Arts University Plymouth
UCAS Code: WWDF | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
Although many of our students do come in with top grades and high UCAS points, these aren’t necessarily essential for entry. We typically ask for a minimum of 104 UCAS points, but we understand that talented artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant strengths and skills beyond formal qualifications. We’re just as interested in exploring your portfolio as we are in seeing your grades.
You may also need to…
Present a portfolio
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
Our **BA (Hons) Painting, Drawing and Printmaking** course is designed to immerse you in a wide range of traditional and contemporary techniques, students on this course will simultaneously develop a distinct creative voice as a contemporary professional artist.
Nestled in expansive, open-plan studios designed with airy lofted ceilings and strategically positioned windows to harness the natural light, you'll be inspired to cultivate an ambitious working ethos whilst immersed in all three disciplines of painting, drawing, and printmaking.
**Why Choose this Course?**
Embark on a transformative journey and explore a rich tapestry of traditional, contemporary, and hybrid artistic skills, nurturing your creativity and unique voice. This course equips you with mastery over the six visual languages of line, form, space, movement, tone, and colour.
Whilst studying this course, you will have the chance to show your work right from the beginning of your first year, in a professional exhibition open to the public, organised, curated and produced by your group.
Our tutors are all practising artists who bring unique, independent experience to the classroom and studio teaching. The course specialises in the embodied practice of painting, with the synergy of drawing and fine print together with colour as a conceptual practice.
**Develop Hands-On Skills through Workshops**
Throughout the intensive three-year period of focused study, an extensive array of technical workshops and material demonstrations serve as a cornerstone of the curriculum, nurturing a hands-on, profound material knowledge that directly shapes the concepts, techniques, and nuances of your developing studio practice.
**Explore the Art World**
Whilst studying with us, you’ll be able to take advantage of numerous cultural and community-based institutions in and around Plymouth, providing you with opportunities to see and participate in exhibitions that will expand your knowledge of the contemporary art world. Recent student trips have included visits to Tate Galleries in London and St Ives, the Barbara Hepworth Museum, Spike Island, Arnolfini, Hauser & Wirth and the Rabley Drawing Centre.
Students on the course have travelled internationally to attend the Impact 10 international printmaking conference in Santander, Spain, and have recently toured galleries and art fairs in Madrid, Berlin, and Amsterdam.
Through university initiatives and collaborations with the contemporary art world and curators, our students exhibit in local galleries and showcase their degree shows in London's prestigious Second Floor Studios. Renowned artists like Turner Prize nominee Ciara Phillips and Freelands Foundation Creative Director Dr. Henry Ward contribute to our program. Graduates establish successful practices in Plymouth, Falmouth, St Ives, Exeter, Bristol, London, and Europe.
**Professional Practice, Career Opportunities, and Skills Development**
Benefit from interactions with a diverse array of visiting artists, industry experts, and renowned partners, enriching your education with real-world insights and experiences. Our extensive industry connections include collaborations with art suppliers like Winsor & Newton, galleries such as Art Mill Gallery, and organisations like Q-art, known for their Crit Club events at venues like Tate Modern.
Our strong international connections also allow our students to take a semester of study with one of our partner institutions within Europe and North America, and in turn, we welcome overseas students from those institutions to join us in our studios, creating an exciting cultural exchange.
Upon graduation, our students pursue various career paths, such as painters, drawing artists, visualisers, fine printmakers, studio-based artists, illustrators, art, therapists, public artists, gallery owners, lecturers, teachers and arts entrepreneurs.
Modules
Your progress throughout the three years is driven by a comprehensive series of technical workshops, underpinned by the teaching of drawing as a core component of your studio practice.
You will study painting, drawing and printmaking, whilst also learning about the professional strategies of the art world.
We will encourage you to think through making, with your own studio work providing you with a centre of enquiry and a point of departure through the deep learning of a core discipline.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Arts University Plymouth
Arts, Design and Media
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Art
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Drawing
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Painting
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Printmaking
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Art
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£15k
£19k
£18k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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