I have yet to meet anyone who truly benefited from taking a postgraduate degree in any arts related subject be it music, film, acting, fine art.etc.
Of all the lecturers I have ever spoken to about this, they all seem to be in agreement with me that it is in fact down to the individual student. With that being said - Wouldn't it be better to bypass a postgraduate degree in any arts related subject and to teach yourself and to have internships and other forms of work experience racked up, meet other people in the industry.etc. All practical elements that are not taught.
I know a few people who have done postgraduate degrees in songwriting and all struggle to pay off their loans now. There is no songwriting job... There never was. Nobody can teach you how to be a better songwriter. The greatest teacher is life. If you want to write a great song - live. Because a course will not show you the way.
Is it irresponsible of Universities to have courses such as songwriting on their list of postgraduate degree courses? After all, nobody ever sat the likes of John Lennon or Paul McCartney down and told them the 'right' and 'wrong' ways of doing things. Whatever happened to spontaneity? Isn't this what changes the world? Nobody ever thought Nirvana would be the big band coming out of Seattle when they did. The general consensus was that Soundgarden would be the ones.
I feel as though the greats such as Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie were great for their way of doing things. Not because they took some course or were told of how good they were or what potential they had.
I feel this way for the Ruskin school too. People often apply because it's Oxford University. Never realizing that the main purpose of any Art is to challenge the status quo and to change things or to show a new perspective. People apply for Oxford because it's Oxford. Kudos to feed one's ego.
The time spent worrying if you're so called 'good' enough or not could be put to use showing the world your gift and following your own natural path. People wonder how some people make it and some don't. Guess what - There is no formula. What works for one does not work for another.
What has happened now is that the words Oxford, Cambridge, and any other arts or drama school with the name Royal are sought after due to their names alone. You shouldn't want to get into these schools. You should want to succeed. Getting in does not guarantee success.