Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Music and Sound Design with Placement Year

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

Counselling and psychotherapy are terms for a wide variety of evidence-based talking and listening approaches which apply established theories to promote psychological change.

Alongside the main discipline of psychology, each year of this course offers specialist units where you’ll study the fields of counselling and psychotherapy.

Our course also covers all core elements of psychological study as required by the British Psychological Society (BPS), from lifespan development, neuropsychology, and research methods, to social and critical, and abnormal psychology.

In addition to theory, you’ll also learn basic practical counselling skills. Some of these skills may include how to offer acceptance, empathic listening, questioning techniques and how to develop practitioner resilience. You’ll mostly learn through role-play in pairs and small groups, listening, observing and giving feedback to your peers.

Networked computers run our world. From homes to hospitals, airports to banks and all stops in between, everything is connected – but these systems are susceptible to infiltration and attack. On our MSc Cyber Security course, you’ll gain the expertise to become part of the defence.

By learning to design, implement and manage computer-based systems security on this master's, you’ll develop the skills and confidence to succeed in a wide range of cyber security roles. This could include security designer, ethical hacker, and digital forensics officer.

Starting with the fundamentals, you’ll gain a broad understanding of the different levels of computer and network security. You’ll then explore both the technical aspects and the logistics of planning and implementing network security management. And how to investigate systems after a breach.

You will also complete a master's project. While you’ll have plenty of support along the way, it’s a solo research project designed to develop confidence, autonomy and self-sufficiency – qualities that can take you far in the workplace.

We aim to train you to become a specialist in a field with opportunities in virtually every sector – with everything that means for your future career prospects.

As computing continues to evolve at a remarkable pace, the expertise to harness the latest technology become more vital every day for organisations in every sector. Our MSc Computer Science course provides that expertise – helping you develop the specialist skills for a career in computing.

On this computer science masters, you’ll explore themes around object-oriented programming, advanced computer networks, cloud software development and information systems and databases. You will learn advanced concepts, techniques and technologies to equip you for the practical side of investigating an issue and creating a system or solution to match. Through this, you’ll gain a set of skills made for the modern professional world of computing.

You’ll also have the flexibility to set the direction for your postgraduate studies with a master's project of your own design. While you’ll have the one-to-one support of your supervisor, it’s a solo project – as much about developing computing skills as it is about building confidence and autonomy, vital skills for the workplace.

By the time you’re finished, you’ll be equipped with both theoretical understanding and practical abilities in computer science – ready to apply your advanced knowledge to real-world situations.

Placement options

Strengthen your skillset by spending time in industry on a placement year, applying the skills you’ve learned throughout your academic studies in a practical, real-world environment. It’s an excellent opportunity to develop a professional career development plan and gain transferable workplace skills that can boost your employability.

Following completion of the taught elements of your MSc course, you can gain additional practice credits by working for a minimum of 36 weeks and a maximum of 42 weeks in an industrial setting, relevant to your course.

It’s your responsibility to search and apply for advertised placement opportunities, but you’ll be supported by academic staff and the University’s Careers and Employability Service to find a placement that is suited to you and your career ambitions. However, not all students can be guaranteed a placement.

All placements are approved and monitored in accordance with the University’s Institutional Code of Practice for Placement and Work?Based Learning. For international students, this includes additional checks on study visas to ensure the appropriate visa status.

Music and sound design is a field that mixes the artistic and the technical to produce the vital ingredient for a range of media. On the one hand, it’s a discipline of creative composition and emotional interpretation. On the other, it’s about harnessing the latest technology and studio techniques to produce compelling music and sound content. Our course offers the chance to learn both sides, letting you explore your creative passions while equipping you for a career in the fast-paced digital arts and media sector.

The School of Digital Arts aims to prepare you for a career in the creative sector. It’s home to a dynamic community that spans skills and approaches, creating a space for collaboration and experimentation. And, as well as the human element, this is a space for technical skills, equipped with industry-standard tools and technology.

More than a purpose-built school, we also have the perfect setting. Manchester is a city at the forefront of the creative and digital sector in the UK (second only to London), home to a wide variety of broadcasters, creative agencies and media businesses. More importantly, it’s also one of the world’s musical capitals – much like Detroit and a handful of others. This is a city known around the world for its thriving, distinctive music scene.

Study with us and you’ll have the chance to tap into this vibrant city, making the most of our links with Scruff of the Neck, Louder Than War and other key promoters, labels and venues, not to mention youth music organisations, DJ educators, schools and cultural producers. With the chance to learn from, and connect with, these key figures and organisations, we offer the chance to study in a city that provides an ideal starting point for building your network, developing your experience and starting your career.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

From breaking news to cultural reviews, sports reporting to in-depth investigations, we’ll help you scrutinise, interrogate and report on the issues that really matter.

This degree is geared towards inquiring minds and creative thinkers seeking a career in journalism and the creative media industries. Throughout the program, we’ll encourage you to carve out your own creative identity as you express yourself through a variety of media and genres – including print, broadcast and digital publishing.

You’ll start with the core skills of interviewing and reporting, before going on to look at specialist areas like media law and ethics, magazine journalism, editing and production. You’ll also get the chance to work on live events and learn how to cover breaking news – all under the pressure of tight deadlines.

In your third year you’ll be able to focus on your own particular interests, such as sports and music journalism. You’ll also create a portfolio of original journalism, rooted in the real world – real people, real issues, real events.

Throughout it all, you’ll have access to the multimedia newsroom, TV studio and radio production facilities, getting you up to speed with all the latest technology. So, by the time you’re finished, you’ll have acquired the wide range of skills necessary to work in today’s multiplatform digital environments.

You may also have the opportunity to spend an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with an organisation.

With a strong focus on employability and social responsibility, MSc International Fashion Business Management is aimed at applicants from a variety of backgrounds who want to gain a professional understanding of the fashion industry.  

The program structure allows fashion creatives to continue their creative practice whilst gaining a sound knowledge of international fashion business, as well as applicants who would like to establish their own fashion brand or business in this competitive globalised industry. This course will equip graduates with the key skills required to help evolve the fashion industry to become more ethically conscious, socially progressive and environmentally sustainable.

Students will gain experience in both the strategic and creative aspects of fashion, business and management. They will develop knowledge of business, environmental, social and cultural contexts, underpinning the strategic and creative process with theoretical knowledge in an ever-changing global market.

The character and culture of Manchester is embedded in this course. As an international city that attracts global brands and has a flourishing independent fashion economy, students can avail of a range of different learning experiences. Through a range of live project briefs and opportunities for collaboration, students are encouraged to challenge the status quo and produce a creative industry portfolio that demonstrates their distinct skills and experience to prospective employers.

Explore the person-centered therapeutic process, brief interventions, and different approaches to psychotherapy. Practice core psychological skills, from therapeutic interventions to applied research and consultation. And, reflect on practitioner resilience and self-care.

On this course, you’ll explore the theories behind therapeutic methods related to promoting psychological wellbeing, and develop practical research skills.

You’ll study topics including the principles of therapeutic approaches (such as developing positive therapeutic relationships with clients and person-centered care), therapeutic strategies of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), including cognitive restructuring, and brief interventions, such as solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) and motivational interviewing.

In skills sessions, you’ll complete role-plays and scenario-based tasks to practise core therapeutic techniques, such as reflecting, identifying internal/external frames of reference, and Socratic questioning.

You’ll also reflect on practitioner wellbeing and development. Some of the themes you’ll consider include boundaries and safe practices, privilege and social responsibility, and core values and beliefs.

We’ll help you to develop your awareness of self-care through experiential learning groups based on your experiences and you’ll complete a practitioner log and reflective diary too.

You’ll have the opportunity to complete a service-related dissertation, connecting theory and practice, influencing service design and delivery for statutory and third sector organisations or people with particular vulnerabilities.

At Manchester Met, our teaching team includes practitioner psychologists (clinical, counselling, health and sports) with experience in working in NHS and private settings in the UK and internationally.

Why is our education system organized the way it is? How can those working within the sector influence social justice and empower those in education?

Throughout our Education course, you’ll explore these and other questions from a range of disciplinary perspectives. From media, youth and play to disability, citizenship and development you’ll consider issues such as the way education differs across national and international contexts.

We want to make your experience as interactive and collaborative as possible. The course is designed to introduce you to a range of current debates and contemporary issues in education, combined with practical experience.

As you progress through the degree, you will have the option to explore your personal journey within education, tailoring your study to your career intentions. You may opt for units focusing on issues such as global agendas in education, or volunteer in a nursery to understand child development. This course also offers the chance to explore areas of Secondary Education opening-up new, exciting, career opportunities.

You will be encouraged to take a critical perspective throughout, and you will balance academic skills with practical experience.

You’ll learn through a mix of lectures, projects and placements, tutorials, presentations and discussions. Some of the ways you might learn include group work with your peers, debating topical issues in education and delivering group presentations. This is to help you develop the confidence to present to an audience, whether you’re speaking to a classroom of eight-year-olds, your friends or educational professionals.

Film and media studies focuses on the in-depth exploration of both cinematic and media forms, from the established to the new and emergent, from TV to games.

Taught by a large team with a diverse range of interests, you’ll have access to cutting-edge research expertise and excellent resources in a department as dedicated to supporting students as it is to inspiring them.

Film units introduce you to the history of cinema and its many forms and genres. This course will broaden your horizons from Anglo-American film to world cinemas, and develop your skills as a critical interpreter of the cinematic text. Media units explore the development of media industries, forms and criticism, but focus particularly on current and emerging platforms and industries. In your final year you can explore your interests in depth by completing an independent project on a topic of your own choice, working with academics who are experts in their fields.

The creative industries sector in Manchester offers a broad range of opportunities in professions linked to film and media. The city is an excellent place to study this subject and to begin gaining experience and building your networks. We’ll help you to be ready for the world beyond university by giving you the opportunity to engage with external partners, and you may have the chance to study abroad as part of your course, or to spend a year on a placement in industry in Britain or abroad.

The world around us is changing – and our environmental science degree will help you understand how. You’ll learn the skills and knowledge to measure, model and assess environmental change and its impact. Developed with employers, including environmental agencies and private businesses, this is a program with real-world relevance, built around developing the techniques and expertise you’ll find in the workplace.

The course combines aspects of physical and life sciences, helping you build an understanding of environmental issues today. You’ll also gain a wide range of practical and analytical skills, working in the lab and the field. By the time you graduate, you’ll be able to collect, process and analyse data from a range of sources across different scientific disciplines – giving you the understanding to make informed recommendations in a professional context.

Placement options
All of our geography and environment degrees have been designed to be flexible. You can opt for the four-year placement degree route and spend Year 3 on a professional placement with a degree-related organisation.

Alternatively, if you opt for the four-year study overseas route, you will spend your third year in Europe, North America or Australia.