As a Fine Art student you will take a holistic approach to your learning. Any one component of the course relates to the others, and they complement each other. You will be given project briefs for each component or ‘unit’ that will require you to fulfil specific tasks while developing your own practice. Over three stages you will accumulate experience, which is designed to enable you to develop as an independent and/or collaborative practitioner and to arrive at and develop your own practice. Your learning will establish a broad and integrated understanding of contemporary art and you will assume responsibility for your creative achievements and progress.

Students are recruited into the three subject-specific pathways of Fine Art: Painting, PTBM and Sculpture, and usually remain based within this area of choice.

In Stage 2 you will develop your independent art practice further by experimenting and refining your practice alongside your peers. Your critical awareness will become enhanced through both the Contextual Practice arena and Unit 5, which is a collaborative unit shared across the Fine Art programmes. Research will become more integral to your work, as you cultivate how your articulate your practice to wider audiences. This will enhance your knowledge of contemporary practice in your chosen area.

Within Stage 2 it is expected that production values become more refined as the notion of exhibition becomes more important. This will require you to focus on your technical abilities to ensure that your work is produced to a level that is appropriate.

During this stage you may choose to initiate, negotiate and complete a PPD assignment such as a placement which could involve you working or exhibiting off site. This will enhance your knowledge of contemporary practice in your chosen area.

By Stage 3 your studio practice will be established, yet you will continue to provoke, experiment and innovate. Your critical and creative confidence will be supported by the Contextual Practice Unit (Unit 10) that runs parallel to the Studio Unit (Unit 9). Whether you choose the written text or presentation to take forward towards completion of this unit, you will experience the process of Contextual Practice research as a critical support to the development of your art practice.

In this final year you will engage in a series of talks/seminars that will equip you with the tools you will need to work as an artist or within the arts upon completion of the course. This will include an introduction to various careers and how to pursue them, information on copyright, how to start a business and how price your artwork for various kinds of marketplaces.

The final stage of the course brings all of the different strands of your learning together and enables you to complete a resolved and coherent body of artwork. You will negotiate, plan and present an exhibition of this work, which will meet professional standards of presentation for the final examination.