Students standing at a wall full of ideas written on paper

Creative Advertising BA(Hons)

Pitching, hustling, scribbling, experimenting and – most of all – having a blast.

Key details
Location
Falmouth Campus
Course duration
3 years / 4 years
Attendance
Full-time / Placement year
UCAS code
N561/FY09/PY44

Course overview

This course will help you become an imaginative and media-savvy advertising professional. You’ll have the chance to interact with advertising agencies and network with industry partners as you put together a standout portfolio to showcase your ideas and strategic thinking. We absolutely believe in learning by doing. And it works. Our award-winning alumni network is helping shape the creative landscape worldwide.

You will:

  • Put together a portfolio of work that will help you stand out and showcase your ideas and strategic thinking
  • Have the chance to interact directly with advertising agencies, learn how they operate and network with professionals
  • Collaborate with different creative partners and hone your teamworking skills
  • Gain practical knowledge of how to establish a real business through a Dragons’ Den-style module, developed in collaboration with industry practitioners
  • Work on real brands and pitch ideas to our industry friends and alumni, who offer paid internships, valuable advice and mentoring

The Integrated Foundation Year and placement year pathways for this course are new for entry year 2023 and subject to validation.

Creative Advertising BA(Hons) is accredited by the leading professional marketing body, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). This means students who successfully complete the full undergraduate degree are part-accredited for qualifications CIM offers professional marketing practitioners.

CIM accreditation logo

Course details

On this Creative Advertising degree, you'll have the opportunity to gain a BA(Hons) degree over three years or the option to study Creative Advertising BA(Hons) with Integrated Foundation Year and/or a placement year.

Through this career-focused Creative Advertising degree, we'll help you become an imaginative, enthusiastic and technologically literate advertising professional. You'll develop the knowledge, empathy and skills to operate as a creative problem-solver in collaborative teams, producing impactful and engaging advertisements.

We'll explore brands, the fundamentals of marketing communications, and the essential techniques for creating an ad. You'll also familiarise yourself with different creative roles and departments in agencies.

Taking on workshops, crits and studio-based activities, you'll learn art direction, copywriting, planning, pitching and creative problem-solving techniques, while our dedicated technician will help you develop your Adobe suite skills.

Modules

Design and Art Direction

Learn the creative process from scamps to ads. Learn to arrange typography and imagery for maximum effect.

Copywriting

Write engaging copy for different channels, from radio and TV to social media. Learn about modes of writing and experiment with developing a tone of voice for brands.

Creative Problem Solving

Work collaboratively in teams to use different methods to explore real world problems. Come up with innovative solutions and ideas to tackle them.

Professional Practice 

Practice the art of pitching and create a self promotional film. Learn how to present yourself confidently and memorably to your audience. Work on content production, whilst rotating creative partners on a weekly basis.

Adland

What can advertising history teach us today? In this module, you'll explore the stories from Adland's past and discover lessons that are still useful today.

Strategy and Planning

In this module, you'll develop the skills to listen to the voice of the consumer. You'll explore techniques for gathering audience insights and learn how to put together a professional creative brief.

This year is all about applying your skills from Year one. You'll progress beyond ad creation to multimedia, multichannel campaigns and tackle fully-fledged briefs. You'll hone your collaborative skills by working in creative teams, and have the chance to complete a work placement or find an industry mentor to help with your career aspirations.

Alongside this, you'll use theories to critically reflect on technology's impact on brands and consumers, and join industry debates and scholarly discussion through speculative work.

Modules

Media Lab

In this module, you'll experiment with new creative tools for content production. Create experiences and tell stories that work across a sweep of digital technologies such as AR/VR, algorithms, platforms and environments.

Campaign Creation

You'll work on a range of briefs to develop fully-fledged advertising campaigns. This includes creating content for video, radio, online, print and social media.

Optional modules

Consumer Behaviour

Learn theories and methods from behavioural science to understand the psychology behind human behaviour and decisions.

Work Placement

Develop employability skills specific to the creative industries. Discover and reflect your career options, undertake a short work experience and document your personal journey.

Brand Creation

Learn about brands. Create a brand from scratch and launch it via an advertising campaign.

You can choose to take an optional placement year after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year. 

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the RealWORKS employability team. 

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying. 

How you’ll study during your placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks. 

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

You'll begin to shape your professional and creative identity by immersing yourself in a series of live or self-initiated briefs. These include a final-year integrated marketing communications project accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). You'll also develop your entrepreneurial skills to help you turn your ideas into business plans.

Modules

Advanced Campaign Creation

Work on a live brief and pitch to real clients every two weeks. Previous brands for these briefs include: BBC, Museum of London, Ted Baker, Spaceport Cornwall, Avis, Sane (mental health charity), WKD, National Trust, YHA, Confused.com, Waterwise.

Final Year Project (CIM accredited)

Design and conduct primary market research for a brand. Develop a fully integrated campaign based on your findings. You will have the option of further gaining Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) professional qualification before graduation.

Start-up

Start your own real business using a 'seed fund' from the university. Learn methods and techniques for testing and developing a business model for your side hustle.

Final Portfolio

Work on live and competition briefs for brands such as Nike, Adidas, Durex, Lego, Twitter, Burger King and GiffGaff. Produce a distinctive portfolio that will be exhibited in London during the summer.

Why study an Integrated Foundation Year route?

If you’re taking on a new subject that you haven’t studied in depth before, have been out of education for a while or have a non-standard educational background then an Integrated Foundation Year degree may be the right choice for you. It is a four-year degree with an Integrated Foundation Year to start, which allows you to explore the primary elements of your subject before progressing on to the remaining three years of the BA(Hons) degree.

What you'll study in your Foundation year

If you choose this pathway, you'll study five core modules in your Foundation year. These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of your subject. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

Modules

Explore

You'll begin your foundation year by working collaboratively with others to explore themes of the future. You'll take risks, experiment through play and be supported to break through barriers.

Technique

You'll take subject-specific workshops and develop essential technical and practical skills in your area of study. You'll also enhance your analytical and organisational abilities.

Apply

You'll work with your peer group to think beyond discipline by addressing a societal or global issue. You'll then showcase your work to your peers and deliver and accompanying evaluation of your process.

Industry

You'll enhance your creative and practical skills in your subject specialism by responding to typical industry briefs, underpinned by focused research and experiments. You'll also gain industry insights through guest lectures and workshops.

Launch

You'll develop your unique identity in your specialism through the production of a self-initiated body of work. Your final project will be the bridge to your next year, fully supported by evaluative reviews and critical analysis of the work you have created.

After the Foundation year, you progress into Year One of the full three-year degree, equipped with a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, and develop a practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen subject. 

 

If you apply for and enrol onto a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year, you’ll have the option to switch onto a five-year version including a placement year. That means you’ll complete the first three years of your course before completing a placement in industry in your fourth year and returning to Falmouth for the fifth year of your programme. 

The Integrated Foundation Year pathway for this course is new for entry year 2023 and subject to validation.

The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.

We are making changes to our curriculum framework for courses starting in 2023. Modest amendments to our course module structure will provide you with new opportunities to collaborate and co-create with students from across disciplines during your studies.

This course page will be updated when these changes have been finalised and applicants will be notified.

From module information to course aims and assessment criteria, discover the three year degree full course details.

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How you'll learn

This practice-based course mirrors life in a creative agency. You'll work as an art director or copywriter in a creative team of two, taking on real agency briefs and challenges, while visiting industry professionals will share insights and stories through lectures and masterclasses. Regular learning will come through lectures, seminars, team and individual tutorials, demonstrations and practice-based workshops.

At Falmouth, we use a 'digitally enhanced learning & teaching' approach. Your experience will always be predominantly in-person, including seminars, tutorials and studio teaching, with some, more targeted elements, being online either live (synchronous) or pre-recorded (asynchronous). You can read more here.

How you'll be assessed

You'll be assessed with practical exams and coursework.

Assessment methods

Reflecting the industry, we encourage self-evaluation at the end of each project and support this via personal development plans.

Assessment is based on a combination of:

  • Foundation year assessments are 100% coursework based
  • Portfolio work
  • Individual and group projects
  • Essays and critiques
  • Presentations
  • Final dissertation
Creative Advertising student showreel

Staff

Our staff come from agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Wunderman Thompson, Ogilvy and Fallon. We also have partnerships with agencies like Droga 5, Ogilvy, M&C Saatchi, Poke, VCCP, AMV BBDO, and Wunderman Thompson.

Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.

Dr Cui Su

Head of Advertising

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Lucy Cokes

Senior Lecturer, Creative Advertising

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Senior Technician, Software Skills Development

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Jono Wardle staff picture

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Lecturer, Brand Design & Strategy

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Joel Ferguson staff image

Joel Ferguson

Lecturer, Creative Advertising

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Facilities

  • Dedicated studio space.
  • Digital labs, lecture theatres and seminar rooms.
  • Library housing 140,000 books, 17,000 DVDs/videos and over 400 journal titles.
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Art & Design Facilities

Primarily located at the Falmouth Campus in a subtropical garden, our studios and workshop facilitie...

Art & Design Facilities
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Media Equipment and Facilities

Our industry-level facilities offer everything you need to practice and produce animation, film, TV,...

Media Equipment and Facilities
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Library Facilities

Offering extensive collections, our two libraries provide a wealth of digital resources, magazines, ...

Library Facilities
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Sports Centre

Sports Centre

Our Sports Centre, on Penryn Campus, includes a spacious gym with up to 90 of the latest, new statio...

Sports Centre

Careers

Our graduates have worked as:

  • Senior Creative at BBC Creative
  • Copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore
  • Creative Team at Wieden+Kennedy
  • Senior Account Manager at AMV BBDO
  • Copywriter at McCann Central
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How to apply

Apply via UCAS

Ready to join us? You can apply through UCAS. You'll need to reference the course and University code (F33).

Apply now

Applying as an international student? 

International students can apply for a course through UCAS, via an agent or directly with the university. For more information about how to apply as an international student, visit our international applications page.

International applications

Course route UCAS code
Creative Advertising BA(Hons) three year degree N561
Creative Advertising BA(Hons) with Integrated Foundation Year FY09
Creative Advertising BA(Hons) with placement year PY44

We consider all applications on their own individual merit and potential. We invite all applicants to an interview day or audition to give them the opportunity to demonstrate this along with what inspires and motivates them in their field. Applicants will also be able to show their portfolio or give a performance depending on the course. We welcome applications from all subject backgrounds, whether you’ve specialised in STEM, the arts or humanities.  

Course route Entry requirements
BA/BSc(Hons) three year degree 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with placement year 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with Integrated Foundation Year 80 – 120 UCAS Tariff points

Check the title of your course to see if it's a BA or BSc award. UCAS Tariff points will primarily be from Level 3 qualifications such as but not limited to A-levels, T Levels, a BTEC/UAL Extended Diploma or a Foundation Diploma. 

Check how many points your qualifications are worth

For applicants whose first language is English we require you to have or be working towards GCSE English Language Grade 4 (C), or equivalent. 

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the same standard which is equivalent to the IELTS Academic 6.0 overall score, with at least 5.5 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. We accept a range of in country equivalencies and approved tests.  

If you need a student visa to study in the UK, you may need to take a recognised language test. You can read our English Language Requirements for more information.

For starting your studies in 2023

UK applications: 25 January 2023 (for equal consideration)

Applications after the 25 January will be considered on a first-come, first-served as long as there are places available. Apply for this course now.

International fee payers

International fee payers can apply throughout the year. But we recommend applying as early as possible, to make time for visa and travel arrangements.

What we're looking for

We want someone who:

  • Is enthusiastic about the subject, with a passion for ideas and creative thinking.
  • Has related extracurricular activities or work experience.
  • Can communicate effectively.
  • Can express ideas and opinions demonstrating an emerging knowledge of the industry, popular culture and creative practice.
  • Can critique and analyse an inspiring advertising campaign, including its target audience and effectiveness.
  • Has a willingness and desire to share ideas and work with a partner.

Fees, costs & funding

Tuition fees

Annual tuition fee Student
£9,250 per year Full-time UK
£17,460 per year Full-time EU/international
Annual tuition fee Student
£9,250 per year Full-time UK
£17,460 per year Full-time EU/international
£1,850 per placement year Full-Time UK and EU/international

Typical course costs

  • £290 - Recurring annual costs
  • £600 - One off costs for the course duration (compulsory trips, final portfolios or shows, etc)
  • £500 - Optional study visits and placements for the course duration

If you need to bring equipment or materials with you, these will be outlined in your Welcome Letter.

The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs

Additional typical course costs for Integrated Foundation Year pathway

  • £250 for materials
  • A laptop/desktop computer
  • Adobe Creative Suite

In order to participate in our digitally enhanced learning approach, you'll need to have a personal laptop/desktop computer. Depending on your subject, you may need a specific type of computer. If you're unsure about what you might need, please contact our course advisors.

Ask a student

What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?

From course details and academic support, to the social scene and settling in, our students are ready and available to answer any questions you might have. Simply set up your account, send them a question and they'll get back to you within 24 hours.

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