BA (Hons) Fine Art (with Foundation Year)

What you will study

YEAR 1 (FOUNDATION YEAR)

The BA (Hons) Fine Art (with Foundation Year) provides you with a comprehensive introduction to the diverse disciplines within the creative arts, serving as a gateway into more specialised study. This year of broad immersion introduces you to various fields, allowing them to explore and develop foundational skills in multiple disciplines through a balanced and structured curriculum. 

Each core module will immerse you in a different area of art and design, ranging from traditional techniques to contemporary digital practices. This gives you hands-on experience in fields such as graphic design, fine art, and animation, fostering adaptability and a broad skill set that you can apply across creative disciplines. 

MODULES

• Study Skills for Higher Education: Alongside artistic practice, you will develop essential academic skills needed for success in higher education. This includes critical thinking, research techniques, time management, and effective communication. These skills prepare you for the academic challenges of a degree programme and equip you to think analytically and critically about your work.
• Art History and Contextual Studies: This module will introduce you to the historical and theoretical frameworks that inform contemporary art and design. Through lectures, discussions, and personal research, you’ll gain an understanding of key movements, influential artists, and cultural contexts, improving practical work with a deeper conceptual foundation.
• Practical Skills and Techniques: Throughout the foundation year, you are encouraged to experiment with a wide range of techniques and materials. Core practical areas include:Printmaking: Exploring various printmaking techniques such as linocut, etching, and screen printing, allowing you to understand the tactile nature of design and pattern creation.Graphic Design: Gaining foundational skills in visual communication, including layout, typography, and introductory software use, to convey ideas effectively.Photography: Learning basic photography techniques, including composition, lighting, and editing, essential for both creative and commercial applications.Fine Art: Experimenting with painting, drawing, and mixed media to develop personal expression and technical skill.Illustration: Exploring illustration styles and techniques, from traditional drawing to digital illustration, providing you with storytelling and concept development skills.Animation: Introducing basic principles of motion, giving you a taste of both traditional and digital animation processes.Ceramics and Jewellery: Developing skills in 3D design and sculptural techniques, from hand-building ceramics to basic jewellery-making, allowing you to work with materials in a tactile, hands-on way.
• Project-Based Learning and Department Rotations: You’ll undertake projects within each department, gaining practical experience and exposure to a variety of creative tools and techniques. This approach not only builds confidence but also helps you to discover potential areas of interest for further study. Working on these projects in different studios and workshops provides a comprehensive foundation in each discipline, as well as an understanding of the creative process across various media.
• Final Show: The foundation year culminates in a public final show, offering you the chance to showcase your work to peers, faculty, family, and the local community. This exhibition provides invaluable experience in preparing, curating, and presenting your work in a professional setting, fostering confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

YEAR 2 (LEVEL 4)

Level 4 of the programme provides a broad base exposing you to diverse learning approaches and art media. The focus is on building core technical skills, conceptual development, contextual grounding, communication abilities and independent practice. This foundation equips students with both practical dexterity and critical thinking to progress in their degree.

MODULES

• Introduction to Fine Art Practice: This module aims to actively shape the student learning environment and foster a sustainable creative practice through exploration in various studio workshops. The module encourages active participation in studio-based events and critical discussions
• The Expanded Studio: This module is designed to foster creative intention and personal practice by exploring various materials, methods, and ideas in specialised fine art studio workshops. You will nurture distinctive creative intentions, exploring unconventional materials, methods, and conceptual directions across drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, digital media, performance, and other workshop settings.
• Developing Your Artistic Identity 1: This module will introduce you to a diverse range of career possibilities within and beyond traditional art fields, fostering an understanding of the various pathways available to fine art graduates. It will provide a comprehensive overview of the creative industries, emphasising the diverse opportunities that exist, while also developing your knowledge of how different types of art galleries impact artists and audiences.
• Contexts 1: The primary goal of this module is to familiarise you with a contextual understanding of your subject area. The module aims to introduce you to critical thinking, fostering your ability to engage in critical analysis and structured processes of inquiry. Furthermore, the module seeks to cultivate your curiosity, encouraging you to explore your individual interests within the contexts of art and design history.

YEAR 3 (LEVEL 5)

In this year, the modules will advance your contextual grounding, critical reflection abilities, risk-taking, and communication aptitude. The focus is on evolving a personal visual language and situating practice professionally via public participation.

MODULES

• Situating Fine Art Practice: The aim of the module is to reflect and build upon the skills and knowledge gained in Level 4, encouraging you to extend your individual visual languages and embrace creative risk-taking.
• Developing Fine Art Practice: The aim of this module is to advance your understanding and application of fine art, building upon the concepts introduced in the prerequisite module, "Situating Fine Art Practice." This module focuses on defining and advancing fine art practice, emphasising the placement of work within a broader context.
• Developing Your Artistic Identity 2: The aim of this module is to equip learners with a holistic understanding of the various elements crucial for developing a successful career in the arts. By delving into topics such as selecting opportunities and evaluating their relevance, you will learn to make informed decisions that align with your artistic practice.
• Contexts 2: To enhance your understanding of contemporary art practices, ideas, and debates, the module aims to delve deeper into the subject matter. This involves introducing more intricate contextual frameworks that facilitate the analysis of artworks, practices, and theories within a broader intellectual landscape. The goal of the module is to broaden your knowledge and foster critical thinking and argumentation skills essential for interpreting the complexities of contemporary art contexts.

YEAR 4 (LEVEL 6)

The final year modules stress self-directed explorations culminating in resolved bodies of work, writing to articulate insights, and situating practice professionally via promotions and networks. There is an emphasis on sustaining creative trajectories beyond graduation.

MODULES

• Fine Art Practice as Research: This module empowers you to advance personal creative inquiries through practice-based research and articulate emergent understandings in writing, strengthening speculative art making. Goals include producing ambitious self-guided artworks that synthesise cohesively with contextual insights from sustainable subject exploration.
• Presenting Practice to Audience: This module requires you to create a substantial, self-initiated body of studio work that demonstrates sophisticated conceptualisation and creative application of materials and methods. The outcome of the work is intended for presentation to diverse professional audiences.

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal academic framework review, so may be subject to change.

Entry requirements & applying

Our general requirement for the foundation year is 48-72 UCAS tariff points but all applications are considered individually and we consider work experience, vocational training/qualifications, as well as motivation and potential to succeed.

The Fine Art programme team welcomes applications from anyone who can demonstrate a commitment to the subject and the potential to complete their chosen programme successfully. This can be established by showing appropriate academic achievements or by demonstrating that they possess the knowledge and ability equivalent to the academic qualifications.

An admissions tutor considers each application individually. All candidates will either be individually interviewed or invited to an applicants’ day where they will have the opportunity to display a portfolio of their work.

Experience may also be taken into consideration, particularly for those applicants who do not meet the academic requirements above, depending on the extent and depth of subject knowledge.

Teaching & Assessment

The majority of the work is studio/workshop based and practical in nature supported with lectures, talks by specialist guest speakers, demonstrations, tutorials, seminars and critiques. Assessment is continuous, and there are a series of set and chosen, (both individual and team), assignments in which students learn a range of skills and techniques and apply them creatively to solve art and design problems.

Assessment is designed to enable students to participate in the measurement of their own progress, with clear aims provided from the very beginning of each module, regular feedback and group interaction with critical analysis throughout the course, giving students the opportunities they need to succeed.

Wrexham University is committed to supporting our students to maximise their academic potential.

We offer workshops and support sessions in areas such as academic writing, effective note-making and preparing for assignments. Students can book appointments with academic skills tutors dedicated to helping deal with the practicalities of university work. Our student support section has more information on the help available.

In terms of particular needs, the University’s Inclusion Services can provide appropriate guidance and support should any students require reasonable adjustments to be made because of a recognised prevailing disability, medical condition, or specific learning difference.

Career prospects

Fine Art, like all of our Art and Design undergraduate programmes, has a strong vocational and academic ethos that aims to ensure graduates acquire a range of vocationally relevant skills. Integral to this ethos is the responsibility to ensure that our graduates have a portfolio of abilities and attributes which will allow them to thrive in the 21st Century workplace. It takes into account the fact that the future needs of the creative industries are likely to be very different and aims to prepare ‘independent learners’ who, on completion of their studies, are able to flourish within increasingly diverse professional contexts.

We pride ourselves on the high level of realistic and practical experience of working in the professional creative environment that you can gain while you are on the programme. Students are encouraged to initiate, organise and participate in off-site projects and engage in professional opportunities, including commercial activities that have the potential to launch their career in Fine Art.

Many Fine Art graduates go on pursue careers in: 

• Independent art practice 
• Fine art conservation 
• Teaching in further or higher education 
• Teaching in primary and secondary schools 
• Gallery or other forms of exhibition work 
• Public or community arts  
• Education officers 
• Art therapists 
• Researchers 
• Artist agents 
• Technicians  
• Arts management 

Our Careers & Employability service is there to help you make decisions and plan the next steps towards a bright future. From finding work or further study to working out your interests, skills and aspirations, they can provide you with the expert information, advice and guidance you need.

Fees & funding

You do not have to pay your tuition fees upfront.

The fees you pay and the support available will depend on a number of different factors. Full information can be found on our fees & finance pages. You will also find information about what your fees include in the fee FAQs.

All fees are subject to any changes in government policy, view our undergraduate fees.

Programme specification

View the full programme specification here

Accommodation

If you’re looking for a place to stay while you study then take a look at our accommodation pages to get more information on your options, including our on-campus halls of residence Wrexham Village.

Subject to re-validation

As part of its continuous quality assurance and enhancement, the University reviews its courses on a regular basis to ensure that they reflect the needs of students and employers. Periodic review of the existing programmes is required every five years and major changes may be made to the programmes during the re-validation process. As soon as the programmes are re-validated the details of the course will be confirmed. The majority of courses that are still ‘subject to re-validation’ are approved by the validation process; however, this is not guaranteed and should the course not go ahead as planned, or be significantly amended, you will be informed by the university and assistance will be provided to those who have been offered a place to find a suitable alternative course either at Wrexham University or at another provider.