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Fine Art and Art History

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C-A,B,B

Or A Levels at equivalent to 112 - 128 UCAS points.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM-DDM

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-128

The preferred entry route for this course is for applicants to be taking an Art & Design Foundation Diploma, or the recognised equivalent. Applicants will need 112-128 tariff points from recognised level 3 qualifications. Plus GCSE (A*–C or comparable numeric scores under the newly reformed GCSE gradings): five subjects including English and Maths (Key Skills Level 2 may be used in lieu of GCSE English and Maths). Offers will be made on the basis of your UCAS application and portfolio. More details about portfolio requirements can be found on the course page on our website. You will be notified by email giving you advice about how to upload your online portfolio, once we have received your application.

You may also need to…

Present a portfolio

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Fine art

**Reasons to choose Kingston**
- Kingston is ranked No.1 in London for Art and Design (The Times Good University Guide 2023).

- The University is an associate of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), so you’ll receive free membership and access to seminars and events.

- You’ll gain the expertise to develop independent thought and confidence in your practice, as well as transferable skills suitable for employment in the creative industries.

- Our commitment to high quality teaching has been recognised with a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold rating. The University has received an overall rating of Gold, as well as securing a Gold award in the framework's two new student experience and student outcomes categories.

**About this course**
This course will support your development as an artist and help you engage with visual and material culture. It combines a fine art studio practice with a historical and critical study of visual images.

In our workshops, you’ll build confidence and competence. You’ll produce work for a portfolio and have the chance to exhibit your work.

You’ll explore both traditional forms of painting and sculpture, as well as new forms such as film and digital printmaking. You’ll analyse cultural, historical and political contexts and environments. Through a guided research project, you’ll examine an art history theme in depth and complete a dissertation.

**Future Skills**
Embedded within every course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience, Future Skills will play a role in shaping you to become a future-proof graduate, providing you with the skills most valued by employers such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability.

As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills, learning to demonstrate and articulate to employers how future skills give you the edge.

At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it.

**Career opportunities**
Our graduates have gone on to work in museums, galleries, auction houses, arts administration, curating, teaching, advertising, picture research and the media. The course is also an excellent foundation for postgraduate study.

Modules

– Researching the Contemporary
– Sustaining Studio Practice
– Key Concepts: Research, Interpretation & Communication

To view the full list of modules, please visit the University course webpage.

Assessment methods

Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios and dissertation).

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Kingston University

Department:

Department of Critical and Historical Studies

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

78%
Fine art

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.

Art

Teaching and learning

85%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
75%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

71%
Library resources
84%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
73%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
19%
Male students
81%
Female students
91%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
C
A

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.

Art

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.

£19,200
high
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
48%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

23%
Other elementary services occupations
17%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
7%
Food preparation and hospitality trades

Quite a few students of fine art have already retired and are taking the degree for the excellent reason that they love art, and they're willing to pay to study it. You should bear this in mind if the stats you see feature particularly low employment rates. If you need to earn a living once you've finished your fine art degree, be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common - about one in six fine arts graduates were working for themselves. Also common are what is termed 'portfolio careers' — having several part-time jobs or commissions at once - and many courses actually help you prepare for freelancing. One in ten of last year’s fine arts graduates had more than one job six months after graduation — over twice the average for graduates from 2015. Graduates from these subjects are often found in arts jobs, as artists, designers, photographers and similar jobs, or as arts and entertainment officers or teachers — although it's perfectly possible to get jobs outside the arts if you wish, with jobs in events management, marketing and community work amongst the most popular options.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Art

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£15k

£15k

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of Reading | Reading
Art and Theatre
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 120-141
Nearby University
University of the Arts London | Camden
Fine Art
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: -
Same University
Kingston University | Kingston upon Thames
Fine Art
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 120-136

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here