Discover a love of teaching music
Year of entry: 2025 (September)
Join us online or in person to find out more about postgraduate study at York.
Upcoming eventsOur MA in Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching is a unique course for musicians interested in developing their instrumental and vocal teaching skills.
You'll explore practical and theoretical concepts of music education, as well as aspects of psychology, music psychology and health. By drawing on your own experiences, reading academic literature and putting new ideas into practice within your teaching, you'll develop your understanding of instrumental pedagogy and develop strategies for reflective practice, helping you to enhance your capabilities and confidence as a teacher.
We receive excellent feedback - our students say that the course has boosted their career prospects and helped them to discover a love of teaching.
Our highly committed and passionate teaching team will help you to pursue individual interests and support your professional and personal development. The collaborative and energetic atmosphere combined with our varied module content means our students are highly motivated and enthusiastic. You'll find it a great environment for your studies.
This unique, intellectually stimulating and fascinating course is perfect for any musician wishing to hone their teaching skills. Understanding effective pedagogy has made my teaching more rewarding and I relish the opportunity to facilitate someone's learning of music. It has helped me secure teaching jobs in two schools, a music centre and build up a plethora of private pupils.Katie, MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
The skills and experience you'll gain on this course are directly applicable to your career. Our students report that the course has helped them to boost their employability and gain confidence as a teacher.
We're in the UK top 30 for music research according to the Times Higher Education's ranking of the latest REF results (2021).
You'll study a series of taught core modules and complete an independent study module.
Your course will begin with the taught modules, with the independent study module as the final stage of your studies.
You will choose one option module 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.
You'll complete your independent study module towards the end of your course.
This will consist of either an extended essay, an empirical research project report, or a portfolio of recorded lessons accompanied by a written commentary. You'll receive tutorial support during the summer period to help develop your writing skills and your evaluative and reflective capacities.
You will also have access to our specific guides written for Music Education students which will help you understand the requirements of the independent study module and provide practical information and guidance.
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.
The chance to do some original research as an independent researcher inspired me to take up the challenge of a PhD. Practical work helped me to understand how theory relates to practice and encouraged me to enhance my speaking and listening skills as an overseas student. With the support of my course leader and communication with my students, my confidence has been much improved in piano teaching.Mengyao, MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £11,200 | £25,900 |
| Part-time (2 years) This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation. |
£5,600 | £12,950 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.
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.
The course gave me many wonderful practical opportunities. The sessions are quite creative and helped us learn how to be a mentor-friend teacher; perspectives of each student are respected, which encouraged me to have more confidence. Within the comparison and collaboration between the music education in the UK and in China, I think it is a very good way to explore and improve my future teaching.Keying, MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
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.
Classes are formed of a variety of taught and discussion based formats and regularly involve practical work.
You'll be taught via lectures, seminars and practical sessions, alongside which you will have the opportunity to teach others and receive feedback. You'll complete a variety of individual, small group and large group tasks as part of your studies. Meetings with course tutors will allow you to discuss your progress and prepare for assessments.
Weekly sessions explore areas of instrumental and vocal pedagogy including:
The School of Arts & Creative Technologies is home to outstanding facilities, including a variety of seminar rooms for class teaching. These rooms have an array of specialised teaching equipment including pianos, interactive whiteboards and audio equipment.
The John Paynter Music Library is an elegant facility, located within the University Library, and houses the main music collections. It is also equipped with digital pianos, and media replay equipment.
The University Library houses an extensive collection of CDs and DVDs, which are available for listening and research. There are also archival recordings available for student use in the University of York Sound Archives.
The Document Supply Centre of the British Library is located in Boston Spa, near to York. A weekly bus service runs during term-time.
The School of Arts & Creative Technologies has teaching spaces and specialist facilities located across Campus East and West. Many of the sessions for your core MA programme will be delivered in our teaching spaces within the Ron Cooke Hub on Campus East.
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 complete various types of written work, including academic writing tasks, critical appraisal and essays.
For some modules, you'll submit a video of your one-to-one instrumental/vocal teaching and a written commentary on your lesson.
The course offered a multi-dimensional approach where we could develop through reflection, experimentation and theoretical knowledge. I hadn't before considered the numerous opportunities a teacher has to develop both personally and professionally.Nafsika, MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
The experience and qualification gained from this course will help to boost your employability in a competitive international field. You'll develop skills vital for engaging in a wide range of educational activities, including studio and institutional teaching.
This course can also lead to further academic study - graduates have gone on to pursue doctoral research as well as a variety of other related qualifications.
This course will help you to develop a wide range of practical, transferable skills, including:
My professors gave me a wonderful learning experience which I really enjoyed. My tutors gave me many constructive suggestions about applying for a PhD that has made my future goals clearer.Ka, MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent in Music or another relevant subject. |
| 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 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.
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