MA Illustration at Leeds Arts University

Programme overview

This course offers an expansive understanding of contemporary illustration through an inquisitive and exploratory programme of study. You will engage with illustration as a broad, evolving field which extends ideas of communication and visualisation through practice-based research, experimentation and critical discussion. We are interested in all forms of illustrative practice.

Duration: 1 year full-time / 2 years part-time | Study mode: full-time | Intake: September | Location: Leeds, England, United Kingdom

What you will study

Central to the course is an ethos of authorial practice, where you lead and shape your own projects by developing individual proposals that reflect your interests, ambitions and values. You will be encouraged to consider co-designed and collaborative methods of practice, as well as autobiographical approaches derived from the ‘lived experience’. The course combines specialist subject modules with transdisciplinary core modules in research methods and business shared with all MA students, taught across three teaching blocks per year.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

A 2:2 UK honours degree or international equivalent, or a degree-equivalent postgraduate diploma/professional qualification; applicants with a degree in another discipline or relevant experience may be considered through Recognition of Prior Learning. Personal statement, one academic or creative-practitioner reference and 10-15 portfolio pieces, followed by a written component discussing the portfolio. International applicants: IELTS 6.5 overall with no component below 5.5 (UKVI-approved centre).

Domestic applicants: GBP 10,200 a year (2026/27). Home full-time fee; part-time £5,100 per year over two years. Leeds Arts University BA graduates within three years pay £9,200 full-time / £4,600 part-time. Source

International applicants: GBP 18,900 a year (2026/27). International full-time fee; alumni rate £17,010. Source

Intake: September

Duration: 1 year full-time / 2 years part-time

Apply through the official page: https://apply.leeds-art.ac.uk/

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