Applications
Each of our courses are designed to prepare you for a variety of career paths, and all require different skills. Please read through all the information below carefully and if you have any questions. or would like to discuss which course may suit you best, feel free to ask.
Have a look at the program details and make sure you meet all the academic, personal, financial and technical requirements. I am sure you will have plenty of questions so please get in touch and we can discuss whether the course is right for you. We are happy to listen to your music and give you informal opinions as to whether you are working at the right level for entry to our postgraduate programs.
Please note that this is only an informal guide, and does not guarantee of entry.
Technical Resources
If you realise that your technical resources are not up to the job, but plan to upgrade, then that is perfectly acceptable. Many students will need funding before they can make a major purchase. They might want to wait to qualify for an educational discount before purchasing costly software. While we give them advice, ultimately it is the student’s responsibility to ensure they have sufficient technical resources to complete the course.
Creative Potential
With our orchestration courses, we are looking for evidence of a high level of music theory. On all the other courses, this is not as important. A great sound designer or electronic musician with very little music theory could do equally well in the profession and so we would welcome them onto Professional Media Composition or our games courses.
Technical Ability
International Music Business
Critical Thinking
All Postgraduate Degrees
Academic Ability
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is the process for recognising learning that has come from previous formal, non-formal, and informal learning. This could include knowledge gained within school, college, and university.
The Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) takes into account real-world experiences, such as work experience, professional projects, or even through a hobby. RPEL applicants must provide evidence of professional practice and experience. Further to this we would like to know how you have learned from those professional experiences and how it helped to inform future practice.
It is also worth noting that we can only take a certain percentage of RPL applicants, so competition is extremely high. Unfortunately, we have had to turn away many perfectly capable musicians for this reason. It is still an option we encourage and is well worth pursuing if you feel that you can demonstrate the above.
English Language Test (IELTS)
There are several English language tests, including IELTS, TOEFL, and CAE. We require you to have an overall score of IELTS 6.5 or higher to participate in the programme, with no element less than a score of 6. This equates to a TOEFL score of 79 and a CAE score of 176.
The test must be taken before your course start date. Applications may be accepted provisionally pending test results.
If you have completed your undergraduate degree, or any other postgraduate degree that was taught in English, you will not need to take an English Language test regardless of whether English is your first language or not.
That’s how most of our future students start: an informal conversation about where you are and where you want to be. No pressure, just getting to know you and how we might be able to help.
Get in touch with Tim Johnson the course manager (and film composer).
When you are sure you are ready to apply for the program, click the “Apply Now” button found on any of our postgraduate pages. This will add the application pack to your basket, where you can pay the non-returnable application fee of $100.
Once your payment has been processed you will need to login to our online campus. The application pack will be added to the "My Courses" page.
We will need your personal details, along with information regarding your academic, musical and technical background. If you are offered a place, we will require copies of a number of documents, including those confirming your academic history, identity, and language ability (if English is not your first language).
There will also be tasks to complete in relation to the course you are applying for, so we can assess your ability to complete some of the basic things required to study with us. Please make sure you are familiar with the requirements for the course you are applying for before purchasing the application. These are blind tasks and are not released outside of the application pack itself, purely in the interest of fairness to all potential students.
You will also be asked to write a short covering letter that should include:
- Your name and email address.
- Your technical resources, such as your DAW and main sound libraries (if applicable to your course application).
- What software you have learnt and to what level, to help establish your current level of technical ability.
- Any other information you feel may be relevant to your application.
This covering letter should be as a PDF, text file, or Microsoft Word document. You will also be asked to provide the following additional certificates and documents:
- Copies of any prior university certificates that you have (these must be translated into English if not in English already)
- A photocopy/scan of your passport.
- If English is not your first language, we will need to see your IELTS 6.5+ (or equivalent) certificate.
In addition to the required paperwork, you will need to submit the following:
MA Professional Media Composition
- 10 – 15 minutes of music submitted as MP3s
- Minimum of three different pieces
- A creative task (detailed in application)
- Covering letter
MA Orchestration for Film Games & Television
- 10 – 15 minutes of music submitted as MP3s
- Minimum of three different pieces including at least one tonal orchestral composition
- At least one orchestral score of two minutes in length in PDF format
- A creative task (detailed in application)
- Covering letter
MA Composing For Video Games
- 10 – 15 minutes of music submitted as MP3s
- Minimum of three different pieces
- A creative and technical task (detailed in the application)
- Covering letter
MA Sound Design for Video Games
- No more than 10 minutes of sound design examples (detailed in application)
- A creative and technical task (again, detailed in the application)
- Covering letter
MA International Music Business
- You will need to submit a personal statement of up to 1000 words telling us what you are hoping to achieve
- If you are a creator, musician, songwriter or composer, we would like you to submit between 5 and 10 minutes of your creative work
- Any other creative material you feel would support your application
MFA Professional Composition
- 10 – 15 minutes of music submitted as MP3s
- Minimum of three different pieces including at least one tonal orchestral composition
- At least one orchestral score of two minutes in length in PDF format
- A creative task (detailed in application)
- Covering letter
MFA Professional Composition - ‘Video Game Music & Audio’
- A total of 10 – 15 minutes of music and sound design submitted as MP3s
- No more than 5 minutes of sound design examples (detailed in application)
- A creative and technical task (detailed in the application)
- Covering letter
The music/sound design must be all your own work.
Where you have used construction kits, loops, SFX libraries or any other pre-recorded audio that is not your own work you will need to make that clear. You do not need to tell us if you have used drum or percussion loops, but anything else needs to be declared in the covering letter.
Sound design applicants are permitted to use sound libraries in their submissions, however it would be useful to make it clear to us what sounds are from library and what was originally recorded by you.
Your covering letter is particularly important, especially for those without an undergraduate degree (RPL). Your letter should include:
- Your name and email address.
- Why you feel this course is suitable for you.
- Further details of your relevant prior experience.
- The technical resources at your disposal, your DAW, your main sound libraries so we can take this into account.
- You can include any other information you feel may be relevant when we listen to your music.
Follow the instructions on the application page to upload your completed application and supporting materials.