Music and Modern Languages & Cultures BA
2025-26 entryStudy one or two languages, combining the practicalities of learning them with modules that explore their politics, history, literature and culture. In music, you'll cover modules across performance, composition, musicology, ethnomusicology, music psychology, musical industries and music technology.
Key details
- A Levels ABB
Other entry requirements - UCAS code RW50
- 4 years / Full-time
- September start
- Accredited
- Find out the course fee
- Dual honours
- Foreign language study
- Study abroad
- View 2024-25 entry
Explore this course:
Course description
Become a musician and a linguist - exploring societies across the globe through music, politics and culture.
Find your creative voice by developing your skills as an independent musician and researcher, complementing this with the study of one or two foreign languages and an exploration of global cultures.
Learn to listen, perform and think critically about music of multiple genres and receive compositional training in both instrumental and music technology software. As well as embracing music genres and perspectives from across the globe, you’ll delve into the history, politics and culture of the countries your chosen languages are spoken.
Study in cutting edge facilities, including purpose-built music practice rooms, recording studios and music psychology labs, and spend a year abroad gaining lived experience of the culture of your chosen language.
Why study this course?
- Combine music with one or two languages - choose from 10 languages (German, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Czech, Catalan, Italian, and Luxembourgish) to take your music degree global.
- Year abroad - the year abroad in third year enables you to immerse yourself in the language, culture and society of the language or languages you study.
- Work in music - gain practical industry experience while you learn with our 'Work in Music' module, and build a network of professionals who can advise you on your career.
- Creative experiences - opportunities include student-led reading groups, multiple ensembles, active student societies, masterclasses and our dynamic musical event series.
Dual and combined honours degrees
The University of Sheffield is an All-Steinway School. This accreditation enables students to access pianos of the highest quality and places the University among a select group of international education institutions.
Modules
- You can find a comprehensive list of all of our languages and cultures modules broken down by language on the School of Languages and Cultures website
- Examples of music modules on offer are below
UCAS code: RW50
Years: 2024
The music modules for Combined Honours students are the same as those for BMus students except that there are no compulsory modules. You can choose to split your 120 credits per year equally 60:60 between your two subjects, or you can choose a ‘major/minor’ split of 80:40.
The part-time degree requires students to take 60 credits per year. The first year includes 40 credits of compulsory modules, followed by 30 credits in the second year.
You'll also take modules in your dual departments as well as through guided module choice, which includes languages for all modules.
Music option modules:
- History of Western Music
-
This module considers key moments in the history of Western music from the 1500s to the present day. Taking individual composers and works, it aims to introduce students to different approaches to the study of music history, the development of particular musical genres, and the impact of cultural, historical and geographical context on composers. In addition, the module will consider ways of writing about music, and the use of primary and secondary sources for informing critical discussions of the subject.
20 credits - Music in a Global Context
-
Whatever kind of music study you decide to specialise in, you'll do it better if you see it in the context of music as a phenomenon common to all humanity. You'll understand what's different about your own chosen field but also how the music you love derives from diverse cultural sources.In this module we examine how any music uses specific ways of organising sound to serve particular cultural purposes. You'll learn to recognise and describe diverse musical styles, research them through scholarly sources, present an analysis using appropriate audio-visual technology, and take control of the transferable skills you're developing.
20 credits - Tonal Music Analysis and Criticism
-
In this module you'll address the core skills of listening to, analysing, and writing critically about Western Classical music. With a focus on eighteenth-century 'common practice' tonality, you will study harmony, counterpoint, melody, texture and form in preparation for analysing short pieces, and will learn to write about the music you hear as well as the notes you see on the page. Your work will also prepare you for future music modules.
10 credits - Technologies for Music
-
Nowadays, most forms of music-related study involve music technologies. This module introduces you to a range of pertinent technologies, focussing around using computer in four key areas; sound recording, editing, transformation and representation, and a more general approach to computing required to complete tasks in many music modules. In each case, you will experience some of the many ways in which specific technologies serve many different music disciplines. You will go onto learn the essential principals of those technologies, before learning how they work in practice. By the end of the module, you will be versed in basics of digital audio, microphone choices and placement, sound recording techniques, wave-editing, MIDI, sound effect and plugins, file types and format, digital transcription and scoring and visual representation of sound. You will engage with University systems and through period of reflection complete a portfolio that contextualises your transferable skills.
10 credits - Composition
-
In this module you will develop your composition skills, practice writing music in staff notation, and learn to write effectively for different instrumental and vocal forces. Drawing on the models of a diverse range of classical composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, we will focus on techniques for writing inventive melodies and rhythms, and employing wide-ranging approaches to harmony. The module aims to give you a foundation in composition and increase your confidence in preparation for further study.
20 credits - Performance
-
In this module you will develop the musical and intellectual abilities appropriate to solo performance. The theoretical background is considered, focusing on the aural and analytical skills essential to performance at an advanced level. An awareness of style and interpretation, as well as effective preparation and communication are built into teaching. You will receive one to one tuition in addition to attending whole class performance lectures.
20 credits - Composing Electronic Music
-
The lectures on this module introduce you to various forms of electronic music composition. Through creative practice, key principles of composition with technology are introduced and a number of broad genres are set in a historical and analytical context. A diverse range of software tools are used, further enhancing your digital skills. You will learn how to process and develop a range of recorded and synthetic sound material, before considering some of the various ways in which those materials may be used to compose electronic pieces. After making a number of short etudes throughout the first half of the module, you select one area in which to complete your own original work.
10 credits - Folk Music Participation
-
This module is based upon participation in and preparation for folk sessions hosted by the Department of Music. Through intensive preparation of challenging repertoire, as well as the skills to enable improvised participation, you will develop your understanding of the demands and pleasures of session practice, and your knowledge of the repertoires concerned (British folk traditions), and be encouraged to reflect upon the roles and responsibilities of individual participants within the group. You will also be required to attend a professional ensemble concert or concerts within the university concert series, or an equivalent online event.
10 credits - Music Psychology
-
In this module you will engage with some of the most provocative questions about musical thought and behaviour: What are the characteristics of the musical mind? Why do we feel emotions when listening to or performing music? How does music and music therapy influence our health and wellbeing? Can music make you smarter? The module is designed such that no prior formal musical or psychological training is necessary.
10 credits
You will develop knowledge of the scientific methods used to study music from a psychological perspective, and how findings can inform applications in education, healthcare, and the creative industries. - Popular Music Studies
-
This module provides an introduction to the academic study of popular music. You will explore the various definitions of 'popular music' in relation to their socio-cultural context, and investigate some of the major issues and debates of popular music studies.
10 credits
Lecture materials and in-class tasks will engage with approaches to the analysis of popular music and media, issues of representation, and the relationship between popular musicians and their audiences. Assessments involve critical engagement with the themes of the module in relation to a popular music artist or piece of your choosing. - Exploring Tonal Styles
-
This module builds core skills of hearing, describing and using tonal procedures in a range of Western musical styles. It extends MUS133 Tonal Music Analysis and Criticism by moving on from classical 'common practice' to explore styles that use tonality in different ways.
10 credits
We'll explore styles like Medieval and Renaissance music, jazz and rock. You'll produce analyses from written scores and recordings, and write examples and exercises in the appropriate styles. You'll develop musicianship skills that prepare you for composition, analysis and performance work in subsequent years.
For Music, optional modules across our seven areas of expertise are available to students in Years 2 and 3. These modules are taught on a two-year rotation, with the exception of Intermediate Performance, Intermediate Composition and Creative Applications of Music Technology which run every year. This enables the majority of students to select from the greatest possible range of module options across two years of study.
For students on a 4 year programme where the 3rd year is spent away from the Department (i.e. as a year studying abroad as part of a Dual programme with languages, or to take up a work placement via the 'BMus Music with a placement year'), the two year module rotation means that you will be out of the department when some options are running. However, since your third year involves a high proportion of modules with a self-directed focus (including dissertation and special project), you should still have plenty of opportunities to pursue your specialist interests.
You'll have the option to choose modules in other departments through guided module choice, which includes Languages for All modules.
Music annual modules:
- Intermediate Performance
-
This module will introduce you to performance practice and techniques related to performance at an intermediate level. It will act as preparation for advanced performance in Year 3 Recitals, and builds on the foundation work completed as part of Performance in Year 1. You will take individual instrumental/vocal lessons, which will run alongside workshop-based lectures throughout the academic year. You will also attend 6 lunchtime, rush hour or evening concerts across the year and write a short critical review.
20 credits - Intermediate Composition
-
This module follows on from Composition in Year 1 to support the development of your compositional practice. You will study more advanced techniques of 20th and 21st Century classical music and develop strategies for making longer pieces. You'll write for small ensembles and soloists, including collaboration with advanced performers taking the MA Performance Studies, and you will have opportunities to get your work played in concerts. This work will prepare you for other composition-related modules, including Portfolio of Compositions and Special Project in Year 3.
20 credits - Creative Applications of Music Technology
-
This module will introduce you to a range of technologies that might be used for creative purposes and provides an opportunity for further electronic music composition. The module necessarily focuses upon the science of music (sound and the digital medium, filters, reverbs, synth design, computer music programming) before engaging with the construction of two works: one that is very synth driven (a dance music style) and one that further develops your electroacoustic music study. The technological aspects of the module are quite broad and strengthen essential transferable skills and computer literacy. The creative aspects of the module develop your original composition profile whilst augmenting skills in sound design and commercial composition.
20 credits
Music rotational modules:
These modules are taught on a two-year rotation:
- Analysis of Classical and Early Romantic Music
-
This module will introduce you to musical analysis in the western classical tradition. The emphasis is on the internal and external workings of musical forms in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, focussing on Haydn's and Mozart's mastery of standard classical forms, on Beethoven's formal manipulations, and on the interaction of form and expression in the early nineteenth century (e.g. Schubert and Chopin).
20 credits
Topics will include: motivic, thematic, melodic and rhythmic manipulation; interrelationships between counterpoint, harmony and melody; standard formal patterns; formal expansions and contractions; wit and humour in the late eighteenth century; expression and form. - Baroque Music
-
Public knowledge of baroque music today is shaped by the predominance of a canon; of music considered authoritative or great,; which for ideological and historical reasons is dominated by white European male composers. This module sets out to help change that. Students will investigate music created using staff notation between c.1600-1750 by a musician who was NOT a white European man, which is obscure or completely unknown in the present day.
20 credits
Teaching will use case studies to explore the skills required to transcribe and research Baroque music—such as literature search, accessing and working with Early Modern primary sources, analysing baroque music (including, where relevant, song texts), transcription and editing of music and text, researching baroque performance practice, contextualising music, addressing issues of gender and ethnicity critically within a historical frame. - Community, Music and Education
-
This module will engage you in the current debates and practices of music in education and community settings, from the formal classroom setting and instrumental studio, through the work done by community support groups, to more recreational musical practice in the community. Questions of music's place in the curriculum, the relationship between school and home music, and the challenges of providing a vibrant musical education for all people, will be addressed in lectures and discussions.
20 credits
You will work in mentored groups to investigate and support community music-making or school-based music education in Sheffield, building your skills as a researcher, and learning about career options including teaching, delivering and managing music provision for young people and vulnerable adults. You will finish the module knowing more about music and its contribution to education and society, through your critical reflection on published research evidence, and through school and community fieldwork visits. - Creative Performance
-
This module introduces you to contemporary, jazz and classical improvisation. By learning and developing these skills over a series of practical and taught sessions, you will become more flexible and confident as a performer.
20 credits - Ensemble Performance
-
This module will present you with the opportunity to develop ensemble performance skills in a supervised situation. You will form an ensemble with fellow students prior to the module commencing, and your ensemble will programme a contrasting selection of repertoire for study and public performance. Particular attention will be paid to ensemble considerations, though technical matters and the development of stylistic awareness will also form an important part of the module.
20 credits - Ethnomusicology
-
This module introduces ethnomusicology as a way of researching musical culture, with selected musical traditions explored as case studies in applying and assessing ethnomusicological methods. These methods typically emphasise 'ethnography', in which the primary sources are live human beings and knowledge is produced by interacting with them through musical participation, observation and interviewing.
20 credits
You'll have the opportunity to conduct an ethnographic fieldwork project, either face-to-face or 'virtual', and write up the results in your assessed work. Alternatively, you can submit an essay examining published ethnomusicological research on a specific topic. Either way, you should reflect critically on how musical knowledge is produced by ethnomusicological methods. - Jazz Studies
-
This module introduces some of the key figures and developments in the history of jazz, from its origins as an early twentieth-century American music, to its various contemporary manifestations across the world. You will engage with the contexts and debates that have shaped (and continue to shape) the performance, reception, representation, and study of jazz music, and will conduct independent research into a jazz-related topic of your choosing.
20 credits - Mozart in Vienna, 1781-1791
-
In this module, you will examine Mozart's career as performer and composer in Vienna (1781-91), looking at the environments and circumstances in which he worked and the aesthetic contexts in which he thrived. Topics will include: the circumstances that led Mozart to move from Salzburg to Vienna in 1781; his career as a performer; aesthetic, historical and contextual issues in 1780s Vienna; Mozart's instrumental, operatic and sacred works composed in Vienna; and Mozart's status as a musical-cultural icon in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
20 credits - Musical Culture in East Asia
-
This module introduces the musical life of East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan and neighbouring areas, in historical and cultural context. While emphasising traditional East Asian music and musical theatre, you'll also examine East Asia's participation in the culture of Western-style classical and popular musics.
20 credits
You'll learn to recognise many forms of East Asian music and explain how they use sound in pursuit of particular cultural goals. You'll also carry out a guided research project on a cultural, historical and/or analytical topic in East Asian music. - Music Psychology in Everyday Life
-
This module will introduce you to theories, empirical investigations and applications of music psychology relevant to everyday life. You will learn about the diverse uses of music in everyday situations, which may include personal, communal and commercial settings. The reasons for music use in these situations are explored and possible explanations of music's ability to support functions are critically reviewed, including social, emotional, personal, educational and commercial impacts. The module will be delivered through lectures, group discussions, and small research projects.
20 credits - Music in Renaissance Europe
-
This module will introduce you to European musical cultures in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the research methods through which they are discovered and studied. You'll investigate the roles played by music in the everyday life of street and home, as well as in religion and politics.
20 credits
The module links music to some of the big critical themes in the European history of the period, including Europe's expanding international horizons through trade and colonialism, the dramatic increase in the circulation of books thanks to new printing technology, and conflict both within and between religious faiths. - Music and Wellbeing
-
This module introduces you to the important ways in which music contributes to our sense of wellbeing. Wellbeing is not simply about feeling ok but has health implications for society. Music plays a vital role in fostering wellbeing. In the module, we cover four distinct areas where health and wellbeing may be challenged; these include special educational needs in schools, the use of music for people with dementia, as well as some specialised clinical settings where music is used. As part of your work on the module, you will be able to design your own music intervention.
20 credits - Opera and Identity
-
This module gives you the opportunity to explore, understand and debate contemporary critical issues about the relationship between opera and identity. Focussing on opera from 1800 to the present day, the historical and social contexts surrounding the creation, premiere, and reception of opera forms the backdrop to the study of individual works in relation to topics including race, gender, sexuality, class, colonialism, religion, exoticism, political ideology, and national identity. From exoticised 19th-century Italian constructions of Egypt, through to the interplay of gender and sexuality in the depiction of pop culture icon Anna Nicole Smith, the operatic stage provides a forum for the consideration of some of society's most pertinent and widely debated issues.
20 credits - Orchestral Technique
-
This module covers the essential knowledge and skills for scoring music for symphony orchestra, as well as for smaller groupings of orchestral instruments. The module equips you for arranging and writing music for ensembles you might find yourself working with in the future, as a player, composer, conductor or teacher. The Orchestral Technique module is appropriate for all music students, but is particularly important for those specialising in composition. It will give you relevant knowledge of instruments, repertoire and techniques, and also provide the background training you will need for composing for media and film, and for live performance.
20 credits - Performing South Asian Melody
-
In this module you'll acquire a practice-based understanding of one world music tradition (selected in advance by the course tutor), improving your musical performance skills and experiencing first-hand the modes of transmission that are part of the tradition. Through performance-based seminars, you will learn to play and/or sing in the style offered, backing up that experience with theoretical knowledge derived from ethnomusicological literature. Your learning will also be supported by a writing-based project, supported by seminars/tutorials as appropriate, resulting in a Learning Journal documenting and reflecting on the learning experience.
20 credits - Psychology of Music: methods and applications
-
This module lays the foundation for you to be able to research a music-psychological topic using psychological research methods and consider its relevance for musical life and the music profession. You'll work on developing skills in psychological research approaches, through teaching that is problem-based, meaning that you will work on research design and data collection methods to tackle an issue or problem that may be encountered in musical contexts. A combination of methods is considered including qualitative and quantitative data collection, reflection, observation and literature research. Included problems may relate to musical development, psychology of performance, and music engagement.
20 credits - Sound and Moving Image
-
This module gives you the opportunity to compose sound and music for film and other visual media, and position sound and music within the filmmaking process. Using a variety of software, you will be responsible for the entire project from the ideas stage through to the creation of all audio materials. A diverse range of existing movies, audiovisual works and relevant literature will be studied, and you will be expected to use these to inform your own work.
20 credits - Sound Recording Practice
-
This module examines the fundamental theories of recording. Focussing upon the recording of both sound and music, it provides you with an opportunity to realise an original track. The module engages briefly with technical aspects of recording (microphone types, sound file formats) before using practical work and listening to decide upon choice of microphone, placement and capture. By making field recordings, location recordings, and session-based recordings, you will acquire a broad understanding of relevant issues and methods. The mixing and mastering of session-based recordings results in your finished track and helps you develop the skills required in the professional sound studio.
20 credits - The Broadway Musical
-
This module addresses the development of the Broadway musical, focusing on leading figures and critical issues. It looks at shows such as My Fair Lady and Oklahoma!, examines aspects of identity such as race and sexuality, and unpacks the collaborative nature of the genre. Alongside lectures on set works, you will pursue an individual project on a topic of your own choice, allowing freedom to identify with the work being studied.
20 credits - Topics in Popular Music
-
In this module you'll explore in depth a range of models, case studies and themes for the study of Popular Music. You'll be introduced to varying analytical and critical approaches to the study of popular musics in global perspective, with topics including (e.g.): how popular musicians learn; popular music and humour; popular music as world music; reading popular music 'texts'; understanding business models; and conducting a popular music ethnography. As well as developing a factual knowledge of the genres covered in the module, you will develop a critical awareness of research methods and discursive themes in the field of popular music studies.
20 credits
The module aims for diversity both in the styles and population groups represented and in the critical and analytical approaches discussed. The exact topics may vary with the specialisms of the teaching team, but you'll always be free to formulate a focus that interests you for your assessed project, which you'll develop with regular input from tutors and peers. - Traditional Music in the Modern World
-
This module will introduce you to the study of folk and traditional music, focussing on a range of contemporary folk music cultures. You'll learn to use a range of approaches (ethnomusicology; critical and culture theory; political theory) to consider the traditional identities these music cultures construct, and how they relate to their modern, economic, political and technological contexts. Past and current definitions of the terms folk music and traditional music are explored, and music cultures are investigated in terms of specific debates and contexts, such as revivalism, nationalism, institutionalisation, competition and education.
20 credits - Work in Music
-
The module provides an opportunity for students to examine in depth a working environment of interest to them and to undertake work-related learning through contact with a professional music setting. Students will take responsibility for approaching and communicating with external music organisations and professionals with a view to securing advice or practical experience. Module tutors will provide support and will also have access to a directory of local and national organisations that students might approach. Through seminar sessions, students will be supported in developing clear aims and objectives for the module and will receive guidance regarding module assessments. Through experience of a work environment, students will develop specialist knowledge, reflective skills and a critical awareness of primary research methods.
20 credits
For Music, optional modules across our seven areas of expertise are available to students in Years 2 and 3. These modules are taught on a two-year rotation, with the exception of Intermediate Performance, Intermediate Composition and Creative Applications of Music Technology which run every year. This enables the majority of students to select from the greatest possible range of module options across two years of study.
For students on a 4 year programme where the 3rd year is spent away from the Department (i.e. as a year studying abroad as part of a Dual programme with languages, or to take up a work placement via the 'BMus Music with a placement year'), the two year module rotation means that you will be out of the department when some options are running. However, since your third year involves a high proportion of modules with a self-directed focus (including dissertation and special project), you should still have plenty of opportunities to pursue your specialist interests.
For Music, students on dual programmes must take at least 20 credits from among the Final Year Project modules. Optionally, you can also take a second Final Year Project module at 20 or 40 credits.
Music annual modules:
- Intermediate Performance
-
This module will introduce you to performance practice and techniques related to performance at an intermediate level. It will act as preparation for advanced performance in Year 3 Recitals, and builds on the foundation work completed as part of Performance in Year 1. You will take individual instrumental/vocal lessons, which will run alongside workshop-based lectures throughout the academic year. You will also attend 6 lunchtime, rush hour or evening concerts across the year and write a short critical review.
20 credits - Intermediate Composition
-
This module follows on from Composition in Year 1 to support the development of your compositional practice. You will study more advanced techniques of 20th and 21st Century classical music and develop strategies for making longer pieces. You'll write for small ensembles and soloists, including collaboration with advanced performers taking the MA Performance Studies, and you will have opportunities to get your work played in concerts. This work will prepare you for other composition-related modules, including Portfolio of Compositions and Special Project in Year 3.
20 credits - Creative Applications of Music Technology
-
This module will introduce you to a range of technologies that might be used for creative purposes and provides an opportunity for further electronic music composition. The module necessarily focuses upon the science of music (sound and the digital medium, filters, reverbs, synth design, computer music programming) before engaging with the construction of two works: one that is very synth driven (a dance music style) and one that further develops your electroacoustic music study. The technological aspects of the module are quite broad and strengthen essential transferable skills and computer literacy. The creative aspects of the module develop your original composition profile whilst augmenting skills in sound design and commercial composition.
20 credits
Music rotational modules:
These modules are taught on a two-year rotation:
- Analysis of Classical and Early Romantic Music
-
This module will introduce you to musical analysis in the western classical tradition. The emphasis is on the internal and external workings of musical forms in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, focussing on Haydn's and Mozart's mastery of standard classical forms, on Beethoven's formal manipulations, and on the interaction of form and expression in the early nineteenth century (e.g. Schubert and Chopin).
20 credits
Topics will include: motivic, thematic, melodic and rhythmic manipulation; interrelationships between counterpoint, harmony and melody; standard formal patterns; formal expansions and contractions; wit and humour in the late eighteenth century; expression and form. - Baroque Music
-
Public knowledge of baroque music today is shaped by the predominance of a canon; of music considered authoritative or great,; which for ideological and historical reasons is dominated by white European male composers. This module sets out to help change that. Students will investigate music created using staff notation between c.1600-1750 by a musician who was NOT a white European man, which is obscure or completely unknown in the present day.
20 credits
Teaching will use case studies to explore the skills required to transcribe and research Baroque music—such as literature search, accessing and working with Early Modern primary sources, analysing baroque music (including, where relevant, song texts), transcription and editing of music and text, researching baroque performance practice, contextualising music, addressing issues of gender and ethnicity critically within a historical frame. - Community, Music and Education
-
This module will engage you in the current debates and practices of music in education and community settings, from the formal classroom setting and instrumental studio, through the work done by community support groups, to more recreational musical practice in the community. Questions of music's place in the curriculum, the relationship between school and home music, and the challenges of providing a vibrant musical education for all people, will be addressed in lectures and discussions.
20 credits
You will work in mentored groups to investigate and support community music-making or school-based music education in Sheffield, building your skills as a researcher, and learning about career options including teaching, delivering and managing music provision for young people and vulnerable adults. You will finish the module knowing more about music and its contribution to education and society, through your critical reflection on published research evidence, and through school and community fieldwork visits. - Creative Performance
-
This module introduces you to contemporary, jazz and classical improvisation. By learning and developing these skills over a series of practical and taught sessions, you will become more flexible and confident as a performer.
20 credits - Ensemble Performance
-
This module will present you with the opportunity to develop ensemble performance skills in a supervised situation. You will form an ensemble with fellow students prior to the module commencing, and your ensemble will programme a contrasting selection of repertoire for study and public performance. Particular attention will be paid to ensemble considerations, though technical matters and the development of stylistic awareness will also form an important part of the module.
20 credits - Ethnomusicology
-
This module introduces ethnomusicology as a way of researching musical culture, with selected musical traditions explored as case studies in applying and assessing ethnomusicological methods. These methods typically emphasise 'ethnography', in which the primary sources are live human beings and knowledge is produced by interacting with them through musical participation, observation and interviewing.
20 credits
You'll have the opportunity to conduct an ethnographic fieldwork project, either face-to-face or 'virtual', and write up the results in your assessed work. Alternatively, you can submit an essay examining published ethnomusicological research on a specific topic. Either way, you should reflect critically on how musical knowledge is produced by ethnomusicological methods. - Jazz Studies
-
This module introduces some of the key figures and developments in the history of jazz, from its origins as an early twentieth-century American music, to its various contemporary manifestations across the world. You will engage with the contexts and debates that have shaped (and continue to shape) the performance, reception, representation, and study of jazz music, and will conduct independent research into a jazz-related topic of your choosing.
20 credits - Music Psychology in Everyday Life
-
This module will introduce you to theories, empirical investigations and applications of music psychology relevant to everyday life. You will learn about the diverse uses of music in everyday situations, which may include personal, communal and commercial settings. The reasons for music use in these situations are explored and possible explanations of music's ability to support functions are critically reviewed, including social, emotional, personal, educational and commercial impacts. The module will be delivered through lectures, group discussions, and small research projects.
20 credits - Mozart in Vienna, 1781-1791
-
In this module, you will examine Mozart's career as performer and composer in Vienna (1781-91), looking at the environments and circumstances in which he worked and the aesthetic contexts in which he thrived. Topics will include: the circumstances that led Mozart to move from Salzburg to Vienna in 1781; his career as a performer; aesthetic, historical and contextual issues in 1780s Vienna; Mozart's instrumental, operatic and sacred works composed in Vienna; and Mozart's status as a musical-cultural icon in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
20 credits - Musical Culture in East Asia
-
This module introduces the musical life of East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan and neighbouring areas, in historical and cultural context. While emphasising traditional East Asian music and musical theatre, you'll also examine East Asia's participation in the culture of Western-style classical and popular musics.
20 credits
You'll learn to recognise many forms of East Asian music and explain how they use sound in pursuit of particular cultural goals. You'll also carry out a guided research project on a cultural, historical and/or analytical topic in East Asian music. - Music in Renaissance Europe
-
This module will introduce you to European musical cultures in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the research methods through which they are discovered and studied. You'll investigate the roles played by music in the everyday life of street and home, as well as in religion and politics.
20 credits
The module links music to some of the big critical themes in the European history of the period, including Europe's expanding international horizons through trade and colonialism, the dramatic increase in the circulation of books thanks to new printing technology, and conflict both within and between religious faiths. - Music and Wellbeing
-
This module introduces you to the important ways in which music contributes to our sense of wellbeing. Wellbeing is not simply about feeling ok but has health implications for society. Music plays a vital role in fostering wellbeing. In the module, we cover four distinct areas where health and wellbeing may be challenged; these include special educational needs in schools, the use of music for people with dementia, as well as some specialised clinical settings where music is used. As part of your work on the module, you will be able to design your own music intervention.
20 credits - Opera and Identity
-
This module gives you the opportunity to explore, understand and debate contemporary critical issues about the relationship between opera and identity. Focussing on opera from 1800 to the present day, the historical and social contexts surrounding the creation, premiere, and reception of opera forms the backdrop to the study of individual works in relation to topics including race, gender, sexuality, class, colonialism, religion, exoticism, political ideology, and national identity. From exoticised 19th-century Italian constructions of Egypt, through to the interplay of gender and sexuality in the depiction of pop culture icon Anna Nicole Smith, the operatic stage provides a forum for the consideration of some of society's most pertinent and widely debated issues.
20 credits - Performing South Asian Melody
-
In this module you'll acquire a practice-based understanding of one world music tradition (selected in advance by the course tutor), improving your musical performance skills and experiencing first-hand the modes of transmission that are part of the tradition. Through performance-based seminars, you will learn to play and/or sing in the style offered, backing up that experience with theoretical knowledge derived from ethnomusicological literature. Your learning will also be supported by a writing-based project, supported by seminars/tutorials as appropriate, resulting in a Learning Journal documenting and reflecting on the learning experience.
20 credits - Psychology of Music: methods and applications
-
This module lays the foundation for you to be able to research a music-psychological topic using psychological research methods and consider its relevance for musical life and the music profession. You'll work on developing skills in psychological research approaches, through teaching that is problem-based, meaning that you will work on research design and data collection methods to tackle an issue or problem that may be encountered in musical contexts. A combination of methods is considered including qualitative and quantitative data collection, reflection, observation and literature research. Included problems may relate to musical development, psychology of performance, and music engagement.
20 credits - Orchestral Technique
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This module covers the essential knowledge and skills for scoring music for symphony orchestra, as well as for smaller groupings of orchestral instruments. The module equips you for arranging and writing music for ensembles you might find yourself working with in the future, as a player, composer, conductor or teacher. The Orchestral Technique module is appropriate for all music students, but is particularly important for those specialising in composition. It will give you relevant knowledge of instruments, repertoire and techniques, and also provide the background training you will need for composing for media and film, and for live performance.
20 credits - Sound and Moving Image
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This module gives you the opportunity to compose sound and music for film and other visual media, and position sound and music within the filmmaking process. Using a variety of software, you will be responsible for the entire project from the ideas stage through to the creation of all audio materials. A diverse range of existing movies, audiovisual works and relevant literature will be studied, and you will be expected to use these to inform your own work.
20 credits - Sound Recording Practice
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This module examines the fundamental theories of recording. Focussing upon the recording of both sound and music, it provides you with an opportunity to realise an original track. The module engages briefly with technical aspects of recording (microphone types, sound file formats) before using practical work and listening to decide upon choice of microphone, placement and capture. By making field recordings, location recordings, and session-based recordings, you will acquire a broad understanding of relevant issues and methods. The mixing and mastering of session-based recordings results in your finished track and helps you develop the skills required in the professional sound studio.
20 credits - The Broadway Musical
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This module addresses the development of the Broadway musical, focusing on leading figures and critical issues. It looks at shows such as My Fair Lady and Oklahoma!, examines aspects of identity such as race and sexuality, and unpacks the collaborative nature of the genre. Alongside lectures on set works, you will pursue an individual project on a topic of your own choice, allowing freedom to identify with the work being studied.
20 credits - Topics in Popular Music
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In this module you'll explore in depth a range of models, case studies and themes for the study of Popular Music. You'll be introduced to varying analytical and critical approaches to the study of popular musics in global perspective, with topics including (e.g.): how popular musicians learn; popular music and humour; popular music as world music; reading popular music 'texts'; understanding business models; and conducting a popular music ethnography. As well as developing a factual knowledge of the genres covered in the module, you will develop a critical awareness of research methods and discursive themes in the field of popular music studies.
20 credits
The module aims for diversity both in the styles and population groups represented and in the critical and analytical approaches discussed. The exact topics may vary with the specialisms of the teaching team, but you'll always be free to formulate a focus that interests you for your assessed project, which you'll develop with regular input from tutors and peers. - Traditional Music in the Modern World
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This module will introduce you to the study of folk and traditional music, focussing on a range of contemporary folk music cultures. You'll learn to use a range of approaches (ethnomusicology; critical and culture theory; political theory) to consider the traditional identities these music cultures construct, and how they relate to their modern, economic, political and technological contexts. Past and current definitions of the terms folk music and traditional music are explored, and music cultures are investigated in terms of specific debates and contexts, such as revivalism, nationalism, institutionalisation, competition and education.
20 credits - Work in Music
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The module provides an opportunity for students to examine in depth a working environment of interest to them and to undertake work-related learning through contact with a professional music setting. Students will take responsibility for approaching and communicating with external music organisations and professionals with a view to securing advice or practical experience. Module tutors will provide support and will also have access to a directory of local and national organisations that students might approach. Through seminar sessions, students will be supported in developing clear aims and objectives for the module and will receive guidance regarding module assessments. Through experience of a work environment, students will develop specialist knowledge, reflective skills and a critical awareness of primary research methods.
20 credits
Music final year projects
- Dissertation
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This module gives you the opportunity to undertake intensive study of a particular aspect of musical sound/material, behaviour or thinking, from the past or present, presenting the findings of your investigation as a substantial piece of scholarly written work, and in the process consolidating and further developing your research and critical skills. Your dissertation topic should enable you to demonstrate the ability to place music in its historical and cultural context, and to support your arguments with informative comments based on detailed analysis.
20 credits
Dissertation can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. The length of the dissertation should be approximately 6000 words for MUS301 Dissertation (20 credits); 9500 words for MUS332 Extended Dissertation (40 credits). - Portfolio of Compositions
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This final year module supports your independent composition practice and builds upon skills acquired over previous years. Compositions may be for small or large forces of instruments or voices, may combine instruments with electronics, or may be electroacoustic. Where possible the module will culminate in a public performance of some of the work produced.
20 credits
Portfolio of Compositions can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. The length of the portfolio should be approximately 10 minutes for MUS302 Portfolio of Compositions (20 credits); 20 minutes for MUS333 Extended Portfolio of Compositions (40 credits). - Prepared Instrumental or Vocal Recital
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In this module you will develop your advanced practical skills to demonstrate the ability to communicate meaning in music through a public performance at a professional standard. You will prepare a programme, in any musical style and on any instrument, which exhibits your repertorial range containing works of a contrasting nature from different historical periods and contain a contemporary work. Your work will be supported by individual instrumental tuition.
20 credits
Instrumental or Vocal Recital can be taken in 20 and 40 credit versions. The length of the recital should be approximately 25 minutes for MUS303 Instrumental or Vocal Recital (20 credits); 35-40 minutes for MUS334 Extended Instrumental or Vocal Recital (40 credits). - Special Project
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This module allows you to negotiate a special project that does not conform to Dissertation, Performance and Composition, on a topic agreed with tutors on a case-by-case basis. It affords an opportunity for you to work with others outside of your discipline and to communicate your work to non-specialist audiences where appropriate. The project must be public-facing and potentially have career-oriented goals; it may include a placement activity.
20 credits
Special Project can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. MUS3040 Special Project (20 credits) comprises the project itself, presented through a public self-designed website and blog. MUS3041 Extended Special Project (40 credits) adds a critical reflective essay that serves to link the project to extant academic work and provide a context for aspects of the project itself. - Extended Dissertation
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This module gives you the opportunity to undertake intensive study of a particular aspect of musical sound/material, behaviour or thinking, from the past or present, presenting the findings of your investigation as a substantial piece of scholarly written work, and in the process consolidating and further developing your research and critical skills. Your dissertation topic should enable you to demonstrate the ability to place music in its historical and cultural context, and to support your arguments with informative comments based on detailed analysis.
40 credits
Dissertation can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. The length of the dissertation should be approximately 6000 words for MUS301 Dissertation (20 credits); 9500 words for MUS332 Extended Dissertation (40 credits). - Extended Portfolio of Compositions
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This final year module supports your independent composition practice and builds upon skills acquired over previous years. Compositions may be for small or large forces of instruments or voices, may combine instruments with electronics, or may be electroacoustic. Where possible the module will culminate in a public performance of some of the work produced.
40 credits
Portfolio of Compositions can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. The length of the portfolio should be approximately 10 minutes for MUS302 Portfolio of Compositions (20 credits); 20 minutes for MUS333 Extended Portfolio of Compositions (40 credits). - Extended Prepared Instrumental or Vocal Recital
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In this module you will develop your advanced practical skills to demonstrate the ability to communicate meaning in music through a public performance at a professional standard. You will prepare a programme, in any musical style and on any instrument, which exhibits your repertorial range containing works of a contrasting nature from different historical periods and contain a contemporary work. Your work will be supported by individual instrumental tuition.
40 credits
Instrumental or Vocal Recital can be taken in 20 and 40 credit versions. The length of the recital should be approximately 25 minutes for MUS303 Instrumental or Vocal Recital (20 credits); 35-40 minutes for MUS334 Extended Instrumental or Vocal Recital (40 credits). - Extended Special Project
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This module allows you to negotiate a special project that does not conform to Dissertation, Performance and Composition, on a topic agreed with tutors on a case-by-case basis. It affords an opportunity for you to work with others outside of your discipline and to communicate your work to non-specialist audiences where appropriate. The project must be public-facing and potentially have career-oriented goals; it may include a placement activity.
40 credits
Special Project can be taken in 20 or 40 credit versions. MUS3040 Special Project (20 credits) comprises the project itself, presented through a public self-designed website and blog. MUS3041 Extended Special Project (40 credits) adds a critical reflective essay that serves to link the project to extant academic work and provide a context for aspects of the project itself.
The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.
Learning and assessment
Learning
You'll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars and language and culture classes. Language teaching is in small groups, so you'll get plenty of tailored support and will get to know your tutors well.
On the music side of your degree, our teaching ranges from academic to hands-on. You'll learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, interactive classes and tutorials, and you'll be expected to carry out independent study, assignments and instrument practice. Instrumental lessons are available in your first year and throughout the rest of your degree if you choose to take assessed performance modules.
You'll be taught by world-leading experts in both departments.
In the Department of Music, our staff research directly informs the content of our degrees and we bring our expertise and ideas into all our teaching, so you’ll benefit from being introduced to the latest discoveries at the forefront of musical research.
Assessment
We use a range of assessment methods during your course. In the language programme you will be given regular homework assignments and take a mix of coursework and exam assessments at appropriate points over the academic year. You will be assessed on the core skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Our assessment methods vary across our courses and include taking sit-down exams, developing a portfolio, writing essays, taking part in group projects or giving individual presentations.
On the music side of the degree, a few of our modules include formal exams but the majority of your assessment is through coursework (for example essays, journals, compositions, recordings, group projects) and assessed performances.
Programme specification
This tells you the aims and learning outcomes of this course and how these will be achieved and assessed.
Entry requirements
With Access Sheffield, you could qualify for additional consideration or an alternative offer - find out if you're eligible.
The A Level entry requirements for this course are:
ABB
typically including Music and a modern foreign language
- A Levels + a fourth Level 3 qualification
- BBB typically including Music and a modern foreign language + B in the EPQ
- International Baccalaureate
- 33 typically with 5 in Higher Level Music and a modern foreign language
- BTEC Extended Diploma
- DDD in Music + an appropriate modern foreign language qualification
- BTEC Diploma
- DD in Music + B at A Level typically in a modern foreign language
- Scottish Highers + 2 Advanced Highers
- AABBB + AB typically in Music and a modern foreign language
- Welsh Baccalaureate + 2 A Levels
- B + AB typically in Music and a modern foreign language
- Access to HE Diploma
- Award of Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 30 at Distinction and 15 at Merit
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Music Technology is acceptable in lieu of Music (except for BTEC)
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If you are not studying a modern foreign language, the department will consider other evidence of aptitude for language learning (such as a languages GCSE at grade 6/B, or an English language qualification for non-native speakers of English)
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Grade 8 Practical (ABRSM/Trinity/Rockschool or equivalent) + Grade 5 Theory (ABRSM/Trinity) is acceptable in lieu of Music
The A Level entry requirements for this course are:
BBB
typically including Music and a modern foreign language
- A Levels + a fourth Level 3 qualification
- BBB typically including Music and a modern foreign language + B in the EPQ
- International Baccalaureate
- 32 typically with 5 in Higher Level Music and a modern foreign language
- BTEC Extended Diploma
- DDM in Music + an appropriate modern foreign language qualification
- BTEC Diploma
- DD in Music + B at A Level typically in a modern foreign language
- Scottish Highers + 2 Advanced Highers
- ABBBB + BB typically in Music and a modern foreign language
- Welsh Baccalaureate + 2 A Levels
- B + BB typically in Music and a modern foreign language
- Access to HE Diploma
- Award of Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 24 at Distinction and 21 at Merit
-
Music Technology is acceptable in lieu of Music (except for BTEC)
-
If you are not studying a modern foreign language, the department will consider other evidence of aptitude for language learning (such as a languages GCSE at grade 6/B, or an English language qualification for non-native speakers of English)
-
Grade 8 Practical (ABRSM/Trinity/Rockschool or equivalent) + Grade 5 Theory (ABRSM/Trinity) is acceptable in lieu of Music
You must demonstrate that your English is good enough for you to successfully complete your course. For this course we require: GCSE English Language at grade 4/C; IELTS grade of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component; or an alternative acceptable English language qualification
Equivalent English language qualifications
Visa and immigration requirements
Other qualifications | UK and EU/international
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the department.
Graduate careers
Our graduates are excellent communicators, adaptable and culturally aware. The musical excellence and academic aptitude you develop on your course will make you highly valued by employers, whatever your chosen career path after university. You'll also develop valuable transferable skills such as time management, critical thinking and interpersonal communication.
Our students go on to work in international development organisations, business and banking, translating and interpreting, intelligence services, journalism, teaching, publishing, and international sales and marketing, artist management, audio programming, composition, concerts coordination, instrument repair, marketing and communications, music research, music promotion, music therapy, orchestral management, professional performance, publishing, sound engineering, teaching. Many go on to further study.
On this dual degree, there are lots of opportunities to get work experience. Hands-on projects are integrated into several academic modules and every year our Concerts team provides internships while the Careers Service can help you find placements. You can lead a music project or workshop in a local school through our student-led volunteering organisation Music in the City. All of these experiences will help you build a compelling CV.
School of Languages and Cultures
At the School of Languages and Cultures you'll develop your linguistic skills to a very high level and deepen your understanding of the cultural context of the countries where your languages are spoken.
We offer a particularly wide range of languages - Catalan, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Luxembourgish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Right from the start, you'll work with the school's top specialists and native speakers who will help you realise your linguistic potential. Language teaching is in small groups, so you'll get plenty of support tailored to your needs and get to know your tutors well.
We're a leading centre for modern languages and cultures research. Our work spans identity, gender, linguistics, politics, migration and literary studies. This research informs our teaching, helping you to develop a global understanding of language and languages across cultures and countries.
You'll be able to study optional modules either in your individual languages, or across the school so you'll acquire an in-depth understanding of your chosen languages and their cultures, and how they relate to other languages and cultures across modern languages disciplines.
Our student-run language societies organise multilingual events, trips and creative projects. There are opportunities to volunteer in the community and in schools, inspiring others to try new languages.
School of Languages and Cultures students are based in the Jessop West building at the heart of the University campus, close to the Diamond and the Information Commons. We share the Jessop West Building with the Department of History and the School of English.
School of Languages and CulturesDepartment of Music
Our department ethos combines high achievement with a sense of community and a shared passion for music. Our internationally recognised research informs our high-quality teaching and our student experience is second to none.
Sheffield is celebrated as one of the UK's leading music cities, with dozens of major venues from the City Hall and Crucible to the Leadmill and the Foundry, covering all music genres. This brings with it a host of opportunities for our students to get involved in professional music-making of the highest quality.
You can also enjoy events from University of Sheffield Concerts which hosts concerts and masterclasses from touring professional musicians throughout the year.
Department of Music students study at the heart of the campus in our Jessop Building, Soundhouse and performance facilities. We timetable teaching across the whole of our campus.
Facilities
Specially designed for music study, our £8.5m facilities provide the ideal environment for our diverse and cutting-edge teaching and research.
The University of Sheffield are proud to be an All-Steinway School, which places us among a select group of international education institutions. This accreditation means that you'll have access to pianos of the highest quality.
The Jessop Building houses study and rehearsal rooms, with dedicated specialist spaces including our historical instruments collection, ethnomusicology space and collection, music psychology lab and music technology lab.
The Soundhouse is our purpose-built facility for instrumental lessons, practice, small-scale rehearsals and sound recording, and houses the internationally-renowned University of Sheffield Sound Studios for recording and electroacoustic composition.
The University of Sheffield is also home to a suite of performance venues, including the beautiful 380-seater Firth Hall, set in the stunning Edwardian Grade II listed Firth Court and home to the University’s multi-genre Concert Series.
Department of MusicWhy choose Sheffield?
The University of Sheffield
Number one in the Russell Group
National Student Survey 2023 (based on aggregate responses)
92 per cent of our research is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent
Research Excellence Framework 2021
Top 50 in the most international universities rankings
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023
Number one Students' Union in the UK
Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
Number one for teaching quality, Students' Union and clubs/societies
StudentCrowd 2023 University Awards
A top 20 university targeted by employers
The Graduate Market in 2023, High Fliers report
Department of Music
National Student Survey 2022
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
Research Excellence Framework 2021
The University of Sheffield is proud to be an All-Steinway School
Fees and funding
Fees
Additional costs
The annual fee for your course includes a number of items in addition to your tuition. If an item or activity is classed as a compulsory element for your course, it will normally be included in your tuition fee. There are also other costs which you may need to consider.
Funding your study
Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for a bursary, scholarship or loan to help fund your study and enhance your learning experience.
Use our Student Funding Calculator to work out what you’re eligible for.
Additional funding
The Department of Music offers a number of scholarships. These can include scholarships in partnership with local music organisations, giving you a chance to gain advanced work experience within the music sector while studying.
Alternatively, we can offer bursaries donated by alumni to help support you with your studies. Both single honours BMus students and dual honours students with music are eligible to apply. For a full list of scholarships and prizes available, please visit our fees and funding page.
Placement/study abroad
Year abroad
You'll spend the third year of your degree studying or working overseas in one or two countries. This is your chance to immerse yourself in the culture of your chosen language(s), honing your language skills by living alongside native speakers.
Work experience
There are lots of opportunities to get work experience. Hands-on projects are integrated into several academic modules and every year our University Concerts team provides internships. Alternatively, you can work in schools to encourage language learning, or lead a music project or workshop through our student-led volunteering organisation Music in the City. All of these experiences will help you build a compelling CV.
Visit
University open days
We host five open days each year, usually in June, July, September, October and November. You can talk to staff and students, tour the campus and see inside the accommodation.
Subject tasters
If you’re considering your post-16 options, our interactive subject tasters are for you. There are a wide range of subjects to choose from and you can attend sessions online or on campus.
Offer holder days
If you've received an offer to study with us, we'll invite you to one of our offer holder days, which take place between February and April. These open days have a strong department focus and give you the chance to really explore student life here, even if you've visited us before.
Campus tours
Our weekly guided tours show you what Sheffield has to offer - both on campus and beyond. You can extend your visit with tours of our city, accommodation or sport facilities.
Apply
Contact us
- Telephone
- +44 114 222 2864
- slc-admissions@sheffield.ac.uk
The awarding body for this course is the University of Sheffield.
Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.
Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.