Without art, we would still drag our knuckles; we would have no Da Vinci, no Shakespeare and, more tragic still, no Brian Sewell.

Even when times are tough, when civilisation is rocked by war or injudicious sub-prime lending, we still have art. And, unlike much else in these straitened times, the market in postgraduate arts courses seems in rude health. From costume design to creative writing, from metalwork to mens-wear, anyone with an artistic itch can find something to soothe it.

Despite the cost, postgraduate study can be a sound investment, says Elaine Banham, the head of creative careers at the University of the Arts London. “MA programmes often provide greater focus, which helps to improve understanding of career direction and gives greater confidence in a specialist area, as well as developing work-ready qualities,” she says.

Banham argues that arts courses equip postgraduates with project management skills, vision, self-reliance, resourcefulness and the ability to network – all of which add value in the workplace.

One of the university’s postgraduate courses is its MA in costume design for performance. A four-term, full-time programme, its aim is to enhance students’ conception of the role of costume in character creation.

Donatella Barbieri, the course director, says that the programme attracts students from all over the world, many of whom are drawn towards work at the experimental edge.

She takes students from backgrounds such as sculpture, jewellery-making or fine arts, but whose portfolio has a particular quality – “work that is not just pretty but has a meaning to it”. Students have to be able to work collaboratively and respond to briefs very quickly, Barbieri says.

By contrast, the pace for aspiring novelists may be glacially slow, but the University of East Anglia can help it along. Acclaimed alumni from the university’s long-established MA in creative writing include Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro and Ann Enright.

Andrew Cowan, the director of the MA’s prose strand, says that the reputation of the course means that it attracts many applicants – typically 200 a year, sometimes 300. Cowan, himself a graduate of the course and an award-winning author, likes to see potential in applicants, rather than polish. “We are looking for raw talent, so we have rejected people who are already very good writers. We also want to see an ability to learn and contribute to the learning of others.” His advice to anyone considering apply-ing? “Read. It cannot be emphasised enough that you can’t be a writer unless you are a reader.”

At the University of Exeter, an MA in staging Shakespeare explores the Bard’s plays through a practical framework. Professor Mick Mangan, of the university’s drama department, says that it reflects the department’s interest in balancing theory and practice.

Typically, students have a strong academic background and an interest in applying it in more practical ways, or they have stage experience and want a more theoretical foundation. But after the course very few go back where they came from. “Most use the MA to change direction or launch a career,” says Mangan.

‘I have a dream’

Girls’ night at the youth club when she was ten – that was where Ekua McMorris’s journey as a photographer began.

“You could do black and white printing and it was fantastic,” she says. Twenty years on, McMorris is half way through a two-year MA in photography at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. The college also runs MAs in sculpture, painting and printmaking, as well as a more vocational programme in communication art and design.

She reached the RCA via a City and Guilds photography course, a BA in fine art at London Metropolitan University, international travel and some indecision over career options. Midwifery was once a possibility. In the end, she chose to follow what she describes as her passion, despite the financial constraints that come with being a full-time student and a mother.

Studying at a higher level was tough at first. “It really scared me,” she says. “I used to phone my mum and say ‘They’re talking in a different language’. Now, I love the course. I wish it was three years.”

She believes that the MA is helping her to find her feet as a project-based artist, rather than as a photographer “who takes pictures in the street”.

As for the future, McMorris has a clear aim. “My dream is just to be successful as an artist. If I could live off my own work, that would be the best.”