Program Overview

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Music BMus

Key information

Course type: Single honours Delivery mode: In person Study mode: Full time Required A-level: AAB Full entry requirements, including contextual requirements Duration: Three years Application status: Open Start date: September 2025 Application deadline: 29 January 2025 Optional study abroad Optional internships Apply via UCAS

Course essentials

This music degree will immerse you in the world of sound, stretching across the centuries and spanning the globe. You’ll learn from a diverse curriculum bursting with various approaches to the study of music that combine music performance, composition, and learning across humanities subjects. Comprised mostly of optional modules, this Bachelor of Music has a flexible syllabus covering contemporary critical theory, musical history, the study of music in its social and cultural contexts, and training in performance and aural skills, composition and musical analysis.

Course Aims

• You’ll begin your Music BMus curriculum with a series of required modules that will teach you an expansive history of music and introduce you to musicological debates and areas of study. You’ll be exposed to a variety of music from different centuries and around the globe to give you a flavour of the depth and breadth of music you could specialise in.
• This foundational part of your music degree syllabus will see you taught by world-leading experts who share their research before it reaches the textbooks. For example, you could learn about troubadour songs, jazz, Latin American music, Bollywood, classical opera, composition today, and more from research-active, renowned academics.
• The rest of your first year is shaped by optional modules. You could choose to study music theory, where you’ll learn how to analyse music or write music in the style of a particular composer.
• If you have ABRSM Grade 8 in a classical or jazz instrument or vocal style, you can study performance with a teacher from the Royal Academy of Music. If your performance skills are in popular music or a global tradition, you can audition to take performance with a teacher of equivalent standing. You’ll also get to work on your aural training with another module devoted to listening to music and understanding what you hear.
• The second and third years of your music degree consist entirely of optional modules, which means you can shape your own curriculum to follow your musical passions and strengths, whether they be in performance, composition, or music humanities. For example, you could hop through a broad programme of humanities modules that might cover the music of the 18th, 19th, or 20th/21st Centuries, film music, music and digital cultures, global histories of music, and more. You could also learn about performance as a research method, opera studies, and beyond.
• You might choose to focus your bachelor of music degree on composition or specialise in performance. Both pathways might conclude in taking advanced modules to round off your music study with longer performance recitals or a composition portfolio.
• It’s also possible for you to take up to a quarter of your degree from different departments in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. For example, if you develop a passion for 18th-century German music, you could take relevant modules taught by the history or languages departments. Similarly, you could deepen your study of film and music with related modules taught by the film studies department or delve deeper into digital cultures in the department of digital humanities.
• If you’d prefer to focus on humanities research and writing about music instead of composition and performance, you might choose to produce a dissertation at the end of your Music BMus.
• There are many ways to enhance your studies during your Bachelor of Music studies, thanks to the numerous extracurricular opportunities available to you at King’s. You could audition for the KCL Symphony Orchestra (KCLSO) or participate in concerts and chamber music groups, for example. Various student-led ensembles, such as the Jazz Society Big Band, the Modern Music Society, or the King’s Opera Society, offer more chances to gain leadership experience in performance groups. Studying abroad can also strengthen your experience.

Base campus

• Strand Campus Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties. Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the modules you study.

Special features

• Optional study abroad On this programme, you will have the opportunity to apply to study abroad, supported by the Study Abroad Tutor in your department and King’s Global Mobility Office. Together with partner organisations around the world, you will be supported in navigating your international, educational journey, developing new skills and competences and learning to apply different perspectives to your chosen discipline.
• Optional internships Students will be supported through innovative digital education tools to discover meaningful work experience for themselves, including internships, insight programmes, which you can undertake alongside your studies.

Entry requirements

Subject requirements

• Required subjects: Music; or Grade 5 Pass in Music Theory

A-Levels

• Required grades: AAB
• Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels.
• Must include Music A level, or be in addition to a Grade 5 Pass in Music Theory (e.g. through ABRSM examinations or similar). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept ABRSM Grade 5 in an Instrument or Singing as an alternative to Grade 5 Music Theory.
• Students studying only two A levels: We are aware that some students at specialist musical schools and conservatoires are only able to study two A levels alongside their performance training. In such circumstances, we may be able to consider a student for entry to the BMus programme, following an academic interview with our Admissions Tutor.
• Notes: If you are taking linear A-levels in England, you will be required to pass the practical endorsement in all Science subjects. This is with the exception of private candidates who are unable to take the practical component. We do not consider the EPQ at any point of the assessment process.

Contextual A-Level information

• BBB
• Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels.
• Must include Music A level, or be in addition to a Grade 5 Pass in Music Theory (e.g. through ABRSM examinations or similar). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept ABRSM Grade 5 in an Instrument or Singing as an alternative to Grade 5 Music Theory.
• Students studying only two A levels: We are aware that some students at specialist musical schools and conservatoires are only able to study two A levels alongside their performance training. In such circumstances, we may be able to consider a student for entry to the BMus programme, following an academic interview with our Admissions Tutor.
• Notes: If you are taking linear A-levels in England, you will be required to pass the practical endorsement in all Science subjects. This is with the exception of private candidates who are unable to take the practical component. We do not consider the EPQ at any point of the assessment process.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

• 35 points overall or an aggregate score of 17 from three Higher Levels.
• Must include Higher Level Music, or be in addition to a Grade 5 Pass in Music Theory (e.g. through ABRSM examinations or similar). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept ABRSM Grade 5 in an Instrument or Singing as an alternative to Grade 5 Music Theory.
• Notes: The total point score of 35 includes TOK/EE.

Contextual International Baccalaureate information

• 32 points overall or an aggregate score of 15 from three Higher Levels.
• Must include Higher Level Music, or be in addition to a Grade 5 Pass in Music Theory (e.g. through ABRSM examinations or similar). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept ABRSM Grade 5 in an Instrument or Singing as an alternative to Grade 5 Music Theory.
• Note: The total point score of 32 includes TOK/EE.

Alternative accepted qualifications

• Access to HE Diploma
• BTEC Nationals/CTECs
• Cambridge Pre-U
• European Baccalaureate
• Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

English language requirements

• English language band: B
• Please note that nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries (as defined by UKVI) who have successfully completed high school in the respective country, are not required to complete an English language test.
• For information on our English requirements and whether you need to complete an English language test, please see our English Language requirements page.

Selection process

• Interviews, Auditions & Portfolios As a general rule, we do not invite applicants to an interview/audition for the programme, nor do we require any copies of previous coursework or a music portfolio. Some applicants may be invited to an interview with the department where it is not clear that their qualifications and experiences meet the minimum entry requirements for the programme.
• Contextual consideration We make contextual offers for this programme, which can be found in the entry requirements. As part of the assessment process, we take into account contextual information to gain a more complete picture of each application. More information can be found on the Contextualised admissions website.
• Deferrals Applications can be submitted for deferred entry by choosing the appropriate year of entry on the UCAS application.
• Foundation courses Applicants studying Foundation Year programmes in the UK are welcome to apply for this programme. Foundation programmes from other universities and further education providers in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis. Whether or not we can consider a particular foundation year as suitable for study at King's depends on the content of the syllabus and modules studied. In the past, we have accepted foundation programmes from a number of other institutions.
• Graduates Our general entry requirements are based on A-level or equivalent. However, where an applicant is completing/has completed a degree, we are able to consider the degree study as part of the assessment of the application.
• Personal Statement Your personal statement is one of the many factors in the overall assessment of your application, and is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the university and inform us of your commitment to the programme and how the programme fits into your career plans, as well as any work experience or extracurricular activities you have done.
• Resits We are able to consider applicants who have retaken or are retaking their qualifications.
• Transfers Transfers into this programme are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Teaching methods - what to expect

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Small Group Tutorials We think it is incredibly important that you receive close personal attention. We teach most modules through a mix of lectures and seminars or small tutorial groups. For lessons in Performance, you will be taught one-to-one. Our Department has an international reputation for its excellence in teaching and research and our staff aim to connect research and teaching, both in the classroom and at the many research seminars held in the Department.

Assessment

• Coursework
• Written/Practical Examinations
• Essays
• Recitals
• Portfolios
• Written examinations Your academic performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations. Forms of assessment may typically include essays, recitals, lecture recitals, portfolios, listening tests, and written examinations. Coursework contributes approximately 75% and examinations approximately 25% to your final mark.

Structure

Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits.

This is a three-year degree course in which you will take a combination of required and optional modules to total 360 credits.

Required modules

• Issues & Topics in Music 1 (15 credits)
• Issues and Topics in Music 2 (15 credits)
• Issues and Topics in Music 3 (15 credits)
• Issues & Topics in Music 4 (15 credits)

Optional modules

You are also required to take 60 credits of optional modules that may typically include:

• Music theory 1 (15 credits)
• Music Theory 2 (15 credits)
• Musical Performance 1 (15 credits; ABRSM grade 8 or equivalent in instrument of study required)
• Aural Training (15 credits)
• Writing About Music (15 credits) You are also free to choose up to 30 of your 60 credits of optional modules from other Arts & Humanities departments (subject to availability).

Employability

• Music BMus graduates can be found in schools all over the country, in leading British and American universities and conservatoires, working at the BBC, in arts management, and as composers and conductors with international reputations.
• Recent music degree graduates have taken on a range of roles, including:
  • Professional Opera Director
  • Award-winning Tenor
  • Freelance Editor
  • Television producer
  • House Manager for a concert hall trust
  • Promotion manager for a music publisher
  • Teacher
  • Freelance musician.
• Other BMus graduates go on to pursue higher degrees in music or professional training in law, medicine, or business, among a wide variety of possibilities.

Tuition Fees

Full time tuition fees UK:

The UK tuition fee for the academic year is currently £9,535 per year. This is based on the UK Government's cap.

Full time tuition fees International

The International tuition fee for the academic year is £25,500 per year.

Please note that the International tuition fee is subject to annual increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King's terms and conditions.

All International applicants to Undergraduate programmes are required to pay a deposit of £2000 against their first year's tuition fee. This deposit is payable when you firmly accept an unconditional offer to study with us, and will be offset against your tuition fees when you join King's.

If you choose the study abroad option with one of King’s partner universities, you will not be charged tuition fees by the host university (although some partners do charge a small administration fee for applying). King’s will continue to invoice for a proportion of King's tuition fees. You should also budget to pay for the associated subsistence costs, such as travel, visas, accommodation, and food as well as any vaccination/immunisations required by the country to which you are travelling. Please see the Study Abroad web pages for details of the relevant partner universities and detailed information on the fees that apply under the Course Essentials tab.

Additional Costs

In addition to your tuition costs, you can also expect to pay for:

• Books if you choose to buy your own copies
• Clothing for optional course-related events and competitions
• Library fees and fines
• Stationery and personal photocopies
• Printing course handouts
• Society membership fees
• Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses
• Purchase/rental, maintenance, and insurance of personal instruments
• Equipment and music (as required by tutors)
• Accompanists' fees (if required)

Funding

To find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans, and other financial help available at King's please visit the Fees and Funding section.