Are you ready to embark on higher education in music? Which universities will stand you in good stead as an aspiring artist, producer, songwriter or instrumentalist?
The best universities for music degrees in the UK will equip you for like as a working musician. There are many to choose from across the country, offering varying styles of teaching, focussing on different areas of music and with a range of fee scales.
Read on to discover which institution is likely to be your ideal fit and find out why these particular places of study are so well respected..
The best universities for music degrees in the UK
From Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire in the very north to Southampton uni, on the south coast, you can enrol in excellent music degrees across the UK. Which you choose will depend upon the following factors:
- Your career plans
- Your goals
- Whether you’re looking for a more academic or practical programme
- The style of music you practice
- The further education grades obtained
- Whether you want a niche or wide syllabus
- If you want to combine your music study with another subject
- Your budget
- Level of skill (if a competitive audition process is involved)
Is music a good degree?
It certainly is, and these courses aren’t purely for performers. As a music technician, producer, or engineer, a degree from a renowned educational establishment will open doors. Plus you don’t have to attend a standard style university. Those who’d rather be in an exclusively arts-based focussed setting can enrol in a conservatoire or performance-based college that offer degrees.
Where can I study music in the UK?
We’ve included a mixture of options to suit all types of student, in our list of the best universities for music degrees in the UK…
Durham University music
This uni offers internationally recognised expertise in a wide variety of topics including musicology, theory and analysis, studies in electronic music, the psychology of music, the music of India, contemporary music performance, nineteenth- and twentieth-century British music, the music of the Soviet Union, musical life in France and Germany, historically-informed performance and Korean music.
Durham University’s music department consistently scores highly (usually top) on league tables, which does mean you’ll need some decent grades to be accepted (typical offers are A Level AAB and BTEC DDD.) The BA Music is spread across three years and six modules and achieves good results; in a survey, it was found that 87% of 2018 graduates were in paid employment or further study, six months after completion.
University of Manchester music
The Sunday Times has lauded Music at Manchester as being the best in the country, in its 2020 Good University Guide. Its facilities include a professional concert hall and specialist recording and practice studios in the NOVARS research centre. Known as Manchester 1824, it offers undergraduate courses:
- Arts Management, Policy and Practice MA
- Composition (Electroacoustic Music and Interactive Media) MusM
- Composition (Instrumental and Vocal) MusM
- Music (Ethnomusicology) MusM
- Music (Musicology) MusM
And postgraduate research in:
- Arts and Cultural Management Professional Doctorate
- Arts Management and Cultural Policy
- Composition
- Electroacoustic Composition
- Musicology
RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music)
At the undergraduate level, students can choose between a more classical-based Bachelor of Music (Hons) or UK’s only four years Bachelor of Music (Hons) Popular Music. Based in Manchester, the pop music course attracts tutorage from visiting music industry professionals (session musicians, producers, songwriters, recording artists, composers, musical directors, writers, managers, promoters and performers). 93% of graduates were found to be in work or doing further study 15 months after the course. RNCM also gives its students a thorough grounding in aspects of the business such as A&R and professional engagement.
University of Cambridge
One of the best universities in the world. The University of Cambridge’s music faculty offers a broad range from medieval genres to blues. And from advanced analysis to study of music history. This makes it ideal if you’re seeking a niche subject, or fancy a degree from one of the most prestigious alma maters in history. Those looking for very high-level study can opt for a PhD in composition, ethnomusicology, music analysis, music cognition, musicology or performance studies. Be aware that you’ll need top grades (most attendees will exceed the conditions of their offer). So if you’re not an A grade type student, this one won’t be for you.
University of Southampton
This south-coast university in Southampton was named the Number One Music Undergraduate Programme in the UK, by The Guardian in 2019. It specialises in popular music performance and production, making it ideal for those wishing to work in the contemporary music industry. The courses are suitable for performers, songwriters and producers.
A typical offer to this Batchelor of Arts programme is ABB to BBB and takes three years to complete. Students can spend a semester studying abroad and take advantage of in-house electronic studios and networked multimedia workstations.
Solent University Southampton
If you’re seeking to study music production, you’ll find these facilities unbeatable, with nine recording studios (networked with Protools HD and Logic Pro), mixing workstations and a Production Lab with 24 Apple workstations (these come equipped with Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Sibelius). You’ll also have access to large rehearsal rooms fully equipped with backline and PAs.
Solent University offers a BA (Hons) Popular Music Performance and Production. This course aims to encourage both artistic creativity and technical know-how. You’ll learn about copyright, contract law and career pathways. Students are also expected to develop transferable skills in research, IT, presentation, teamwork, creative thinking, communication and project management. A selection of students are given the chance to record at the famous Abbey Road Studios.
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
This educational institution is all about the performing arts, with a stellar reputation across the disciplines. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a great choice if you want to be in an environment exclusively surrounded by musicians, actors, producers, technicians and dancers. Course topics include performance, production technology, traditional, jazz, and B.Ed Music for those aspiring to teach in schools.
The Bachelor of Music (Honours) course runs across four years, and there are postgrad options too. Undergrad courses come in at just a few thousand pounds, with more advanced postgrad studies average around 10k. Most full-time, Scottish-resident undergrads will have their tuition fees paid by SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland). The Conservatoire is in the city of Glasgow, a top spot for emerging musicians.
Edinburgh Napier University
Also in Scotland, but on the east coast, is Edinburgh Napier. Its popular music course has a 100% satisfaction rate (National Student Survey, 2020) and was named the top UK modern university for Music in The Guardian University Guide 2021. The course prepares students for careers in performance, composition, production and engineering, teaching, management and promotions, music therapy, and community music projects.
You’ll be given the chance to study at a partner institution abroad or to complete a work placement in the industry. And the department’s facilities include three high-end recording studios and a fully networked MIDI lab, running Logic, ProTools and Sibelius.
LIPA: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Co-founded by Sir Paul McCartney in 1996, no less than 6000 students have completed courses here. LIPA offers a variety of undergraduate courses and a Master’s degree course including popular music and songwriting. If you want to follow in the footsteps of the famous, this is the way to go for your degree. LIPA’s alumni include Dan Croll, Sandi Thom and Little Jinder.
It’s all about contemporary professional music here and preparation for a career in the industry. There’s an emphasis on developing the essential business skills to help graduates to navigate the industry as professional musicians. If you’d prefer to strengthen your skills before diving into the BA programme, you can enrol on the Foundation Certificate Popular Music & Music Technology. The Grammy award-winning producer, Mark Ronson, said of the institute:
The best music universities in London
Royal Academy of Music
As the country’s capital and a cultural hub, it’s no surprise that London has many of the best music degree courses. However, it’s important to bear in mind, that while studying in the big smoke can be exciting and provide access to a wealth of opportunities, it is also the most expensive place to live. So if this is likely to be an issue for you, stick to one of the unis we’ve already mentioned.
ACM (Academy of Music and Sound)
For a true industry grounding, this is a superb facility. ACM’s goal is to instil into each student, the belief, desire and understanding of how to become a credible, self-sufficient artist. It’s far more hands-on than some of the other courses we’ve listed. And it offers ground-breaking subjects, like the new Rap & MC Pathway BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice, based in London. And there are scholarships available for those struggling to finance their studies. Courses can also be taken in Guildford – just outside of the city and in Birmingham. Further options include:
- Producer Route (EMP)
- BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice
- Technical Services Route
- BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice
- Creative Artist Route
- BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice
- Musician Route
- BA(Hons) Music Industry Practice
- – Keyboards Degree
- – Vocals Degree
- – Drums Degree
- – Bass Degree
- – Guitar Degree
- Rap & MC Pathway
- BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice
- Music Production Diploma
- Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Performance and Production
- Music Performance Diploma
- Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Performance and Production
- Songwriting Diploma
- Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Performance and Production
- Music Performance and Production
- Level 2 Diploma in Music Performance and Production
Royal Academy of Music (University of London)
The Royal Academy of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK. Many notable alumni include Elton John (who funds a scholarship here), Mylene Klass, Katherine Jenkins, Phil Gould, Gareth Malone and Annie Lennox. It accepts students from around the world, averaging 50 nationalities, and as well as its degrees has part-time non-academic study options too. It has a strong reputation for classical music, opera, musical theatre and jazz, with specialisms for instrumentalists.
RAM has changes a great deal over the years, with more musical diversity incorporated. Ex-student Elton John spoke of his time there:
“In those days, the Academy meant classical music and nothing else – certainly no rock ‘n roll. That was the devil’s music. But without my training, I never would’ve been able to write the songs I’ve written.”
Mountview
London’s West End brings billions into the UK’s economy each year and is a major employer for singers and musicians. So it’s no surprise that some degree courses are geared to training musical theatre performers. And with more pop, rock and even rap musicals popping up, the ground you’ll get crosses over well with popular music. Mountview is one of the names that pop up most frequently in theatre programme bios. Here you can study as an actor-musician, in musical theatre, or in sound production. Competition for places is high and you’ll undergo a rigorous audition process, with minimal places available.
Royal Holloway
If you’d like to combine your music degree with another topic, Royal Holloway is the place to do it. Drama and music, Economics with music, History and music, modern languages and music, music and English are all options you can choose. Graduates here are currently employed across the industry – from the English National Opera to EMI. And it’s always in the top ten on the music university league tables.
Taking time to complete a degree is an investment in your future. But it’s not for everyone. Many – if not most – artists currently trending on Spotify don’t have academic credentials. So don’t be dejected if you didn’t get the results you’d hoped for. There are plenty of vocational courses you can sign up for at independent music colleges, such as Access Creative College and the Academy of Music and Sound.
The Ten Best Music Production Colleges
The rise of the music production college grants aspirational students access to state of the art gear, hard won expertise and the ability to get a foothold in a competitive industry. But with so many institutions offering such diverse pathways, it’s more than a little beneficial to identify the major players…
Over the last three decades, there’s been an exponential surge in music production colleges. While many institutions, such as the prestigious SAE and Guildford’s ACM, have longstanding reputations as providers of industry-priming know how, armed with a huge array of technology and gear, others have risen in tandem with the growth of computer music making. While magazine sales have (sadly!) dwindled, websites, social media and – critically – YouTube are the readily accessible mediums which serve as the new disseminators of tutorial content for aspiring producers and musicians. But music production colleges offer so much more than passively taking in video content.
The best music production colleges, listed here, are staffed by experienced personnel, who’ve weathered more than a few in-studio storms in their time. Daily interactions with people who’ve lived the career that you yourself seek is fairly vital. So too, is the revolving door of guest speakers and masterclasses that colleges like BIMM and ICMP offer as a fixed element of their syllabuses. The opportunity to learn from this well of varied experience is just one selling point for those that may be thinking of a career behind the desk.
While focused study of skills, coupled with academic training in software, hardware, gear and theory are all core aspects of the courses offered by these colleges, the appealing idea of building out your own professional networks and establishing your own little black book of contacts is another major lure. While how much networking you undertake while studying is largely down to you, it’s undeniable that students stand a much better chance of forging new connections by attending a music production course than they do locked away in your bedroom.
With all this in mind, then, here’s ten of the UK’s most acclaimed destinations that should be on the shortlist of anyone eyeing up where to develop their, or their children’s, abilities
Founded back in 2001, BIMM has grown into a multifaceted, prestigious destination for aspiring producers and professional musicians over the ensuing 21 years. With a range of campuses which take in Brighton, Birmingham, London and wider Europe, and with the power to award degrees bestowed upon it in 2019, BIMM is among the world’s most esteemed music-learning institutions.
Students can choose between a BA (Hons) in Electronic Music Production or Music and Sound Production. There’s also the option to combine a course with other disciplines (such as music business, or songwriting) for a joint honours. There’s a range of optional additional modules and a high degree of connectivity to the wider industry via BIMM’s extensive European network. “BIMM’s Music Production courses are incredibly flexible and career-focussed.” Explains BIMM Institute Birmingham’s College Principal, Ant Greaves, “We know that the modern music industry is ever changing, so by creating and developing our courses in conjunction with the employers who will ultimately offer our students work, we aim to prepare our students for a sustainable career in Music Production.”
Formerly the School of Audio Engineering, SAE now offers a wide array of wider media courses including 3D Animation, Graphic Design and Video Game Design, yet SAE remains a byword for top-tier music production education. Founded by Tom Misner in Australia back in the 70s, SAE has blossomed into a world-spanning body, with the alumni from its East London campus reading like something of a who’s who of music industry figures. As with BIMM, SAE offer a degree in Audio Production, quality assured by the University of Hertfordshire, and with that, provides access to some exemplary gear in both SAE House and Bankstock Studios or at its Glasgow and Liverpool campuses.
Originating in Guildford, and expanding to London and Birmingham. ACM has been a wellspring of new talent since 1995, providing specialist programmes and degrees in Music Performance, Songwriting, Production and Business. It boasts specialist programmes for a range of performance styles and genres. A key benefit of study at ACM is its close connectivity with Metropolis Studios, within which you can easily gain valuable expertise while witnessing the wheels of daily professional life turn. Its Industry Link department keeps in close contact with students following graduation, assisting alumni in making the right career choices. Just ask former students Zomboy, Newton Faulkner or the mighty Ed Sheeran: all of which honed their craft at ACM.
It’s a name that still conjures gravitas, and since it opened up its training institute in 2015, Abbey Road has been a world-class destination to study music production and audio engineering, too. Though the chance to work within and around Abbey Road itself is certainly attractive (aside from attending workshops in the legendary studios, the Institute has its own bespoke live room and recording studio there), in summer 2021 the London campus of the Abbey Road Institute moved into Islington’s Angel Recording Studios – one of Adele’s former favourite places to record. The courses that the Abbey Road Institute offers are varied, and include a professional one year Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering, as well as at 5-month Advanced Diploma in Audio Post Production in Film and TV.
Once known as the Guitar Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance is a music production college that provides a multitude of courses, and has been delivering on its promise of being London’s leading music industry education provider for 30 years. Recently granted the power to award its own degrees, ICMP’s courses are intricate and industry-focused, aimed at priming students with the knowledge and acumen required for a career in the ever-active industry (impressively, 94% of graduates land in full-time employment or further education) The raft of industry talent currently serving as tutors is equally as notable, including songwriter Tim Elsenburg and former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherly.
Bristol has a storied legacy as a hotbed of electronic music talent, and the city’s dBs Institute is driven to ensure that the next generation of innovators are furnished with decades of experience-carved knowledge. With a stated purpose to effect positive social change through sound, dBs provides personalised support and focused teaching to its students, who can study a wealth of course types. With undergraduate and postgraduate degrees oriented around Electronic Music Production, Sound Engineering, Video Game Sound, Live Sound and a whole heap more. While its parent city’s spirit flows through the main campus, there’s now also a Plymouth campus and, opening later this year, a new facility in Manchester.
First opened as a studio in London back in 1994, and now a truly global learning enterprise, Point Blank provides music production academies in five countries, a platter of online courses and an intricate web of networking opportunities for its students. With a star-studded roster of alumni, including Claude VonStroke, Goldie and Gemma Cairney, Point Blank has a recognised standing as an exemplary institution. At Point Blank, you can study for either a professional course or a university degree, with the technical courses sitting hand-in-hand with the music industry-leaning. Already offering a notably solid online course canon before the pandemic, Point Blank has enhanced its remote offering to students unable to physically attend over the last two years, now offering web-based skills workshops, virtual masterclasses and wellbeing activities.
Aimed at 16-18 year olds, SoundSkool music industry college is a solid choice for young people who are keen to start building a career in the professional world of music, or develop their abilities for their own projects “SoundSkool is a Music Industry College and community, we work hard to make sure all that we teach is relevant in today’s music industry.” Explains SoundSkool Founder and CEO Simon Gordon, “We deliver RSL qualifications and we amend our units annually to tweak what went well, and what can be improved.” Based in London, the college offers Level 2 and 3 Diplomas in Music & Business, and also hosts outreach programs that aim to provide free workshops and courses across London’s housing estates, youth clubs, schools and charities. Priding itself on small class sizes and greater face-to-face time with its students than many other colleges, SoundSkool’s individually-nurturing ethos is one which we can very much get on board with. “We are also a very small institution and students like the sense of family that we create.” Continues Simon, “Alongside this, is a great alumni network of students that have gone on to make waves in the industry.”
Established in the centre of London in 2002, the London College of Creative Media provides a range of courses on music production and performance. Its cube-shaped HQ was built in 2017, and is known affectionately as ‘The Box’. Within it are a maze of recording studios, equipped with a huge amount of industry standard, top flight gear. The LCCM’s 12-month MMus in Music Production is particularly attractive, as the college equips students in both the technical expertise required to go far in the industry, as well as focused identity-nurturing to better hone student’s personal brand. It also regularly invites industry professionals to share their experiences with students.
Alternatively, if a real-life course at a real-life college doesn’t float your boat, or it’s easier for you to study remotely, you can always take a web-based course. In the online domain, here’s no better provider than Producertech. Allowing you to cherry pick and pay just for the courses you personally need, and then view and participate at home via your computer. Unlike the myriad diffuse videos you might find on YouTube, Producertech carefully curate their courses, with additional course materials including software projects, livestreams, assignments and a private forum for all members. While it’s a different kettle of fish from learning the ins and outs of music production at a college, Producertech is certainly worth listing for being one of the world’s best providers of online music production knowledge.
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