BA Creative and Cultural Industries / Course details

Year of entry: 2025

Course description

The Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) programme offers a profound and captivating journey into the performing and visual arts by exploring the dynamic landscapes of music, film, fashion, TV, gaming, and publishing. It equips students with the expertise to excel in leadership roles, drive strategic initiatives, influence policies, and promote entrepreneurship within the realm of creative and cultural sectors.

In the first year of study, you'll learn the basics of cultural production through exploring different industries and strategies. In the second year, you will develop critical thinking skills and tailor your studies by choosing specialised topics of interest. In the final year, you can either do a research project or a practical project. Alongside the core modules, there will be options to pick additional modules from across the School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures, meaning you can explore subjects such as sustainability, leadership, and business.

There will also be opportunities to gain valuable industry experience through an extended placement during your third year which will be overseen by both the host organisation and your academic mentor.

Aims

If you aspire to have a leadership career in the cultural and creative industries such as music, theatre, fashion, and publishing, or in policymaking for these sectors, this course will help you to develop a critical understanding of the industries from a national and international perspective.

By enrolling on this course in Manchester, one of the UK's most important cultural hotspots, students will have the opportunity to benefit from its cultural infrastructure, MediaCityUK, the award-winning Whitworth Art Gallery and HOME, to name just a few.

Teaching and learning

Students will learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, and tutorials, spending approximately 12 hours a week in study sessions.For every hour of university study, you will be expected to complete a further 2-3 hours of independent study.

The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written or creative work, and revising for examinations.

Coursework and assessment

Assessment formats will vary according to course unit specification and will include written examinations, presentations, coursework including research or data collection alongside undertaking a dissertation project in your final year.

Course content for year 1

In your first year, you'll learn about historical and contemporary issues in creative and cultural industries. You'll understand the micro and macro impact of money, politics, and society within the industry. You will also analyse how creative and cultural organisations operate and how individuals work within them, both globally and in different areas of the industry.

You will cover three mandatory modules:

  • Culture as Industry
  • Creative Work 1: from artisans and bohemians to the creative and knowledge economics
  • Researching the Creative Industries: data, ethics and policy

Several optional modules are also available.

Course content for year 2

In your second year of study, you'll learn about how creative and cultural industries operate from a business perspective. You'll use research to gain a deep understanding of their strategies and entrepreneurial practices. This will include insights into product development, making money from creative work, starting your own creative business, and working as a freelancer in these industries.

With this knowledge, you'll become skilled at identifying and explaining complex legal and ethical issues related to using digital technologies, managing intellectual property and copyright, and monetising creative content. You'll also explore issues concerning fairness and equality in the creative field.

You will cover three mandatory modules:

  • Creative Economies and Global Development
  • Marketing, Audiences and Consumption in CCIs
  • Creative Work 2: managing creative ideas, creative products and creative enterprises

Several optional modules are also available.

Course content for year 3

This optional year lets students apply what they've learned in class. They can work in Manchester's creative scene, gain practical experience, and develop important skills like time management.

Course content for year 4

In your final year, you'll use everything you've learned and practiced so far to work on group and solo projects in real-world situations. You'll assess how government rules affect creative and cultural industries, especially in areas like city improvement, regional and national growth, local and global markets, productivity, and people's well-being.

The course culminates in a written Dissertation. The Dissertation is your individual research, expressing your own views, analyses and enthusiasms, and the end result comprises your unique contribution to the field of creative and cultural industries studies. You will also be ready for a job in the creative industries.

You will cover two mandatory modules:

  • Dissertation
  • Understanding Creative Work in Practice

Several optional modules are also available.

Scholarships and bursaries

UK students may be able to access support from the University on the form of several scholarships and forms of funding. International students will have access to such schemes as Global Futures Scholarship and Humanitarian Scholarship .

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk