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Silversmithing & Jewellery Design

Glasgow School of Art

UCAS Code: W721 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H2

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

PPP

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B-A,A,B,B

UCAS Tariff

114-128

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Design

Metal work

Silversmithing and goldsmithing

History of design

Our reasons for decorating the body are wide-ranging and complex and the wearing of jewellery (shell beads) is the earliest recorded form of modern human behaviour, dating back over 100,000 years. Historically, people have expressed themselves through relatively superficial body adornment to extremely sophisticated symbols as a means of communicating the concept of position, rank, status, etc.

Contemporary studio jewellers continue to challenge perceived boundaries and use the artefact as a way of defining a personal response to social and cultural issues such as gender, relationships politics, and the environment. Similarly, silversmiths explore this interaction between fine metalworking and ideas, through the vehicle of the functional domestic object.

The Department embraces this diversity through informed debate and discussion. It encourages students to develop a personal approach to the research and development of lively design solutions together with a knowledge of traditional and cutting edge technology and skill acquisition.

Whether they intend to enter the broad based jewellery and silverware industries, pursue personal expression through the gallery market or continue in academia, students will develop their skills in a supportive and confident Department.

The Silversmithing and Jewellery programme aims to provide a broad, balanced programme covering aspects of body adornment and fine metalworking from the development of original design concepts through to the finely crafted finished work. The course embraces as broad an approach to silversmithing and jewellery as possible, from designing for the mainstream jewellery or silverware industries to the pursuit of very personal works intended for gallery exposure.

A strong emphasis is placed on the development of individual craft and design skills that increasingly allow each student the freedom to pursue and realise ideas in appropriate media. Consequently, we actively encourage exploration of a wide range of materials through project work. The course centres its basic technical studies, however, in the area of fine metalworking, providing students with the experience of working in gold and silver as well as other metals.

The staff of the department, as practising designer/makers/researchers, continually review new developments in the field, evaluate the place of silversmithing and jewellery in changing international cultural environments, and respond to technological advances in design and manufacture. The programme is supported by guest lectures, field trips, professional practice workshops, live projects, themed department exhibitions, and seminar/study groups.

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
£21,360
per year
International
£21,360
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Garnethill Campus

Department:

School of 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.

61%
Design
61%
Metal work
61%
Silversmithing and goldsmithing
64%
History of design

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
79%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

58%
Library resources
77%
IT resources
63%
Course specific equipment and facilities
40%
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?

77%
UK students
23%
International students
25%
Male students
75%
Female students
73%
2:1 or above
2%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
B
A

Others in creative arts and design

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
78%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
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

67%
Library resources
78%
IT resources
67%
Course specific equipment and facilities
50%
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?

77%
UK students
23%
International students
16%
Male students
84%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
4%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
B
D

History of art, architecture and design

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
79%
Staff are good at explaining things
73%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
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

64%
Library resources
79%
IT resources
65%
Course specific equipment and facilities
39%
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?

75%
UK students
25%
International students
23%
Male students
77%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
A
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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
60%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

51%
Design occupations
17%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
6%
Other elementary services occupations

Others in creative arts 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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

55%
Design occupations
10%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Other elementary services occupations

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

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.

£15k

£15k

£18k

£18k

£23k

£23k

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.

Others in creative arts 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.

£15k

£15k

£18k

£18k

£23k

£23k

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.

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

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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