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Illustration

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

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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Illustration

**There are no rules in illustration.**
On this course you’ll explore the excitement of the blurred boundaries between contemporary disciplines. You’ll challenge and interrogate the way you think about illustration, imagery and style. Illustration is a way of seeing and understanding the world. Through a variety of techniques, traditional and digital, you’ll discover how to connect and communicate with different audiences across a range of contemporary platforms.

**What you will learn**
The course proposes a dynamic learning experience based upon critical discourse within a vibrant creative studio environment. Individual development is supported and nurtured through experimentation, exploration, innovation, and risk-taking. The progressive structure of the course promotes the development of visual thinking and autonomous individual learning. The course offers the opportunity for you to explore diverse outcomes, based upon a reflective and critical understanding of the historical and contemporary contexts in which illustration continues to evolve. The broad based ethos of the course does not prohibit specialism however, and you are encouraged to understand and locate your practice within a range of contexts. This breadth of practice is essential for an exciting dialogue that emerges from the more traditional ideas of illustration through to the newer emergence of challenging and exciting hybrid forms. Individual units are designed to be adaptive to the changing nature of contemporary practice and developing theoretical positions. You are supported in the development of a broad and diverse response to a range of strategies, processes and techniques. You will build an appropriate portfolio of skills for the development of your individual practice, potentially including drawing, printmaking, photography, animation, utilising both digital and analogue approaches. The curriculum acknowledges that the creative process is informed and nourished by your development as an independent, critically self-reflective learner.

The Course Team consists of a range of active practitioners and this enhances the currency of the learning experience. Visiting lecturers and industry liaison members also place considerable emphasis on the realities of working within the professional environment and the wider creative community.

Approximately 54% of your time will be contact hours, including scheduled teaching sessions, but also supervised time in the workshop or studio. 100% of assessment for this course is coursework based.

**You can choose to complete your degree in one of the following named awards:**
- BA (Hons) Illustration (Animation)

- BA (Hons) Illustration (Printmaking)

**By the end of the course you will be able to...**
- Relate the specialist knowledge and skills that you have developed to contemporary practice.

- Make coherent visual statements integrating observation, analysis, interpretation, and speculation.

- Develop and refine arguments through a continuing engagement with cultural, social, environmental, theoretical and historical contexts.

- Use research skills with an understanding of relevant protocols. Provide reasoned solutions, recognising the uncertainty and limits of knowledge.

- Critically evaluate discourses and practices, making informed judgements using an appropriate range of sources from both within and beyond the field of illustration.

- Apply transferable skills, exercise initiative and personal responsibility.

- Extend your academic learning as an independent, self-reflective and creative practitioner, fully prepared for professional environments or postgraduate study.

**Studios and resources**
As a BA (Hons) Illustration student, you’ll work in a combination of multi-use studio spaces and tutorial areas. You’ll benefit from access to a number of University facilities, such as specialist print areas, workshops and lecture theatres.

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
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.

73%
Illustration

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.

Design studies

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
82%
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

82%
Library resources
91%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
62%
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?

82%
UK students
18%
International students
17%
Male students
83%
Female students
80%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

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.

Design studies

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.

£18,564
med
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
47%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

63%
Design occupations
7%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
4%
Artistic, literary and media occupations

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Design studies

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of Plymouth | Plymouth
Illustration
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96-144
Nearby University
University of Portsmouth | Portsmouth
Illustration
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112-120

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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.

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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:

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

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here