The Courtauld launches part-time Graduate Diploma for 2025/26 entry 

The Courtauld is delighted to launch a part-time study option for the Graduate Diploma in the History of Art programme for 2025/26 entry. Applicants will have the option to study either the full-time nine-month programme, or the new part-time course running over two academic years, allowing flexibility to study alongside work or other commitments.  

The Graduate Diploma is a concentrated form of our BA History of Art degree and gives graduates of other disciplines the opportunity to apply their existing skills to the study of Art History. The programme is suitable for applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including fresh graduates who have studied other subjects, mid-career professionals who want a career change, and those who want to study art history purely out of interest and personal development. 

The curriculum offers teaching across an unrivalled breadth of periods and cultures. There is the opportunity to study art and architecture from late antiquity to the present, and from across the globe: from Byzantium to the Early Modern Islamic World, from Medieval and Renaissance Europe to the Buddhist Arts of Asia, and Contemporary China to Black Art Histories. Students examine works of art as physical objects and scrutinise the role that museums play in society, as well as researching and writing a dissertation supported by members of faculty. 

Our student body is a diverse mixture of ages and nationalities, ranging from recent graduates to those who have had successful careers in finance, law, teaching and medicine: friendships and connections are formed which last well beyond the duration of the course. Previous students have gone on to further study or to pursue careers in the art world and beyond. 

The Graduate Diploma is taught in-person at our Vernon Square campus in King’s Cross. The full-time programme is taught Monday to Friday, while the part-time option will be taught two days per week. Teaching for 2025 entry will start in September, and finish in June 2026 for full-time students or June 2027 for part-time students.

Review our application guidance and apply now to join in Autumn 2025. 

Interested? Find out more about the Graduate Diploma programme and the new part-time option by joining our webinar on Tuesday 1 April, led by the course tutor Dr Teresa Lane.