Learn business, leadership and management skills for the creative and cultural sectors
Year of entry: 2025 (September)
1 year full-time
September 2025 (semester dates)
Join us online or in person to find out more about postgraduate study at York.
Upcoming eventsDevelop your expertise for a management career in the creative industries.
Gain the knowledge, practical expertise, and critical skills to become a leader in the cultural and creative sectors.
This course is run by York's School of Arts and Creative Technologies, and supported by the School for Business and Society. Whether you are from a management or cultural industries background, you’ll benefit from core modules covering management, entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, finance and law.
You’ll be taught by experienced academic staff, many of whom have well-established professional experience working in the creative industries and in management roles more broadly.
The course will prepare you for a career in a wide range of areas such as festivals, fashion, theatres, museums, digital industries, television, film, publishing, the visual arts, television, film, dance and live music venues.
You will gain theoretical insights, critical thinking skills and get practical experience of working in the creative industries. Students will take part in cultural field trips to experience how managers work in their own business environments, and will have an opportunity to undertake a work placement to further develop their employability skills.
Our course offers all students access to masterclasses on management and leadership by industry professionals, and to professional work experience working as consultants for an industry partner.
York is a UNESCO City of Media Arts, part of the creative cities network and recognised for digital innovation and media arts. The city and wider region are home to acclaimed museums, galleries and a lively arts scene.
Students work with industry professionals in our Collaborative Project module.
Students will have the opportunity to undertake a voluntary work placement with a non-profit business in the creative industries based in the York where they will help support its digital strategy.
Our course focuses on developing your professional capabilities, and you can tailor your learning to suit your interests and professional needs with option modules and project work.
You'll study core modules in business, and choose modules from a wide variety of options in different specialist areas. Applied collaborative and independent project work will equip you with leadership, management and project management skills and develop your creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
You will take core modules which may include:
You will choose two option modules from examples including:
Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
In this module you will research and deliver a substantial project on a topic of your own devising in the creative and cultural sectors that will be negotiated and agreed between the student and the supervisor. The focus and format of the project may vary and include: a substantial piece of independent research on a subject of your own choice; a business strategy, plan or proposal; a marketing or communications strategy; a production project with financial planning. As part of your independent project you may include the design, planning and/or execution of a creative and cultural output, provided this also includes a business/management component. This module enables students to apply the knowledge, research and critical study skills developed during the first two terms of the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries.
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £13,300 | £31,900 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
The course involves a range of different teaching styles, including problem-based learning, collaborative work and practical activities. You'll be taught by research-active, creative professionals across performance arts, music, sound, creative writing, curatorship, immersive and interactive media; what you learn at York stems directly from current research and practice.
You'll also have the opportunity to attend events such as talks, productions and festivals outside of your modules. You'll be assigned a member of our teaching staff who will act as your personal supervisor for the duration of the course. They are there to give advice on academic matters as well as other areas of University life.
You will be based in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies and the School for Business and Society. Most of your contact hours will be on Campus East and Campus West.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
You'll be assessed throughout your course. Some modules have an early assessment that contributes a small amount to your final mark and gives an opportunity to check your progress.
Types of assessment vary depending on the module and include the following:
The School for Business and Society is an institutional partner of Responsible Research in Business and Management to advance and promote responsible research in business and management for a better world.
Modules on law and finance, interactive media, music, theatre, film and television.
We expect graduates from this programme to move onto roles in arts and cultural management, creative business development and production, marketing, arts finance and funding.
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 459-494, with 426-458 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum of 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
Get in touch if you have any questions
School for Business and Society, School of Arts and Creative Technologies
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