
Fine Art BA(Hons)
Harness Falmouth’s renowned fine art expertise, which champions critical exploration.
Course overview
On this studio-based degree you’ll delve into culture and theory, evolve your practice and gain vital professional skills. You’ll investigate contemporary and historical art practices, theories and debates, developing an industry-ready portfolio and the ability to effectively present your work to the world. Learning from experienced practitioners and collaborating with industry partners, you’ll build the foundations for an enduring art career.
You will:
- Work in a fine art studio space from day one, with access to excellent facilities including 3D, printmaking and time-based media workshops
- Collaborate with industry partners such as Newlyn Art Gallery and Tate St Ives
- Develop professional practice skills, learning to identify opportunities, take initiative and sustain a viable long-term career in the arts and beyond
- Evolve your practice through opportunities such as field recordings, voice laboratories, self-publishing projects, specialist workshops, guest lectures and performances
- Collaborate with peers and staff to produce group exhibitions and an online arts festival
- Build an industry-ready fine art portfolio
The placement year pathway for this course is new for 2023 and subject to validation.
Lead image: Edward Scott.
Course details
On this Fine Art degree, you'll have the opportunity to gain a BA(Hons) degree over three years or the option to study Fine Art BA(Hons) with Integrated Foundation Year and/or a placement year.
On this studio-based Fine Art degree you'll delve into culture and theory, evolve your practice and gain vital professional skills. Learning from experienced practitioners, you'll investigate contemporary and historical art practices, theories and debates. You'll also develop the skills to effectively present your work to the world. Throughout the course, you'll collaborate with staff and peers to plan and deliver public exhibitions.
In your first year, you'll join technical workshops and inductions to kick-start approaches to artistic practice. With a focus on co-creation, you'll collaborate with your peers to develop a range of ways to think about, self-initiate, and develop your practice. You'll also investigate contemporary and historical art contexts, developments and debates. At the end of the year, you'll go on to develop and deliver a group exhibition.
Modules
Press Play
With a focus on co-creation and collaborative peer learning, you'll develop a range of ways to think about, self-initiate, and develop your artistic practice. You'll undertake technical workshops and inductions and explore ambitious ideas – testing boundaries, taking risks, experimenting and making meaning. You'll also be introduced to a range of contemporary and historical art practices, cultural issues, debates, and contexts.
Practice in Context 1
In this module, you'll benefit from the combined expertise of both our Fine Art and Drawing courses. Through lectures and group discussions surrounding contemporary and historical art contexts, developments and debates, you'll develop a self-reflective approach to studio practice.
You'll also be introduced to academic writing and research conventions. Through this, you'll develop your own critical analysis skills and learn to communicate your ideas professionally and effectively.
Initiating Practice
In this module, you'll strengthen your understanding of what it means to have and maintain an independent artistic practice. You'll explore methods for practice-based research to identify connections between sources, underpin your practice with rich source material and develop conceptual themes for your work. You'll also look at how your practice fits within the professional industry and construct a collaborative group exhibition – exploring different modes of display and audience experience.
Practice in Context 2
This is part two of the Practice in Context module, where you'll have access to expertise across Falmouth School of Art. You'll be introduced to a range of themes and trends that have shaped contemporary artistic practices, such as socially engaged practices and recent philosophical shifts in the role and value of artistic production. You'll also engage with a greater range of academic source material and strategies for analysing, researching, and writing about art.
In your second year, you’ll expand your horizons of what art practice is and can be, and how this translates to professional contexts. You’ll further your understanding of research by exploring the relationships between sources, methodologies, themes, and ideas in support of your evolving practice. You’ll also continue to develop the academic and cognitive skills required to develop thoughtful and critical practice, in both visual and written forms.
At the end of the year, you’ll work in teams to produce a public-facing arts event. To do this, you’ll utilise vital professional practice skills including collaboration, team working, negotiation, persuasion, liaison and project management.
Modules
Situating Practice: Studio
In this module, you’ll establish themes in your practice and gain an understanding of how your work interacts with a range of professional and theoretical contexts. Working in both the studio and technical workshops, you’ll develop a new body of work focusing on process, material investigation and technical experimentation.
You’ll also explore how to identify themes and contexts that emerge from thinking through making and how you ‘tell the story’ of your practice and research, situated in real-world contexts.
Situating Practice: Art Discourses
In this module, you’ll be introduced to discussions on a range of diverse themes in contemporary art. You’ll look at the histories that have given rise to certain works and the ideas informing them, questioning the choices that artists make and how artists orientate themselves on the constantly shifting grounds of contemporary art.
Testing Ground: Art Encounters
Here, you’ll begin generating a portfolio of research. You’ll be introduced to core research methodologies and contemporary critical research practices. You’ll also learn and then apply methods for planning and organising your research. Additionally, you’ll explore a range of strategies for undertaking critical reading, and experimental, creative modes of writing.
Testing Ground: Collaboration
Working in exhibition planning groups, you’ll identify and work towards a live context for your current practice. Each group will contribute to planning and preparing a public-facing arts festival and the group curation of your practice.
Testing Ground: Studio
In this module, you’ll challenge and test established conventions within your practice. The emphasis will be on experimentation and risk through the practical business of making. Through a combination of seminars, tutorials and peer review you will articulate and receive critical feedback on your work. You will curate a body of work into an organised portfolio with a supporting artist statement.
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.
In the third year, you’ll work to establish a professional level of agency over your own creative practice. You'll complete an extensive research project that addresses the question of ‘research as practice’; providing an opportunity to scope the embedded methodologies and theoretical frameworks of your practice. You’ll then mobilise this research to produce a professional, public-facing final exhibition.
Throughout the year, you’ll be supported to develop your professional practice skills, expand your industry and research networks, and find opportunities to test your practice in the real world.
Modules
Practice as Research
Through challenge and exploration, in this module you’ll begin to understand and mobilise research as an integral aspect of practice, culminating in a set of outputs distinctive to your own critical concerns.
Entrepreneurial Practices: Agencies & Audiences
In this module, you’ll build an entrepreneurial skillset by engaging with public contexts as a dynamic material within your practice. You’ll also be required to identify the relevant audiences, platforms and tools for the dissemination of your practice and research in relation to your career goals.
Realisation
This module is a culmination of the skills, knowledge and understanding you have accumulated over three years of study. You’ll be expected to challenge and finesse your practice, with your degree show exhibition showcasing your accomplishments to a wider audience. You’ll also be required to liaise with your cohort to collectively organise, curate and promote an exciting exhibition.
Sustaining Practice
In this module, you’ll consider things like curation, the catalogue, planning and delivering a show – and what to carry forward beyond university. You’ll be required to thoroughly document the planning, investigation and development of your chosen project, reflect on and evaluate your own professional development and initiate industry connections and explore opportunities for your career.
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 learn
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 an 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 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.
From module information to course aims and assessment criteria, discover the full course details:
Stories from our community
Explore student projects, graduate successes, staff news and industry insights

Falmouth alumna exhibiting at Tate Britain
15 November 2022
Falmouth Fine Art alumna Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is exhibiting at the Tate Britain in November 2022.

Peer to Peer: UK/HK 2022 – Students cross continents in the name of collaboration
07 November 2022
Falmouth’s BA Fine Art students have concluded the Peer to Peer: UK/HK 2022 Symposium; a festival ...

Graduate spotlight: Cornwall-based printmaker highlights the importance of resilience
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Since graduating from Fine Art BA(Hons) in 2021, Neve Clarke has worked hard to pursue a career in p...

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2022: Susannah Douglas' entry
Falmouth alumni shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2022
27 September 2022
Three Falmouth graduates have been shortlisted for this year’s Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize an...

Alumnus Hew Locke is selected for The Met's Facade Commission
03 May 2022
Esteemed Falmouth alumnus Hew Locke has been announced as an artist for The Met Museum’s 2022 Faca...

Fresh From Falmouth: March Edition
30 March 2022
After a brief hiatus, Fresh From Falmouth returns with even more exciting stories from our wonderful...

Fine Art graduates awarded €100,000 prize from Chanel
16 December 2021
Artist collective Keiken, made up of three Fine Art graduates, has been awarded the Chanel Next Priz...

Falmouth graduates compete for a share of £27,000 at prestigious Drawing Award
22 October 2021
The Falmouth School of Art is celebrating a double success at the 2021 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Pr...

Forest & Clay: Small business flourishes in the hands of Falmouth graduates
02 July 2021
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Waste not, want not: Graduate business launches sustainable clothing line
20 May 2021
Since her time at Falmouth, Fine Art graduate Lucy Whittaker has been nurturing a new sustainable fa...

Fine Art students win big at the Student Medal Project
23 April 2021
Falmouth Fine Art BA (Hons) students have scooped an impressive h...

Fine Art students launch community project
23 February 2021
Fine Art student Lily Peach-Forster has instigated a new community arts project, Street View Falmout...

Why I chose to study Fine Art
10 December 2020
Deciding on a degree is never easy and with so many options it can feel really overwhelming, but wit...

Grad shortlisted for Wells Art Contemporary Awards 2020
12 October 2020
Fine art graduate, Aimee Labourne has been shortlisted for the Wells Art Contemporary Awards 2020 an...

Tracing. Placing. Making.
12 March 2020
Fine Art students have been inspired by a programme of workshops designed to encourage students to t...

Award Sparks Personal Journey
06 March 2020
Fine Art student Nelida Taque Nanque won the Falmouth School of Art Edge Award in 2019. It was ...

Fine Art Residency at Source FM
05 March 2020
Fine Art students made their first visit to Source FM in preparation for their take-over of an episo...

Graduate Wins Drawing Prize
28 January 2020
Fine Art graduate Shelly Tregoning has received Second Prize from the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Pri...

Award Win for Fine Art Graduate
21 January 2020
Fine Art graduate Manon Dowse has been voted the winner of the Great Art Visitors' Choice Award. ...

Illustrator Brings World of Whales to Life
11 December 2019
Fine Art graduate Becky Thorns has just finished her first book commission, which will be published ...
How you'll learn
This Fine Art degree is constructed around the studio. You'll learn through individual tutorials, group discussions, critiques and technical workshops, while leading your own efforts in exhibitions and presentations.
Beginning with introductory studio-based exercises and media workshops, you'll take more and more responsibility for self-directed study as you learn and present work in public exhibitions.
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
- Foundation year assessments are 100% coursework based
- Practice-based modules will be assessed on the presentation of visual work, including preparatory work
- Critical studies modules will be assessed on written assignments
- In the final year you’ll be assessed on your dissertation and your studio-based module - culminating in an exhibition of your final-year work
Staff
All staff are practising artists, working across a range of disciplines. Our visiting professors have included Elizabeth Price and Rory Pilgrim, and our speakers have included Zoe Williams, Phoebe Coolings-James, Charlie Porter, Martin Clark and Richard Wentworth.
Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.

Jonty Lees
Course Leader BA(Hons) Fine Art
My research examines the Cornwall Schools Art Collection. The collection is important and culturally...

Dr Tom Baugh
Head of Art
Thomas is the Head of Art at Falmouth University. Thomas situates his artistic research ac...

Dr Neil Chapman
Senior Lecturer, Fine Art
Neil Chapman is an artist, writer and researcher. His current work explores material textual practic...

Dr Glad Fryer
Lecturer, Fine Art
My work takes an image on a journey beginning with a photographic source image and ending in a paint...

Virginia Verran
Associate Lecturer, Fine Art
Virginia Verran (b. Falmouth, UK). Studied at Chelsea College of Art, London, MA (1983-84) and Winch...

Lucy Willow
Senior Lecturer subject specialist in sculpture
I joined Falmouth University in 2012 as full time lecturer in Fine Art with subject specialism in Sc...

Gillian Wylde
Senior Lecturer
Gillian is an artist and researcher. Central to Gillian's practice is an engagement with technologie...

Maria Christoforidou
Associate Lecturer
Maria Christoforidou is an artist, writer and researcher. Maria was born in Zambia, grew up in Greec...

Dr David Paton
Interim Course Leader and First Year Module Leader
David is an artist-researcher and a craftsperson with a specialism in Cornish granite. He has been a...

Oliver Thomas-Irvine
Associate Lecturer, Fine Art BA(Hons)
Amy and Oliver Thomas-Irvine’s work spans across sculpture, installation, performance, photography...

Chloe Thorne
Associate Lecturer
Chloe Thorne is an artist interested in the complex mechanisms which constitute the world around us....
Facilities
- Studio space.
- Dedicated workshops for 3D and bronze casting foundry, printmaking, paint preparation, laser cutting and rapid prototyping.
- Digital imaging facilities.
- Video and photography facilities.
- Performance and sound facilities.
- 140,000 books, 17,000 DVD/video titles and over 400 journal titles.
- Radio archives, slides, pictures, maps and archive collections.

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

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

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

Careers
Our graduates have worked as:
- Internationally exhibiting artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize
- Exhibitors at Bischoff/Weiss
- A Cannes Film Festival prize-winning filmmaker
- A Creative Presenter at Ralph Lauren
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).
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.
Course route | UCAS code |
---|---|
Fine Art BA(Hons) three year degree | W100 |
Fine Art BA(Hons) with Integrated Foundation Year | FY11 |
Fine Art BA(Hons) with placement year | PY19 |

Application advice & interview information
Go to ToolkitWe 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.
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:
- Has the confidence and curiosity to identify source material for development.
- Can develop visual ideas through drawing and engagement with materials, working methods and skills.
- Shows enthusiasm, commitment and an open approach to fine art practice.
- Knows about contemporary fine art.
- Demonstrates written and visual research of artists' work.
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 |
Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.
The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs
Typical course costs
- £380-£480 - Recurring annual costs
- £100-£400 - One off costs for the course duration (compulsory trips, final portfolios or shows, etc)
- £800 - 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.
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.
Funding
For information about funding available, please visit our student funding pages.
Ask a student
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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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