This programme is for 2027/28 entry
Challenge your thinking. Uncover new ways of responding to the world by blending theory with making. Create contemporary artworks using various media, including installation, moving image, performance, and emerging technologies.
We’ve designed this programme to help you explore the artist’s multifaceted role as a creative and socially engaged practitioner. Through individual tutorials, group critiques and collaborative events, you’ll contribute to discussions about the role of art practice in contemporary socio-political debates. And you’ll be encouraged to redefine and position your art practice.
Join London's vibrant art scene as a context for creating and showcasing your work, engaging with the city's diverse cultural landscape. Exhibition and performance opportunities such as our CAP Festival include opportunities to experience curating and showcasing your art to the public.
Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process considers creativity, imagination and innovation as demonstrated in your portfolio, as well as your potential to benefit from the programme and to achieve high MA standards overall.
Candidates are generally expected to have a good BA degree from a fine art course. You should be able to demonstrate an original and critical approach to fine art as well as an ability to engage with current theories of art and culture that inform their practice.
By building a global network of RCA CAP peers and professionals, you'll unlock a wide range of career possibilities, whether you choose to advance your contemporary art practice or explore new avenues in practice-led research.
Situating Contemporary Art Practice (45 credits)
AcrossRCA (30 credits)
Demonstrating Contemporary Art Practice (30 credits)
Urgency of the Arts (15 credits)
Independent Research Project (60 credits)
Core Skills
The Core Skills unit supports the development of academic and professional skills for your personal projects and beyond in your professional practice and career. It focuses on key skills for your discipline through three themes: Making Meaning (focusing on critical thinking and research), Making Together (focusing on collaboration and inclusive practice), and Making Public (focusing on communication, engagement and leadership).
Ranked for twelve consecutive years as the world’s number 1 art & design university*, the Royal College of Art’s postgraduate programmes enable yo...