Folk and Traditional Music BA Honours

Clearing - How to apply

What is Clearing?

Each year, universities may have spaces left on their courses after the application window has closed in June.

UCAS Clearing is your opportunity to snap up one of these places, even if you didn't apply to the university prior to the June deadline.

It also gives you a second chance to go to university if you didn't get the grades you needed for your firm and insurance offers.

How do I get in touch?

Our Clearing entry requirements may differ from those advertised; contacting our friendly advisers is the best way to find out if you’re eligible for a place.

You can get in touch through live chat or our hotlines. Call us on 0800 073 5050, or if you’re an international student calling from outside the UK, call: +44 191 222 5000.

Not available in Clearing

This course is not available in Clearing 2024.

This means there are no spaces available for Clearing 2024. If you can't find vacancies in your original course or subject area, try exploring other subjects in a related field.

Search our courses in Clearing

Course overview

Our Folk and Traditional Music degree was the first of its kind in England. The programme focuses on the traditional music and song of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. National and international artists teach as regular and guest tutors on this degree.

Performance and group playing is at the heart of this course, but you will also study the social and cultural context of traditional and folk music, and how music helps to construct identity and culture.

As you progress through the degree you will have increasing freedom to choose modules to tailor your studies, including from our contemporary and popular and classical music degrees.

After Stage 2 you can spend a year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, making this a four-year degree. Please be aware that this is usually subject to you achieving an average of 60% or more across the first three semesters of the programme.

Hear from our graduates about their Newcastle experience

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Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions  
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Featured module

MUS2092: Folk Ensemble 2

Ensemble modules include weekly small group tutor-led workshops.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions

The first year lays the foundation for understanding folk and traditional music in both performance and scholarship. You take regular one-to-one lessons on your main instrument and take part in weekly tutor-led workshops to develop your ensemble playing skills.

You’ll also study a compulsory cross-disciplinary module on writing about music, and developing academic and professional skills.

Modules

Compulsory modules

You take the following compulsory modules:                                                         

Compulsory modules	Credits
Academic Practice for Music Studies	20
Performance Studies 1	20
Folk Ensemble 1	20
Traditions of These Islands	20

Optional modules

You take 20 credits from the following list:                           

Optional modules	Credits
Introduction to Ethnomusicology	20
Understanding Music History	20
Introduction to Popular Music Studies	20

You also take 20 credits from the following list:                                                              

Optional modules	Credits
Audio Production Skills	20
Creative Projects	20
Musicianship	20
Applications and Structures of Music Theory	20
Essentials and Structures of Music Theory	20

In addition to regular one-to-one lessons on your main instrument, you can study a broad range of historical, cultural, applied and practical options.

Compulsory Modules                        

Compulsory modules	Credits
Performance Studies 2	20
Folk Ensemble 2	20

Optional Modules

You take at least one module from the following list of Historical and Cultural modules:                                               

Optional modules	Credits
Themes in Musical Modernism	20
Popular Music and Media	20
Music and Visual Culture	20

You take at least one module from the following list of Practical or Applied modules:                         

Optional modules	Credits
Composing for Spaces and Places	20
DJing Skills and Turntablism	20
Contemporary Musical Materials	20
Songwriting	20
Translation for Singing	20
Orchestration	20
Additional Performance Studies 2 (Folk and Traditional Music)	20
Music Teaching and Learning: in Formal and Informal Contexts	20

You'll complete a major specialist study, which could be: an original composition; a creative project; a performance; or a dissertation/project on an area of interest which you hope to focus on in your life and work after leaving University.

You'll choose the remaining balance of modules from a range of historical, cultural and practical options offered by the world-leading research-active staff at our International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS).

Modules

Compulsory modules

You must take one Major Specialist Study                                                                  

Compulsory modules	Credits
Major Specialist Study: Composition	40
Major Specialist Study: Dissertation	40
Major Specialist Study: Performance	40
Major Specialist Study: Project	40

Optional modules

You may (but are not required to) choose a Minor Specialist Study module from the following list. This must be in a subject area that is substantially different to your major specialist study.

                                                                       

Optional modules	Credits
Minor Specialist Study: Composition	20
Minor Specialist Study: Dissertation	20
Minor Specialist Study: Performance	20
Minor Specialist Study: Project	20

You choose modules from the list below so that the total credits for the year adds up to 120:                                   

Optional modules	Credits
Case Studies in 21st Century Music	20
The Total Work of Art: Richard Wagner, The Musical Stage and their continuing Agency across The Arts	20
Jazz Studies	20
Salsa, AfroBeat, Reggae and Rhythms of the World	20
Music, Gender and Identity	20
Folk Ensemble 3	20

You may, with the discretion of the Degree Programme Director, take one module from the list below, if not taken already at Stage 2.                                                                                                                                       

Optional modules	Credits
Themes in Musical Modernism	20
Composing for Spaces and Places	20
DJing Skills and Turntablism	20
Contemporary Musical Materials	20
Songwriting Translation for Singing	20
Contemporary Music Practice	20
Orchestration	20
Popular Music and Media	20
Additional Performance Studies 2 (Folk and Traditional Music)	20
Music and Visual Culture	20
Music Teaching and Learning: in Formal and Informal Contexts	20

Modules

Information about these graphs

We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They are based on the modules chosen by our students in 2024-25.

Teaching time is made up of:

• scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present.
• structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

To bring out the best in you, we use different forms of teaching for the range of approaches to music we cover.

Some modules are based around lectures and seminars, with reading or listening assignments, others are smaller specialised study groups.

Performance modules are often a combination of one-to-one tuition, group workshops and specialist masterclasses.

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Assignments – written or fieldwork

• 

  Examinations – practical or online

• 

  Musical performance

• 

  Portfolio submission

Skills and experience

Practical skills

On campus, many of our students take part in weekly performances in the King’s Hall

Business skills

You're able to develop business skills through:

• placements in arts administration and education
• opportunities to study abroad. We have links with universities and conservatoires in Europe, Canada, North America and Australia

Benefit from tuition by practising musicians with invaluable professional and industry experience.

Opportunities

Work placement

Get career ready with a work placement and leave as a confident professional in your field. You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months working in any organisation in the world, and receive University support from our dedicated team to secure your dream placement. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise.

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year, and your degree title will show you have achieved the placement year. A work placement is not available if you're spending a year studying abroad. Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements

Study abroad

You can gain a global perspective and enhance your academic profile by studying abroad. This opens doors to exciting new experiences. Study abroad for one semester or a full academic year at one of our partner universities overseas.

Study abroad usually takes place in stage 3 of your studies and extends your degree by one year. You can also choose short-term global opportunities like summer schools, virtual exchanges or internships that usually take place over the summer months.

Find out more about study abroad.

Facilities and environment

Facilities

You'll be based in the School of Arts and Cultures, in the University's main campus.

You'll have access to outstanding specialist music facilities, including state-of-the-art recording studios, rehearsal spaces, specialist tuition rooms, flexible study spaces, and a music skills suite.

Studios

Our professional recording and music production suites provide a space for:

• full band multi-track recording
• electro-acoustic composition multimedia work
• sound art installations

We have a range of portable recording equipment and tools designed for live electronics and technologically mediated live performance. These are accessible to all music students.

Rehearsal spaces

You'll have access to a range of rehearsal spaces, including:

• 25 acoustically treated practice rooms
• five instrumental teaching rooms
• a large, acoustically isolated, ensemble/band practice room
• two large performance/rehearsal spaces (each seats up to 50 people)
• the University's King's Hall (seats 400 people)

Opportunities to perform

We offer a free professional concert series every Thursday lunchtime during term time, followed by a student performance where you have the chance to perform for, and listen to, your colleagues from all of our music degrees.

Our music students immerse themselves in Newcastle's thriving music scene which includes everything from high-profile venues like the The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, O2 Academy and the City Hall, to more intimate local spots such as The Cluny, The Cumberland Arms and Bar Loco. It’s also home to the UK’s first co-operatively owned music venue, The Globe.

Videos of student performance on our website

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Support

You'll have an academic personal tutor throughout your degree. They will provide academic and pastoral support.

Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have when starting university.

Your future

Join our network of confident and successful graduates who benefit from our well-established ties with arts institutions in the city, in the wider region and beyond.

Many of our students have gone on to develop high-profile careers as performers, scholars, teachers and culture industry professionals.

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Careers support

We'll help enhance your employability through access to career-related training, both as part of the course and through extra-curricular activities. Modules in teaching music help build skills needed for your future career.

We work with a range of arts, music and creative organisations and businesses including artist management and development, music production, community arts, festival and event management, and music therapy. These provide our students with guest lectures, masterclasses and placement opportunities. Examples include:

• Nordoff Robbins
• PRS for Music
• Generator
• Seven Stories
• Side by Side Arts
• Blank Studios
• Harambee Pasadia

Our Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for academic year 2025-2026

See our ‘Home Fee Students’ and ‘International Fee Students’ information below for more information on tuition fee levels, fee status and inflationary fee increases.

Qualification: BA Honours
Home students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (Year 1) £9,535
International students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (Year 1) 24400

Home Fee Students

Home students starting in 2025 entry

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course. £9,535 is the maximum fee that we are permitted to charge for home fee-paying students for the academic year 2025-26. This is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

International Fee Students

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our undergraduate scholarship page for more information.

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages