Whatever your artistic background, our Master's course will develop your visual practice in areas that are important for illustrators, such as visual sequencing and visual text. It will challenge you to cross the divide between fine art and applied art found on many undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, making it a unique course for the UK.

Studying in our purpose-built studios at Cambridge School of Art, much of your work will be practice-based. You’ll propose and undertake self-directed projects, attending group critiques and tutorials that will help you develop your creative skills.

You'll also attend a series of integrated lectures and seminars. These serve two purposes. You’ll explore different aspects of illustration such as the relationships between word and image, narratology and visual language, and receive guidance on research methods and critical writing, which you'll put to immediate use on the course as well as in your future career.

Throughout the course, you’ll collaborate and discuss your work with staff, visiting professionals and fellow students, giving you an invaluable opportunity to see how others respond to it. All of our teaching team are practising artists, so you’ll hear about the latest news and issues in the industry, and have access to sound careers advice.

Our course will prepare you for a career as a freelance illustrator. In recent years these roles have been increasingly in demand thanks to the growth of interest in artists' books, graphic novels, self-publishing, e-books and an awareness of small, batch publishing. You’ll also gain skills that will be useful in many other fields, such as bookbinding or teaching.  You might even find a way to combine it with your current career, as Dr Katy Shorttle did, whose artwork on health issues was featured by The Guardian.

Or you might decide to move on to a research degree, like our PhD Fine Art.