Entry requirements
A level
112 UCAS Tariff points from three A-Levels or equivalent qualifications.
Pass your Access course with 60 credits overall with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English grade C/4 or equivalent GCSE Maths grade C/4 or GCSE Science grade C/4 or equivalent
112 UCAS Tariff points from your BTEC level 3 National Diploma and one A-Level or equivalent qualification.
112 UCAS Tariff points from your BTEC level 3 National Extended Certificate and two A-levels or equivalent qualifications
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
Explore what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century, considering the role of contemporary art in modern society. Develop your artistic work across the full range of contemporary fine art media, including drawing, installation, painting, sculpture, performance, photography, film, video, sound, and print.
Nottingham is internationally recognised as a vibrant hub for new and emerging artists and artist-led initiatives, boasting a diverse and thriving network of galleries, art spaces and artist collectives. Benefit from our links with such organisations locally, nationally and internationally by working on collaborative projects and enhancing your professional practice.
You’ll have the opportunity to enter competitions and exhibit your work globally. Our Fine Art graduates have played a big role in the development of the artistic network in Nottingham – there is direct correlation with the amount of art projects going on in the city and our alumni – a reciprocal ecosystem that future students can benefit from.
**Key features**
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- Employability on this course is excellent, with 96% of students securing employment or further education within six months of graduating (DLHE 2016/17).
- Experiment with different media before focusing on what is right for your own practice.
- Work in our dedicated Fine Art studios and workshops, alongside students from all years.
- Attend our Live Lecture Series, featuring national and international artists, creative practitioners and theorists.
- Be inspired by Nottingham’s artistic community and creative places to visit, including Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange and Lakeside Arts.
- Create connections with Nottingham’s wider art community through our alumni and staff network.
- Benefit from our extensive links with festivals, art organisations and artists’ groups, nationally and internationally.
- Take part in local and international exhibitions and events, such as the Tilburg project in the Netherlands and Kunstpodium T programme.
- Go on optional study trips to destinations such as Berlin, New York, and Copenhagen.
- Apply to study part of your degree abroad through our European or international exchange programmes.
- Have the support of academic and technical staff who are practising artists in their own right.
- Exhibit your work as part of our Student Showcase, with the opportunity to exhibit externally in local, national or international spaces.
- We're ranked 12th best University for Art and Design in the UK. (The Complete University Guide 2021).
**Assessment**
Assessment is 100% through coursework. You will receive feedback throughout each module and will be awarded a grade.
**Employability**
Employability for this course is excellent, with 96% of our students going on to employment or further study within six months of graduating. (DLHE survey 2016/17)
A high proportion of our graduates choose to stay in Nottingham to further establish their creative network. Many go on to become artists or work in roles such as curators, teachers, gallerists, animators, musicians, community artists, photographers and filmmakers.
Modules
[Year One]
Curiosity: Introducing Fine Art Practice (120 credit points)
The emphasis is on developing self-directed study, beginning with a series of workshops to kick-start your practice and help you to settle into your studies, allowing you to meet staff and fellow students. Explore with a sense of curiosity, creating work quickly and developing your ideas into more focused, self-negotiated fine art practice. Deepen your awareness of the critical and professional contexts of fine art, and through project proposals and planning you’ll be introduced to the skills required for professional practice.
[Year Two]
Speculation: Developing Fine Art Practice (120 credit points)
Continue to develop your art practice in a chosen medium or combination of media areas. You’ll work more independently than in Year One, selecting an appropriate work space and developing a studio culture that suits your practice. Seminars will provide opportunities for lively debate on your work and the contexts it relates to. The Public project will help you to develop skills relating to professional practice, developing networks and contacts outside of the University. As in Year One, you’ll continue to document and reflect upon your work, assembling a research portfolio for assessment.
[Final Year]
Resolution: Final Practice and Reflection (120 credit points)
You’ll work independently towards a deeper understanding and resolution of your own practice. Identify and critically apply the questions, problems, methods and processes that are uniquely appropriate to your practice. In this module, there is an emphasis on making and staging your work within a professional contemporary art context. At the end of the module, you’ll exhibit or platform your work in our final Degree Show.
The Uni
City Campus
School of Art and Design
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.
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.
Fine 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.
Fine 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.
£18k
£22k
£25k
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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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?
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