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MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES

Explore and enhance your technical skills and abilities, integrating industry standard technologies and knowledge.
Music and Degrees at SAE
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Fees
MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Domestic Fees

Total Course Fees: £6,750*

SAE staff and alumni discount
SAE alumni and staff receive a 25% discount on fees.

A Government Master’s loan may be available to applicants from England and Wales.

MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
International Fees

Total Course Fees: £6,750*

SAE staff and alumni discount
SAE alumni and staff receive a 25% discount on fees.

Duration(s)
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Course Durations
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Start Date(s)
January and September 2024
MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Start Dates
Online
  • January and September 2024

  • May

Entry Requirements
MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Domestic Entry Requirements
You will have either:
Option A
a Bachelor degree with Honours (2:2 or higher) in a relevant field, plus 1 year's work experience.
Option B
At least five years of professional creative industry experience.
Option C Completion of the PGCert Professional Development Students successfully copmleting the PGCert Professional Development with SAE Institute will be accepted for entry on to this programme.
As part of your application, you should also prepare:
A portfolio of work that demonstrates your creative work experience. This must include all media files (not links) and a written document summarising your involvement in the project(s) submitted. This must not be coursework from your previous degree.
A 500 proposal that outlines what you want to do for your Master's Major Project and why.
A CV
English Language Requirements If English is not your first language, please refer to the International Entry Requirements below.
MA/MSC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
International Entry Requirements
International Entry Requirements
English language requirements A candidate whose first language is not English must present evidence of having passed an English language test. The minimum acceptable level is:
IELTS (UKVI or Academic) (minimum 5.5 in all components and an overall score of 6.0)
Pearson Test of English (minimum 51 in all subscores)
Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (minimum grade C)
Cambridge English: Level 1 Certificate in ESOL International (B2 First) – minimum grade C
TOEFL (IBT or IBT Home Edition online) 72 overall with the following component scores:
  • Listening – 17
  • Writing – 17
  • Speaking – 20
  • Reading – 18
LanguageCert ESOL examinations:
  • International ESOL C1 Expert – pass in all four components
  • International ESOL SELT B2 (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking) – minimum 33 in all components
  • ESOL Integrated Skills in English II – pass in all components
• IELTS Indicator* (online) – minimum 5.5 in all components and an overall score of 6.0
*Accepted on exceptional basis for the applicants whose local test centres are affected by closures due to Covid-19
An English language bachelor degree or higher; Successful completion of a short research report in English; Evidence of significant professional practice in English An online interview with MPP academic staff

What you can expect from your degree

If you’re an early or mid-career creative media industries professional keen to boost your career or take it in a new direction, SAE’s 1-year full-time MA/MSc Professional Practice in Creative Media Industries postgraduate degree can help get you there. Whatever your creative industries sector – music business, audio production, marketing, film production, games, animation or web development – you’ll have the opportunity to critically reflect on areas of interest through creative media projects of your choosing.

Across 3 trimesters of fully remote study, you’ll conceive, plan and bring your substantial creative body of work to life with support from your own dedicated Learning Advisor. The programme will see you conduct research, expand your technical skills and knowledge across your field of expertise, take part in self-directed learning, and maximise work-based and professional practice opportunities, all online and delivered in a flexible way that fits around your busy life.

Developed by highly esteemed creative media industries professionals, this course mixes theoretical and practical learning, and encourages you to use your significant industry experience to help you gain a postgraduate qualification. Professional development is at the heart of this programme, with real-world industry collaboration encouraged across every module. You’ll also regularly join forces with your fellow professional practice degree students online to help bring each other’s creative projects to life.

At the end of each trimester, you’ll take part in an online conference along with the rest of your creative industries masters student cohort – a programme which highlights student research outcomes and peer feedback, while fostering engagement and community building. Across the course, you’ll be expected to present your own professional development and research findings as you progress towards your Major Project.

At the end of your year with SAE, you’ll graduate with advanced technical and theoretical skills in your chosen creative area, an impressive network of global connections, an exceptional body of creative work you can use to stand out in the industry, and a highly coveted Master of Arts or Master of Science degree.

Audio Students in Audio Lab

What you'll learn

  • Develop your creative industries career by studying online for 1 year full time or 2 years part time.
  • Connect with an exciting cohort of international students and network on a global scale.
  • Choose a Master of Arts or Master of Science route, depending on the path you’d like your creative industries career to take.
  • Develop a significant portfolio of work to present to industry in the form of major creative projects, typically a film, album, musical, website, game, animation or product or business launch.
  • Enhance your creative industries technical skills and abilities using industry-standard tech, with subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud and other industry software included.
  • Attend SAE’s student-wide online conference each trimester.
  • Gain entrepreneurial skills to take into the next stage of your creative career.
  • Combine hands-on immersive training with academic learning for holistic education from day one.
  • Collaborate creatively with SAE students, including designers, filmmakers, game developers, animators and songwriters.
  • Creative industries postgraduate course start dates available in January, May, and September.

THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR CAREER BEGINS NOW

Course Structure

The MA/MSc Professional Practice in Creative Media Industries course is a 1-year full time (or 2-year part time) degree, split over 3 trimesters.
Trimester 1
Conceive your own Major Project idea and explore the creative media theories, research methodologies and planning tools required to bring it to life.
Across this module, you’ll explore your own unique idea for a Major Project – typically a substantial creative project like an album, film, musical, product or business launch, game, animation or web project.

Starting with the development of an abstract for your project, you’ll then collaborate with your fellow students and attend an online research conference, presenting your project idea for engagement and peer feedback. Finally, you'll then refine your creative ideas, turning your finalised thoughts into your Major Project proposal.

Coursework topics include:

• Conducting postgraduate research
• Textual research methods
• Digital culture
• Narratology and postmodernism
• The historical relationship between Science and The Arts
• Innovation and risk-taking in entrepreneurship
• Approaches to creative media project design
• The management and production of creative projects
• Cultural and ethical considerations in professional practice
• Organisation of research symposia/seminars
• Relationship between professional practice and work-based learning principles
• Research presentation (written, visual and oral)
Trimester 2
Embark on the next stage of your creative project as you address your professional practice goals and learn project management skills, guided by your dedicated Learning Advisor.
This module is intended to prepare students to their Creative Media Major Project module. Students will work with their Learning Advisor and other faculty to reflect and identify gaps in their skills and knowledge which will be needed to complete the programme. A bespoke set of projects and learning activities will then be scheduled for the student to address these gaps, ensuring that they also meet the required learning outcomes, which students will be required to evidence by critical contextualisation of their learning within the broader frame of their professional practice.

The module thereby both provides essential development of the student’s professional practice and equips the students with the self-reflective, analytical and project management skills to ensure that they become effective life-long learners.

Students will be supported to achieve module outcomes through the completion of an individual portfolio of work, which might typically include project plans, the projects themselves, and reflective report(s) addressing the work completed. An indicative syllabus for the module is negotiated and approved with faculty on an individual basis, primarily through the previous module (Project

Planning & Theoretical Perspectives), though perspectives can be refined and refocused based on feedback or further reflection. A rationale for reframing the professional activates can therefore be presented to respond to opportunities or shortcomings that have arisen. Learning resources and reading lists will be updated regularly and made accessible through the VLE.
Trimester 3
In your final trimester, you’ll implement the creative media Major Project you’ve created and planned over the previous 2 trimesters – demonstrating technical mastery in your chosen field from either a science or arts perspective. Past creative projects have included major works like a film, game, album, animation, musical, website or launch of a product or business.
In your final masters in creative media industries module, you’ll be guided by your dedicated Learning Advisor to bring the Major Project you’ve planned to fruition. On top of your major piece of creative audio production work, which could be written, practical or a combination of the 2, you’ll complete a viva voce examination presenting your creative project to your assessors. Your final work will stand as an example of your technical mastery in audio production and one you can present to industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your audio production or sound engineering career.
In your final masters in creative media industries module, you’ll be guided by your dedicated Learning Advisor to bring the Major Project you’ve planned to fruition. On top of your major piece of creative audio production work, which could be written, practical or a combination of the 2, you’ll complete a viva voce examination presenting your creative project to your assessors. Your final work will stand as an example of your technical mastery in audio production and one you can present to industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your audio production or sound engineering career.
In the final module of your masters in creative media, you’ll bring the Major Project you’ve planned to life, guided by your SAE supervisor. As well as your major piece of content creation and online marketing work, which could be practical, written or a combination of both, you’ll complete a viva voce examination where you present your creative project to your evaluators. Your final creative work will become an example of your technical mastery in content creation and online marketing, and one you can present to the marketing industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your career.
In the final module of your masters in creative media, you’ll bring the Major Project you’ve planned to life, guided by your SAE supervisor. As well as your major piece of content creation and online marketing work, which could be practical, written or a combination of both, you’ll complete a viva voce examination where you present your creative project to your evaluators. Your final creative work will become an example of your technical mastery in content creation and online marketing, and one you can present to the marketing industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your career.
In the last module of your creative industries postgraduate degree, you’ll bring your planned Major Project to life, with support from your SAE learning supervisor. As well as your major piece of filmmaking work, which could be written, practical or a combination of both, you’ll complete a viva voce exam where you present your film project to your evaluators. Your final creative work will become an example of your technical mastery in film production, and one you can present to the film industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your film career.
In the last module of your creative industries postgraduate degree, you’ll bring your planned Major Project to life, with support from your SAE learning supervisor. As well as your major piece of filmmaking work, which could be written, practical or a combination of both, you’ll complete a viva voce exam where you present your film project to your evaluators. Your final creative work will become an example of your technical mastery in film production, and one you can present to the film industry as an impressive portfolio piece for the next stage of your film career.
In the last trimester of your creative industries masters, you’ll bring your Major Project to life, with help and guidance from your SAE Learning Advisor. In addition to your major music business piece, which could be practical, written or a combination of the 2, you’ll undertake a viva voce exam where you’ll present your music project to your assessors. Your final piece will become an example of your technical mastery in music, and one you can present to the music industry as an impressive portfolio for the next stage of your music business career.
In the last trimester of your creative industries masters, you’ll bring your Major Project to life, with help and guidance from your SAE Learning Advisor. In addition to your major music business piece, which could be practical, written or a combination of the 2, you’ll undertake a viva voce exam where you’ll present your music project to your assessors. Your final piece will become an example of your technical mastery in music, and one you can present to the music industry as an impressive portfolio for the next stage of your music business career.
In the last module of your creative media masters, you’ll launch your Major Project with guidance and support from your supervisor. On top of your major VX or animation piece, which could be written, practical or a mix of the 2, you’ll take part in a viva voce examination where you’ll present your creative project to your assessors. Your final piece will become an example of your technical mastery in animation and visual effects, and one you can present to industry as an exciting creative portfolio for the next stage of your career.
In the last module of your creative media masters, you’ll launch your Major Project with guidance and support from your supervisor. On top of your major VX or animation piece, which could be written, practical or a mix of the 2, you’ll take part in a viva voce examination where you’ll present your creative project to your assessors. Your final piece will become an example of your technical mastery in animation and visual effects, and one you can present to industry as an exciting creative portfolio for the next stage of your career.
In the final module of your Master of Science creative industries degree, you’ll launch the Major Project you’ve planned to date with help from your personal SAE supervisor. As well as your major games programming piece – which could be written, practical or a mix of both – you’ll participate in a viva voce examination where you’ll present your final games project to your evaluators. Your final work will become an impressive example of your technical games programming mastery, and one you can present to the games industry as an exceptional creative portfolio to help propel the next stage of your games career.
In your final creative media industries postgraduate course module, you’ll execute the Major Project you’ve planned across the previous trimesters, with support from your dedicated SAE Learning Advisor. As well as your major game art and animation creative project, which could be practical, written or a mixture of the 2, you’ll undertake a viva voce exam where you’ll present your final game art and animation project to your markers. Your final work will showcase your technical skills in game art and animation, and is a portfolio piece you can present to the games industry to help take your game art career to the next level.
In your final creative media industries postgraduate course module, you’ll execute the Major Project you’ve planned across the previous trimesters, with support from your dedicated SAE Learning Advisor. As well as your major game art and animation creative project, which could be practical, written or a mixture of the 2, you’ll undertake a viva voce exam where you’ll present your final game art and animation project to your markers. Your final work will showcase your technical skills in game art and animation, and is a portfolio piece you can present to the games industry to help take your game art career to the next level.
In the final masters in creative industries module, you’ll put the Major Project you’ve designed across the course’s previous 2 trimesters into practice, as you’re guided by your own personal project supervisor. On top of your creative web development project, which could be written, practical or a mix, you’ll take part in a viva voce examination which sees you present your final web development project to your assessors. Your final piece will showcase your highly technical skills in web development and act as a portfolio to help boost your web career.
In the final masters in creative industries module, you’ll put the Major Project you’ve designed across the course’s previous 2 trimesters into practice, as you’re guided by your own personal project supervisor. On top of your creative web development project, which could be written, practical or a mix, you’ll take part in a viva voce examination which sees you present your final web development project to your assessors. Your final piece will showcase your highly technical skills in web development and act as a portfolio to help boost your web career.
Teaching at SAE

Career Outcomes

How will this course help my career?

The course provides the necessary skills to successfully operate in professional creative media environments, and enhance your professional practice of creative media at any stage of your career. By facilitating the development of professional and research skills and the acquisition of transferable skills for lifelong learning pertinent to academic and industry settings.

FUNDING OPTIONS

If you are not able to self-fund the course, there are the following loans available:

If you’re an eligible student in England starting a master’s degree, you could get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan to help with course fees and living costs. You can get up to £11,570 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2021

Postgraduate student finance information for 2021 is now available

Applications for Student Finance England’s Postgraduate Master’s and Doctoral Loan service for 2021 is expected to open at the end of June.

When the time comes, it’s quick and easy to apply at www.gov.uk/studentfinance

Find out more about Postgraduate Master’s Loans including eligibility, application and repayment information.

Funding for postgraduate loans is different if you normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Moving somewhere to study does not count as normally living there.

Full-Time

Trimester

Fees

Trimester 1 £2250
Trimester 2 £2250
Trimester 3 £2250

Part-Time

Trimester

Fees

Trimester 1 £1125
Trimester 2 £1125
Trimester 3 £1125
Trimester 4 £1125
Trimester 5 £1125
Trimester 6 £1125

Student Spotlight

Naomi Weaver
Naomi Weaver sat down to talk about her experiences with the master's course and her final project.
Naomi's Story
Joe Osborne
Joe Osborne sat down to talk about his excellent work and his experiences at SAE.
Joe's Story
Matt Chapman
Matt Chapman spoke to SAE about his journey to becoming a DJ, and the role his degree played in it.
Matt's Story

WHY STUDY A PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE POSTGRADUATE DEGREE AT SAE?

Flexible learning
Gain a masters in creative media by studying remotely from wherever you are in the world, in a way that fits around your life.
Study Creative Courses
Creative project development
Spend a year developing a substantial body of creative work in a creative industries area of your choosing, while gaining a highly sought-after postgraduate qualification.
Accelerated learning
Combine our 1-year masters with one of our 2-year accelerated creative media undergraduate degrees and get educated to a postgraduate level in just 3 years.
Jeremy Podesa at SAE
Great-value masters
Study at SAE – one of the most affordable postgraduate education providers out there. And SAE undergraduates receive a 25% discount on all masters courses too.

Career Outcomes

What Jobs will this course lead to?

The MA/MSc Professional Practice in Creative Media Industries course has been developed in collaboration with key players across the global creative industries. Jobs you’ll be suited to once you graduate include:
  • Creative Industries Academic
  • Audio Producer
  • DJ
  • Audio Engineer
  • Digital Marketer
  • Content Creator
  • Filmmaker
  • Music Business Entrepreneur
  • VX Artist
  • Games Developer
  • Animator
  • Web Developer

THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR CAREER BEGINS NOW

With our industry connections, specialised teachers, and personalised education in world-class facilities, you can unleash your creative future with confidence.

Course FAQs

As an online programme it assumes a great degree of self-motivation since it is self-directed. However in terms of support and contact, students are assigned a Learning Advisor who guides them through their study path (what to study, subject specific advice related to their research focus, how to study, etc.).

Students interact with their learning advisor on a regular basis; formally 6 hrs of LA support per 60 credit module or combination of modules.

Course content is produced based on students needs and topical issues (e.g. a critique of a bibliography) rather than a weekly syllabus, given that the programme is research based.

All the above documentation and course content is available via Moodle, our Virtual Learning Environment.

We also schedule a number of live webinars across all modules to cover some essential content and assessment requirements.

It is not expected that students will need access, given the programme is delivered online. However this is at the campuses’ discretion to offer additional facilities should they wish.

In addition, as most students on the course will be working in industry, they normally will have access to the resources required. Many resources are also freely available online.

View all FAQs
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