First year equipment

Laptop

You do not need to buy a new laptop. If you already have a laptop, bring it with you, but hold off buying or upgrading until you have confirmed your major (towards the end of first year) as some activities are easier on Macs and others on PC. We have shared computers you can use in the meantime.

Read our recommendations for hardware

External hard drive

• You must back up your work.
• Label your hard drive(s) with your Student ID number.

Cameras

Don’t buy photography and/or video equipment until you’ve talked to your tutors. We have gear you can use.

Stationery and other equipment

• Check your Stream pages for stationery and equipment lists for each course.
• At a minimum, bring a pencil or pen and some paper to your first class. Most students use blank (unlined) notebooks or journals.

Laptop

You do not need to buy a new laptop. If you already have a laptop, bring it with you, but hold off buying or upgrading until you have confirmed your major (towards the end of first year) as some activities are easier on Macs and others on PC. We have shared computers you can use in the meantime.

External hard drive

• You must back up your work.
• Label your hard drive(s) with your Student ID number.

Cameras

Don’t buy photography and/or video equipment until you’ve talked to your tutors. We have gear you can use.

Stationery and other equipment

• Check your Stream pages for stationery and equipment lists for each course.
• At a minimum, bring a pencil or pen and some paper to your first class. Most students use blank (unlined) notebooks or journals.

Laptop

Owning your own laptop is beneficial, though not a requirement for your study. However, if a computer is your instrument (for the Music Practice Major) then you should own your own laptop.

Laptop recommendations

• Music Practice: Apple MacBook Pro
• Music Industry and Music Technology: MacBook Pro or PC.

We encourage students to start the course before deciding to purchase a new or second hand computer.

External hard drive

• You must back up your work.
• Label your hard drive(s) with your Student ID number.

Cameras

Don’t buy photography and/or video equipment until you’ve talked to your tutors. We have gear you can use. 

Stationery and other equipment

• Check your Stream pages for stationery and equipment lists for each course.
• At a minimum, bring a pencil or pen and some paper to your first class. Most students use blank (unlined) notebooks or journals.

Laptop

You need your own laptop. Both Macs and PCs will do the job fine. If you already have a laptop, check it meets the minimum specs below. Some software is better suited to a particular operating system, so if you (or your family) are buying a new laptop, consider what you are most interested in:

Games, animation: PC 
Minimum specs:

• Intel i5 or i7 processor
• 16GB Memory
• SATA or Solid State Drive (256 minimum)
• USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt for external drives
• Display capable of QHD (2k)
• Graphics card NVIDIA 980 equivalent or better
• Windows 10 Professional

Film, video, audio: Mac 
Minimum specs:

• MacBook Pro, 2015 or more recent
• 16GB Memory
• 15 inch screen
• Thunderbolt port

External hard drive

• You must back up your work.
• Label your hard drive(s) with your Student ID number.

Cameras

Don’t buy photography and/or video equipment until you’ve talked to your tutors. We have gear you can use.

Stationery and other equipment

• Check your Stream pages for stationery and equipment lists for each course.
• At a minimum, bring a pencil or pen and some paper to your first class. Most students use blank (unlined) notebooks or journals.

Laptop

You do not need to buy a new laptop. If you already have a laptop, bring it with you. We also have shared computers you can use.

External Hard Drive

• You must back up your work.
• Label your hard drive(s) with your Student ID number. 

Cameras

Don’t buy photography and/or video equipment until you’ve talked to your tutors. We have gear you can use.

Stationery

• 1 Visual Diary A4 or A3
• Pencils (HB to 6B) and eraser
• Pens
• Ruler