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Illustration

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C

Any subject.

The Access to HE Diploma. Plus GCSE English at grade 4 / C or above.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

5 GCSEs at grade 4 / C or above to include English.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

29

Any subject.

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

DMM

Any subject.

Scottish Higher

C,C,D

UCAS Tariff

112

[1] 4 qualifications for tariff points allowed [2] May also include AS level and EPQ [3] Specific subject not required

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

Present a portfolio

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subject

Illustration

Turn your passion for art and creativity into an exciting professional career in Illustration.

This course is designed and taught by successful practicing illustrators, artists and designers, who all share a common desire to explore your personal interests in drawing and storytelling and push the boundaries of illustration.

The course has an inter-disciplinary and student-centred approach, enabling you to develop your individual creative practice and direct your portfolio towards a wide range of potential career paths.

* A programme of traditional and digital technology workshops.

* We aim to teach you transferable skills and how to use a wide range of tools to bring your ideas to life.

* On successful completion you should gain business and marketing skills, which aim to guide you through the steps you need to be industry ready for a successful career in illustration and other creative careers.

**Key course benefits**

* Professional practice and employability skills are taught and embedded into the course from day one and run as a strand throughout. You will be taught by staff who are active practitioners in the field of art and design and have relevant industry experience (staff may be subject to change).

* Industry standard software teaching and workshop skills are embedded into the course structure and its delivery.

* You will seek to develop your professional understanding of illustration and associated creative practices and develop a portfolio to target your career goals and aspirations.

* You will have the opportunity to work on live and real-world briefs to develop your confidence in working with and presenting to external clients.

* Following the University’s recent major investment in Art and Design, Illustration is now located in the newly re-configured, state of the art, city centre development. It benefits from a vibrant array of advanced facilities, including state-of-the-art teaching spaces and technical workshops, multi-use, lens-based, immersive technology and hyper studios as well as a public gallery space.

* The course and students benefit from membership to the AOI (Association of Illustrators).

Modules

This course has a common first year

The common first year enables you to work alongside students doing similar courses to you, to widen your knowledge and exposure to other subject areas and professions. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, so you can share your insights and experience which will help you to develop and learn.

If you discover an interest in a specific subject you have studied, upon successful completion of your first year, you could swap degrees with another course in your common first year (subject to meeting progression requirements

Common first year courses

Illustration BA (Hons)
Fine Art BA (Hons)
Photography BA (Hons)

Year One Modules

* Inspiration
* Process
* Making
* Play
* Narrative
* Audiences

Year Two

In year two you will continue to develop the skills and knowledge you’ve learnt. We do this by embedding the following four principles into the curriculum and developing your:

Technical skills – digital fluency, backed with the right academic knowledge
Study skills – to be an adaptive, independent and proactive learner
Professional skills – to have the behaviour and abilities to succeed in your career
Global awareness – the beliefs and abilities to be a resilient, confident and motivated global citizen

In year two, you will develop more advanced knowledge and skills to do with: materials and style, contextual illustration, and narrative illustration, amongst others.

Modules
Social Engaged Illustration
Material and Style
Illustration Context
Illustration Play
Narrative Illustration
Professional Presentation

Placement Year

There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement can often be beneficial. Work placements* usually occur between your second and final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.

If you choose to do a work placement year, you will pay a reduced tuition fee* of £1250. For more information, please go to the fees and funding section. During this time you will receive guidance from your employer or partner institution, along with your assigned academic mentor who will ensure you have the support you need to complete your placement.

For more information please go to the fees and funding section.

Final Year

Year three aims to bring you to the level to enter the world of work by consolidating your knowledge and skills from year one and two.

Modules
Entrepreneurial Illustrators
Illustration Specialism
Self-Promotion
Online Presence
Professional Portfolio

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated. Before accepting any offers, please check the website for the most up to date course content. For full module details please check the course page on the Coventry University website.

*For further information please check the course page on the Coventry University website

Assessment methods

Your learning journey will be wide ranging, developing your work to have integrity, resilience and be authentic in its production and delivery. The learning that you will undertake will include sessions that are led by staff, group projects, guided learning and directed skill sessions.

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which may vary depending upon the module concerned. Assessment methods include practical coursework, essays/reports, presentations, individual assignments and/or group work elements.

This course is predominantly assessed by coursework.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
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:

Coventry University

Department:

School of Art and Design

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.

79%
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

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
86%
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

71%
Library resources
82%
IT resources
80%
Course specific equipment and facilities
70%
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?

67%
UK students
33%
International students
36%
Male students
64%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
D

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.

£20,000
high
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
55%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

52%
Design occupations
12%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
6%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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

£21k

£21k

£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 Hertfordshire | Hatfield
Illustration
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112-120
Same University
Coventry University | Coventry
Product Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112

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Course location and department:

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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:

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