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What makes Fine Art at Worcester special?

Fine Art is at the forefront of cultural production, exploring new terrain and challenging existing ideas. By entering the community of artists at Worcester you will become part of this momentum and be given the support and encouragement needed to extend your creative work and ideas into new and unexplored areas. 

Studying Fine Art requires a sense of adventure and an ability to accommodate and embrace the unpredictable. The course will work for all of you when you meet the challenges you face with personal drive and intellectual curiosity. 

The program is structured by four module strands - Making, Research, Exhibition and Site – which together help you generate a coherent, unique and professional Fine Art practice that will prepare you for working in the arts and well-being sectors or pursuing postgraduate study.

Fine Art is exciting and rewarding and your degree here will take you deeper into the subject that you already have a passion for. We envisage that hat is now an academic pursuit for you all will in the future become a way of life.

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Develop a bespoke studio practice in drawing, painting, print-making, sculpture, performance, installation, film, photography, socially-engaged practices and wellbeing.
  • Study as part of a community of artists with specialist workshop, exhibition and making spaces at The Art House.
  • Attend lectures and be given tutorials by internationally renowned artists
  • Exhibit your work in the Art House galleries and Pitt Studio in Worcester
  • Celebrate your achievements with your peers and industry professionals at the final year Degree Show at The Art House.

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Final Year Art Shows

The Worcester Degree Shows are the culmination of work from students on the University of Worcester's arts courses.

Visit the website

The Art House

view of the art house from the road Interior of the University of Worcester Arthouse Art House interior. White room with three art display boards and three desks with students art work. interior of the art house art-house-degree-show-fine-art5 The Art House

Student Work and Studio Environment

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Entry requirements

Entry requirements

104
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

104 UCAS tariff points (for example, BCC at A Level)

T Levels may be used to meet the entry tariff requirements for this course. Find out more about T levels as UCAS tariff points here.

Other information

Students may be asked to submit a portfolio of artworks in PDF format if their application requires it. Mature students who have been out of education for a period of time, or students wanting to transfer from a different discipline may also be invited for interview.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Further information about the UCAS Tariff can be obtained from http://www.ucas.com

Fine Art at Worcester

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Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

What will you study?

The degree is taught as a single programme to support you in developing an individual studio practice. You will be expected to be in The Art House Studios as much as possible to independently build your practice.

The course is structured around four key aspects of studio practice: Making, Research, Exhibition, and Site. Each year you will undertake four modules (two for joint honours students) that will engage with these aspects and will build to give you a holistic understanding of how your practice is developing. These modules are all taught together so that each week your independent making time will be supported by a number of contact sessions with the tutors.

Year 1

Year 1 focuses on material experimentation through a series of structured making tasks. You can make drawings, paintings, prints, objects, sound works, films and performances, all supported by tutorials groups critiques, readings and lectures.

You will be introduced to artists, contexts, films, concepts and philosophies which you can incorporate into your practice. You will build a set of critical skills to read images, events and environments as well as research strategies for drawing and image-making. You will develop descriptive writing skills and basic academic research methods. You will read, draw, make photographs and films and write about what you are looking at and what you are making.

Year 2

Year 2 focuses on public exhibition-making outside of the studios. You will make a proposal about the practice that you want to make. You will learn to work as a group on joint projects and presentations. At the end of the year, you will curate a public group exhibition to show your work.

Students at The Art House are encouraged to engage with the culture and politics of the wider world. The site strand considers how art-making is situated within the world and where it appears. This includes exhibition visits, museums, archives, artist-run spaces, and guided walks.

Year 3

Year 3 focuses on independent practice and the Degree Show. You will present your first solo show and build a portfolio for the future.

Imagining how your work meets the world is central to the degree. Throughout the course, you will get the opportunity to present your work in the gallery and project spaces in The Art House and get feedback from specialist staff, visiting artists and your peers. You will get to engage with artists making in the spaces as part of The Art House residencies and develop technical skills for how to present and display your work. In the third year, you will construct your own solo show in The Art House and present your work as part of the Institute of Arts Degree Show.

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Making: Space, Surface, Time
  • Research: Looking through Writing
  • Site and Participation: Connecting Spaces

Optional

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Making: Experimentation, Presentation, Reflection
  • Research: Writing as Practice
  • Site and Social Engagement

Optional

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Making: Exit Portfolio
  • Research: Critical Commentary
  • Site and Context
  • Exhibition: Solo Shows and Professional Development

National and International Field Trips/Visiting Speakers

Students pose in front of the Colosseum student in an art gallery looking at an illustration Three people in a gallery at a wall A group of speakers at an Art and Climate Change Event A poster for an art exhibition by Doug Fishbone A poster for an art exhibition by Kirsty Harris A poster for an art exhibition by Annie Attridge A poster for an art exhibition by Serena Korda Poster for Barry Sykes lecture at the Art House

Katie Hodson (BA Hons Fine Art, 2013 - 2016)

Katie Hodson graduated with a BA in Fine Art at the University of Worcester in 2016. Katie exhibited as part of New Art West Midlands 2017, a showcase of emerging artists who have graduated from the region’s five university art schools. As part of a Special Opportunity Award from the New Art West Midlands exhibitions, Katie went on to undertake a residency offered by Office for Art, Design and Technology, Coventry.

“I began my studies at The University of Worcester on a joint honours course - Fine Art Practice with English Literature. I very quickly made the decision to pursue Fine Art full time as a result of the supportive studio environment and the space I was given to really push my ideas. The technicians and facilities available also allowed me to be really ambitious, and learn through new processes of making. The course equipped me with a really flexible but critical approach to art practice and was definitely the springboard for my career. After leaving University, I continued to work as a practising artist, undertaking various residencies including a 6-month residency that culminated in an exhibited piece within Coventry Biennial.”

Following completion of her degree, Katie co-founded and directed BLOK, a year-long artist-led studio and gallery project in Worcester, supported through the Moving On Staying On scheme (MOSO), which supports graduates in the early stages of their careers and was funded by the University of Worcester and the Elmley Foundation. Katie was also the recipient of one of four Engine Bursaries awarded by New Art West Midlands in support of Grand Union’s Curatorial Curriculum Programme.

Katie now works as a freelance curator and producer and is currently the artistic programme manager for Meadow Arts, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Amber Drew Sparrey (BA Hons Fine Art, 2015 - 2018)

Amber Drew Sparrey is a filmmaker based in West Midlands, UK, who graduated from the University of Worcester in 2018 with a First Class degree in Fine Art. Her practice explores fabricated femininity, gender and identity in the digital age.

“My time at the University of Worcester has allowed me the creative freedom to explore, develop and push the boundaries of my practice. Over the course of three years, I have focused on experimentation, research, fabrication and curation of contemporary art. I have been taught to reflect and question my reasons for creating and how to communicate my ideas to make creative and politically engaging work. Thanks to the support and guidance I received from the lecturers and technicians, I now have a well-rooted and realised artist practice that I can independently continue to analyse and dissect.

The School of Arts has continued to support me with applications to a number of exhibitions and residencies and since graduating, my work has been exhibited at a number of shows in Worcester, Birmingham and Nottingham. I was recently invited back to the university to show my film ‘Eternal Beauty, Internal Hate’ at the opening of the new Art House.

Currently, I am working as a technical demonstrator and continuing my artist practise alongside this. I am a member of Vivid Projects ‘Black Hole Club’, which I am developing new work for. Next year I have plans to go back to Japan to teach and create a new body of research, with the aim of beginning a Master’s degree upon my return.”

Anna Lister (BA Fine Art 2013-2014)

After studying at the University of Worcester, and gaining first-class honours with her evocative figurative paintings, Anna Lister has gone on to train as a secondary school teacher.

"Achieving a first-class degree was a huge personal achievement as I completed the final year of my degree as a new, single mother.

I transferred from another university to complete my degree at Worcester and it was the best decision I could have made - the staff and fellow students were understanding of my situation and really supportive of my decision to pursue my studies.

I began my final year with not very much confidence but the staff and students I worked with at the university really turned that around for me."

Malvern Gazette, 19th August 2014 

Jade Blackstock (BA Fine Art Joint Hons 2011-2014)

Jade Blackstock graduated with a first-class Joint Honours degree from Worcester in 2014 and will be continuing her education at the Royal College of Art in London from 2015.

Jade was awarded one of just twelve scholarships that will help to fund a Master’s degree at the RCA by the Leverhulme Trust, which supports talented individuals across arts subjects.

She will begin her Master’s degree in Performance in 2015 and says that the support and guidance that she has received during her time at Worcester will stand her in good stead as she looks to develop further as an artist.

“The University of Worcester has been a great help to me during the application process for my Master’s course,” she explains. Even after I graduated, the University was extremely supportive and encouraging.

My former lecturers met me to provide advice and tips on making a strong application, and they helped me to pick out and present the strengths within my portfolio.

In studying for a Master’s degree, I hope to continue gaining and improving on the skills, which will prepare me for the future as a practising artist. I want to continue developing and improving my art practice, and building connections with a wider pool of creative thinkers.” 

Arts facilities

The Illustration studios A group of students learning in the art house Illustration facilities White taps and sink with art materials in the background The design computers in the Art House A group of students working on easels a well lit and sparsely-populated art gallery art-house-degree-show-fine-art5 A postcard exhibition at the Art House
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support through the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will enable you to flourish and be successful.

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of:

Tutorials
The studio tutorial - that is the discussion between tutor and student in the presence of your work - remains the principle form
of teaching and learning in a fine art education.

Group Crits
Like the tutorial the group crit forms an essential, critical strand of the teaching and feedback that you will encounter. These are opportunities to present finished work or work in progress to a group of peers, that will then be discussed.

Peer Review
Students will perform peer reviews on each other’s work according to the learning outcomes and grading criteria for the module

Seminars
These sessions focus on the exchange of ideas, promoting argument and debate. They will often be delivered in response to something that you have been asked to look at, this could be a reading, a film or an exhibition.

Lectures
These are platforms for delivery of contextual and critical discourse. During these sessions you will develop your knowledge around subject areas, disciplines, and thematic concepts.

Workshops
These are used to develop your skills and will often take the form of a demonstration before providing you with individual and/or group opportunities to practice and extend these skills through mini projects with technical support.

Studio time
This is a crucial aspect of the course. You are expected to develop your own areas of study. You are expected to take this forward through research, experimentation and the development of a range of skills required to create a body of work.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least 4 occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.

Contact time

In a typical week you will have around 12 contact hours of teaching. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study.

Typically class contact time will be structured around:

  • Tutorials
  • Group Crits
  • Seminars
  • Lectures
  • Presentations
  • Workshops

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 25 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically this will involve working on set-assignments in levels 4 and 5 and the development of a portfolio through studio practice in level 6.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team from across Fine Art, whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the modules on the course and includes respected senior academics and professional practitioners with substantial, current industry experience.

Teaching is informed by research, consultancy and professional practice, four of whom are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy and hold a PG Cert in Learning and Teaching.

You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or 'formative' assignments. Each module has one or more formal or 'summative' assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.

Assessment methods include presentations, portfolios of practical work, critical writing, exhibitions.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

2 x Portfolios of Artworks
2 x Writing/Research/Making Assignments
1 x Short Essays
1 x Learning Journal
1 x Reflective Statement
1 x Zine
1 x Online project
1 x Exhibition proposal

Year 2

3 x Portfolio of Artworks
4 x Reflective Statements
1 x Exhibition proposal
2 x Writing/Research/Making Assignments

Year 3

2 x Portfolio of Artworks
1 x Solo Exhibition
1 x Final Exhibition
3 x Reflective Statements
1 x Critical Report

Feedback

You will receive feedback on assessments. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.

John Cussans

Dr John Cussans

Dr Cussans is an artist and writer working across the fields of contemporary art, cultural history and practice-led artistic research. His work explores the legacies of colonialism in art, cinema and popular culture from anthropological, psychological and science fictional perspectives.

John has a special interest in the use of diagrams in art and design education and is a member of the Social Morphologies Research Unit (SMRU), a collaboration between anthropologists and artists investigating the creative, political and educational use of diagrams.

Dr Cussans is the leader of the Arts and Health Research Group

Dan Roach Portrait

Dan Roach

Dan Roach is a painter and printmaker. He is Technical Lecturer for Fine Art and Illustration. His practice explores how things seen in various landscapes can be brought into his studio and used as subjects in paintings and prints.

jess-mathews

Jess Mathews

Jess Mathews is a curator / producer based in Cardiff, Wales. Her practice-based research often necessitates a complex dialogue between the roles of writer, researcher, explorer, curator and maker. Key to this process, is that the thing that is produced (be that an object, a text, a book, an event, an exhibition, a symposium), remains open to intervention and moments of between.

Between 2017-18 Jess initiated and directed The Rejoinders, a British Council and Arts Council Wales / Wales Arts International funded project as part of the UK / India Year of Culture 2017-18. Partners included CONA Foundation, Mumbai, What About Art?, Mumbai, g39, Cardiff and the Fabrication Research Group, University of Worcester. www.therejoinders.org

Nathaniel Pitt sat down with hands placed on knees

Nathaniel Pitt

Nathaniel Pitt (1975) trained as an artist at Falmouth School of Art in 1997 and gained his MFA from Wolverhampton University 2009 before becoming a fellow at De Appel in Amsterdam, ‘curating in the gallery field.’ Since 2013, Pitt has served as the Director for the gallery Division of Labour, a West-Midlands based not-for-profit dedicated to supporting contemporary art across the UK.

With research interests in regional art market development, art and education and collaborative practice, projects have included artists Robert Barry, Victor Burgin, Brian O’Doherty and Carey Young. Pitt has developed an international profile for his gallery, with past presentations in the 2015 Venice Biennale, Brussels, Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Basel, Vienna and Dallas. www.divisionoflabour.co.uk

lucy-sames

Lucy A. Sames

Lucy A. Sames is a curator and researcher living and working between London, Bristol and South Wales. She holds a PhD from the Art Department at Northumbria University, Newcastle. She is an Associate Lecturer in Visual Culture at UWE Bristol, in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths (University of London) and in Art and Psychology at University of Worcester. She is curator and convener of Wet Rest; a core member of the Liquidity Cohort at MARs, Goldsmiths; Co-Director and Co-Curator at Res; and a member of the Social Morphology Research Unit in the Anthropology Department and Slade School of Art at University College London (UCL).

Final Year Art Shows

The Worcester Degree Shows are the culmination of work from students on the University of Worcester's arts courses.

Visit the website
Careers

Careers

Employability

Graduates from the course have had success in a variety of careers in the arts as well as in going on to study at postgraduate level at various universities including the Royal College of Arts. There are a range of career pathways open to students from a Fine Art course including becoming artists, curators, writers, designers, photographers, teachers and working within galleries. Increasingly, graduates are undertaking a variety of freelance commissions, setting up their own studio and gallery spaces and running their own businesses.

 

 

Two students are walking next to each other and smiling

Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £9,535 per year.

For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2025/26 academic year is £16,700 per year.

For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £1,190.83 per 15-credit module, £1,587.77 per 20-credit module, £2,381.66 per 30-credit module, £3,175.55 per 40-credit module, £3,572.50 per 45-credit module and £4,763.32 per 60 credit module.

For more details on course pages, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

You may also need to pay for relevant art equipment and materials, and contribute to the cost of some field trips.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Halls' at £131 per week to 'Ensuite Premium Halls' at £228 per week (2025/26 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.
How to apply

How to apply

Applying through UCAS

Single Honours:
Fine Art BA - W100

Joint Honours:
Please visit the individual joint honours course pages for UCAS links:
Fine Art and Illustration BA - WW1F

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

UCAS Code

W100

Apply Via UCAS

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way. 

Admissions Office

admissions@worc.ac.uk
01905 855111

Dr John Cussans

Course leader
j.cussans@worc.ac.uk
01905 85 5332

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