School of Creative Industries

BA (Hons) Fine Art with Foundation Year

BA (Hons) Part-time 8 years, Full-time 4 years

The Fine Art course aims to offer an open ended and practice–led approach to learning with students working from conceptual ideas through to the tools and materials of studio production. 

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The Fine Art course aims to offer an open ended and practice–led approach to learning with students working from conceptual ideas through to the tools and materials of studio production. 

Award
BA (Hons)
Start date(s)
September 2024, September 2025
UCAS Code
W103
Course specifications
View course spec
Course length
Part-time (8 years),Full-time (4 years)
Campus location
University: City Campus
School
School of Creative Industries
UCAS points calculator
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The print workshops at the University of Wolverhampton allowed me to push the boat out and do things I've never done before. The size of the presses available encourages you to really go where very few people do and produce large scale prints. The facilities are brilliant and I encourage printmakers to study there.
Satinder Parhar, BA (Hons) Fine Art

Why choose this course?

Ranked 15th in the Guardian League Tables 2023. Fine Art, covers painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film, video, photography, performance and installation.

Each area is supported by specialist tutors and facilities. The Fine Art course is located in the purpose-built George Wallis building, which opened in 1970, however there has been an Art School in Wolverhampton since 1851 and we are very proud of this heritage. We are situated on the 6th and 7th floors in studio's recently refurbished for British Art Show 9. You will have studio space of your own and join a stimulating community of fine art practitioners where you can test ideas and discuss decisions/motivations/media processes in relation to your individually negotiated themes and practices. Our vibrant, well used studio becomes the base for your increasingly independent and personally-focused learning.

Fine Art FacilitiesFine Art FacilitiesFine Art FacilitiesFine Art FacilitiesFine Art FacilitiesFine Art FacilitiesFine Art Facilities

The Foundation year prepares students for university level study. Successful completion of our Foundation course permits access to any of our Art or Digital Media BA (Hons) or BDes (Hons) degree courses, which include Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration and Photography — The Foundation year begins with modules aimed at providing transferable study skills and then, in the second semester, gives students the opportunity to study more specialist modules, with a focus on various aspects of Arts and Digital Media.

Our Graduates

Cheryl Jones, BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting) graduate 2000

Cheryl graduated from the School of Art in 2000 and is now Director of the Grand Union art gallery in Digbeth, Birmingham. She credits her time at the University for widening her experience and enjoyment of all art forms as well as just painting. Watch Cheryl's video here. 

What's unique about this course?

  • Ranked 15th in the Guardian League Tables 2023
  • We are situated on the 6th and 7th floors in studios recently refurbished for British Art Show 9.
  • At all levels of the course, you will work alongside practicing artists and researchers who aim to teach through their specialist fields.

What happens on the course?

The Fine Art course aims to offer an open ended and practice–led approach to learning with students working from conceptual ideas through to the tools and materials of studio production. The course aims to fuse practical and material led practice with critical and contextual exploration. This fusion will enable you to develop a sustainable model of practice as a professional artist and teach you a range of transferable skills relevant to careers in the creative industries. At all levels of the course, you will work alongside practicing artists and researchers who aim to teach through their specialist fields.

The Fine Art course aims to: 

  • Encourage you to explore different media relevant to the development of your own work.
  • Support you to acquire knowledge and practical experience of working in painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Provide you with the opportunity to observe, discuss and take part in a sustainable model of studio-based practice alongside artist/practitioners who are engaged in their own work.
  • Enable you to develop an individually negotiated Fine Art practice informed by a relevant theoretical and contextual framework.
  • Develop critical and analytical skills in historical and critical research and writing.
  • Understand and locate your work appropriately within the broad and specialist contexts of your subject and research appropriate to your personal and career objectives.

BA (Hons) Fine Art is assessed on 100% coursework.

The curriculum is delivered through a series of tutorials, lectures, seminars and specialist workshops which will give you the opportunity to develop your independent practice.

Studio and workshop culture are core to our courses and you will be encouraged to become part of the art community through time spent working in the studios, workshops and through experience of external exhibitions in the public domain.

This course is available with a professional placement (sandwich year) option.  A professional placement provides an opportunity for professional development in the work place and as such, greatly enhances the student’s prospects of finding rewarding and relevant employment at the end of their studies.

Year One

BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 4BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 4BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 4BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 4

In the first year you will have the time and space to evolve ideas in relation to current debates and concerns within visual art. You will be learning and acquiring the fundamental skills of Fine Art practice with close support from subject specialist artists/teachers through a combination of specialist workshop-based learning and studio practice, supported by seminars, tutorials and lectures. A more detailed outline of the modules can be seen below.

Year Two

BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 5

In the second year you will have the opportunity to broaden and test your art practice as part of a sustained studio culture. You will engage with the art community and increasingly debate theoretical positions within your practice. This is supported by advanced workshops that are led by the academic staff and seek to broaden your conceptual and contextual knowledge in specialist fields of contemporary art. A more detailed outline of the modules can be seen below.

Year Three

Three

 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6BA (Hons) Fine Art, Level 6

In your third year student you will develop a more independent and outward facing approach to Fine Art practice. A concentrated period of studio practice will give you the confidence to independently manage your studio time, conduct and resolve ideas in your practical work and learn to present yourself confidently as an emerging artist in the outside world.  

Fine Art Staff

Course Leader: Dr Simon Harris

BA (Hons) Fine Art, Staff

BIO

Hi, I’m Simon the course leader for the BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree. I have been the course leader since 2019 but my connection to the Fine Art course is much longer. I enrolled on the Fine Art Degree at the University of Wolverhampton in 2000 as a mature student, previously I had been a full time staff nurse and went part-time to pursue the degree. Since then, there has been no turning back, I continued to work part time as a nurse whilst study Fine Art and completed both a MA and PhD. In 2015, I took a full time position as a Senior Lecturer at the University becoming the course leader in 2019. My practice and research are centred on painting, printmaking and experimental photography. I have the privilege to work with a fantastic academic team all of which are practicing artists exhibiting both nationally and internationally.

Additional Information

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Wolverhampton School of Art

  • For more information about the Wolverhampton School of Art: visit our home page.
  • Discover more about our outstanding facilities – visit our facilities pages.
  • Learn about the creative industries and everything we do to to make your creative career a reality on our Creative Futures page.
  • Check out the work of our 2022 graduating students on our Degree Show and MA Show pages.
  • Find out what our students say – view testimonies from successful graduates on our Case Studies page.
  • Research – learn about the Centre for Art and Design Research and Experimentation (CADRE) and FEINART, our ambitious and innovative pan European training network.
  • Wolverhampton School of Art hosted the prestigious British Art Show 9 in 2022. 
  • Artsfest – our established programme of arts and cultural events continues to bring you the very best this region has to offer!

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We are currently reviewing our foundation course to enhance student learning and success. Course details may be subject to updates. Please keep an eye on our pages for updates.

Course Modules

Module: 3VA001
Credits: 60
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

In this module you will work on a series of short projects that aim to introduce you to the core art and design skills that will support your development as an artist or designer at degree level and beyond. In semester 1 you will explore a range of approaches to drawing as a fundamental art and design tool for thinking through and communicating your ideas. Increasingly drawing will be seen as a basis for exploring 2d, 3d and media solutions to art and design problems. Alongside these practical workshops you will begin to explore how research, reflection and documentation can inform your ideas and support studio practice by creating a studio journal containing a series of structured tasks. In semester 2 you will have extended opportunity to work with specialist staff from the different art and design subjects taught in the school and develop projects responding to more defined areas of practice appropriate to your interests and ambitions for degree level study. You will be expected to develop a more focused and independent approach to research through your journal responses and studio practice. Increasingly you will be expected to take greater control and direction of your learning. In semester 1 the workshops, studio projects, research tasks and study visits will be clearly structured and you will be expected to attend regularly and participate in a range of learning activities within and outside of taught sessions. As the course develops and you start to define your subject and contextual interests you will necessarily need to become more independent in accessing appropriate resources for your personal development as an artist/designer. The studios, workshops and other resources are open 5 days a week and you are increasingly expected to manage your taught and independent studio/study time effectively to complete work well and on time.

Module: 3VA002
Credits: 60
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

In this module you will be introduced to the range of art and design subject specialisms taught in the School of Art. Academic and technical teams from across the school will introduce you to specialist workshops and provide a range of short project briefs to enable you to explore and test your ideas out in different mediums and contexts. This will be accompanied by contextual visits, lectures and seminars that will explore how the different artists and designers address genres and issues pertinent to their practice. Assessment reviews and tutorials will be used to support you to reflect on these experiences and begin to consider some areas for extended experience in Semester 2. In semester 2 you will work in subject groupings and propose an individually negotiated project aligned to a broad subject area in the school. You will work with Foundation and degree level tutors to develop your ideas and work towards degree level entry standard. You will need to demonstrate some ability to work and learn independently and reflect on your work to progress your ideas. Alongside practical work you will undertake a portfolio of contextual research which will underpin your core knowledge of your chosen area of study and learn the basic research and writing skills that you will need to progress to degree level study.

Module: 4FP018
Credits: 60
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

This module provides you with the time and space to develop independently by supporting you to become more experimental in the production of your work. The emphasis, in this module, is on process, theory, and practice and the ways by which they contribute to the production of your work. Throughout the module you will be encouraged to test new approaches and ideas and to reflect on the successes and importantly, the failures of your work. In tutorials and group reviews you will be asked to reflect on these experiences and to consider how you might learn from experimentation, critical analysis, and the feedback of potential audiences to re-think and re-work your ideas. This module will also introduce you to a range of dialogues between models of practice and contextual knowledge that will help you understand contemporary practice, and its relationship to audience. You will engage in lectures and seminars and produce a range of creative and academic contextual assignments that will directly link to your projects. The module will encourage you to organise your time effectively, work more independently and demonstrate the personal curiosity to find and evaluate concepts and artworks that have a specific relationship to your work.

Module: 4FP017
Credits: 60
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

This module introduces you to a range of workshops, resources and staff working across the School of Art to provide you with specialist making, methods and media instruction appropriate to your practice. It is an intensive workshop-based module and throughout the year you will undertake a series of studio, workshop and media-based projects that will provide the foundation for your emerging practice. As a Level 4 student in the School of Art you will be supported to make the leap between your prior educational experiences and independent practice. You will develop time management skills through structured tasks and increasingly you will be expected to make use of independent study hours to further test and progress your work in the studios and workshops. In this module you will also learn to document and record your work effectively and gain confidence in reflecting on your work in sketchbooks, journals, group reviews and tutorials in relation to a range of contextual ideas, practitioners, and projects associated with your work.

Module: 5FP015
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

This module is designed to increase your awareness of a variety of concepts, issues and strategies of display, which have affected or influenced the way in which creative practitioners devise and develop work. You will stretch and deepen your application of practical skills and conceptual thinking to examine the role of a wider audience both within our facilities and through engagement with external sites and organisations. A programme of advanced tutor-led workshops and contextual research will support you to develop appropriate tools for the realisation and dissemination of your work and related projects. Additionally, you will examine the importance of context for creating and controlling meaning within a framework that your practice is located in. Through ongoing contact and exposure to material, cultural, social, environmental, historical and contemporary issues within the arts you will demonstrate the critical ability to site your work professionally in public contexts.

Module: 5FP014
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

As a Level 5 student in the School of Art you will be supported to make the leap between your prior Level 4 experiences and advanced practice and techniques. You will further develop time management skills to make use of independent study hours to further test and progress your work in our facilities. In this module you will develop more personal methodologies to document and record your work effectively. You will gain confidence in reflecting on your work in sketchbooks, journals, group reviews and tutorials in relation to a range of contextual ideas and artists associated with self-initiated work. Through tutor led lectures and seminars, the module will present a range of contextual and conceptual frameworks, and practices to support the development of your independent work. You are expected to apply advanced methods of experimentation in order to realise, review, test and discuss contemporary practice, your work and the work of your peers. You will generate practical and written responses to underpin your conceptual and aesthetic position. As level 5 progresses you will be expected to advance through a body of work and pose significant ideas for progression at level 6.

Module: 6FP011
Credits: 60
Period: 4
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

As a Level 6 student in the School of Art you will build on your previous experiences and advance your practice and techniques. Through a focused and on-going enquiry, you will establish a sustained ability to reflect and develop work, based on an informed understanding of your practice.  This module aims to strengthen the development of a sustained and independent artistic practice leading to the completion of a significant body of work. By encouraging you to explore a range of concepts and practices, you will consolidate your skills through critical enquiry and be expected to make full use of facilities, studios and your personal study hours. Specialist tutorials will support you to identify, understand and reflect on the connections between intention, process, outcome and context in your work. The dissertation project will equip you with critical and theoretical languages drawn from contextual frameworks relevant to your practice.

Module: 6FP012
Credits: 60
Period: 4
Type: Core
Locations: University: City Campus

This module will enable you to resolve your work to a professional standard and address appropriate personal and career objectives, in order to develop new strategies for intervening and disseminating your work in the public sphere. You will explore a range of concepts and practices of contemporary strategies of display, dissemination, promotion and publication leading to the completion and exhibition of a significant body of work This module will 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 engage in contemporary display strategies through planning, production, presentation and the evaluation of curatorial practices and exhibitions. You will focus on professional ways of situating your practice in a specialized context and work towards professional opportunities and collaborations with key cultural institutions in the industry and sector. As a Level 6 student in the School of Art you will build on your previous experiences and progress your work towards external audiences. You will focus your organisational and logistical skills through independent enquiry and be expected to make use of your personal study hours.

Potential Career Paths

Students are assessed 100% on their coursework and are supported to progress and achieve their potential through careful tracking by staff in project feedback sessions, personal tutorials and formative assessment points. Each module has two points of formative assessment that provide key performance indicators for the student and staff teams to use in personal development planning. Assessment reviews and tutorials will be used to assess progress, galvanise the student to understand and map their own learning journey and to use this information to improve their indicative grades and project work. The assessment strategy has been designed to provide students with a number of opportunities throughout the year to test their work against the learning outcomes and to further develop aspects of their practice before receiving a final summative grade for the module. These formative reviews will also be used by staff to trigger university and subject support mechanisms for students who are not achieving at an appropriate level before summative results start to affect progression and achievement at each level.

A principal aim of the course is to enable students to understand and locate their work appropriately within the broad and specialists' contexts and research appropriate to their personal and career objectives. This is reinforced through specific vocational projects throughout the course: all students are involved in a level 5 Off-Site Project. The Level 5 scheme enables students to develop professional relations and to showcase their site-specific work outside the university. The Creative Industries Project (level 6) presents a broad range of speakers from different areas in the Fine Art creative industries who offer first-hand accounts of careers as independent artists, art curators, gallery educators, art therapists and teachers.

All of our students have the opportunity to engage with an additional ‘Employability Award’ associated with their degree, and a high percentage of our students achieve the gold standard as a result of our employment-focused curriculum.

All courses in the School of Art are now available with a professional placement option (Sandwich Year). A professional placement provides an opportunity for professional development in the work place and as such, greatly enhances the student’s prospects of finding rewarding and relevant employment at the end of their studies. The school assists students in securing work placements, undertaking live briefs, engaging directly with employers and developing key employability skills. The School is committed to raising student awareness of the opportunities that exist post-graduation.

A principal aim of the course is to enable students to understand and locate their work appropriately within the broad and specialists' contexts and research appropriate to their personal and career objectives. This is reinforced through specific vocational projects throughout the course: all students are involved in a level 5 Off-Site Project. The Level 5 scheme enables students to develop professional relations and to showcase their site-specific work outside the university. The Creative Industries Project (level 6) presents a broad range of speakers from different areas in the Fine Art creative industries who offer first-hand accounts of careers as independent artists, art curators, gallery educators, art therapists and teachers.

All of our students have the opportunity to engage with an additional ‘Employability Award’ associated with their degree, and a high percentage of our students achieve the gold standard as a result of our employment-focused curriculum.

All courses in the School of Art are now available with a professional placement option (Sandwich Year). A professional placement provides an opportunity for professional development in the work place and as such, greatly enhances the student’s prospects of finding rewarding and relevant employment at the end of their studies. The school assists students in securing work placements, undertaking live briefs, engaging directly with employers and developing key employability skills. The School is committed to raising student awareness of the opportunities that exist post-graduation.

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

The BA (Hons) Fine Art Course:

  • Is a diverse and vibrant course which embraces a wide range of specialist media and creative practices including painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Is taught in unique purpose-built, spacious and well-equipped studio spaces, supported by a wide range of workshops and facilities.
  • Provides access to an exceptional set of workshops including bronze foundry, a stone carving yard and a fully functioning glass blowing workshop through to the very latest audio-visual computers, digital manufacturing techniques and prototyping hardware.
  • Has gained an excellent reputation in our student satisfaction surveys, in 2015 our Fine Art course scored a rating of 93% satisfaction among out students, putting us among the top Fine Art courses in the country.
  • Graduates go on to set up their own studio spaces, work in galleries, schools, community arts and many other professions, with high employment figures within six months of graduating.
  • Maintains a vibrant space for studio practice. As a student on the course you will have your own studio space and make work alongside other lecturers and artists. We run a host of one-to-one, group and lecture sessions, public lectures, a visiting speaker program and regular international study trips.
  • Is designed to provide you with the best possible creative education centred on employability and student support. At each level two yearlong modules allow you to experience and engage with projects of increasing complexity and varied timescales that reflect the breadth and flexibility of the contemporary Fine Art world.
  • Provides a carefully structured approach that encourages independent learning supported by an integrated delivery of contextual, theoretical, technical and practical skills.
  • Members of the National Association of Fine Art Education.
  • For more information about our facilities click here.

The members of academic staff who lead this course are Dr. Simon Harris

The Fine Art subject area equips students with a wide range of skills and experiences appropriate to positions within the cultural and creative industries. This includes verbal and written communication, project management, creative thinking and problem solving, group work, self-directed research and independent learning, reflective and evaluative processes, making and directing skills, marketing, promotion and presentation strategies. The course aims to support and develop students’ vocational awareness and provides opportunities for educational placements and professional practices. Students build relationships to galleries, schools, art and health sector and the wider creative industries both through vocational modules or off-site projects. Specific career’s advice services offer extra support in the development of your general skills and your career.

The Fine Art course aims to:

  • Encourage you to explore different media relevant to the development of your own work.
  • Support you to acquire knowledge and practical experience of working in painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Provide you with the opportunity to observe, discuss and take part in a sustainable model of studio-based practice alongside artist/practitioners who are engaged in their own work.
  • Enable you to develop an individually negotiated Fine Art practice informed by a relevant theoretical and contextual framework.
  • Develop critical and analytical skills in historical and critical research and writing.
  • Understand and locate your work appropriately within the broad and specialist contexts of your subject and research appropriate to your personal and career objectives.

Location Mode Fee Year
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2022-23
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2023-24
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2024-25
Home Part-time £3120 per year# 2022-23
Home Part-time £4625 per year# 2023-24
Home Part-time £4625 per year# 2024-25
International Full-time £13450 per year 2022-23
International Full-time £14450 per year 2023-24
International Full-time £14950 per year 2024-25

Additional Course Costs

Additional Materials: £50 to 250 per semester - Prices vary according your subject of practice.

Additional Field Trips: £50 to 500 - Prices will vary according to location.

Additional Events: £350 - Degree Show/New Designers. Costs will vary according to the medium and mode of your practice but considerations will be around materials, installation and presentation.

Further information on these additional costs will be provided prior to the start of your studies.

Further information on these additional costs will be provided prior to the start of your studies

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

Prepare for Foundation Pathway:- We will consider applicants who have not achieved 48 UCAS points (equivalence) from prior level 3 qualifications, if you have a keen interest in this subject area or hold relevant experience. You will be required to attend and pass a compulsory Prepare For Foundation assessment day where you will take part in a variety of activities which will assess your suitability for the course. If you would like more advise and guidance about this admissions pathway, please contact the Gateway team to discuss and support you in making an application to us.

Contact the Gateway - University of Wolverhampton (wlv.ac.uk)

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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