Course summary

The profession of make-up artistry is wide and varied, incorporating basic and more specialised make-up and hair design for media such as film, television, theatre and fashion. The programme offers a supportive, friendly and constructive environment, where you are challenged and can develop your individual profile and interests, to realise your potential and to achieve your personal, creative, professional and academic goals. This one year top-up will further increase and refine the students make-up, special effects and hair design abilities and is one of the most popular programmes at York College University Centre. There is an emphasis on working towards an industry-standard portfolio on the completion of the course, therefore the importance of working with professionals is highlighted. With this in mind, you will have numerous opportunities throughout the programme to collaborate with professional photographers. This collaboration also helps to build on the skills required in employment such as communication, time management and organisation. The College maintains strong links with professionals and suppliers to ensure awareness of current brands, materials and techniques. This has enabled previous students to benefit from work experience on TV productions including ‘CBeebies’, ‘TOWIE’, ‘Vera’ and ‘Emmerdale’ and Films including ‘Dads Army’, ‘I, Daniel Blake’, ‘Clash of The Titans’ and ‘The Kings Speech’. Our students have also previously worked at some of the UK’s largest production companies including at MediaCityUK and BBC Wales, as well as working with well-established theatre companies in York, including The Theatre Royal, The Grand Opera House York and Joseph Rowntree Theatre. Teaching will take place within both workshop and classroom environments. Teaching methods will include practical demonstrations, industry speakers, learner practical sessions, group/peer work projects, simulation tasks and work placements. A range of formative and summative assessment methods are used on the course. Students are assessed on their ability to research and project manage in preparation for practical assessments, as well as their performance on the practical assessment. The course places a strong emphasis on style and quality of presentation with the underlying aim of students building an industry quality portfolio to help them progress into industry. Some students choose to continue study on to postgraduate courses such as MA’s, specialist short courses or teacher training programmes. Upon completion, most students choose to begin their career within the industry in a variety of creative roles.