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Arts University Bournemouth

UCAS Code: W100 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

B,B,C-B,B,B

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,C,D

Scottish Highers – five passes at Grade C or above

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-120

You may also need to…

Present a portfolio

image

About this course

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Fine art

**Course Summary**

Exhibiting artwork, the result of inquisitive enquiry, is at the heart of our course. This course is outward-looking and believes in the adaptability of art practice for both recognized and unfamiliar exhibition contexts to foster an enterprising and professional attitude in students. An outward-looking and connective mindset is learnt through a holistic understanding of new cultural areas in tandem with asking how a developing art practice can intervene or contribute to these contexts. Consequently, this encourages positive engagement with real-world society and awareness of broad creative industry employment opportunities.

**Distinctive features of the course**

1. Zoning of Art Practice:
The first year is undertaken in a mixed discipline studio where any type of art practice is explored; this learning environment allows you to boldly test new art practice disciplines. Second and third year is zoned into three areas of art practice, Painting, Sculpture, and Media and Performance. This approach allows you to decide a specific art practice. You can move between zones and many group critiques are mixed across the zones to encourage cross pollination of ideas.

2. Real-World Exhibition Experiences:
These provide local professional real-world contexts for testing your art practice with public audiences.

3. Global Network Projects:
Cultivating inspirational learning environments to open new world views for both student and tutor through international partners. These projects are optional and are elected by you to challenge your art practice.

4. Locational Learning:
There are opportunities for national and international locational learning periods, these include national and international residential study visits and an international university exchange programme.

**What you will learn**

Course content is designed to incrementally build your independence through helping you learn how to discover your area of interest, what we call subject matter for art practice. This structured framework is gradually removed throughout each unit as you identify your area of subject matter and subsequently use the course delivery activities to support your art practice. For example, the final unit of the course, Final Major Exhibition, will see you pursue an independently driven project that you will have designed specifically to suit your art practice.

Critically Reflective Writing is crucial and therefore works hand in hand with art practice. Critically reflective writing helps improve your knowledge of your specific art practice by situating it in relevant theoretical frameworks. You will progressively deepen your understanding of theoretical frameworks by writing an essay within each academic year. The essays are supported with lectures, seminars, tutorials, and study plans. It is also expected that other practical activities, such as practical workshops or study visits, will develop and influence your interests.

The course aims to raise your awareness of broad employment pathways, whilst not exclusive these can be generalised into three main routes for graduates; being an artist, becoming an educator, pursuing an enterprising alternative route. It is expected that you will independently seek out support and advice from AUB Futures – Careers and Enterprise, which will continue to support you for three years after graduation.

Assessment methods

Coursework and practical work

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£17,950
per year
International
£17,950
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni

Course location:

Main Site - Arts University Bournemouth

Department:

Art, Design and Architecture

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

60%
Fine art

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

62%
Staff make the subject interesting
68%
Staff are good at explaining things
73%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
68%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

75%
Library resources
100%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
32%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
10%
Male students
90%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
4%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
A

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.

Art

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.

£16,450
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
28%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

28%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
17%
Other elementary services occupations
10%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

Quite a few students of fine art have already retired and are taking the degree for the excellent reason that they love art, and they're willing to pay to study it. You should bear this in mind if the stats you see feature particularly low employment rates. If you need to earn a living once you've finished your fine art degree, be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common - about one in six fine arts graduates were working for themselves. Also common are what is termed 'portfolio careers' — having several part-time jobs or commissions at once - and many courses actually help you prepare for freelancing. One in ten of last year’s fine arts graduates had more than one job six months after graduation — over twice the average for graduates from 2015. Graduates from these subjects are often found in arts jobs, as artists, designers, photographers and similar jobs, or as arts and entertainment officers or teachers — although it's perfectly possible to get jobs outside the arts if you wish, with jobs in events management, marketing and community work amongst the most popular options.

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.

£16k

£16k

£22k

£22k

£24k

£24k

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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Lower entry requirements
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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