Course overview

Gaining a Master’s degree can be immensely beneficial for you and your employer but balancing the commitments of work, personal life and study can be difficult. The MSc Creative Professional Practice is a flexible, work-based Master’s degree designed specifically for busy professionals in the creative industries.

The course will enhance your CV and enable you to stand out from the crowd in a competitive jobs market. You will develop specialist knowledge and a deeper understanding, along with higher level skills that will help you to position yourself as an expert in your chosen field.

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for anyone working in a creative role within an organisation or in self-employment. This might include, but is not limited to, professionals within the following industries:

• Animation
• Video, film and TV broadcasting
• Creative arts (illustration, sculpture, fine art)
• Design (graphic, digital media, web)
• Music
• Photography
• Computer games
• Performing arts
• Creative writing
• Architecture
• Interior design

How long does it take?

The time you take to complete your studies is up to you and is not tied to the academic calendar. It depends on the point at which you enter the course and your personal circumstances at work and at home.

Benefits to you

• Your existing knowledge counts towards the degree award (you can get credits for it).
• You gain a university qualification without having to take a career break.
• You get to introduce new and exciting projects into your work.
• Learning through work-based projects reduces the amount of leisure time you have to spend on study.
• You will learn what you need as you need it.
• You can tailor the pace of learning to suit demands on your time.
• Learning leads to professional and career enhancement.

Benefits to your employer

• Staff education brings commercial and strategic awareness and enhances innovation.
• Commercially valuable work projects are part of the learning programme.
• The organisation gains knowledge of best practice and the latest technologies from work-based projects.
• University tutors provide new knowledge and advice.
• Better qualified staff enhance the organisation's leadership position.
• Staff who have been supported to gain qualifications show increased loyalty to their employers.
• Employee motivation is increased as staff develop their skills.

Valuing your previous experience

The MSc Creative Professional Practice is extremely cost effective because, unlike most traditional masters programmes, your previous experience can be converted into masters-level credits which contribute towards the course, effectively shortening the duration and reducing significantly the cost of the programme.

Access to a stable work situation is important for success on this Work and Study Programme course. This programme may not be suitable for people whose work is voluntary, temporary or short-term. It is unlikely to suit those who are retired or unemployed. Applications from self-employed people are welcome.

Course content

Build your own Master's

The MSc Creative Professional practice is a modular course, consisting of elements which you can combine to create a personalised, bespoke programme – you can literally build your own Master’s degree.

The course comprises of the following four elements:

• Accredited Prior Learning
• Learning Management unit
• work-based learning projects
• taught units

Accredited Prior Learning (APL) allows you to receive credit for the qualifications you already have and for experience that has given you the learning equivalent to academic qualifications. This can include training courses and qualifications, as well as learning from on-the-job experience. To claim credit for experiential learning you have to submit a portfolio of evidence which demonstrates this.

The maximum APL credit you can receive is 120 credits (the complete Master’s is 180 credits).

Learning Management is a credit-rated unit. It forms the framework for your MSc programme and includes a short introduction to Master’s-level study (in Portsmouth or online), submission of your learning contract (outlining your detailed study programme) and several progress reports.

Work-based learning projects usually make up the bulk of the learning contract. They must involve new learning for you, so they cannot be simply the activities involved in your regular job. However, they should be of value to your employer as well as yourself and you should be able to carry out much of the project work in normal working hours.

Taught units from the University of Portsmouth or other higher education institutions can be included in your programme. They are a good way of acquiring new knowledge in a structured way. They are delivered as part of the University’s normal teaching provision.

Teaching and assessment

The MSc Creative Professional Practice is unusual in allowing you to set your own objectives, course content and timetable. We set the framework for your degree and assess your work, but you choose what to learn, how you will learn and what evidence you will deliver for assessment. We ensure that you achieve the standard appropriate to your award through a process of learning management. Support will be provided by an individually assigned academic tutor, a learning management tutor and a nominated word-based mentor.

Career prospects

The MSc Creative Professional Practice allows working, creative professionals to study for university qualifications without leaving their jobs, providing opportunity for career enhancement, promotion and new direction.

Facilities and features

You will have support from:

• A workplace mentor chosen by you - someone at work who can offer advice, guidance and moral support.
• A personal University tutor in your area of study.
• A learning management tutor - one of the Work and Study Programme academic staff.
• Lecturing staff in your taught units.
• Written feedback on all items submitted for approval or assessment.
• An introductory learning management course to help you develop your learning contract, devise projects, conduct research and write reports.

All students have access to:

• The prestigious University Library, including a dedicated postgraduate study area, to facilitate your studies and research (much of which is accessible remotely via the library website).
• Dedicated in-house careers and recruitment teams ready to advise you on career planning and applications, as well as offer guidance online.
• Purple Door, which provides a one-stop point of contact between the University and the business community, for employment opportunities, knowledge transfer and research.
• Extensive specialist facilities across all five faculties.
• Academic support from the dedicated Academic Skills Unit.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for MSc Creative Professional Practice are shown above, for more detailed information please contact:

Department: School of Creative Technologies (CT)
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 2421
Email: create.admissions@port.ac.uk