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Craft & Material Practices at Arts University Plymouth - UCAS

There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

With almost 150,000 people employed in the UK’s craft industry, skilled craftspeople are putting the country on the map for original, forward-thinking contemporary design. The relationship between thinking and making is constantly evolving. Experimentation and innovation are driving a new wave of craftspeople to explore original directions, often looking to develop methods in which we can live harmoniously within natural and fabricated environments while supporting a healthy ecosystem. Whilst studying BA (Hons) Craft & Material Practices, you’ll have access to our spacious Materials Lab which includes specialist facilities for ceramics, glass, metal, and wood, encouraging you to explore traditional making alongside the rapid digital prototyping facilities in our Fab Lab, giving you the opportunity to reinvent craft for the 21st century. However, learning isn’t limited to our design studios and workshops – you will meet some of the UK’s most inventive and entrepreneurial contemporary makers and thinkers through studio visits, demonstrations, and presentations. Why Choose this Course? On this course, you’ll discover an array of material practices, including glassblowing and kiln-formed glass, ceramics, metals in various scales, woodworking, concrete, plastics, and textiles in our state-of-the-art workshops. You’ll expand your critical approach while honing research and analytical skills. Our programmes foster diversity in both thought and practice, emphasising practical applications alongside reflective, analytical writing. Whilst studying with us, you’ll have access to the Making Futures conference to engage with critical discourses by international makers, curators, and critics, enriching your understanding of contemporary craft. You’ll study specialist ceramics techniques such as throwing, slip casting, slab-building, coiling, glazing, and raku firing. Working with glass will include hot glass making, kiln-formed glass, coldworking, and lampworking. Working with metals will see you casting, welding, and grinding. If you’re looking to specialise in wood-working, you’ll have the opportunity to learn woodturning, joinery, and CNC routing. In the Fab Lab you will experience laser cutting, CNC milling, and 3D printing. Through the use of these traditional materials, as well as explorations in smart and adaptive materials, you’ll develop new modes of creative authorship through experimentation, research, and invention. Enhance Your Creative Practice Experience a dynamic and stimulating learning environment, fostering experimentation and innovation in practice. Embrace the dynamic interplay between theory and practice, exploring the potential of material and visual exploration, collaborative working, and the contextualisation of histories and contemporary contexts. Students studying this course learn the ins and outs of enterprise and entrepreneurship, mastering skills in pricing, display, and promotion tailored to diverse markets. Gain practical insights through working on live briefs, pitching to clients, and entering competitions, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of customer needs and market dynamics. Students engage with live briefs and real clients, collaborating with prestigious institutions such as The Tate Exchange, The Box, MAKE Southwest, and Mount Edgcumbe Estate, fostering professional connections and real-world experience. They also work with industry partners including the Crafts Council, the Goldsmiths’ Company, the Association for Contemporary Jewellery, Hothouse, Craftspace, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, British Art Medal Society, the Eden Project, Mount Edgcumbe and Dartington Crystal on live briefs, competitions and exhibitions. Graduates from this course go on to become ceramicists, glass artists, prop designers, ornament/wearables designers, sculptors, architectural surface designers textile designers, fine artists, gallery and museum professionals after they have graduated.

Modules

Arts University Plymouth offers a year long sandwich year option. Framed within the institution’s innovative Common Unit Framework, the sandwich year experience is offered as a unit that contributes to your BA (Hons) Degree. The sandwich year can take the form of an internship or work placement, and can take place in the UK or abroad. It is intended to give you the possibility of gaining experience in art and design practice in a ‘real life’ industry setting, before you return to complete the final year of your degree. You will be able to build your CV and, if you choose to take on your sandwich year outside of the UK, enhance your experience of international creative practice. Sandwich year placements will be selected by each student who wishes to take one, assisted by Course staff within AUP. Opportunities may also come through corporate approaches to AUP or through links built by your course tutors. Each placement opportunity will be reviewed by the University before being approved to ensure its suitability to be part of your course. During the Sandwich Year you remain enrolled at AUP with access to IT and your email accounts, online library and learning support. Once approved, the sandwich year will count towards your overall degree and completion of it will be acknowledged on your degree certificate.


How to apply

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

Plymouth is the largest city in the county of Devon, and the safest big city in south-west England, listed in the top ten safest cities in the UK. The city has excellent travel links via car, train and ferry, with direct train services to London Paddington and the rest of the country and easy access to three nearby airports (Bristol, Newquay and Exeter). Plymouth is the gateway to the South West of England and is approximately 3 hours from London by train. The best airport to fly into is London Heathrow, which has a direct rail line to Paddington station. Our dedicated international team will be able to support you throughout your application and enrolment with us, giving you expert advice and guidance on everything you need, from accommodation to what to do once you arrive in the UK.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Your application will tell us about your qualifications and previous experience, but studying the arts is about more than can be captured on forms. We need to find out about your creative potential, your abilities and idiosyncrasies, so we will invite you to talk about your work with a member of our HE academic team. You can tell us about your aspirations, and why you want to study at the university. It is also a good moment to find out what we can offer you. We encourage you to visit the university, so that you can see our facilities, meet our teaching and technical staff, and discuss any other queries you may have; however we appreciate this may not be possible, and are happy to talk to you via an online platform (such as Google Meet or similar). We accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.

Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course

https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply

Additional entry requirements

Portfolio

If your application meets our entry requirements, we’ll invite you to submit your portfolio, so that we can review your work and find out more about your creative potential. You will have the opportunity to submit your portfolio digitally, or in person at one of our Applicant Experience Days. At an Applicant Experience Day, you'll also get the chance to discuss your portfolio with a member of our academic team.


English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6IELTS (Level B2):overall score of 6.0 with minimum scores Listening: 5.5, Speaking: 5.5, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 5.5
Trinity ISEPassIntegrated Skills in English II (Level B2), minimum grades required: Reading: Pass Listening: Pass
PTE Academic50PTE Academic (Level B2), minimum grade required: Listening: 50, Reading: 50, Writing: 50, Speaking: 50

Click here to find out the most up-to-date information on our English Language requirements

https://www.aup.ac.uk/international/language-requirements


Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students

There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Republic of Ireland £9250 Year 1
EU £16500 Year 1
Channel Islands £9250 Year 1
England £9250 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9250 Year 1
Scotland £9250 Year 1
Wales £9250 Year 1
International £16500 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

During the year, you will remain an enrolled student and have access to university resources (library, student support etc). The reduced fee level for the sandwich year will be up to £1,250.
Craft & Material Practices at Arts University Plymouth - UCAS