Arts & Humanities postgraduate programmes

Royal College of Art postgraduate programmes offer a unique study experience for students and researchers to develop their own practice and careers as artists, makers, historians, writers, researchers and curators.

The School of Arts & Humanities is at the heart of the UK’s vibrant and expansive cultural landscape and our industry links ensure that our students have access to unparalleled opportunities. Programmes are designed to suit and accommodate students from a variety of creative backgrounds, with a range of scholarships and flexible study options available.

Featured programmes
Photography MA: One year full-time. Develop your practice beyond the boundaries of the still image and transform the very essence of photography. This programme offers a critical and educational environment where you can develop as an artist, with photography at the core of your practice. With a fluid approach to image-making—whether still or moving, analogue or digital—imagery is treated as both thoughtful and playful: an allegorical and thoroughly visual form. This programme extends across multiple practices, with a disregard for boundaries: not only aesthetic purity but a range of rhetorical forms used to create fact, fiction and fantasy.

V&A/RCA History of Design MA: One year full-time/two years part-time. Discover history through the lens of design. This programme is run by two world-leading centres of excellence for scholarship and creativity, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art. Develop advanced knowledge, skills and approaches from the perspective of design history. We combine scholarly excellence with risk-taking to forge histories of design and material culture that are public-facing and experimental. We draw on a global outlook, whether placing local histories in a comparative context or tracing global networks through material culture.

Print MA: One year full-time. Explore the field of print and interrogate relationships between analogue and digital processes. This programme enables you to take a broad view of print practises—from making, archival and global media—delving into rich cultural legacies and how technically mediated images reshape our world. Learn from practising artists working in a wide range of media who share a fascination with the centrality of print and replication to contemporary culture.

Whether at the beginning of your career or advancing your profession, we have a vast range of opportunities at master’s, doctoral and graduate diploma level across the RCA. Led by renowned academics and practitioners and supported by technical services experts, options include:

–Arts & Humanities MFA one year full-time / two years part-time.
–Arts & Humanities MPhil/PhD  three to seven years / full-time and part-time.
–Ceramics & Glass MA one year full-time.
–Contemporary Art Practice MA one year full-time.
–Curating Contemporary Art MA one year full-time.
–Jewellery & Metal MA one year full-time.
–Painting MA one year full-time.
–Sculpture MA one year full-time.
–Writing MA one year full-time.
–Master of Research MRes (Fine Art or Experimental Humanities specialism) one year full-time / two years part-time.
–Graduate Diploma Art & Design (Fine Art specialisms) 30-weeks full-time.

Open days
On-campus open day: January 20 2024. Book now.
Online open days: February 5–9. Book now.

Experience what it’s like to be an RCA student by attending an open day, whether online or in person. Unpack Q&A sessions and introductions with our academics, providing information on our programmes of study, student life, and where the RCA could take you.

Funding your studies
The RCA website includes funding advice for students including scholarships provided by the RCA and from external sources. Discover funding options.

Students from the US are eligible for US Federal Loans (Direct Loans) for many of our programmes. Learn more about US Federal Loans.