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MA Management in the Creative and Cultural Industries
Learn business, leadership and management skills for the creative and cultural sectors
Year of entry: 2027 (September)
Show year of entry: 2026/27
Develop your expertise for a management career in the creative industries.
Gain the knowledge, practical expertise, and critical skills to become a leader in the cultural and creative sectors.
This course is run by York's School of Arts and Creative Technologies, and supported by the School for Business and Society. Whether you are from a management or cultural industries background, you’ll benefit from core modules familiarising you with the creative and cultural industries, and how management, entrepreneurship, leadership and marketing techniques can be applied to them.
You’ll be taught by experienced academic staff, many of whom have well-established professional experience working in the creative industries and in management roles more broadly.
The course will prepare you for a career in a wide range of areas such as festivals, fashion, theatres, museums, digital industries, television, film, publishing, the visual arts, television, film, dance, live music venues and academia.
You will gain theoretical insights, critical thinking skills and get practical experience of working in the creative industries. Students will have access to masterclasses and take part in field trips to meet creative and cultural professionals and learn first-hand how they run their businesses and what real-world challenge they face. Through optional modules, you can also develop sector-specific knowledge and even work with creative businesses in and around York as consultants.
Course content
Our MA focuses on developing your professional capabilities to work within the Cultural and Creative Industries. You can tailor your learning to suit your interests and professional needs through optional modules and project work. You may also foster your research skills to prepare for a future career in academia.
You will study core modules in business and choose from a wide variety of optional modules in different areas of the creative and cultural industries to specialise your learning. Applied collaborative and independent project work will equip you with leadership and project management skills, and develop your creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Modules
Core modules
You will take core modules which may include:
- Introduction to the Creative and Cultural Industries: Key Issues, Theory and Practice
- Marketing, Consumption and Behaviour
- Business Management in the Creative Industries
- Creative Industries Project Management
- Independent Creative and Cultural Project
Option modules
You will choose two option modules, examples of which can be found below. Choose one of the following:
- Business and Innovation in Digital Enterprise OR Research Skills for Industry and Creative Management
You'll also choose one additional option. Examples may include:
- Business of Production and Post-production
- Collaborative Industry Project
- Digital Life and Objects
- Empirical Research Skills
- Exploring Cultural Consumption
- Gaming, Industry and Culture
- Museums, Audiences & Interpretation
- Playwriting and Text
- Letterpress Printing
- Research Skills for Industry and Creative Management
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.
Dissertation
In this module, you will research and complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice within the creative and cultural sectors, agreed with your supervisor. This is your chance to apply the knowledge you have gained from your core and optional modules this year. Your work will result in both theoretical and practical insight. In other terms, you should use theory to inform business practice and provide managerial recommendations to the creative industries. By focusing on a specific area, you will become an expert in your chosen field. This project can kickstart your career in the industry or pave the way for future academic research.
Your project can take many forms, such as a thesis, a business plan, a marketing strategy, or a production project with financial planning.
As part of your independent project you may include the design, planning and/or execution of a creative and cultural output, provided this also includes a business/management component. This module enables students to apply the knowledge, research and critical study skills developed during the first two terms of the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries.
Learning outcomes
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.
Learning outcomes for this course
- Apply leadership, management, and entrepreneurship knowledge to practical situations in the creative industries and cultural industries.
- Critically analyse contemporary issues and business practices within the cultural industries through a blend of theoretical and practical understanding.
- Collaborate effectively on dynamic real-world projects with our business partners and gain work experience.
- Promote organisations using advanced marketing and communication strategies to reach diverse audiences.
- Design innovative business plans or conduct applied research using relevant academic and professional methods.
- Develop public speaking and groupwork skills that will serve you in your career — within the cultural industries or elsewhere.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £12,420 | £31,900 |
Fees information
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.
Funding information
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2027/28 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
Funding opportunities
Chevening Scholarships
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.
School scholarship information
Teaching and assessment
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.
Teaching format
The course involves a range of different teaching styles, including problem-based learning, collaborative work and practical activities. You'll be taught by research-active, creative professionals across performance arts, music, sound, creative writing, curatorship, immersive and interactive media; what you learn at York stems directly from current research and practice.
You'll also have the opportunity to attend events such as talks, productions and festivals outside of your modules. You'll be assigned a member of our teaching staff who will act as your personal supervisor for the duration of the course. They are there to give advice on academic matters as well as other areas of University life.
Teaching location
You will be based in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies and the School for Business and Society. Most of your contact hours will be on Campus East and Campus West.
About our campus
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.
Assessment and feedback
You'll be assessed throughout your course. Some modules have an early assessment that contributes a small amount to your final mark and gives an opportunity to check your progress.
Types of assessment vary depending on the module and include the following:
- Business plans
- Oral presentations and pitches
- Essays and reflective reports
- Group and individual projects
Careers and skills
We expect graduates from this programme to move onto roles in arts and cultural management, creative business development and production, marketing, arts finance and funding.
Career opportunities
- Cultural Manager
- Creative Producer and Designer
- Marketing Officer
- Public Engagement and Communications
- Visitor Experience Manager
- Events Co-ordinator
- Posts in strategy
- PhD and academia
Transferable skills
- Management
- Enterprise
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Financial planning
- Collaborative working
- Volunteering
- Problem solving
- Critical analysis
- Investigative research
Accelerate your professional network. We'll connect you with the guidance, industry links and experiences to help you stand out and find your career advantage.
Entry requirements
| Qualification | Typical offer |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
English language
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Qualification | 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 |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 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 | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 60 with 52 in Listening, 53 in Reading, 65 in Speaking, and 59 in Writing |
| TOEFL | 4.5, with 5 in Listening and 4.5 in each other component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
If you haven't met our 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.
Next steps
Contact us
Get in touch if you have any questions
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