Music and Popular Music BA (Hons)

The modules on this programme vary, with some being practical – concerned with musical performance, composition and orchestration, song-writing or creative music technology – while others focus on music history topics or music analysis and theory. Our studio and performance modules cater for both classical and popular musical styles, allowing you to choose the route best suited to you; and a generous range of optional modules includes specialist topics such as music psychology, audio-visual media (films and videogames), and vocational modules. Throughout, you will learn to write about music from a historical, critical, sociological, or philosophical viewpoint.

You will take two compulsory modules, and choose the rest of your modules from a range of options.

• A critical understanding of music from a wide range of aesthetic, cultural and social perspectives
• A detailed understanding of Western (and some other) music repertoires
• Advanced proficiency in performance, and composition
• Academic research skills
• Critical and cultural awareness
• The ability to devise and sustain complex arguments
• Written and oral communication and presentation
• Creativity
• Time management and organisations skills

All students applying to the University of Liverpool must demonstrate that they are competent in the use of the English language and satisfy the University’s requirements. The qualifications on our Undergraduate and Postgraduate pages are accepted by the University and are considered to satisfy a minimum of CEFR B2 level in each component (speaking, writing, listening and reading). This is the minimum level acceptable for degree level study in order to secure a visa to enter the UK via Student Route.

For more information about the University's responsibility for assessing English Language ability, download our Liverpool English vouching document.

All international students should apply to the University of Liverpool through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). You will find full details about applying through UCAS in our undergraduate section.

Please note that all undergraduate courses start in September; we do not offer January entry.

Students in the UK study for 13 years prior to acceptance into University, which can be different to other countries around the world.  

Compulsory education and training in the UK ends at the age of 18, most students prior to this will study for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations and then go on to study A-Level (or equivalent) for two years which allow for direct entry to university.

Other countries around the world study for one year less at high school and spend an extra year in Higher Education. This means that degrees are shorter and often more specialised from the beginning in the UK, than in other countries.  If this is your case, you will need to complete a foundation programme at the University of Liverpool International College (UoLIC) prior to commencing your undergraduate degree programme at the University of Liverpool.