Skip navigation
Art (Top-Up) at University Centre Leeds, Leeds City College - UCAS

Course options

Course summary

See your future in full colour with the BA (Hons) Art Top-Up Degree. Delivered from studio space in the creative quarter of Leeds city centre, it offers a supportive and creative environment to explore and develop your artistic style. It combines practical, academic and industry practices to help you find and establish your place in this thriving sector. Offering a robust programme that is reflective of creative and cultural industries, this course will support you on your chosen trajectory. There’s never been a more exciting time to develop your artistic flair - the creative industries are booming, with previous growth in the industry up by 7.4% (five times the growth across the UK economy as a whole). The arts and culture industries contribute around £10.5 billion to the UK economy (House of Commons, 2019) and in 2020 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the HM Treasury announced funding of £1.57 billion for cultural, arts and heritage institutions. This makes pursuing a career in the creative arts the perfect way to become a successful practitioner. The BA (Hons) Art Top-Up Degree puts your creativity at the forefront and provides you with the opportunity to nurture a strong and coherent art practice. It offers multiple opportunities for self-promotion including: public exhibitions; working with gallerists and curators; self-promotion; collaboration with other artists, designers and makers; working with the public, exploring academic research; and creating an identity for your practice. The course is driven by the reality of being an artist in the real world and therefore is designed to offer real industry opportunities. The content has been developed with local galleries and art organisations, as well as freelancers. You will develop your creative skills through technical supervision, critical questioning and individual agency; consolidating your creative identity with an increased understanding of social, cultural and theoretical art debates and influences. You will also prepare for life as an artist following graduation, receiving plenty of time with tutors to discuss your practice, ideas and creativity across a diverse range of course modules.

Modules

You will study 120 credits and the modules may include: Year 1 (Level 6) Ideas and Concepts (20 credits) The aim of this module is to engage you in your creative output, exploring and challenging various ideas and concepts through practical investigation. Major Creative Project (40 credits) As the name suggests, this module enables you to produce and exhibit a body of creative work. Collaboration Project (20 credits) Delve into the exploration of collaborative practice. Within the module you will develop a professional external project working across specialisms of your choice. Contextualising Practice (30 credits) You will explore and develop an area of academic research related to your creative practice, culminating in a written dissertation. Portfolio Review (10 credits) This module gives you the opportunity to present your work through interview to external industry professionals.

Assessment method

Our assessments draw on a range of skills to reflect the activities typical of a practising artist in the industry. Ideas and research are assessed through a presentation as well as written and practical outcomes. Reflection and evaluation are important in self-directed learning, feature in the collaboration module and inform the Portfolio Review. Creative practice and practical outcomes are the chief component of assessment on the BA (Hons) Art course. The Major Project and Ideas and Concepts both require practical bodies of work that demand creative stamina. There is an expectation of presenting the creative work through exhibition opportunities both during the course and at its culmination; as well as having the chance to present work in an interview scenario to external professionals. Assessment methods may include:

  • Portfolio
  • Log
  • Project
  • Interview
  • Research proposal presentation
  • Dissertation
- Exhibition


How to apply

Application codes

Course code:
W7Y9
Institution code:
L21
Campus name:
Quarry Hill Campus
Campus code:
Q

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

We accept International applications subject to our sponsor licence application being approved.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

A typical offer is likely to be pass at Foundation Degree or a Merit profile in a relevant HND, together with a number of GCSE grades at C or above including English. All students are to present a portfolio of artwork and supporting academic text which is disclosed during an interview or correspondence for distance applicants. International qualifications will be assessed against these criteria. Speakers of other languages need to have an IELTS score of at least 6.0 or a recognised level 2 English qualification. All students must be able to demonstrate either by qualifications or testing that they have the required literacy skills to complete the course. Offers are made subject to reference


Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
85%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
90%
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

England £8745 Year 1
Northern Ireland £8745 Year 1
Scotland £8745 Year 1
Wales £8745 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

Fees are charged per academic year.
Art (Top-Up) at University Centre Leeds, Leeds City College - UCAS