Fine Art BA (Hons)

UCAS code W100

Duration

3 Years

Location

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Do you see yourself exhibiting at the Tate or selling your work to collectors? Do you want to use your creative talents to engage with your local community? Our Fine Art degree lets you realise your creative potential and combine practical training with an understanding of creative contexts. This course will encourage your ambition and cultivate your talent.

Our Fine Art degree will allow you to realise your creative potential through exciting and challenging opportunities. The course provides experience of a wide range of arts media relevant to contemporary arts practice, this includes but is not limited to: painting, drawing, sculpture, video, photography, digital applications and performance.

You'll be supported to establish your own practice as an artist; working in our spacious studios, galleries and workshops, exploring your ideas through site specific contexts, professional external projects, and a yearly public exhibition.

Our teaching team are all professional artists, and are able to support you with a structured technical, theoretical, imaginative and practical approach to arts practice.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Fine Art

Course content

The course offers a dynamic curriculum that embraces your creativity, encourages your ambition and cultivates your talent and skill. You will combine practical training with stimulating intellectual discussions of key debates in the visual arts. There is an excellent programme of visiting artists talks and opportunities to visit cultural venues.

Developing your individuality as an artist is key to your learning on this course. When you leave us, you will be prepared to take on a broad range of professional opportunities across a wide variety of exciting careers in the arts and creative industries.

To broaden your knowledge of career opportunities, you will benefit from working with practising professionals and will be supported to take on a work placement. We have strong links to the local and regional art scene, which enables our students and graduates to take part in exciting professional projects and exhibitions each year.

Academic year

The course provides flexibility, encouraging you to experiment with different media and approaches to your art practice. Typically the majority of modules are 45 academic credits with a smaller number of 30 or 15 credit modules. Each credit taken equates to a total study time of around 10 hours. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent studio practice and assessment activity. Full-time students take modules worth 60 credits per semester, with part-time students taking proportionately fewer credits per semester. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 360 credits for the degree as a whole.  The full-time course has one start point in September.

Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module where available.

Year 1 compulsory modules
Foundations Of Fine Art 20 credits
Researching Fine Art 20 credits
Studio Practice & Exhibition 40 credits
Studio Practice Introduction 40 credits
Year 2 compulsory modules
Professional Practice & Placement 40 credits
Studio Practice Development 40 credits
Studio Practice: Context & Exhibition 40 credits
Year 3 compulsory modules
Professional Practice 20 credits
Studio Practice Resolution 60 credits
Writing And Curating Contemporary Art 40 credits

Entry requirements

We use UCAS points in our offer making and welcome a wide range of qualifications.

112-120 UCAS Tariff points

  • GCE A Levels - grades BBC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • Access to HE Diploma - Pass Access with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points. Applicants to Staffs who are taking the Access to HE Diploma receive a reduced tariff point offer as part of our access and participation plan activity
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma - grade of Merit overall
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • T Levels - Eligible T Level applications will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of P (A*-C) or Higher Pass as a condition of offer

All applicants are individually assessed via a portfolio review

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country.

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Facilities

Dedicated Studio Space

Many of our art and design courses offer students their own personal workspace, conveniently located within an open-plan studio, to use throughout their course.

Watch video View virtual tour

Art and Design workshops

Our workshop facilities include 3D (wood, metal and plastics), digital imaging, surface decoration, and ceramics.

Art & Design Studio

You'll learn in a relaxed, supportive and professional workshop and studio environment, with plenty of practical, hands-on project work.

Careers

Our graduates have gone on to become successful practising visual artists, winning important prizes and receiving industry recognition. The course provides the transferable skills to take up positions in a wide range of cultural and creative employment destinations; recent graduates are now working as photographic production managers, gallery directors, and set designers.

Specific recent examples include:

  • Photographic Production Manager – Oasis and Warehouse
  • Gallery Director – Matt Roberts Arts, London
  • Documentary Director – Minnow Films, London
  • Set Designer – Emma Roach Studio

All students have access to Career Connect, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

The teaching on this course is firmly rooted in studio practice. You develop your skills across a wide range of project-based activities, which take place within a studio setting appropriate to the subject. Sometimes you'll work in whole groups, sometimes you'll be working in teams, with presentations of your work to your peer group and the academic staff. At other times during your study, you'll be working on individual self-initiated projects. During projects, there will be tutorial sessions with academic staff where you'll explore your practice in more detail.

In addition, you'll take part in lecture and seminar activities which allow you to explore the contextual and professional background to the projects you are undertaking. These are led by your lecturers and also guest tutors from industry who bring their specialist insight into the sessions. You'll also participate in technical skills instruction sessions with Technician Instructors enabling you to enhance your making and digital skills across a wide range of techniques and approaches.

Assessment

You are assessed in this course by a range of different types of coursework and practical activities. The assessment task for each module will vary dependent upon its content but may include:

  • A portfolio of completed artwork, professionally presented in the format required by the assignment, project or brief.
  • Workbooks, sketchbooks etc., documenting the process of generating, developing and resolving thoughts/ideas, and demonstrating the influence of research on practical work.
  • Research books, folders, dossiers, etc. documenting the gathering, sorting and presentation of research material.
  • Written essays or reports, in which you are exploring the contextual or professional background to a specific project.
  • An individual or group seminar presentation and/or the accompanying material which you have used to create the presentation.

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include:

  • study skills such as reading, note-taking and presentation skills
  • written English, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy
  • academic writing and how to reference
  • research skills
  • critical thinking and understanding arguments
  • revision, assessment and examination skills
  • time management

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Feedback

Throughout the modules you take on your course you are provided with formative, developmental assessment opportunities, which are carried out in tutorial and critique situations. Feedback is usually provided to you orally, with a written record kept either by the tutor or by you. This is sometimes produced as the result of peer or self-assessment exercises.

All modules also included formal or “summative” assessment tasks and the grades from the formal assessments count towards your module mark.

Your study time will consist of class contact hours, self-directed studio practice, assessment and placements where appropriate. 

Year 1

17% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
83% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Year 2

19% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
81% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Year 3

10% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
90% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Independent learning

When not attending lectures, seminars, studio or other timetabled sessions, you'll be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve utilising a range of digital resources including our virtual learning environment; reading journals, articles and books; working on individual and group projects; undertaking research in the library; preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for assessment. Your independent learning will be supported by a range of excellent facilities. These include the library, open access computer facilities, informal learning zones, a range of workshops, studio and exhibition spaces.

Year 1

13% practical assessments
88% coursework
0% written exams

Year 2

26% practical assessments
74% coursework
0% written exams

Year 3

0% practical assessments
100% coursework
0% written exams

Staff

You'll be taught by an expert teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience. Postgraduate research students who have undertaken teaching training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader.

Michael Safaric Branthwaite

Associate Professor

I am a Contemporary Fine Artist as well as an active researcher in integrated practices. My main area of interest is the use of technology and the digitisation of History and Heritage

Michael's profile

Dr Michael Day

Senior Lecturer

Dr. Michael Day is an artist, researcher, lecturer, and occasional curator. He is interested in the ways that digital technologies can structure experience, and produces artworks that explore relationships between technology and agency.

Michael's profile

Professor Ian Brown

Professor

Prof. Brown’s research investigates how contemporary social identity is constructed through rituals of consumption within popular culture. His research also explores the Invented World and the Natural World, including plant/human relations.

Ian's profile

Anna Francis

Professor

Anna Francis is an artist, educator and researcher whose work aims to create space to discuss and reframe city resources, through participatory art interventions.

Anna's profile

Dr Sarah Key

Senior Lecturer

Graduating from the University of Derby in 1999 with first class honours, I consolidated my painting practice for a year at Banks’s Mill studios, before heading to London to study MA: Painting at Wimbledon School of Art…

Sarah's profile

Fees

For the course starting on 22 September 2025 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands International
Full-time £9,535 per year of study £16,750 per year of study

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

Included in the fees:

Travel, and accommodation costs incurred by compulsory trips and visits away from the University that are directly linked to the learning requirements of a specific module.

The use of all workshops, studios and specialist technical facilities and hire of equipment relating to the course of study.
Not included in the fees:

The estimated cost of text books over the duration of the course. All essential text books are available from the library, but some students chose to purchase their own copies.

Travel, subsistence, entrance fees etc. incurred by optional trips and visits away from the University related to the course.

The cost of materials for the development of a student’s individual practice and work. Additional costs vary dependent upon student’s own choice of materials and approach to their practice.

Optional personal insurance when borrowing equipment such as cameras, lighting equipment etc. for extended period of use off campus [Approx £50-£100]. It may be possible to add some items to home contents insurance.
Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by reading our additional funding web pages, or visiting www.gov.uk.

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus BA (Hons) Full-time 22 September 2025 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at University of Staffordshire, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of University of Staffordshire enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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