History of Art
Goldsmiths, University of London
UCAS Code: V350 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Goldsmiths, University of London
UCAS Code: V350 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Pass with 45 Level 3 credits including 30 Distinctions and a number of merits/passes in subject specific modules
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
With three Higher Level subjects at 655
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
T Level
Each application will be considered on its individual merits. Where the T Level subject area does not directly match the degree programme being applied for, the personal statement and reference will be particularly important in demonstrating interest, enthusiasm and suitability for the subject.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Why study BA History of Art at Goldsmiths**
**Investigate modern and contemporary art, art theory and visual culture from around the world, and from a fresh perspective.**
- This degree encourages you to develop an independent critical involvement with works of art and visual culture. You'll examine changing historical conceptions of art and the artist, and explore the visual arts in their wider cultural and political contexts.
- We'll explore visual culture in all forms to broaden your outlook. You’ll not only examine the kinds of artefacts you might see in museums and art galleries, but also those that make up our everyday environment: like architecture, city and landscapes, adverts, TV and film, websites, the body, and street style.
- You'll study history of art from a fresh perspective, investigating key areas of debate rather than traditional chronology.
- You’ll study in one of the world's best universities for art and design (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025) and you'll be based in London, which means you'll be able to take advantage of the many galleries, art spaces, museums, cultural facilities and specialist libraries the city has to offer.
- You’ll get the chance to put theory into practice with a work placement module, where you could gain experience at a public institution such as Hackney Museum or the Live Art Development Agency.
- Many of our recent graduates are now working as curators and exhibition managers with employers including Tate Modern, the V&A Museum and Edinburgh Castle, while others enter creative fields such as journalism and marketing.
Modules
Year 1 (credit level 4)
In your first year you'll examine changing conceptions of art and the artist, historically and also in terms of context, ideas, and kinds of practice.
You will also be introduced to history of art as a discipline and will engage in discussion of key aspects of contemporary visual culture.
Each of our first-year modules is taught by a team of four or five different teachers from the permanent faculty. Our approach to learning, teaching and research is exploratory, innovative and rigorous. In this way, first-year students soon get to know many of the department’s core academic staff.
You'll take the following compulsory modules:
Modernities
Seeing and Showing
Space and Time
Beyond Boundaries
Year 2 (credit level 5)
You will take the following compulsory modules:
Contemporaneities
The Goldsmiths Elective
Situated Knowledges in Visual Cultures
Option modules
You also choose option modules to the value of 45 credits from an approved list available annually from the Department of Visual Cultures.
Second and third-year modules are thematic in content, and the themes relate to five pathways running through the programme:
Art and ideas
Space and place
The Curatorial
Sound and image
Embodiment
Individual modules are identified with one or more of these pathways, to help you in defining your special areas of interest as you proceed.
Recent examples of option modules include:
Beckett & Aesthetics: Bodies and Identity
Cohabitations
Inhabitations
The Fact of Blackness I
Fashion as Dream Image
Museums, Galleries, Exhibitions
Popular Modernism
Patterns of Perception
The Goldsmiths Project
Year 3 (credit level 6)
In your third year, you will take the following compulsory module:
Expanded Practices in Visual Cultures
Option modules
You will also take 2 to 4 option modules, chosen from an approved list that is available annually from the Department of Visual Cultures.
One of the optional modules you may choose is the 'Visual Cultures as Public Practice' module. During this module, you will have the opportunity to link your studies to one of many interesting public institutions. Your research project could be based at the V&A, The Live Art Development Agency, Iniva, Hackney Museum, the Zoo, amongst many others.
Recent examples of option modules include:
Animating Architecture
Archive and Spectacle
Film Fables
Documentary Lives
Philosophy and...
Sexual Poetics
The Truth in Painting
Counter Forensics
Research Architecture
Visual Cultures as Public Practice
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of the modules may be available every year.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed by coursework only. Normally this consists of essays, sometimes accompanied by creative projects, group projects, multi-media projects, presentations, symposia, reviews, and studio work.
The Uni
Goldsmiths, University of London
Visual Cultures
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.
History of art, architecture and design
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.
History of art, architecture and design
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
This is a category for graduates taking a wide range of courses that don’t fall neatly into a subject group, so be aware that the stats you see here may not be a very accurate guide to the outcomes for the specific course you’re interested in. Management, finance, marketing, education and jobs in the arts are some of the typical jobs for these graduates, but it's sensible to go on open days and talk to tutors about what you might expect from the course, and what previous graduates did.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
History of art, architecture and design
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£23k
£28k
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.
Explore these similar courses...
Higher entry requirements
Lower entry requirementsNearby UniversitySame UniversityThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
