Bachelor of Science in Sound and Music Technology
African music drives global culture, yet most of the technical value, the production, engineering, mastering and the technology itself, is captured elsewhere for want of local expertise. Sound and music technology is a rigorous technical discipline combining acoustics, signal processing, software ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Audio engineer and producer
- music technologist
- mixing and mastering engineer
- audio software developer
- live and broadcast sound engineer
- sound designer
- acoustics specialist
- creative technology entrepreneur
Employer types
- Recording studios and production houses
- music and streaming companies
- film
- television and games audio teams
- live event and venue operators
- broadcasters
- audio technology and software firms
- the graduate's own studio or venture
- advertising and content agencies
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate income in music and audio and supports remote and venture careers. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Sound and Music Technology. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BSMT 110 | Foundations of Sound and Acoustics Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 111 | Programming for Audio Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BSMT 112 | Music Theory and Production Fundamentals Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BSMT 113 | Mathematics for Signal Processing Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BSMT 130 | Recording and Studio Technique I Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 131 | Audio Signal Processing I Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BSMT 132 | Music Production and Arrangement Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BSMT 133 | Mixing and Signal Flow Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BSMT 210 | Recording and Studio Technique II Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 211 | Audio Signal Processing II Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BSMT 212 | Audio Software Development Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 213 | Mastering and Finishing Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BSMT 230 | Sound Design for Screen and Games Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BSMT 231 | Live and Broadcast Sound Engineering Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BSMT 310 | Acoustics and System Design Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BSMT 311 | Electronic Music and Synthesis Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 312 | Spatial and Immersive Audio Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 313 | Music Business and Rights Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BSMT 330 | Studio and Audio Systems Integration Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 331 | Creative Enterprise and Project Management Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BSMT 410 | Music Data and Streaming Technology Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BSMT 411 | Intelligent Audio and Generative Sound Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BSMT 412 | Advanced Sound and Music Technology Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BSMT 413 | Audio Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BSMT 430 | Sound Technology Capstone: A Released Work or Built Tool Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BSMT 431 | Audio for Emerging Platforms Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BSMT 432 | Audio Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BSMT 433 | Professional Practice and Creative Technology Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Sound and Music Technology
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems Fluency CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Intelligent Systems Fluency · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Apply acoustics and audio signal theory to a real production problem.
- PLO 2Record, produce and engineer music to professional standard.
- PLO 3Mix and master audio to release and broadcast standard.
- PLO 4Build audio software, instruments and processing tools.
- PLO 5Design sound for screen, games and interactive media.
- PLO 6Engineer live and broadcast sound reliably.
- PLO 7Apply intelligent systems to music and audio responsibly.
- PLO 8Design and measure acoustic spaces and systems.
- PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend C8 an audio product, production or venture.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
African music drives global culture, yet most of the technical value, the production, engineering, mastering and the technology itself, is captured elsewhere for want of local expertise. Sound and music technology is a rigorous technical discipline combining acoustics, signal processing, software and musical craft, and it is barely taught as a full degree in the region. This programme builds the audio engineer and music technologist who can produce, engineer and build the tools of sound to international standard, with the studio, the code and real productions from Year 1, keeping value on the continent.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes, preferably including a science or Mathematics; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics and English. Applicants submit a portfolio or complete a task scored against Capabilities C6 and C2. Demonstrated musical or technical practice is assessed against this profile. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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