MFA Arts & Humanities
London, United Kingdom
Master of Fine Arts
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
19 Jan 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
07 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 38,650 **
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 - full-time
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)
A cross-disciplinary community of practice
Extend your practice, locate and expand its professional potential and explore your agency in forging the future of arts and humanities.
This professionally engaged, externally-facing programme brings you together with other creative practitioners in a trans-disciplinary, collaborative community that promotes a dynamic dialogue to actively examine how the arts and humanities can address current and future challenges.
You will identify and explore the professional realm that you and your work will operate within, and interrogate that context through live projects that activate and extend your practice. You will explore how you can engage audiences towards building a professionally robust, ethically sound and research-informed approach. The programme will encourage you to develop models and build networks that should help sustain your practice and research after graduating.
Your programme of study will be bespoke to you. A series of electives will allow you to align your research and practice with one of the School’s specialist areas of research. And College-wide electives enable you to build cross-disciplinary networks and engage with the knowledge and practices across the RCA’s four Schools.
The Master of Fine Arts programme seeks to challenge orthodoxies, actively consider how your practice – and the arts and humanities in general – might address the challenges of now and near future.
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.
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.
The MFA Arts & Humanities at the RCA enables you to deepen, reset or activate your creative practice within a rich, research-led environment that bridges theory and making. You choose from a wide range of electives spanning spatial practices, health & care, AI, digital infrastructures and more, and work on a live project in partnership with external organisations such as hospital trusts or local councils. Throughout the programme, you collaborate with writers, filmmakers, performers, curators and other creative practitioners, while exploring critically the conditions that shape your practice and building a global community for the future.
Programme structure
Core units:
- Conditions
You critically analyse the history, context and philosophies of art from a global perspective. The unit asks you to reflect on how dominant art narratives (such as Western canon) shape power dynamics and considers how art might challenge and respond to issues like systemic racism and inequality. - Positions
You examine the professional sphere in which your work operates. This involves identifying how you want to engage audiences, building a research-informed practice, and thinking ethically and strategically about the future of your work. - Live
You respond to a “live context” by working on real-world, externally facing projects. This helps you explore how your practice can meaningfully engage with public audiences, stakeholders or institutions.
Electives:
- School of Arts & Humanities (SoAH) Electives (Terms 1 & 2)
You take a series of electives within the School of Arts & Humanities (SoAH), studied in sequential pairs, to align your practice with a specific research area. These units challenge you to position your work within a research context and explore how it can contribute to expanding knowledge in that area. - College-wide Electives (Terms 1 & 2)
You choose two college-wide electives from other RCA Schools, such as MRes RCA or MEd Creative Education. These units broaden your learning community and encourage cross-disciplinary dialogue to inform your research and practice.
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.
The RCA Career Progression Bursary
Eligible Programmes: MFA Arts & Humanities, MFA Communication, MDes Design Futures, MRes or MEd Creative Education
Eligible fee status: Home fee status - mid-career and no links to RCA. Preference to be shown to:
- Over 50s
- People returning after a career break
- Career changes
- Parents returning to work after parental leave
- Applicants with a disability
Value:
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.