We have three teaching bases, in London, Manchester and Newcastle. Students are expected to attend for two consecutive days each week. To help those who don’t live close to a base, we try to organise the timetable to make it feasible to travel on the first day and return at the end of the second.

Yes. Our primary concern is that you should be a well-rounded musician with a real capacity for communication. You don’t have to be an experienced improviser, but we do want to see evidence of your flexibility, responsiveness and generosity as a musician. You will also need functional harmony skills (on any instrument), so that you can accompany someone singing a song, for example.

You don’t need to be able to read music or to have done any traditional music examinations or ‘grades’ to thrive on this programme and then to do great work as a music therapist. We don’t see distinction at Grade 8 as necessarily equipping you with the kind of skills that will enable you to do great musical work with people. Instead, we are looking for people who have a good ear and strong musical competences, in particular a clear ability to be musically flexible, responsive, and therefore companionable for people for whom companionship is often particularly hard to achieve or experience. We also want you to be musically imaginative so that you can, where appropriate, lead people into new and meaningful musical experiences. This means not being restricted to just one way of playing or thinking musically, but rather being able to be changed by other people’s musics and by new situations. In particular, you need to be able to hear the potential music in all sorts of apparently non-musical situations and to play a part in enabling this music to be experienced. However, we are often asked for a benchmark by prospective students who are used to thinking in terms of grades. In response to this we usually say that your primary instrument should be at what might be considered Grade 8 or above. If this isn’t a harmony instrument, you will also need to demonstrate harmony skills that could be considered at Grade 6 or above. As explained above though, we care much more about your musicianship, your musical flexibility and your musical imagination than about any grade exam results you may have achieved. That’s why we invite shortlisted applicants to play and sing with us (rather than just to us) at audition.

It is £10,000 for the full two-year training programme (paid in 5 instalments: September, January, May, September, January). Unfortunately, our students cannot access the postgraduate loan offered by Student Finance England, but this is something we are continuing to work on. We try to offer various bursary opportunities throughout the training programme, but these may vary year to year. If you have any questions about funding, please do get in touch with us at [email protected].

There are additional costs to be aware of whilst undertaking the MMT training – please see the question below for more information.

No. Some of our students have a music degree or have been to music college, but we are also keen to recruit students whose musical training is from a different tradition or is less formalised.

No, but you do need a good ear and the ability to pick up musical ideas quickly and effectively. We don’t mind what kind of terminology you use, but you do need to be able to communicate with precision about what you’re doing and what you’re experiencing musically.

We would encourage you to test your personal capacity for this kind of work by gaining some professional, voluntary or familial experience of working with people who have particular needs, as this can be both physically and emotionally demanding.

Absolutely not. We positively welcome applications from people with life experience. Many people apply to the programme having accrued considerable professional experience in related areas, including teaching, nursing and community music.

We actively seek to recruit diverse cohorts. Ultimately, we would like our student cohorts to reflect the diversity of the people we serve. That isn’t yet the case, but we are working towards it.

No. Our foundation module teaches you the fundamentals of the Nordoff and Robbins approach, and you won’t have got this from other training.

No, but we have designed the programme to be as manageable as possible for people who need to continue working while training. You will be required to spend two days a week at the teaching base and one on placement. You will also have the equivalent of a day’s private study to do each week.

This isn’t necessarily an obstacle, but you will need to demonstrate to us that you’re capable of working at masters level. If you would like some guidance on how best to do this, please contact us on [email protected].

We don’t expect you to have read everything about music therapy, but you will need to show us that your wish to train is an informed one. When we interview you, we will explore your reasons for applying and what you have learned from your reading.

Because of the MMT’s international reputation, the quality of our graduates, and their success in gaining and generating work after training, we do get a lot of applications each year. Don’t let this deter you, though: if you have the right musical skills and personal qualities, we want you to apply.

Due to UK visa restrictions and the effects of Brexit, we can only accept applications from people who already have the right to live and study in the UK. It is not possible to apply for a Tier 4 UK student visa in order to undertake the MMT programme.

We hold regular open events in London, Newcastle and Manchester, as well as online, where you can meet staff and students and get a feel for what it would be like to be an MMT student. Check our website or contact us at [email protected] to find out more about upcoming open days. You can also email us at the above address or call 020 7267 4496 if you have any other questions about the MMT.