Course summary
This is a connected degree Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course. Overview Discover and develop your photographic vision on this BA (Hons) Photography degree. Through research, industry, and professional practices, you'll master advanced analogue and digital photography techniques and engage with multidimensional technologies – such as computer-generated imagery (CGI), photogrammetry, virtual reality (VR), and 3D printing. Our distinctive mix of traditional and modern approaches will empower you to be innovative and shine among others in the competitive creative industries. After you graduate, you’ll have many career options at your fingertips. Want to work for a business or by yourself on client projects? Planning to pursue a postgraduate degree? Join the 90% of our graduates who have taken these paths (HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey, 2019). Course highlights
- Advance your skills in industry-level equipment and image-processing software that professionals use – including digital media format cameras and DSLRs, Adobe Suite, Capture One, and Cinema4d
- Produce stand-out work by using our excellent facilities – from traditional dark rooms to photographic studios
- Gain valuable professional experience and boost your CV by doing an optional one-year placement – either with a company or by setting up your own
- Broaden your craft and collaborative skills by working with fellow students on other courses in the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries
- Promote yourself to potential employers by showcasing your work at self-produced exhibitions, industry portfolio reviews, and our annual Graduate Show
- Be in the know of historic and modern photography forms by visiting galleries and festivals in major cities like Berlin, Paris and London
- Build your professional contacts by attending guest lectures and meeting eminent speakers – past ones include Faisal Abdu'allah, Sunil Gupta and Brian Griffin
- 90% Graduates in work or further study (HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey conducted in 2019)
- 91% Overall student satisfaction (NSS, 2021)
- studio photographers
- video directors
- picture editors
- retouchers
- photojournalists
- curators
- artists
- fashion photographers
- teachers/lecturers
Modules
Year 1 Core modules in this year include:
- Creative and Industry Skills (40 credits)
- Introduction to Photographic Practices and Research (40 credits)
- Introduction to Visual Culture (Photography) (20 credits)
- Professional Practice and Work Experience (20 credits)
- Advanced Skills and Innovation (20 credits)
- Photographic Critical Practices and Research (20 credits)
- Photographic Practice and Project Development (20 credits)
- Professional Practice and Freelance Experience (20 credits)
- Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice (20 credits)
- Professional Experience (20 credits)
- Research in the Public Sphere (20 credits)
- Student Enterprise (20 credits)
- The Hidden Lives of Things: Material Culture in the Early Modern World (20 credits)
- Visions of the Past: the Artist/Designer As Historian (20 credits)
- Visual Culture: Issues of Representation (20 credits)
- Visual Culture: the Body in Practice (20 credits)
- Advanced Practice Research (20 credits)
- Major Projects in Photography (40 credits)
- Professional Practice and Graduate Employability (20 credits)
- Advanced Digital Process (20 credits)
- Blogs, Grants and Catalogues: Writing Visual Culture for the Public (20 credits)
- Visual Culture: Dissertation (20 credits)
- Visual Culture: Research Project (20 credits)
Assessment method
You’ll be assessed through:
- photography assignments projects
- industry and innovative projects
- professional practice, work and freelance experience projects
- research and development reports and journals
- essays and presentations
- portfolios and artist books
- screen-based and moving image work
- exhibition projects
- Year 1 students: 13% practical exams and 87% coursework
- Year 2 students: 23% practical exams and 77% coursework
How to apply
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
- Course code:
- W640
- Institution code:
- P80
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.
This course may be available at alternative locations, please check if other course options are available
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 112 - 120 points
A level - BBB - BBC
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDM - DMM
Access to HE Diploma
Scottish Higher
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 25 points
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H3, H3, H3, H3, H4 - H3, H3, H3, H3, H3
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
T Level - M
Additional entry requirements
Portfolio
All applicants will be asked to provide a digital portfolio of work.
English language requirements
Test | Grade | Additional details |
---|---|---|
IELTS (Academic) | 6 | English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5. |
PTE Academic | 54 | An overall score of 54 with a minimum of 51 in each skill. |
TOEFL (iBT) | 79 | 79 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing. |
Cambridge English Advanced | Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162. | |
Cambridge English Proficiency | Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162. | |
Trinity ISE | Pass | Trinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components |
Student Outcomes
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
EU | £9535 | Year 1 |
England | £9535 | Year 1 |
Northern Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Scotland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Wales | £9535 | Year 1 |
Channel Islands | £9535 | Year 1 |
Republic of Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
International | £17200 | 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
Provider information
University of Portsmouth
University House
Winston Churchill Avenue
Portsmouth
PO1 2UP