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Illustration

Arts University Plymouth

UCAS Code: W220 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

104-120

Although many of our students do come in with top grades and high UCAS points, these aren’t necessarily essential for entry. We typically ask for a minimum of 104 UCAS points, but we understand that talented artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant strengths and skills beyond formal qualifications. We’re just as interested in exploring your portfolio as we are in seeing your grades.

You may also need to…

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

6 years | Part-time | 2024

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subject

Illustration

**Arts University Plymouth is an arts university for the 21st century, preparing students who are uniquely placed to provide creative solutions to the complex global challenges of a changing world. Formerly known as Plymouth College of Art, we were granted full university title in Spring 2022. We are now the city of Plymouth’s first and only specialist arts university, allowing us to offer our students a dynamic and unique learning experience.**

In May 2022 we were awarded the **Best Small or Specialist University at the 2022 WhatUni Student Choice Awards**, coming top in a list of well-respected specialist UK universities, based on unbiased and honest reviews from students across the UK, in a category that highlights the quality of our provision as a specialist creative university.

**Through this industry-informed degree, you will explore and define what it means to be an illustrator today. You will learn how to apply your understanding to commercial briefs just as much as to personal self-expression, and build a sustainable and fulfilling lifelong practice.**

Through both creative self-expression and challenging ideas, illustrators have the ability to present powerful propositions, develop alternate realities and evoke emotions in audiences and individuals.

Taught by a dedicated illustration teaching team, you’ll develop and build on a variety of conceptual and image-making methods, breaking down and tackling the ‘ingredients’ of illustration and how you might apply them to your own creative practice. Using these you’ll become an effective practitioner in the areas that you feel most connected to – from editorial and advertising to narrative books and research – all informed by the expert experience of your tutors who work in those fields. We’ll challenge you to develop a culturally curious attitude and be sensitive to the ethical responsibilities that illustration comes with.

Throughout this degree you will develop an authentic selection of skills and attributes, placing high value on curiosity and perseverance. You will be challenged to develop authentic ways of working, assuming agency and autonomy as an image-maker and learning what this means to you as a practitioner. Our industry- informed curriculum will present projects aimed at developing an understanding not only of the creative industries, but also of how your work has the potential to function within them, as well as change them.

You will work within a supportive studio environment, exploring your subject both as an individual and as part of collaborative, interdisciplinary teams. You’ll approach independent work with a critical mindset, considering the purpose, rationale, production and application of your own original work, whilst seeking opportunities to collaborate with the creative community of artists and designers around you. We will encourage you to foster and engage with our many nurturing and student-led communities across the university, showcasing your final outputs as part of enterprising collectives, pop-up shops and curated exhibitions.

We place equal emphasis on the specifics of commercial practice (including the in-depth business tools you need to operate as a freelancer) and on providing encouragement to explore and follow the value of your own ideas and passions. As you develop and extend the boundaries of your visual language and critical thinking, we’ll support you to build a truly fulfilling creative practice – sustainable far beyond your time with us.

Our graduates are enjoying brilliantly colourful and diverse creative careers, illustrating toys for LEGO, articles for The New York Times, packaging for Marks & Spencer and greetings cards for Hallmark. Graduating from BA (Hons) Illustration at Arts University Plymouth will leave you empowered, capable and excited for a thriving creative future.

Modules

Illustration is a competitive discipline which requires high levels of commitment – we will help you develop professional skills through each assignment, including creative problem-solving, project management, working to brief and completing to deadline.
You’ll have opportunities to build a professional network, as well as the chance to show off your skills by exhibiting, publishing and promoting your work outside the college.
Through self-reflection, you’ll develop and identify personal strengths, helping you to recognise transferable skills and how they will be useful for employment once you graduate.

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
£16,500
per year
International
£16,500
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:

Arts University Plymouth

Department:

Arts, Design and Media

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.

78%
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

81%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
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
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
67%
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?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
25%
Male students
75%
Female students
46%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

After graduation


We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.

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.

£13k

£13k

£16k

£16k

£18k

£18k

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
Kingston University | Kingston upon Thames
Illustration Animation
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 120-136
Nearby University
University of Plymouth | Plymouth
Illustration with Foundation
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 32-48
Same University
Arts University Plymouth | Plymouth
Illustration
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 104-120

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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:

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