Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) has been Sydney’s premier training ground for contemporary visual artists for more than 40 years.

The Master of Fine Arts by research is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your art practice through advanced research in one or more discipline area. 

Delivered by Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), the Master of Fine Arts is primarily undertaken as a supervised independent study program of written work and studio research.

You will develop a level of proficiency, self-direction and focus through investigating a proposed area of research, and will be encouraged to produce work of an original and speculative nature. Your research supervisor will provide personalised and dedicated attention to the development of your research outcomes. 

The Master of Fine Arts is designed to provide visual artists with the opportunity to extend their professional practice through advanced research in one or more discipline area.

To be eligible for admission to the Master of Fine Arts, you must present a portfolio of work that demonstrates you have the level of art practice proficiency expected of an advanced research applicant.

In addition, you must have completed the equivalent of one of the following in visual arts or other subject area related to your proposed research area:

• bachelor's degree with honours; or
• bachelor's degree and graduate diploma; or
• master's degree by coursework with an independent research component such as a thesis, dissertation or research project.

These criteria constitute the minimum requirements for eligibility and do not guarantee admission. That remains at the discretion of the relevant supervisors and departments, and access to supervision remains highly competitive. The University must certify that there are sufficient supervisory and other resources and facilities available to enable your candidature to be completed successfully.

Prospective students should consult the Postgraduate Research Coordinator of the relevant department before making an application.

1. Develop a preliminary research proposal of 3-5 pages that outlines the subject area, objectives and significance of your research. Include the proposed method of candidature: by thesis comprising a body of creative work for exhibition and a written component; or by written thesis only.
2. Prepare a portfolio that reflects your recent art practice and demonstrates the level of proficiency expected of an advanced research applicant. Please submit up to 10 examples of your work to date. You can include:
   • digital photographs of installations, performance, and exhibitions (preferably as one JPG, TIFF or PDF file); 
   • showreel or excerpts of film, animation or digital video work (.MOV); 
   • website or Vimeo channel (please provide the site address in a Word or PDF document);
   • original storyboards, treatments or scripts for short films (Word or PDF). (Maximum length of treatment - 5 pages. Maximum length of screenplay - 25 pages. DO NOT submit screenplays or scripts for feature films). 
   • The maximum file size for each document or compressed file upload is 10MB.
   • Applicants who nominated the written thesis only option are not required to submit a portfolio.
3. Your research proposal should be submitted along with your portfolio, CV, academic transcripts and other supporting documents.
4. Applications are made via the University's online application portal. When you are ready to apply, select the `Apply Now' button on the right hand side of this page.
5. Although rare, you may be invited to attend an admission interview in support of your application for a research degree. You will be notified if this is necessary.

IELTS 6.5 – no band below 6.0

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