What can you do with an arts degree?

Art and design are central to our lives. Think of the last TV show you watched or the clothes you’re wearing. Think of the products you’ve just bought or the museums in your hometown. 

In all these areas (and many more besides) the role of the arts is fundamental.

But have you noticed how the importance of arts degrees – those courses that train people who work in such varied careers – is sometimes underestimated?

If you’re considering an arts course, you might have been quizzed by well-meaning friends or relatives, wondering what you’re going to do with your qualification. Will it be of value to you? What career path might you then follow? What can you actually do with an arts degree?

You might be tempted to steer them towards a study by financial services company Novuna. This ranks 121 UK universities by how many business leaders they have produced over the past 20 years. Several specialist arts universities appear near the top of that list.

So, you explain, arts degrees do (of course) train artists. And they also create entrepreneurs, CEOs and leaders of industry.

Maybe this insight will help your friends and family glimpse the breadth of opportunities unlocked by a creative degree. 

But it’s a concept people can find tricky. Take the government, for instance, which last year announced plans to enforce limits on the number of students allowed to study certain degree courses at English universities. 

Courses could be capped, it said, if they are considered to be of ‘poor quality’. And how is quality defined? Mainly, it seems, by looking at how much graduates earn within 15 months of graduation and whether, in the prime minister’s words, enough of them were in ‘a decent job’ within that same timeframe.

A quick look at the Graduate Outcomes Survey, which shows where graduates are 15 months after leaving uni, gives an idea of how problematic such a policy could be – and how it could affect arts courses. 

In the most recently published survey (October 2023) the average salary of a creative arts graduate was around £23,000. That’s lower than the national average salary of around £27,000, and it’s the lowest across all subject groups. It makes for off-putting reading, especially in today’s financial climate. 

However, the survey only captures the graduates’ positions just over a year after the end of their undergraduate course. There’s no accounting for the higher salaries which can be earned as someone gains experience and knowledge. 

If a graduate in a fulfilling creative job doesn’t have a salary matching that of a lawyer barely a year after finishing university, does that mean the course they studied is ‘poor quality’?

There are also deeper stories in the same survey, such as the higher-than-average earnings increase that creative arts graduates enjoy after gaining a postgraduate qualification.

So the salary question is a little more complex than it first seems. And although salary is important (of course it is!) it’s just part of the picture. 

Creative industries connect with just about everything and the graduates that go into these careers have a huge impact on the world. 

For many of these key contributions, it’s difficult to allot a specific value. Problem solving, social innovation, strengthening communities, sharing understanding; creative people excel at them all, but they’re not easily spotted on a business’ bottom line. 

Still, for anyone who wants to put a number on it, numbers can be found. 

In 2019, the creative industries contributed an estimated £115.9 billion to the UK economy, according to a government press release. 

In 2023, figures from London City Hall showed one in five jobs in England’s capital city being within the creative economy, rising from one in six in 2016. 

Also in 2019, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported that ‘over the past 15 years, the creative economy is not only one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, but is also transformative in generating income, jobs and exports’.

The skills developed by arts graduates therefore have a significant impact on the economy and the world around us. 

They’re also attributes that are key to that graduate’s own career prospects, both within the creative sphere and in other areas. 

The latest Future of Jobs Report, published by the World Economic Forum, looks at skills needed by businesses across all industries around the world. 

In the report, it shows that ‘analytical thinking and creative thinking remain the most important skills for workers’, with both being considered essential by more companies than any others. 

Skills that follow those on the list are resilience, flexibility, agility, motivation, self-awareness, curiosity and life-long learning – all of which come as standard for those studying an arts degree.

As well as a varied skill set, arts graduates build up enviable networks which can prove indispensable after graduation. 

You can expect any specialist arts institution to have excellent links with other academic institutions around the world, allowing you to take advantage of their teaching or research. 

They will also have connections with local, national and international cultural organisations, museums, galleries and more. 

Work placements, internships and volunteering roles can help students build experience and connections. 

Career departments provide the chance to build that network further. At Arts University Bournemouth, there are workshops to help students develop specific skills along with events featuring alumni and industry professionals. 

These might provide insight into available careers, or guidance for those starting up on their own.

So when you’re considering an arts degree, it could make sense to keep an open mind. 

With a huge variety of options to choose from, finding the opportunity that’s right for you will certainly take plenty of research. 

As with any course choice, it’s useful to start by looking at what the course offers academically, as well the other opportunities the institution has to offer during the course. You’ll want to also consider the options that will be open to you when you’ve completed it. 

And while you’re busy doing that, you’ll be ready the next time somebody asks you what you’ll get out of an arts degree.

“It will allow me to develop and refine my abilities,” you might say. “I will gain the knowledge, confidence and connections that will help me onto a rewarding career path within a range of exciting art and design disciplines. I will be equipped with the transferable skills that industries of every sort are crying out for.”

What can you do with an arts degree? Anything at all.

Established in 1883, Arts University Bournemouth is a creative specialist arts institution offering courses in art, design media and performance. The university's creative community comprises more than 4,000 students from across its 24 undergraduate courses and 15 postgraduate courses. 

A recipient of two Queen's Awards for Enterprise for Costume and Film, the university is home to Bournemouth Film School, with award-winning alumni including Oscar and Bafta award-winning director Simon Beaufoy, fashion stylist Twinks Burnett and Turner Prize-winning photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.  

Already in 2024, more AUB alumni have received major awards. For her work on the psychological thriller Saltburn, Sophie Canale earned the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Contemporary Film. Fellow AUB alumna Eleanor Bull was part of the team led by Holly Waddington, who claimed a Bafta and an Oscar for Best Costume Design in the science fantasy Poor Things.

AUB's award-winning campus includes specialist state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including a purpose-built drawing studio designed by alumni professor Sir Peter Cook RA, and cutting-edge technology lab Innovation Studio, which houses world-class design, fabrication, and 3D printing technologies.