What you study
The programme has two elements:
Studio Practice (75% of the course)
You’ll have your own studio space from day one with access to excellent facilities and technical advice. Studios are not divided by year or discipline, so you will be studying alongside students from all stages of the programme working in a wide variety of media, including:
- Drawing
- Painting
- Constructed textiles
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
- Stitch
- Fabric
- Photography
- Printed textiles
- Video
- Installation
- Performance
Studio teaching is supported and complemented by workshop areas, which will introduce you to the techniques and skills relevant to the practical development of your work.
You’ll have regular individual and group tutorials with your own tutor, with other tutors, and with visiting artists. You will also present your work for discussion with a larger group of students each term.
Critical Studies (25% of the course)
The lecture and seminar series in Year 1 offers a space for exploring and examining the historical and critical context in which art is made, seen and understood. The seminar options from which you can choose in Year 2 engage and extend your critical skills, enabling you to develop your ability to analyse, judge and write about contemporary art. Tutorials will guide your essay writing in Years 1 and 2, and will support the completion of your dissertation in Year 3.
All staff on the programme are practising artists, curators and writers, here to respond to the work that you make and to help you understand how it contributes to and challenges the critical debates that exist in the study area and beyond. We support your development and creativity and help you acquire independent learning skills. This approach requires you to be committed, to thrive on constructive criticism exchanged between staff and students, and to participate in discussing your own work and that of others.
Teaching style
This programme is taught through intensive studio and research art practice, tutorials and mixed-year studio practice presentations. You'll also attend lectures and seminars where you'll hear about ideas and concepts related to specific topics, and where you'll be encouraged to discuss and debate the issues raised.
You'll be allocated a studio space that will be the focal point of your activities. Students from all three levels share the studio spaces, providing valuable peer support. You will determine the nature of your practice and, with guidance from the tutorial staff, be encouraged to work in any medium that you choose.
The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 12% scheduled learning, 88% independent learning
- Year 2 - 9% scheduled learning, 91% independent learning
- Year 3 - 6% scheduled learning, 94% independent learning
How you’ll be assessed
Studio practice coursework is continuously assessed through individual tutorials and group seminars. This is complemented by studio presentations at Year 1, viva voce at Year 2, and a final exhibition at Year 3. Critical Studies is assessed through essays (Years 1 and 2) and a dissertation (Year 3).
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 93% coursework, 8% practical
- Year 2 - 85% coursework, 15% practical
- Year 3 - 100% coursework
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about how this information is calculated.
Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
Between 2020 and 2022 we needed to make some changes to how programmes were delivered due to Covid-19 restrictions. For more information about past programme changes please visit our programme changes information page.
