Art

Single Honours 

• Fine Art 

• Visual Arts 

• Digital Arts 

Joint Honours 

• Fine Art with History of Art 

• Art and Digital Design 

• Art and Film Studies 

• Art and Literature 

SOURCE: COMMON DEGREE TITLES FROM WHATUNI

 Alternative options 

• Foundation degrees A foundation degree in art typically lasts for a year and prepares students with the necessary skills and knowledge needed to begin an undergraduate degree, as well as offering opportunities to improve English skills. 

• Sandwich degrees Extending your art undergraduate degree by an additional year offers valuable opportunities to engage in internships, artist residencies, or gallery placements, or travel to a different country and experience a new culture via a study abroad year. 

• Integrated Master’s Pursuing an integrated Master's degree in art allows students to deepen their artistic practice and understanding of contemporary art by extending their undergraduate studies by one year and gaining a postgraduate degree at relatively little extra cost. 

• Degree apprenticeships These programs typically last between three and six years, combining study with work-based learning. You’ll earn a wage while building skills, and your employer will even pay for your tuition fees. 

SOURCE: WHATUNI

In order to study art and design, a solid portfolio of work is often as important as your A-level grades (or equivalents). Some courses will ask for a foundation diploma in the subject area, while others will include a foundation year as part of a longer undergraduate course.  

Demonstrating visual literacy and critical thinking is key, and subjects such as fine art, art history, design, and English literature can also strengthen your application. 

Art is a vast and highly subjective field, looking at a diverse range of mediums and specialised areas. From traditional mediums to new digital forms, you’ll be able to explore various areas of interest and develop your creative identity as you study.  

Some specialised areas include: 

• Installation art Involves creating immersive, three-dimensional artworks that transform a space and engage the viewer's senses. Artists use various materials, such as sculpture, light, sound, and found objects, to evoke emotions and provoke thought. 

• Printmaking Printmaking involves transferring onto a surface, such as paper, fabric, or metal, using various processes like lithography and screen printing. Artists can produce many copies of their work, making it accessible to a wider audience. 

• Performance art Artists use their bodies as the medium for creative expression. It often involves live presentations, gestures, and interactions with the audience, and is captured on video and through photographs. 

• Photography Photography is one of the most versatile forms of image making, and it’s a medium that lends itself well to creating visual stories, documenting real events, and conveying emotions and ideas. 

• Textiles Includes a number of traditional and contemporary techniques such as weaving, knitting, crocheting, felting and embroidery. Artists use textiles to create functional and decorative objects, exploring texture, colour, and form. 

• Studio practice  

• Art history 

• Figure drawing and anatomy 

• Sculpture  

• Cultural studies 

• Digital imaging and visual communication 

• Exhibition design 

• Performance art 

• Portfolio development 

Studying art at university involves learning through a combination of individual research, studio work, seminars, and critiques. You’ll develop your artistic identity as you build a repertoire of skills and influences that later become part of your creative expression and inform your professional practices.  

In addition to studying different techniques, you’ll explore the historical, theoretical, and cultural dimensions of the art world, learning how to critically analyse artworks and engage with contemporary debates in the art world. 

You’ll also pick up transferable skills such as  

• Creative design  

• Independent thinking  

• Problem-solving 

• Hand-eye co-ordination 

• Communication 

While art programs generally don’t have formal accreditation built into the course, there are accredited organisations at the very highest level of the industry. 

These can include bodies such as The Royal Society of Sculptors which is an internationally recognised organisation with professional accreditation (Member MRSS and Fellow FRSS). 

If you’re after a career within the creative arts but want to explore a few options besides art, then here are a few alternative degree options which are worth researching. They might allow you to focus more on the elements that you’re most interested in. 

• Creative writing 

• Performing arts 

• Illustration 

• Filmmaking 

• Cultural studies 

You can pursue a wide range of options as a fine artist, from painting and drawing, to multimedia, digital work, sculpture, textiles, ceramics and much more. You could create original artwork for galleries, commissions, and exhibitions. If you’re more interested in curation, you can work in museum curation, gallery management, or even art conservation.  Your visual skills make you highly versatile in professional sectors like branding, advertising, and marketing, where you can find more commercial work. 

Professional roles can include: 

• Visual artist 

• Gallery curator 

• Art educator 

• Graphic designer 

• Creative director 

• Art therapist 

• Events coordinator 

• Set designer 

These are just a few of the most common job roles. You'll find plenty of other options available to you, and you can also continue your studies by completing a postgraduate degree in art or a related subject.