Arts and humanities at Birkbeck are ranked fifth best in London, 18th in the UK and 87th globally in the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Art and Design at Birkbeck achieved 100% for a research environment supporting world-leading and internationally excellent research. The School of Arts offers a number of bursaries for postgraduate students. You can attend a wide range of events, including those organised by the Architecture Space and Society Centre, the Postgraduate Research Seminar, which brings art historians from all over the UK and beyond to speak at Birkbeck, the biennial Murray Lecture, the programme of exhibitions and displays at the Peltz Gallery, the School of Arts' purpose-built exhibition space, and events across the School of Arts and at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities. You can also attend Arts Week, a programme of public events and activities, held each May. We encourage you to become involved in the lively research culture of the Department through the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre, the Architecture Space and Society Centre, the Centre for Museum Cultures and the Vasari Research Centre, which has pioneered the field of digital art history. Find out more about our staff and student activities on the Birkbeck History of Art blog or join us at one of our information evenings, held throughout the year.

To be considered for direct entry to a Master's degree at Birkbeck, you will normally be required to have successfully completed a Bakalavr/Specialist Diploma from a recognised university with a minimum final grade of 3.5 for programmes requiring a UK 2:2