Overview
Thinking and making
Key details
- 180 credits
- 1 year programme
- Full-time study
School or Centre
Application deadline
- Still accepting applications
Explore the possibilities and perspectives of ceramics and glass.
The spirit of Ceramics & Glass at the RCA springs from a belief in the transformative power of material thinking, research and making to enable a new generation of artists and designers to enrich our world in imaginative and meaningful ways. Core to our philosophy is an exploration of how we can make ideas manifest through a tacit exploration of active materials and the generative potential of process.
The programme provides a creative interface where personal concerns and global perspectives intersect – questioning, examining and responding to social, cultural and material challenges. The areas of research of both staff and students are diverse, arise from the broad scope of the two disciplines, and inform what is taught on the programme. Advances in technology are explored, while traditional methodologies are challenged to create new and unique approaches.
Still accepting applications for 2023 entry. See the Eligibility and key dates webpage for round 3 details.
Explore further
Visit 2022.rca.ac.uk to view graduate work by our students.
Catch the replays from our November 2022 online Open Day.
Gallery
Staff
Facilities
The School of Arts & Humanities is located across our Battersea and Kensington sites.
View all facilitiesAll full-time students on fine or applied arts programmes are provided with studios or workspace, and access to specialist workshops. There are a number of bookable seminar and project spaces across the site available to all Arts & Humanities students.
Our alumni
Our alumni form an international network of creative individuals who have shaped and continue to shape the world. Click on each name to find out more.
Alumni stories
More details on what you'll study.
Find out what you'll cover in this programme.
What you'll cover
How you'll learn
The spectrum of enquiry in Ceramics & Glass is driven by live and studio projects – archive and collections are explored in order to understand, question and reinterpret how histories and traditions of our disciplines inform contemporary culture – our relationship with site, communities and the built environment provide a framework for developing proposals – specialist tutor led group work brings a focus to areas such as metaphorical and phenomenological meaning within materiality – while design led ideas are explored through object use, and the systems of production that they emerge from.
Drawing on our diverse network of contacts within the subject specialisms, lectures, artist talks and professional practice seminars from industry leaders, are combined with field trips and practical skill sessions to support independent learning. A strong studio culture is nurtured within dedicated facilities that offer opportunities for collaborative and cross disciplinary approaches – all aimed at developing the next generation of leading Ceramics & Glass graduates.
Programme structure
The programme is delivered across three terms and includes a combination of programme, School and College units.
Term 1
Term 1 begins with the Interrogating Your Practice and Deconstructing Assumptions unit, which focuses on developing tools for deconstructing and critiquing your own practice and previous methods/approaches, as well as providing new contexts and directions for your work. Emphasis is placed on inviting new thoughts and progressive ideas through which to develop a ceramics and glass practice. During the unit you will be offered a series of opportunities to explore techniques, collections, environments alongside new modes of thinking aimed at challenging and expanding their current perception of Ceramics & Glass practice.
Across Terms 1 and 2, you will participate in AcrossRCA, the College-wide unit. See below for more details.
Term 2
Over the course of the Developing Methodologies unit, you will explore themes situated within wider material culture particularly those revealed by self-directed study via the lens of a Ceramics & Glass practice. Through experimentation and research, they will establish and develop the methodologies that will define your emerging practice. Developments and lines of enquiry formulated in Interrogating Your Practice and Deconstructing Assumptions, and through the Territory, will act as a background for the production of a body of work. You will be required to write your proposal and develop the summative project for the Independent Research Project by the middle of this unit.
In Term 2 all School of Arts & Humanities students will participate in the Urgency of the Arts, School-wide unit. Through this unit we ask: what does arts and humanities research and practice have to offer in our current socio-political climate? The unit introduces students to a diverse range of perspectives, approaches and practices relevant to contemporary practice and thought in the Arts & Humanities. The delivery is devised to help you identify and query your own practices and disciplinary assumptions through encounters with others and within the various practices undertaken by students in the School, and to raise awareness around contemporary concerns. You will be supported in understanding the ramifications of your own work and practice within a broad cultural context, and to recognise its many potentially unintended readings and consequences.
Term 3
The Independent Research Project offers a point of synthesis through exhibition, critical reflection and portfolio production. The programme will support you in acquiring an advanced understanding of practice-led methodologies, critical reflection, production, and presentation. You will be supported in understanding practice-led methodologies, critical reflection, and presentation. The IRP supports you with the specific conceptual and material demands of exhibiting and sharing their work and uses this to prepare you for the diverse professional practices of contemporary art and design.
AcrossRCA
Situated at the core of your RCA student experience, this ambitious interdisciplinary College- wide AcrossRCA unit supports how you respond to the challenges of complex, uncertain and changing physical and digital worlds by engaging you in a global creative network that draws on expertise within and beyond the institution. It provides an extraordinary opportunity for you to:
- make connections across disciplines
- think critically about your creative practice
- develop creative networks within and beyond the College
- generate innovative responses to complex problems
- reflect on how to propose ideas for positive change in local and/or global contexts.
AcrossRCA launches with a series of presentations from internationally acclaimed speakers that will encourage you to think beyond the discourses of art, architecture, communication, and design, and extend into other territories such as economics, ethics, science, engineering, medicine or astrophysics.
In interdisciplinary teams you will be challenged to use your intellect and imagination to respond to urgent contemporary themes, providing you with an opportunity to develop innovative and disruptive thinking, critically reflect on your responsibilities as a creative practitioner and demonstrate the contribution that the creative arts can make to our understanding and experience of the world. This engagement with interdisciplinary perspectives and practices is designed both to complement your disciplinary studies and provide you with a platform to thrive beyond graduation.
Requirements
What you need to know before you apply
Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process will consider 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.
You should have a good undergraduate degree in Ceramics or Glass or equivalent professional experience. Applications are welcomed from candidates from related backgrounds, for example, textiles, sculpture, architecture and industrial design. Work experience, either before or after a first degree, is a great advantage.
What's needed from you
Portfolio requirements
For your portfolio, you can submit up to five works or projects showing three images for each, totalling a maximum of 15 images. If you submit film, please limit this to three short works.
Each work could be a singular artwork/object or be representative of a more expansive project. The two additional images can be of other finished works in the series, close-ups, or work-in-progress. You do not have to submit the maximum of 15 images, the work does not necessarily need to be in ceramics or glass, and please do not submit images that have multiple images and further text on them.
We are looking at how you curate a refined, concise portfolio that best represents your practice to date. We hope to get an understanding of your individual creativity, your passion and curiosity for experimenting with materials and processes, your imagination and ideas and your ability to bring them into the world.
Video requirements
The making of this video offers you the opportunity to introduce yourself to us as a creative individual. You will need to carefully consider and plan what you would like to say in order to give us a clear and concise understanding of you and your work.
It might help for you to choose a specific object or project with which you can focus on how you tell us about your ideas, influences and experiences or you could decide to describe your creative journey to this point more broadly.
Some of the things we would like to hear from you are:
- Some details of the journey which has led you to want to study on the programme.
- What are the inspirations and influences behind your work?
- What methods, processes or approaches do you use?
- What are your ambitions in undertaking the course and what do you hope to learn and achieve?
- What context do you see your work residing in?
English-language requirements
If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country you will need the equivalent of an IELTS Academic score of 6.5 with a 6.0 in the Test of Written English (TWE) and at least 5.5 in other skills. Students achieving a grade of at least 6.0, with a grade of 5.5 in the Test of Written English, may be eligible to take the College’s English for Academic Purposes course to enable them to reach the required standard.
You are exempt from this requirement if you have received a 2.1 degree or above from a university in a majority English-speaking nation within the last two years.
If you need a Student Visa to study at the RCA, you will also need to meet the Home Office’s minimum requirements for entry clearance.
Fees & funding
For this programme
Fees for new students
Fees for September 2023 entry on this programme are outlined below. From 2021 onward, EU students are classified as Overseas for tuition fee purposes.
Home
Overseas and EU
Deposit
New entrants to the College will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit in order to secure their place. This will be offset against the tuition fees.
Home
Overseas and EU
Progression discount
For alumni and students who have completed an RCA Graduate Diploma and progress onto an RCA Master's programme – MA, MA/MSc, MFA, MDes, MArch, MEd or MRes – within 10 years, a progression discount of £1,000 is available.
* Total cost is based on the assumption that the programme is completed in the timeframe stated in the programme details. Additional study time may incur additional charges.
Scholarships
Scholarships
Scholarships are awarded for a specific programme and entry point and cannot be deferred without consent from the academic Programme and scholarships panel.
Charlotte Fraser Scholarship
Supporting MA Ceramics & Glass students from the UK experiencing financial hardship
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship, Full time
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Full tuition fee scholarship valued at £15,000
Griffin Scholarship
Supporting MA Ceramics & Glass students from the UK experiencing financial hardship
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship, Full time, Students from underrepresented communities who identify as Black/Black British; Asian/British Asian; or or mixed heritage.
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Full tuition fee scholarships valued at £15,000
Grocers' Bursary
Supporting MA Ceramics & Glass students from the UK
Eligibility criteria: Full time
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Two tuition fee bursaries of £3,000 each
House of Fraser Bursary
Supporting students on any MA programme from the UK (Preferably is a Scottish national), experiencing financial hardship.
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship, Full time, Student preferably of Scottish origin
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £10,000
Marit Rausing Scholarships in Ceramics & Glass
A Scholarship supporting UK Ceramics & Glass students with financial hardship.
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Six scholarships valued at £35,000 each
Sir Alistair and Lady Pilkington Bursary
Supporting one MA Ceramics & Glass student from the UK, experiencing financial hardship
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship, Full time
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £10,000
Sir Frank Bowling Scholarships
The Scholarship supports 21 UK MA, MRes and PhD students every year from across all RCA MA, MRes and PhD disciplines.
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship, Students with Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage, or mixed Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £21,000
The RCA Cost of Living Bursary
The RCA Cost of Living Bursary supports living costs for home students across all MA programmes.
Value: Bursaries of £5,000 each, for use towards living costs
Eligibility criteria: Financial hardship
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
The RCA Disabled Students Bursary
The RCA Disabled Students Bursary supports living costs for home students with a declared disability across all MA programmes, recognising the contribution that UK students with disabilities make to the RCA
Value: Bursaries of £6,000 each, for use towards living costs
Eligibility criteria: Students with a diagnosed physical or sensory disability, or specific learning difficulties.
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
The Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship (UK)
The Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship supports academic excellence by rewarding talented home applicants with the highest scoring portfolios on application to RCA, with a partial fee scholarship
Value: Scholarships of £2,500 each, to be offset against fees
Eligibility criteria: Academic excellence
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarship
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarship is aimed at international students applicants from selected countries and territories, and on selected programmes
Value: Scholarships of £3,500 each, to be offset against fees
Eligibility criteria: If oversubscribed, this bursary is awarded on academic merit or financial need.
Eligible fee status: International fee status, from: Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA
The Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship (International)
The Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship - International supports academic excellence by rewarding talented applicants with the highest scoring portfolios on application to RCA at Round 1 and Round 2 of applications, with a partial fee scholarship.
Value: Scholarships of £2,500 each to be offset against fees
Eligibility criteria: Academic excellence
Eligible fee status: International fee status
More information
External funding
There are many funding sources, with some students securing scholarships and others saving money from working. It is impossible to list all the potential funding sources; however, the following information could be useful.
Payments
Tuition fees are due on the first day of the academic year and students are sent an invoice prior to beginning their studies. Payments can be made in advance, on registration or in two instalments.
Start your application
Change your life and be here in 2023. Applications now open.
The Royal College of Art welcomes applicants from all over the world.
Before you begin
Make sure you've read and understood the entrance requirements and key dates
More information about eligibility and key datesCheck you have all the information you need to apply.
Read our application process guideConsider attending an Open Day, or one of our portfolio or application advice sessions
See upcoming sessionsPlease note, all applications must be submitted by 12 noon on the given deadline.
Ask a question
Get in touch if you’d like to find out more or have any questions.
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