Leeds Arts University

Founded in 1846 as the Leeds Government School of Art and Design, Leeds Arts University has built an international reputation as one of the UK’s leading creative arts education institutions.

The University offers MA courses in

Animation
Creative Practice
Digital Fashion
Fine Art
Graphic Design
Illustration with Graphic Novel
Photography

all delivered by expert tutors who are all highly experienced in their creative field.

Whatever subject you choose you can take advantage of great industry links, providing networking and other professional opportunities, and the opportunity to hear from visiting lecturers. You will have opportunities to attend events and exhibitions related to your specialism, and some courses benefit from a partnership network providing students with a residency at a partner organisation in order to enhance their skills, experience and knowledge for a career in the discipline. Postgraduate students are based in the postgraduate hub giving you the chance to work alongside students from across the different disciplines.

Facilities

The University invests heavily in facilities and postgraduate students are able to access a range of specialist workshops by arrangement. These may include photography studios, Mac suites, printmaking workshops, digital print facilities, and a University gallery.

A specialist arts library provides access to a comprehensive range of study resources to support postgraduate research, including journal and database subscriptions, specialist collections of artists’ books and access to specialised archived and current TV and radio programmes.

More information about the University’s award winning art and design facilities can be found on the website.

Fees and funding

The most up to date information about fees for postgraduate study can been viewed on our website.

Postgraduate loans up to a maximum value of £12,167 are now available for those who are due to start their postgraduate studies on or after 1 August 2023.

The University offers scholarships for UK and international postgraduate students:

Vice-Chancellor’s Postgraduate Scholarship will be awarded to one UK student for one year. The scholarship will be awarded by a panel of staff and comprises of a reduction in tuition fees for the year.

Vice-Chancellor’s International Postgraduate Scholarship is awarded by a panel of staff and is in the form of a tuition fee reduction. There are five scholarships of £3,000 available.

Open Days

Deciding to continue your studies to postgraduate level is a significant step in your academic and career development. Open days are a great opportunity to get the information you need to make the right choice.

Have a look on the website for upcoming open days and information on how to book your place.

How to apply

You can apply directly to the University for a place on any of the postgraduate courses.

Our postgraduate minimum requirements are:

• A 2:2 undergraduate UK honours degree or international equivalent or;
• A degree-equivalent postgraduate diploma/professional qualification.
• Applicants who hold a degree from another discipline or have experiential learning in lieu of a degree may also be considered for entry via the Recognition of Prior Learning process (RPL).

For all postgraduate courses you will need:

To set up your portal.

You will then be asked to submit a maximum of six examples of work from your portfolio for consideration. The files should be no larger than 30MB in total and it is essential that no more than six examples of work are uploaded.
One reference to support your application. This may be from an academic or a creative practitioner.

Applicants who meet the entry requirements above will be required to submit a personal statement outlining their intentions for MA study.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

If you’re over the age of 21 and don’t have traditional qualifications, we may be able to consider your relevant experience as well as your educational background through the Recognition of Prior Learning process (RPL). Where experience is being presented in lieu of academic achievement applicants must be able to demonstrate substantive experience, for example employment in a related industry.

Your application form should provide as much information as possible for consideration by our admissions department.

Following receipt of your application the admissions team may ask you for further information. You may also be asked to attend an informal interview.