Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: W190 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
A Level: 112 UCAS tariff points / BBC (or equivalent). AS Level: Must be in a different subject to A Levels. A maximum of four subjects will be considered.
Pass with 60 credits. At least 45 credits at level 3. Accepted subjects: Arts, Media and Publishing subjects preferred but other subjects also considered.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
This course does not require evidence of GCSE qualifications.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Obtain a minimum of 28 points overall
Minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points, achieved in five Higher level subjects
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications.
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications.
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications.
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC).
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC).
Merit overall. All subjects accepted but Digital Production, Design and Development and Craft and Design preferred.
UCAS Tariff
Please note: If you qualify for our BCU Accelerate scheme, you could receive an offer that is two grades below our normal entry requirements.
You may also need to…
Present a portfolio
About this course
Maker? Thinker? Futurist? Coder? Performer? Technologist? Conservationist? Designer? Interested?
Our new hybrid BA (Hons) is a course for the future, where you will explore the intersection of art and design to create your career in the evolving creative industries.
Many innovative creative studios now define themselves as interdisciplinary, a word which defines the fluid movement across the fields of art, design and technology. Rather than specialising in a particular creative discipline, our cutting-edge course reflects how these studios practice by exploring the intersection between art and design, with the implementation of new creative digital technologies.
Our course will prepare you to be ready for employment within the creative industries by providing you with long-term creative skills to map out your creative future. With you at the centre, we will explore the intersections of art and design, providing a space where you can understand, develop and create a career in the evolving creative industries. You will develop the necessary self-awareness to question, make, play and create with others.
This course offers a Creative Technologies pathway. This optional pathway will give you the opportunity to focus specifically on developing your digital skills. You can choose this pathway at the start of your studies, or transfer over to the pathway at the end of each academic year.
**Professional Placement Year**
This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.
If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.
Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.
**Creative Technologies pathway**
All students will be introduced to the fundamentals of interdisciplinary art and design practice with a focus on new creative technologies, which forms the core ethos of this course. In line with the development of our digital futures we are introducing an optional pathway in Creative Technologies which will give you the opportunity to focus specifically on further developing your digital skills through a breadth of technological approaches.
If you choose the Creative Technologies pathway you will cover the same curriculum, but will opt for technology-based outcomes. You will be assessed in relation to your exploration, questioning and use of a range of contemporary digital technologies and your creative applications in relation to the module theme. Work may still embrace a sense of physicality but the focus will retain an element of Creative Technologies. You can either choose the Creative Technologies pathway at the start of your studies, or transfer over to the Creative Technologies pathway at the end of each academic year.
**£1,000 scholarships for 2025/26**
If you apply to BCU by 30 June 2025, you could be eligible for one of our £1,000 scholarships:
- Accelerate – if you are from a lower income family or household
- High Achievers’ – if you achieve 144 UCAS points or more from your main three qualifications
For full details and terms, visit www.bcu.ac.uk/scholarships
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Margaret Street
Birmingham School of Art
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.
Fine 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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
£17k
£20k
£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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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:
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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.
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
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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