Skip navigation
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

Arts University Plymouth is an arts university for the 21st century, preparing students who are uniquely placed to provide creative solutions to the complex global challenges of a changing world. Formerly known as Plymouth College of Art, we were granted full university title in Spring 2022. We are now the city of Plymouth’s first and only specialist arts university, allowing us to offer our students a dynamic and unique learning experience. In May 2022 we were awarded the Best Small or Specialist University at the 2022 WhatUni Student Choice Awards, coming top in a list of well-respected specialist UK universities, based on unbiased and honest reviews from students across the UK, in a category that highlights the quality of our provision as a specialist creative university. With almost 150,000 people employed in the UK’s craft industry, skilled crafts-people are putting the country on the map for original, forward-thinking contemporary design. The relationship between thinking and making is ever-evolving, with experimentation and innovation seeing a new wave of makers take their craft profession in fresh and original directions, often looking to develop methods in which we can live harmoniously within natural and fabricated environments that support a healthy ecosystem. Our spacious Materials Lab 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 gallery visits, demonstrations, and presentations. 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. Our ambition is that your material practice develops in an international context, and you’ll be given the opportunity to visit a number of current events such as Sieraad in Amsterdam, Collect in London, British Ceramics Biennial, and New Designers. Recent contributors to the course include Elliot Walker, Steve Dixon, Pr Neil Brownsword, Caroline Broadhead, Dr Erin Dickson, Lucy Brown, Sam Photic, Nuala Clooney, Mount Edgecumbe and Eden Project. You’ll learn about enterprise and entrepreneurship, and how to price, display and promote work for a range of different markets including: large scale site specific work, individual exhibition pieces and domestic products, all based on knowledge of your customers and the experience gained by working on live briefs, pitching to clients and entering competitions. Study with us and you’ll expand your critical approach alongside developing skills in research and analysis. Our creative programmes encourage diversity in thinking and making - from practical applications through to reflective, analytical writing. You will also have access to our Making Futures biennial conference, offering you the chance to listen to critical discourses by international makers, curators and critics. Graduates can become:

  • ceramicists
  • glass artists
  • prop designers
  • ornament/wearables designers
  • sculptors
  • architectural surface designers
  • textile designers
  • fine artists
  • gallery and museum professionals

Modules

Our taught programme encompasses a wealth of disciplines, materials and approaches, from one-off artefacts to batch production methods, all underpinned by strong methodologies and a focus on design solutions. The range of primary material practices that we cover on our programme includes ceramics, fine metalwork and silversmithing, glass blowing and kiln-formed glass, wood, mould-making, laser cutting and CAD/CAM. You will also develop an understanding of materials such as concrete, plastic and resin – crafting your original ideas into finished artefacts.


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
  • Year 2

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We will look at your application on an individual basis, but you must evidence 120 Level 4 credits from another HEI

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
65%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
70%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on 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

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Craft & Material Practices at Arts University Plymouth - UCAS