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Inclusive Arts Practice MA (PGCert PGDip)

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Intro

Our Inclusive Arts Practice MA is aimed at artists or individuals from related fields who are working in healthcare, education, the arts or the community sector.

It may be a suitable programme if your employer is looking to support relevant training and development opportunities for their staff.

The course aims to equip students with the necessary skills to initiate and manage truly inclusive arts projects with diverse and marginalised groups, for example those with learning difficulties or experiencing social exclusion due to economic or health reasons.

You can choose to study for either a full MA award or a PGCert. There are opportunities to work in diverse settings from schools, galleries, artist studios and design studios to day centres, photographic studios and FE colleges.

Past students have worked with a range of individuals and participant groups including people with learning disabilities, children, young people, elders, those experiencing homelessness, asylum seekers and youth offending teams. They have contributed both locally and to international projects in countries including Romania and Ukraine.

We value and encourage work across a range of art forms, including visual art, design, illustration, performance, film and photography.

Key facts

Location Brighton: City campus

Full-time 1 year
Part-time
 2 years

Find out about postgraduate events

Apply online

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Apply now for your place

Art and design courses at Brighton are ranked joint 8th in the UK and in the top 100 globally by the QS World University Rankings® 2022

Course content

Why study with us?

  • Truly unique course that enables you to apply your passion for art in a positive community setting
  • Focus on practical, vocational work that puts you in direct contact with marginalised groups, as you explore key issues in the inclusive arts debate
  • Dedicated professional development module that gives you transferable skills in budget management, health and safety, partnership development and marketing
  • Impressive employment rate, with graduates finding work as inclusive arts practitioners with various charities and trusts
  • Support from specialist arts practitioners and professionals for collaborative working with diverse groups
  • Guest speakers from the arts, health and voluntary sectors.

Areas of study

Studies are based around a core of experiential work-related learning, integrated with theory. The course is designed to support participants' development and creativity as art practitioners within the contexts of inclusion, learning disability and marginalised community groups. Students work alongside diverse groups of people in a workshop setting, sharing experiences as partners in the process of learning.

Modules

  • Working Together: Introducing Practical Collaboration
  • Participatory Practice and Creative Exchange: Inclusive Approaches to Collaboration
  • Research in Progress
  • Practice as Research
  • Looking Ahead: Continuing Professional Development
  • Option.
Inclusive arts students working in clay

Syllabus

The course is delivered through seven modules, including one related option module. PGCert students study the Working Together and Issues and Debates modules only.

Assessment takes place through presentations, seminar discussions, practical work and workbooks. The final research project is assessed through an exhibition rather than a dissertation.

Working Together: Introducing Practical Collaboration

This module is a practical introduction to inclusive arts practice that explores processes of collaborative working and art facilitation skills. You undertake a series of supported arts workshops in local artists studios, working alongside the learning disabled Rocket Artist Group. You establish key philosophies and practices of inclusive practice suitable for transference to other community groups later in the course and your future practice. There are also opportunities for you to think about and develop your own work in the context of collaboration.

Participatory Practice and Creative Exchange: Inclusive Approaches to Collaboration

This module introduces and interrogates the ideas and practices of inclusive arts practice through key readings, tutor-facilitated workshops and peer discussion. It includes issues and debates around the similarities and differences between disability arts, art therapy, occupational therapy and inclusive arts practice, and other approaches to collaboration and inclusion.

Research in Progress

This module is designed to support students in the development, implementation and completion of their individual research projects. A series of work-in-progress seminars and workshops run alongside the delivery of students’ ongoing practical art projects.

Practice as Research

This runs in parallel with the Research in Progress module, giving you the chance to capture and present your research findings through a public exhibition or performance, and to demonstrate good practice and the impact of inclusive arts.

Looking Ahead: Continuing Professional Development

This module is designed to enhance the professional practice of arts practitioners and equip students with the skills and contacts to manage their future career paths. It covers areas such as working with museums and galleries, funding, public programming, health and safety, budget management, partnership development, and marketing.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Please enable targeting cookies in order to view this video content on our website, or you can watch the video on Vimeo.

Video produced by student, Sarah Bennett, in 2017 – for the Tate Modern creative exchange project.

Meet the team

Jayne Lloyd, course leader

Jayne is an artist and researcher who works across sculpture, drawing and performance in her own arts practice and in the development and realisation of inclusive arts projects. She is interested in the role of arts-based research in developing, understanding and evidencing the role of arts practices in a range of settings. Her research interests focus on the role arts and artists can play in the lives of older people, people living with dementia and those living with other disabilities. She has explored the interventions and dialogues that can be created between arts activities, practices and materials and everyday and health and social care environments. During her practice-based PhD she developed multi-sensory activities and environments that combined everyday and arts practices to engage those living and working in residential care settings and to question and shift experiences of institutional care. Read Jayne's full profile.

Joanna Offer, senior lecturer

Jo is a visual artist and designer who's practice and research is concerned with communication, collaboration and engagement and how inclusive arts strategies can connect people from diverse backgrounds. Jo is a Senior Lecturer teaching Inclusive Arts Practice MA/PGCert/PGDip. This course creates radically new forms of collaboration between students and excluded community groups from around the world. Read Jo's full profile.

Alice Fox, senior lecturer

Alice founded this pioneering MA and is Director of the learning-disabled Rocket Artists Studios. She has worked for many years with inclusive performance and visual arts alongside some of the world’s most socially excluded groups, in particular people with learning disabilities and elders. She often works internationally, training NGOs, and cultural, health and education sector professionals. She has delivered inclusive arts projects for Tate Exchange, The National Gallery and The British Council in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Nepal. Her work was recognised by winning The Times Higher Education Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts 2017. She is interested in how participatory arts practice can combat isolation, prejudice and exclusion. Read Alice's full profile.

Student views

Gemma Coldicott

“This course is the best thing I have ever done. I have consolidated my past seven years of professional practice as a dance artist and I have a great piece of research to take forward through events and educational projects.”

Gemma’s research question was: How to co-create a language of dance across time zones and cultures using synchronous and asynchronous communication?

Nina Marie Dunne

"This course is definitely the highlight of my life and I'll remember everyone fondly. I have now finished my PGCert (something I never thought I'd say) and I am a Student Transition, Orientation and Induction Coordinator at Canterbury Christ Church University and hopefully will be starting an MRes within the next year."

Brendan Commane 

"I chose this course because I am a teacher of children with special needs and I am very much into inclusion, doing an art-based course coupled with my own experience of special needs seemed the perfect choice for me."

Gemma Coldicott

Workbook Series I-IV. Participants: Gemma Coldicott, Roxie Keon and Felly Mistweave. Medium: dance. (Photo by Felly Mistweave)

Student work

Example student research questions

  • Clare Griffiths: 'How can the Researcher facilitate a process that enables a balanced artistic collaboration with autonomy and equality between an artist with a learning disability and herself?'
  • Abigail Horn: 'The Postal Project: Can artefacts be used in place of words in creative dialogue?'
  • Sue Winter: 'Words are not enough: Using visual arts practices to build resilience with learning disabled young people.'
  • Sarah Gladden: 'Consequences: What is collaborative art in the context of inclusive arts practice?'
  • Jo Offer: 'Happy holiday: What practices and strategies need to be in place to support an artist with a learning disability to engage with the design industries?'
  • Carol Patten: 'How can the impact of long-term hospitalisation be explored through music and the visual arts?'
  • Jade French: 'What practices are required to collaboratively curate an art exhibition with women with learning disabilities?'
  • Alison Cotton: 'How can a shared walking and art-making process enhance participants' engagement with the environment?'
  • Sally Bourner
  • Rebecca Ford
  • Rebecca Ford
  • Lucy Groenwood
  • Elaine Foster Gandey
  • Dee Walkden
  • Cornelia Van Helfteren
  • Belinda Papavasileilou
  • Amanda Bianko
‹ ›

View work by Inclusive Arts Practice MA graduates 2018

  • Cash Aspeek
  • Hattie
  • Hattie (continued)
  • Jane Diakonicolas and Martyn Lake: Drawing Conversations
  • Magda Patza: How can the participants explore their identity and abilities through movement and performance
  • melaneia and celyn working together
  • Natalia
  • Natalia: Important Things
  • Nina Roberts: documentary photographs and film stills from the Chemodanivka Project
  • Nina Roberts: Only in Memories
‹ ›

View past work by Inclusive Arts Practice students

How this course is delivered

How will my course be taught?
For the academic year that starts in September 2022 we’re planning for all students to be taught face-to-face on campus, enhanced by some online learning.

Students who started their course with us in 2021 are on campus for some face-to-face learning including tutorials, workshops, laboratory classes and studio sessions. They are also taking part in off-campus learning activities such as placements, field trips and study visits. And all of our campus facilities – libraries, learning spaces, restaurants, gyms and more are open.

Like all universities we are following government guidance and we are monitoring the pandemic very closely. Should Public Health advise it we have robust plans in place for additional safety measures to be introduced to enable everyone to continue learning on campus, and, as a last resort, for students to continue their learning remotely.

We will update you regularly on our teaching plans for the next academic year as you progress your application with us.

When does my course start?
The 2022 academic year begins on Monday 26 September 2022. Teaching for most courses starts the following week.

Many education courses, some health science courses including Medicine, and some postgraduate business courses have an earlier start date. Check your offer letter for the start date of your course.

I was working in social care for about 10 years, specialising in mental health, and also in a separate role as a facilitator and at the same time still a practicing artist. I was looking for a course that tied in all of those things that I was doing and interested in, and inclusive arts practice seemed a really good fit.

Sarah Bennett, Inclusive Arts Practice PGCert

Careers

On completion of the course, students are ideally placed to seek employment in a range of art, disability, community, health and education settings. Recent graduates have gone on to work for various organisations including Project Art Works, The Royal Academy and Kings College Hospital Trust as inclusive arts practitioners and workshop facilitators.

The course would also make a significant contribution to an artist's independent studio practice. Recent alumni have exhibited work at various locations including Phoenix Arts, Brighton Dome and Pallant House. Others have founded organisations such as Red Octopus Sensory Theatre and contributed to a wide range of projects and events including:

  • The Otherworld project with SameSky
  • Workshop 305
  • Heart n Souls' Beautiful Octopus Club
  • ActionSpace
  • The 20ME12 project
  • The Art Out There project with Starburst Arts
  • Partners in Art at Pallant House Gallery
  • The ArtWorks symposium 2014
  • Side by Side: Learning Disability, Art and Collaboration at the Southbank Centre

Students and alumni have successfully secured funding for inclusive arts projects and research through the Springboard Grant scheme, the Santander/Beepurple Social Enterprise Award, Arts Council England and the Winston Churchill Award. Others have progressed to PhD research through scholarship funding.

Pie chart showing how graduates are employed

Graduate teacher helping in a class of students with disabilities

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course for students planning to start their course in 2022, and should be used as a general guide.

Degree and experience
Normally an honours degree in a relevant discipline, or a recognised equivalent professional qualification.

Interview
Due to COVID-19, we expect interviews to be online and the processes may change slightly – check back here for updates. If you've already applied, we will tell you about any changes.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International students whose language skills do not match the IELTS scores set out here should consider applying for this course through our Extended Masters programme.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language centre

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Fees

Course fees

UK (full-time) 7,866 GBP

International (full-time) 15,462 GBP

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies, although we have tried to keep this to a minimum. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Art and Media in the 2021–22 academic year are listed here.

Typically, practice-based courses incur more costs than text-based subjects.

  • For most courses you will need to budget for the cost of specialist materials, equipment, stationary and printing and are likely to spend between £50–£300 per year.
  • Course books and a wide range of magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies, but if you wish to, you should budget up to £200 over your course to buy them.
  • For some courses you may also need to budget up to £100 for specialist personal protective clothing which, with care, will last for the whole of your course and beyond.
  • Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning, and you will have access to computers and necessary software across the university, but students may choose to buy their own specialist equipment. These may include cameras, or computers and software. Budgets can range from £50–£2,000. Buying specialist equipment is best undertaken in consultation with our academic and technical staff. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
  • For some courses you will need to budget up to £200 for printing and publishing. Photography courses may incur higher costs (£500–£2,000) when printing and framing images of professional standard for public presentation.
  • Costs in your final year of study are very likely to be higher than in earlier years as you bring together your final body of work and portfolio, and you may need to budget between £200 and £1,000.
  • Final-year graduation shows are opportunities to present your final, independent project work to the public. Practice-based courses will typically incur higher costs. Depending on the specific nature of your final project you will need to budget between £20–£2,500. 
  • For most courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits, for example to galleries, exhibitions and studios both in the UK and overseas. These are optional and are not required to pass your course. The nature of the costs vary from provisions for a packed-lunch to flight and accommodation costs for international field trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken, and typically range between £30 and £700 across the duration of your course.
  • For courses which feature an optional placement year, you will need to budget for living costs (rent, food, travel etc) in that city/country, as if you were on site at the university.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2022–23.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

City campus

City campus is located at the heart of central Brighton.

The facilities for making and designing, the theatre, galleries, workshops, studios, archives and the independent arts organisations based on site provide a unique and inspiring environment where creativity thrives.

St Peter’s House library and Phoenix halls of residence are close to the exhibition and learning facilities in the Grand Parade main building where you will also find the student centre with careers, counselling, student advice service and disability and dyslexia support. Edward Street provides extensive teaching and gallery space for media, photography and film.

Also on site are Photoworks, Screen Archive South East and University of Brighton Design Archives. Leading visual arts agency Photoworks runs the Brighton Photo Biennial and a national programme which frequently features the work of our graduates, staff and students. 

Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, the iconic pier and beach are a very short walk away. The independent shops and businesses of the North Laine and Kemptown, and Brighton main line station, with frequent express services to London, are 10 minutes walk.


Grand Parade exhibition space

Accommodation

Brighton: City campus

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students who apply by 30 June.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer. All rooms are self-catered.

  • You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
  • City campus is linked to Phoenix halls, Mithras halls and Moulsecoomb Place.
    • Phoenix halls are a short walk from City campus in the centre of Brighton.
    • Mithras hall and Moulsecoomb Place are located on the Moulsecoomb campus, around two miles from City campus. Public transport in the city is excellent.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting.

Phoenix Brewery Halls Accommodation

Accommodation for City campus is in the nearby Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city’s reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year. Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements, live briefs and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

We provide support and venues for key events in the city’s arts calendar including the Brighton Festival, the Festival Fringe, the Great Escape, the Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Photo Biennial and the CineCity Brighton Film Festival. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice. Our own Brighton Graduate Show transforms our campus into the largest exhibition space in the South East as we celebrate the outstanding talent and creativity of our students.

As a student you’ll get lots of opportunities to experience these events at first hand and to develop your skills through the volunteering and other opportunities they offer.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

City campus map

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Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Cricket Academy

New for September 2023, our Cricket Academy offers aspiring players the opportunity to continue their cricket development alongside studying for a degree. The programme offers a world-class training environment with the highest quality coaching.

Find out more about the Cricket Academy.

Students playing frisbee

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

Phone 01273 644644 or message our enquiries team.

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