Museum and Gallery Studies MA
Subject and course type
- Creative Arts
- Creative Professions
- Postgraduate
Enhance your curatorial portfolio and creative practice. Kingston University’s MA in Museum and Gallery Studies will give you the skills and knowledge you need to tap into a rewarding career in this vibrant industry.
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Create and curate leading cultural experiences
Reimagine links between academia and the professional world and explore what that means for museum studies and practice.
Studying on our Museum and Gallery Studies MA programme will open new doors to both professional and research opportunities. Recent graduates have gone on to work in galleries and museums in the UK and across the world, with others progressing to PhD studies at a range of high-profile institutions.
During the course, you’ll participate in new exhibitions, cultural programming and community development. You’ll access our annual awards in Community Engagement and Outstanding Creative Practice, and feel empowered to pursue your own individual interests at the cutting-edge of creative practice.
Through a blend of practical and theoretical learning, you’ll experience collections, institutions, exhibitions and audiences. You’ll bring your knowledge together with a bespoke research project on your chosen topic.
I chose the Museum and Gallery Studies MA at Kingston University as it provided both a theoretical and practical understanding of the museum as a cultural institution. The course also approached the subject in a more imaginative, creative and experimental way than other universities.
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, our work has contributed to a nomination for the Art Fund's Museum of the Year award – the biggest prize in the UK museum world.
Our Museum and Gallery Studies MA has an interdisciplinary approach. This means you'll be able to engage across artistic, urban planning, architectural and design practices. We aim to promote a sustainable, place-based perspective to understand the future of museums and galleries.
You’ll also study in Kingston upon Thames – just a 30-minute train journey from central London’s world-famous museums and galleries. We’ve partnered with sector-leading institutions such as the Museum of London, National Maritime Museum, the V&A, the Estorick Collection, and the Freud Museum, London to create a range of live projects for this course.
Plus, Kingston University has two on-site galleries, which offer exciting opportunities for career progression. Grade II-listed Dorich House is the former home of the sculptor Dora Gordine, while the Stanley Picker Gallery is one of the UK’s leading university galleries. Our Knights Park campus also has a bookable project space for large-scale exhibitions.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
The course examines contemporary issues and practices, including those relating to collections management, interpretation, audiences and exhibition. You will study taught modules covering critical analysis and creative practice, and conduct research around the broad themes and subjects addressed by each module. As well as working with our own in-house museums, Stanley Picker Gallery and Dorich House Museum, we work with four external institutions each year to develop real-world museum projects.
You'll take five core modules, working on live projects with our partners. Four of the modules are worth 30 academic credits each and the major project is worth 60. The course totals 180 credits.
Students can choose to complete a professional placement by opting to study for an additional year. This is not a compulsory part of the course which can be completed either with the placement year or as a single year.
Year 1
You will study a series of taught modules that are concerned with issues of critical theory and analysis, research methodologies and creative practice. You will be expected to conduct research around the broad themes and subjects addressed by each module. This research will allow you to tailor your own path of study according to your particular interests and future aspirations.
Core modules
30 credits
As sites of continuous research and communication, museums and galleries are never complete. They are always found in the process of being made and re-made; ideas and things in the process of arrangement. This module establishes a progressive interdisciplinary framework for critically and creatively exploring museums and galleries as ideas and institutions based on creative, practice-based approaches to their making.
30 credits
Experience is central to the performance of public museums, galleries and heritage sites, and to our understanding of them as complex learning environments. This module provides a stimulating and engaging context within which to explore learning and experience as a series of critical and creative practices. Museums, galleries and heritage sites are conceived and operated by a range of governmental and non-governmental agencies, organisations and institutions, by individuals and communities, often by a visiting and participating public, and in an enormously diverse range of social and spatial contexts. In this module, students explore and apply different approaches to learning by constructing an experience for visitors within and through a specific institution or site.
30 credits
A predominantly rational, ordered approach to exhibition has been central to the conception of museums and galleries. This module introduces new ways to analyse and engage with the idea of display through an emphasis on exhibition as a more open and less didactic space of encounter and association, focussed on an ongoing re-imagining of display and exhibition through invention and experimentation. Extending our understandings of display, this module also explores creative approaches to the performance of heritage by engaging with experimental practices and forms of interpretation, expression and communication.
30 credits
Museums, galleries and heritage are more than physical, immobile landmarks in the landscape; they are ongoing, place-based processes crafted from diverse and often dissonant human and non-human materials, sites, identities and narratives. Because of this they are constantly open to change. They change due to debates from within the field and a variety of drivers and pressures from outside. In many ways change, and meeting the challenge of change, lies at the very heart of ongoing questions of sustainability, relevance and innovation in the field. This module explores museum and heritage futures, locating development within a more progressive, expanded sense of policy and place. Social, economic, and legislative concerns pertinent to the field are some of the key themes developed here.
60 credits
The Major Project is the capstone module of the Masters programme. Focusing on critical research, analysis, and presentation, the capstone project enables students to synthesise and apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout the course. The module provides students with an extensive programme of training and resources which are designed to aid them in the development, planning, research, and writing of their projects. It brings together students from several MA programmes in the School of Critical Studies and Creative Industries and embeds a range of interdisciplinary and practice-led approaches to their respective fields of study. It provides students with the opportunity to craft their own approach to their field through critical-theoretical and/or creative, practice-based research. The Major Project can accommodate research projects developed through a range of academic and professional contexts depending on the motivation and interests of the student. It can be presented either as a written dissertation or as a creative project, such as a portfolio comprising a chosen medium or media, accompanied by a critical commentary. The intensity of the workload increases across the three teaching blocks, allowing increasing focus in line with the level of your expertise.
Optional placement year
Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the work placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Student Route visa.
Core modules
120 credits
The Professional Placement module is a core module for those students following a masters programme that incorporates professional placement learning, following completion of 120 credits. It provides you with the opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills to an appropriate working environment, and to develop and enhance key employability skills and subject-specific professional skills in your chosen subject. You may wish to use the placement experience as a platform for your subsequent major project module, and would be expected to use it to help inform your decisions about future careers.
I found the lectures and tutorials really inspirational and would always come out buzzing with thoughts and ideas. When I set about writing my dissertation I had help and solid, knowledgeable support.
Career opportunities
After you graduate
You’ll complete this course fully equipped to work in museums and galleries across the world. Possible institutions include the Tate Gallery, British Museum, National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Saudi Art Council and National Folk Museum of Korea. Previous graduates have also progressed onto PhD studies at University College London, Sheffield Hallam University and Royal Holloway, University of London.
Links with business and industry
We work in partnership with museums, galleries and other practitioners to develop and assess several modules on this course. We also regularly welcome visiting lecturers who are leading practitioners in their field.
- Brooklands Museum
- English Heritage
- The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
- The Salisbury Museum
- The Museum of Futures
- The Museum of London
- The National Maritime Museum
- Turner's House
- The V&A
Leading research
Our staff and students regularly work on collaborative and individual research projects and with local, national and international events.
Museum and Gallery Studies sits within the Visual and Material Culture Research Centre, where academics, emerging scholars, and students conduct research in a stimulating, progressive environment. Find out more about research at Kingston School of Art.
Our key research areas include:
Asking historiographical and methodological questions of the past, present and future of art, architecture, and design.
Interrogating historical and theoretical comprehension of local, national and international identity in our contemporary global visual and material cultural context.
Engaging with discourses of gender, technology and the human image in our volatile, mediated and often traumatising visual, material and immaterial cultures.
Exploring the historical and theoretical connections between artists and social movements and the cultural production of these movements.
The Museum and Gallery Studies MA provided a valuable introduction to managing museums in our modern world. We covered the myriad practicalities of the industry, from the continually shifting debate surrounding collections and their interpretation to the academic theory in which they are situated.
Teaching and assessment
You will be taught and assessed through essays, project work, portfolio, and a dissertation (12,000–15,000 words) or creative project (5,000 words and a piece of critically-informed creative practice). The course involves regular guided tours of museums and galleries across London. Students will need to pay for travel within London travel zones. There may also be optional extra visits to museums and galleries outside of London.
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically involves reading and analysing articles, regulations, policy documents and key texts, documenting individual projects, preparing coursework assignments and completing your PEDRs, etc.
Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the University's online virtual learning platform.
At Kingston University, we know that postgraduate students have particular needs and therefore we have a range of support available to help you during your time here.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 13% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment typically comprises a written dissertation and practical work with presentations/exhibitions, blogs, portfolios and critical reflective statements. The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows:
- Coursework: 96%
- Practical: 4%
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.
We aim to provide feedback on your assessments within 20 working days.
Class sizes are generally small because we work on live projects with museums and galleries in a team. That means we get to know all our students well. The course normally enrols a hand-picked group of 15 to 20 students. Lecture sizes are small (approximately 15 students) with lots of opportunities for talking to lecturers and curators.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £13,500 |
| Part Time | £7,425 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £22,800 |
| Part Time | £12,540 |
| Fee category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £12,900 |
| Part Time | £7,095 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £21,900 |
| Part Time | £12,045 |
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree on the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
Interested in studying Museum and Gallery Studies MA at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
Get a 40% reduction in fees for taught masters or postgraduate diploma courses with September start dates. Find out more.
Receive up to £5,000 towards tuition in your first year of study. Find out more.
Get a 15% reduction in tuition fees. Find out more.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full- and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni. Visit our alumni discount page to find out more.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
Kingston University has a range of facilities and resources, but you’ll need to buy art materials and a tool kit, which should cost between £50 and £100. Required materials include drawing materials, pens, pencils, dip pen, scalpel, stanley knife, scissors, bone folder, A3 cutting mat, cutting compass, protractor, steel rule, type depth scale, sketch/note books, paper pads, tapes, glue, range of inks, paint brushes and more. You will also need access to a smartphone or device capable of recording film and taking digital photographs, as well as your own digital back up storage, which should cost around £50.
There will be opportunities for day visits to museums and galleries, which should cost around £50 per trip. Other optional study visits might include longer trips abroad, and you’ll need to cover these costs. To give you an idea, a five-day European field trip could cost up to £350.
If you take part in external shows and exhibitions, you’ll need to cover the costs, which could be between £60 and £150. Entrance fees for museums and exhibitions should be around £50 for the year. You’ll also need to cover your travel costs, which will vary depending on the location.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Information required
If English is not your first language, you’ll need to provide proof of your proficiency. This is usually either an IELTS or TOEFL test certificate. If you don’t have a formal English language qualification, please let us know how you have acquired your proficiency in written and spoken English.
All communications should include your full name and Kingston University ID number. You can find this in your offer letter.
After you apply
If the admission tutor wants to see your portfolio, we will email asking you to upload your zipped portfolio to the OSIS portal within three weeks. If we need more information or want to invite you for an interview, we will be in touch directly. After that you will then hear whether your application has been successful.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
What our graduates say
I particularly appreciate how practical and useful the course was. Every day I use the knowledge gained during my studies. This has been integral to the displays and ideas I have put forward during my role at the London Bus Museum.
I enjoyed the freedom of being able to follow my research interests and to develop them further in my final dissertation. The course also gave me the opportunity to gain new skills by working with creative practices not commonly associated with this field of study, such as film, scenography, and creative forms of writing.
Undoubtedly the most exciting feature of the Museum and Gallery Studies MA was the element of collaboration between the University and some of London's most famous and respected museums. This allowed students to tackle realistic, real-world challenges within the safe confines of the course's academic projects.
