University of South Wales
UCAS Code: WF13 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
To include a relevant Art and design subject.
Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points to include a relevant Art and Design subject.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
To include a relevant Art and design subject.
UCAS Tariff
To include a relevant Art and design subject.
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
If you are interested in how people read and understand images and text, and want to help them in almost every aspect of their lives, the Graphic Communication degree at the University of South Wales is for you. You’ll develop skills that are essential for creative communication, including printed media, advertising, corporate branding, publicity, editorial, and information and interactive web design. The emphasis is on practical studio-based work, reinforced by lectures and seminars.
There are live projects each year, working directly with design companies and industrial clients to enhance your portfolio and employability. You’ll also have the opportunity to enter industry competitions and follow in the footsteps of our award-winning students such as Samantha Withers, winner of Starpack, and Kirsty Alexander, who came third in the Puffin Book Prize.
Modules
In your first year, you will get a solid grounding in the elements of graphic communication. You can develop and push your creative ideas using traditional media and new technologies. You will explore type, brands, life drawing, and computer graphics using industry-standard software.
In year two, you can focus on specific areas of graphic communication such as print or interactive media, and explore design theory to support your practical work. To ensure you are ready for the workplace, we will introduce you to aspects of professional practice and development.
Your final year is an exciting one as it is your chance to shine. There are plenty of live briefs and competitions that culminate in a major project and the annual design show. For this, you will have the challenge of creating your own brief to showcase the skills and creativity you have developed.
Year One
•Graphic Communication projects
•Visual Studies
•Design in Context
•Computers Graphic Applications
Year Two
•Graphic Communication Projects 2
•Graphic Communication Projects 3
•Graphic Design in Context
•Professional Design and Practice
•Creative Industry Collaborative Project
•Work Experience
Year Three
•Graphic Communication Final Project
•Critical Research
•Design Management
•Design Competition
Assessment methods
Your work is assessed entirely through the submission of coursework, with the majority (80%) through a practical portfolio of work. The remaining elements integrate practice and theory through written and other forms. You will be encouraged to discuss your work critically with staff, leading designers and other students, through individual and group critiques in a supportive studio environment.
Tuition fees
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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.
Design studies
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.
Graphic 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.
Top job areas of graduates
Visual communication
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
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.
£17k
£19k
£22k
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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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?
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