MA Contemporary Art Practice
London, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
19 Jan 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
07 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 41,350 **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* as the RCA received a high number of applications we encourage you to apply as early as possible to secure your place on your programme
** overseas and EU
Key Summary
Our free in-person open days are the perfect way to experience what studying at the RCA is like. Opening times: 31 January 2026 - 10am to 5pm (UK time)
Contemporary Art Practice (CAP) at the Royal College of Art is a cutting-edge MA program in the School of Arts & Humanities that is driven by a post-medium, critical approach to the making and reception of art, where theory and practice come together to form new ways of responding to the contemporary world. The program supports the development of your art practice within a responsive, dialogical, and critical context with an emphasis on wider political issues – interrogating art production about urgent socio-political contexts as well as questioning and redefining practice.
CAP supports ambitious, exploratory, and research-driven artists, with program specialisms in critical, speculative, and social art practices, moving images, performance, writing, and techno aesthetics.
Our approach to Contemporary Art Practice is not determined by either technology or material, and CAP students create work using any media possible: from images, installations, and moving image works, to publications and sonic art, participatory events, 3D modeling and VR, writing, and performance. The program offers a flexible environment that supports collective and peer-led learning.
How will I learn?
The MA in Contemporary Art Practice offers a discursive environment in which to discuss contemporary issues for thinking about, making, and presenting contemporary art supported by individual tutorials, group critiques, lectures, seminars, and workshops that take place across the year. Units are tailored to nurture the development of your art practice from the earliest manifestations of ideas through to platforms for exhibition and making public, whilst also providing the skills required to be able to situate your practice within current dialogues and debates. Supported individual learning is complemented by generative workshops collaborative events and exhibitions, with critical feedback offered throughout the degree from world-leading contemporary artists, writers, and curators.
The MA in Contemporary Art Practice is premised on an understanding that artists, makers, writers, curators, critics, and historians today are concerned with the function, contribution, and work of the artist and art’s potential to reflect upon and intervene in the world. CAP research clusters, reading groups, collaborations, group crits, generative workshops, and seminars interconnect with one-to-one tutorials and technical support as well as the School and College-wide teaching units to create an innovative, dynamic, and responsive habitat for new approaches to thinking, making and exhibition of contemporary art practices.
Meet the RCA
We host a range of online and on-campus open days as well as recruitment events in cities around the world. These events can include 1-to-1 meetings and portfolio advice, informal chats, presentations and sessions with staff, students and alumni.
Check the RCA event webpage for details of upcoming events including events in India and the USA.
Please refer to the programme webpage for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the programme, its structure, modules and any updates or changes.
The MA Contemporary Art Practice at the RCA offers a discursive, research-driven environment for ambitious and exploratory artists, blending theory and making as you develop contemporary artwork in media such as installation, moving image, performance and emerging technologies. Through individual tutorials, group critiques, lectures, seminars and workshops, you will situate your practice within current cultural, political and ethical debates, while critically responding to the world and shaping speculative futures. The programme supports collective and peer-led learning, with collaboration, experimentation and public presentation (such as exhibitions and events) at its heart.
Programme structure
Term 1
In Term 1, you take Situating Contemporary Art Practice, which provides theoretical and practical foundations through lectures, workshops, seminars, individual tutorials and group sessions, supporting experimentation and helping you position your practice within contemporary debates.
Term 2
In Term 2, you take Demonstrating Contemporary Art Practice, focusing on making-public and collaborative practices. You engage with external partners, organise public events, and present your work in an artist talk or similar format.
Also in Term 2, you take Urgency of the Arts, a school-wide unit that explores how arts and humanities practice can respond to urgent socio‑political issues through workshops and specialist-led discussions.
Term 3
In Term 3, you take an Independent Research Project, which culminates in a public exhibition, critical reflection, and planning for your practice beyond graduation, supported by tutorials and college-wide professional practice workshops.
AcrossRCA (Terms 1 & 2)
During the first two terms, you participate in the AcrossRCA college-wide unit, collaborating with students from other programmes on a self-initiated themed project that addresses cultural, social, environmental or economic issues.
The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading postgraduate art and design university, providing students with unrivalled opportunities to develop their practice, build their networks, enhance their career and to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.
For 11 consecutive years, the RCA has been ranked as the world’s number 1 art & design university in the QS World University subject rankings (2015-2025) - attracting artists, designers and communicators from across the globe.
RCA offers a wide range of funding opportunities to support postgraduate study, including a variety of tuition fee and living cost scholarships.
Beyond financial support, many of these scholarships also provide networking opportunities with peers, partnership organisations and professional bodies to enhance your experience.
You can find more information about available scholarships and their eligibility criteria in the link below.
Students from over 70 countries come to the RCA. We welcome applications from talented, creative individuals from all over the world. Many are from backgrounds you might expect such as art, design, architecture, communications, media and humanities. Others come from disciplines as broad as engineering, social sciences, technology, toolmaking, medicine, business, law, physics, life coaching, economics, teaching, music, etc. The list is endless. What RCA students share is the potential, commitment and ambition to make change in the world through art and design.
What types of jobs to graduates go on to?
The RCA has consistently produced world leaders in the fields of creative endeavour – acting as a launchpad for the careers of major international figures.
Our alumni shape the world – whether founding their own studios and brands, pushing the boundaries of possibility through their start-ups or taking on impressive roles with global companies across a wide range of disciplines.
What if they want to start their own business?
Our creative students have ambitions of being their own boss and making their own decisions, so launch their own enterprises or studios either soon after graduating or any some time employed in industry. Many did not intend to start their studies considering themselves entrepreneurs but discovered an idea during their studies with their fellow students that they believe would make a successful business. InnovationRCA – the College’s centre for student and graduate enterprise and entrepreneurship – supports students and recent graduates to transform compelling ideas into successful businesses, providing incubation, intellectual property and commercialisation support.