School of Creative Industries

BA (Hons) Art and Design

BA (Hons) Full-time 3 years, Part-time 6 years

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BA (Hons)
Start date(s)
16 September 2024
UCAS Code
WW50
Course specifications
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Course length
Full-time (3 years),Part-time (6 years)
Campus location
Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)
School
School of Creative Industries
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Why choose this course?

This course gives you an introduction to a broad range of Art, Design and Media disciplines and to gradually develop an area of specialism in your chosen field.

You will be supported to develop a professional portfolio of work and the knowledge and expertise that will demonstrate your abilities and match your aspirations for employment or further study. The course is designed and informed by an experimental and hands-on approach toward art, design and media practices and to give you an insight into the creative industries.

The aim of this course is to introduce you to undergraduate study in a familiar environment and small group setting that will directly foster your engagement with the other people on your course. Furthermore, it provides opportunities for you to begin to build a portfolio of work that could be used to launch your further study or be used in support of your career progression and preparation for job interviews, festivals and funding opportunities.

The studio based approach means that there is significant supervision, support and guidance from tutors who will get to know each of you. You and they will work together with further supervision from the University link tutor and university module tutors, to identify your career interests as you lay the foundation for your subject specialism.

What happens on the course?

 During your first year (level 4) you will have the opportunity to experience a wide range of skills and develop a broad understanding of important contextual ideas and practices that inform contemporary practice.

In your second year, you will develop a portfolio of work and knowledge that will expand your understanding of professional practice in this field and allow you to identify and locate a more independently driven practice in preparation for Level 6. In addition you will explore the professional contexts for developing careers in this sector by undertaking ‘live’ industry focussed and offsite projects and explore a range of platforms for showing your work including: festivals, exhibitions, galleries and on line and physical publications.

In your final year (Level 6) you will undertake a significant research project into a subject relevant to your emerging practice as an artist or designer and be supported to develop a more self directed portfolio of work that is both underpinned by your research, knowledge and conceptual concerns.

The college values studio culture and aims to ensure its studio spaces and equipment are suitable for a range of creative arts and media practices. 

Your college tutors are supported by a subject specialist University Link tutor who works together with your college course team to arrange opportunities for you to engage with the University community, to ensure standards and ease your onward transition onto the university should you wish to top up to a specialist degree.

The course is offered at your local college to enable you to participate in higher education learning within your local or regional context. It is a means of the University and the College bringing the course to you or within easy reach of your home. The link tutors and university and faculty partnership teams work with the college to ensure that you have a high quality undergraduate experience akin to that which is delivered at our University city campus and appropriate to national benchmarks and standards for art and design education

Course Modules

Module: 4AD006
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will develop research, communication and study skills that will underpin your progress through the course. As an artist and/or designer you will need to understand the history and traditions of the subject and develop the skills to critically reflect on this information in forming your own practice. This module will give you an introduction to some of the important ideas and practices that have informed contemporary art and design and allow you to respond to these ideas in relation to current and potentially more personal issues that might include: race, gender, social and economic status. You will be encouraged to undertake research into artists and designers who reflect these issues, visit exhibitions and attend online talks and lectures to support your learning. You will be set a range of short research and writing tasks during the module to develop your communication skills and ability to discuss complex ideas.

Module: 4AD001
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will be learning and developing studio based art and design methodologies linked to broad thematic brief(s). This module will introduce you to core Art and Design studio practice skills and give you the opportunity to experience a range of art & design specialisms. You will be introduced to relevant workshops within the college and be able to practice and hone technical and material skills essential to the production of successful Art and Design outputs. You will have the opportunity to specialise and extend your ideas and skills within a chosen pathway as you progress through the course.

Module: 4AD004
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module will enable you to research and consider your emerging field of practice by looking at the wider contextual and professional frameworks that inform it. During the module you will look at different models of art and design practice and how they emerge in relation to a variety of social, political and aesthetic debates, how theory, context and practice can be seen to inform new styles and approaches and how the work is represented and debated. You will have the opportunity to research and present your own work within the context of an exhibition proposal, research poster, magazine article or design pitch.

Module: 4AD008
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will have the opportunity to extend your knowledge and experience in one of the specialist pathways offered at this college. You will undertake a self- directed /brief led practice based project through negotiation with subject staff and learn to test, reflect and develop ideas relevant to your emerging specialist field of art and design practice. This module will enable the further development of key Art and Design studio practice skills and knowledge through the process of design and production and use research methods to explore the historical and contemporary context of your work. At the end of the module you will have the opportunity to present your outcomes in an exhibition environment and consider appropriate presentational strategies for your work.

Module: 4AD007
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module will introduce you to the range of subject specialist skills required for Art and Design practice. You will work independently and/or collaboratively to produce work which responds to a self directed brief, employer focused assignments, public competitions, commissions or open calls for exhibition. You will utilise skills acquired from semester 1 to create professional and/or industry standard outcomes in your selected subject specialist area. You may submit the final work for an external opportunity if appropriate.

Module: 4AD005
Credits: 20
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module concentrates on drawing as a means of visual analysis. You will explore a range of concepts through the process of drawing in the broadest sense. Drawing will include traditional and digital forms, to explore colour, composition, structure and form. Other considerations will include rhythm, dynamics, touch, scale, the body, digital difference and the purposes and role of drawing in the breadth of practice, careers and specialisms taught.

Module: 5AD003
Credits: 20
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module will enable you to research and explore the subject specific knowledge and requirements that will prepare you for your future employment and/or top-up to BA (hons) level at the University of Wolverhampton. You will be supported to submit a research report that examines the contemporary practice and context of your identified area of employment or study. You will need to ensure that your report is fully referenced and demonstrates how you have accessed a range of appropriate sources to formulate your position.

Module: 5AD005
Credits: 20
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will have the opportunity to learn how to propose and develop an off- site project (exhibition/ residency/ public art work/ commission work placement) with an external agent. You will be encouraged to analyse your individual skill sets and how they might be useful in project management roles and developing external relationships. You will also consider your individual contribution to the project as an artist/designer in relation to context. You will be expected to document, reflect and report on your individual experiences as part of your personal development planning.

Module: 5AD004
Credits: 20
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will undertake a specialist project of your own making or respond to a live project/competition set by industry or the wider art & design sector. The work will be assessed against professional standards of production, presentation and subject knowledge. This module is likely to provide a public forum for presenting the finished work such as an end of year college show.

Module: 5VA019
Credits: 40
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will have the opportunity to identify and develop your subject specialist learning by proposing a self- directed art project or work on a number of design/ client led briefs based on your art and design specialism as appropriate. You will be expected to test, reflect and develop your ideas through to professional outcomes. You will also be expected to keep a research journal during this module in which you track/ map the relationship between your work and external and professional influences (other artists and designers etc). At formative review points during this module you will be expected to present the development of your project and show how research has informed and supported you to make important decisions about the development of your practice. This module also aims to provide opportunities for you to document and present your work to a professional standard. On completion of this module you will have produced an academic or an industry standard portfolio and have demonstrated the ability to select and present a piece of resolved work for exhibition/ production/publication.

Module: 5AD006
Credits: 20
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module will allow you to focus and develop your knowledge and experience of working with specialist skills and techniques giving you the opportunity to achieve greater depth and understanding. Through this module you will be able to concentrate on your chosen Art & Design discipline/s defined through previous study and apply them to appropriate outputs.

Module: 6VA023
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

This module aims to provide you with the time, space and tutorial support to develop a sustained and independent art or design practice leading to the completion of a significant body of studio work. Your development will be further supported by encouraging you to explore a range of concepts and practices relevant to your chosen field and to produce an extended academic essay or industry report. This research project aims to equip you with critical and theoretical knowledge and language, drawn from contextual frameworks relevant to your practice, to engage in a professional and/or academic environments on graduation. Specialist lectures, workshops and tutorials will support you to identify, understand and reflect on the connections between intention, process, outcome and context in your work. In addition, at this level, you will be expected to increasingly plan and use the studios, resources and facilities appropriately in your independent study time and identify external opportunities (talks/exhibitions/reading) to develop your subject knowledge and expertise.

Module: 6VA024
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: Cheshire College South and West (Crewe Campus)

In this module you will build on your previous experiences and progress your work towards external audiences. To do this, you will be encouraged to resolve your ongoing studio work to a professional standard and address appropriate personal and career objectives, in order to develop new strategies for disseminating your work in the public sphere. You will explore a range of concepts and contemporary strategies of display, dissemination, promotion and publication for your work leading to the completion and exhibition of a significant body of work. This module will also offer you opportunities to demonstrate and expand on the practical, critical and contextual dimensions of your practice and present it through a variety of platforms. You will focus on professional ways of situating your practice in a specialised context and work towards professional opportunities and collaborations with key cultural institutions/ community organisations and industry partners appropriate to your practice.

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

Location Mode Fee Year
Home Full-time £6165 per year 2022-23
Home Full-time £6165 per year 2023-24
Home Full-time £6165 per year 2023-24
Home Full-time £6165 per year 2024-25
Home Part-time £3083 per year# 2022-23
Home Part-time £3083 per year# 2023-24
Home Part-time £3083 per year# 2023-24
Home Part-time £3083 per year# 2024-25

The University is committed to a transparent fee structure, with no hidden costs, to help you make an informed decision. This includes information on what is included in the fee and how fees are calculated and reviewed

# Undergraduate part-time fees for 50% rate of study

Typical entry requirement: 96 UCAS points

  • A Levels - grades CCC / BCD
  • BTEC L3 Extended Diploma or OCR Cambridge L3 Technical Extended Diploma - grades MMM
  • BTEC L3 Diploma - grades DD
  • Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (96 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at merit)
  • UAL L3 Extended Diploma in Art and Design - grade M

Use the UCAS Tariff calculator to check your qualifications and points

Other Requirements

Those meeting the entry requirements may be shortlisted to attend a Portfolio Review Interview at Cheshire College South and West. Applicants will also be required to provide satisfactory reference.

Students must have studied a minimum of two years post GCSE level. However, it is expected that some applicants will be mature students with work experience, who wish to further their career development. These applicants will be processed through standard procedures, which may involve an interview as part of the process. Please see http://wlv.ac.uk/mature for further information.

 

Tuition Fees Loan (Home Fee Status):

Most students will be able to apply for a loans to pay for these subject to eligibility. To find out more information please refer to the government Student Finance website.

Changes for EU students:

The UK government has confirmed that EU students starting courses from 1 August 2021 will normally be classified as having Overseas Fee status. More information about the change is available at UKCISA:

EU citizens living in the UK with 'settled' status, and Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland, will still be classified as Home students, providing they meet the usual residency requirements, for more information about EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) click here.


Self-funding:

If you don’t want to take out a loan to pay your fees or if you aren’t eligible to receive a loan, you might want to take advantage of the University’s scheme to pay by instalments: See How to pay.

For more information please contact the Gateway.


Your employer, embassy or organisation can pay for your Tuition fees:

If your employer, embassy or organisation agrees to pay all or part of your tuition fees; the University will refer to them as your sponsor and will invoice them for the appropriate amount.

We must receive notification of sponsorship in writing as soon as possible, and before enrolment, confirming that the sponsor will pay your tuition fees.


Financial Hardship:

Students can apply to the Dennis Turner Opportunity Fund.

for help with course related costs however this cannot be used for fees or to cover general living costs.


Bursaries and Scholarships:

In addition the University also offers a range of Bursaries and Scholarships packages

You can find more information on the University’s Funding, cost, fee and support pages.

Telephone

01902 32 22 22

Email

enquiries@wlv.ac.uk

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