefulness to you as a practising musician, teacher, researcher, etc.
The University of Wolverhampton continues to develop state of the art facilities to greatly enhance your learning experience. The Performance Hub, opened in 2011, has a diverse range of fully equipped music teaching, performance and practice rooms (accommodating single person to large band / ensemble), two high-end professional recording studios, and two bespoke technology suites boasting sixty Apple iMacs running industry standard software including Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Max, Pure Data and SuperCollider.
Our two recording studios offer the perfect blend of digital and analogue technologies giving students the opportunity to combine classic analogue recording technique with the flexibility and reliability digital technology provides. As well as a dedicated live room each for recording, for increased flexibility and choice of room acoustic, any of the music rehearsal rooms surrounding each studio can also be patched into the studio's control room.
The course will equip teachers, performers and music graduates with a diverse range of skills and the experience to enhance their career prospects. You will develop practical, critical, analytical and research skills from studying a broad spectrum of repertoire and literature.
You will acquire transferable skills relevant for pursuing a research degree and a range of employment opportunities in areas such as the professional music industry, education (secondary/FE), music retail, community music, self-employment, freelance performing, arts administration, research assistantships/studentships, and employment in HE institutions.
At the end of this course you, the student, will be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of a variety of topical viewpoints in music performance, pedagogy and musicology, taking an independent and holistic perspective.
2. Develop analytical, critical, evaluative and creative skills appropriate to performing musicians, music teachers or academics, through a selection of appropriate methodologies and technologies.
3. Apply techniques of critical discourse relating musical text to sounding performance through a systematic understanding of historical, compositional, sociological, musicological, philosophical and literary theories.
4. Explore, develop and refine problem-solving techniques for music performance, from the technical to the expressive, in a wide range of performance environments and situations.
5. Analyse features of style in performance and synthesise and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources to arrive at valid concepts of authenticity and artifice.
6. Exercise personal autonomy in learning and performance situations through effective self-management, working in both individual and team scenarios.
Do you see yourself on the stage singing beautiful arias, being the female lead in opera, singing lieder, folk songs and other types of music? Are you already performing and you want to refine those skills to gain even more work, techniques and ability? University of Aberdeen provides you with that platform to experiment, improve your level, the genres of music you perform and your technique to allow you to progress your music career. Whilst you progress there are plenty of opportunities to perform by yourself and with others and plenty of experiences to enjoy on campus and further afield.
If you are a performer who would like to fine tune your skills or you would like to research other types of music to enable you to perform to wider audiences Vocal Music can help you towards that goal. The programme is also aimed at choral music and musicologists in this genre to enable and enrich performance. Vocal music has started to become popular again within society and composers have been able to bring their skills within the mainstream musical area. World renowned composer Paul Mealor at Aberdeen provided a range of contemporary musical composition aimed at choral music performance, some of which was performed by modern choirs under direction of Gareth Malone and special composition for the Royal Wedding in 2011. His work has also been popularised on Classic FM.
An innovative Masters Degree programme specialising in vocal and choral music, led by the distinguished Royal Wedding composer Professor Paul Mealor intended for composers, musicologists, performers and other interested parties in choral music
Semester 1
Compulsory
Optional
Semester 2
Optional
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Find out about fees
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
Applications available through UCAS Teacher Training
It is a government requirement that you take the numeracy and literacy skills tests as part of the application process. You must ensure you have passed them both before the start of the course, please go to the Department of Education website for further details.
Through Liverpool Hope's well-established partnerships with schools in the region, you will be able to gain experience of teaching Music across the 11 18 age group and across a wide range of student ability. You will have the opportunity to work with Hope's partners in the community, including local musical ensembles. You will also be encouraged to develop your musical skills through performance and participation in workshops and extra -curricular musical activities.
You will be supported by a team of committed tutors and mentors with experience in the Music teaching profession. Creative and practical activities feature strongly in the training programme and everyone is encouraged to develop musical expertise in new areas through subject sessions, external visits and peer teaching. You will have access to a wide range of resources for music education, including classroom instruments and web based resources. School placements will cover the 11-16 age range, along with a KS5 enhancement.
Initial Professional Development (IPD): This part of the programme covers the general, more holistic aspects of becoming a teacher. It is largely lecture-based supported by discussion-based seminars with an assigned professional tutor. IPD develops the student teacher's knowledge and understanding of a range of key issues in education.
Liverpool Hope has a strong tradition of academic excellence and world-leading research, recently achieving Gold status in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
