Practice-based learning is central to the MA Conservation Collection Care & Management. Students gain supervised experience in preventive conservation techniques, including condition assessment, environmental monitoring, integrated pest management, risk assessment, emergency preparedness and response, documentation and cataloguing systems, safe handling procedures, and the design of appropriate storage and display solutions. Teaching is delivered through demonstrations, practical sessions, institutional visits and structured problem-solving exercises that simulate institutional scenarios. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between technical decision-making and contextual factors such as sustainability, access requirements, resource constraints, and professional standards.
Critical studies complement practical training by examining the development of conservation and collection management as professional fields. Students engage with current debates concerning sustainability, access, decolonisation, and the ethics of care within museums and heritage organisations. The programme situates collection care and preventive conservation within broader cultural and policy frameworks, enabling students to understand these disciplines not solely as technical activities but as practices informed by social responsibility and institutional governance.
Research and writing are integrated throughout the course. Students develop the ability to document and analyse collection care processes with clarity and precision, producing structured condition reports, risk assessments, and reflective analyses aligned with professional expectations. Professional practice is embedded within the curriculum. Students are introduced to the operational contexts of museums, galleries, archives, historic houses, and related heritage settings. Teaching addresses sector standards, institutional policy, sustainability frameworks, and collaborative working with conservators, registrars, curators, technicians, and collections managers.
The MA Conservation Collection Care & Management concludes with a portfolio of collection care work and a written submission demonstrating practical competence, ethical awareness, and critical understanding. Graduates are prepared for entry-level roles in collection care and preventive conservation, or for progression to further specialist conservation training and research.
For course details, please see the drop-down menu below. The indicated course schedule is based on completing the MA on a one-year, full-time basis. The structure is the same for those completing the course on a part-time basis, but the content will be scheduled over two years rather than one.
Please be aware that this course is subject to validation.
Unit 1: Methods
Methods establishes the foundations of postgraduate study. This unit emphasises experimentation, methodological testing and critical engagement with relevant disciplinary contexts. Students explore materials, processes, research strategies and conceptual frameworks appropriate to their field, while developing reflective and analytical skills. The focus is on enquiry and exploration rather than finished outcomes, enabling students to interrogate assumptions, test approaches and establish a considered direction for their work. Academic conventions, contextual analysis and structured documentation are introduced as integral components of postgraduate practice.
Unit 2: Practice
Practices supports the sustained development and refinement of a defined line of enquiry. Students build on research and experimentation undertaken in Unit 1, making informed critical decisions about processes, materials and conceptual positioning. Emphasis is placed on coherence, clarity and depth rather than perfection. Students are expected to demonstrate growth, rigour and responsiveness to research through a body of work that evidences advanced engagement with their discipline. In disciplines where appropriate, this unit includes preparation for and participation in the MA Show, providing experience of presentation, installation and audience awareness.
Unit 3: Professions
Professions consolidates the MA through critical evaluation, research articulation and professional positioning. This unit shifts the emphasis from production to analysis and forward planning. Students critically evaluate their practice in relation to broader disciplinary, institutional and cultural contexts, and develop advanced writing and research skills appropriate to Level 7 study. The unit culminates in a structured research or critical practice event, through which students articulate their development, demonstrate intellectual maturity and outline future trajectories.