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Fees and Funding

UK & EU Fee

£9,000 (2013/14)

Overseas Fee

£19,500 (2013/14)

General Funding Notes

Details about financial support are available at: www.ucl.ac.uk/study/ug-finance

Contacts

Admissions Tutor

Dr Richard Taws

Email: hoa_ugadmissions@ucl.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)20 3108 4025

Key Facts

Research Assessment Exercise

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Departmental website

History of Art

More Information

Prospectus subject entry

History of Art

Prospectus faculty entry

Social and Historical Sciences

History of Art with Material Studies BA

UCAS Code: V3F2

This degree provides a unique focus on works of art as physical objects. You will gain comprehensive skills in art history, together with a thorough understanding of artists' techniques and questions of materiality, both at the time a work of art was made, and subsequently as it ages and deteriorates.

Entry Requirements

A Levels

Grades AAB-ABB
Subjects No specific subjects.
AS Levels A pass in a further subject at AS level or equivalent is required.
GCSEs English Language at grade B, plus Mathematics at grade C. For UK-based students a foreign language at grade B is required.

IB Diploma

Points 34-36
Subjects A score of 16-17 points in three higher level subjects, with no score lower than 5. A minimum of grade 4 is required at standard level in a modern language.

Other Qualifications

For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:

Selected entry requirements will appear here

International Qualifications

International Qualifications

In addition to A level and International Baccalaureate, UCL considers a wide range of international qualifications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes.

Selected country's equivalent grades will appear here

University Preparatory Certificates

UCL offers intensive one-year foundation courses to prepare international students for a variety of degree programmes at UCL.

The University Preparatory Certificates (UPCs) are for international students of high academic potential who are aiming to gain access to undergraduate degree programmes at UCL and other top UK universities.

For more information see our website: www.ucl.ac.uk/upc

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language you will also need to satisfy UCL's English Language Requirements. A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.

Degree Summary

Degree Benefits

  • The programme will develop your knowledge and understanding of the visual cultures encompassed by the term Western Art, making use where possible of artworks in London.
  • The department includes well-known specialists on all periods from the medieval onwards. We have particular strength in the study of contemporary art, and two experts in the technical analysis of paintings.
  • UCL Art Museum houses an important collection of artworks, used regularly to support our teaching. These include works by Turner and Rembrandt, as well as important twentieth-century prints.
  • UCL's central location in London is within walking distance of the British Museum and British Library and provides easy access to the National Gallery, the Tate Galleries and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The programme begins with introductory courses in History of Art and its Objects and a Foundation Course in History of Art, together with thematic seminars. You will also take a basic science course for non-scientists and a Methods and Materials of Artists course, which will introduce you to the major classes of materials found within museum collections, and address their application as artists' materials.

Courses in the second year delve deeper into the technical aspects of art. These may include History, Theory, and Practice of Conservation, Methods and Materials II, and The Development and Application of Textiles in Works of Art and Artefacts.

In the final year, all students write a research project of approximately 10,000 words. This must have a technical element, combined with art historical research. The Art/Work/Spaces course enables you to gain practical work experience outside the department while writing an independent research project reflecting critically on this experience.

You may also take courses from outside History of Art in departments such as Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Chemistry, Geology, or History, with the agreement of the department concerned and your course tutors.

Your Learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars, and may include visits to monuments, film archives and sessions in the painting analysis laboratory. Seminars may relate to a lecture series and involve travel within the UK or abroad. On a more frequent basis, first-year thematic seminars take place at London's many art collections and exhibitions.

Assessment

Coursework, essays and written examinations will all be used as means of formal assessment of your work.

Degree Structure

In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual courses, normally valued at 0.5 or 1.0 credits, adding up to a total of 4.0 credits for the year. Courses are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional courses varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 1.0 credit is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

Year One

Compulsory courses

History of Art and its Objects
History of European Art (1): Classical to Early Renaissance
History of European Art (2): High Renaissance to the Present Day
Science for Art Historians
Methods and Materials of Artists

Students must also take a 0.5 credit course in a modern foreign language, preferably in the first year.

Optional courses

You will select 0.5 credits from a wide range of optional courses, which normally include one of the following:

Thematic Seminar (1): Art and Architecture before 1800
Thematic Seminar (2): Art and Architecture after 1800.

Further options can be selected from within the History of Art Department, or from fields such as Anthropology, Archaeology, History or Philosophy.

Year Two

Compulsory courses

Methodologies of Making
Gateway Course I: Rome: The Making of Early Modern Visual Culture
Gateway Course II: Modernity through the Lens: The European Avant-Garde, Utopia, Technology, and Mass Culture

(The content of the Gateway Courses changes regularly. These are the offerings for 2012-13.)

Optional courses

You will select 2.5 credits from a wide range of optional courses including at least one of the following:

Methodologies of Art History
The History of the Category "Art"

and at least one of the following:

History, Theory and Practice of Conservation
Methods and Materials II

Further optional courses can be selected from within History of Art.

Final Year

Compulsory courses

History of Art and Material Studies Dissertation

Optional courses

You will select 3.0 credits from a wide range of optional courses including Art/Work/Spaces, and at least one Special Subject. Further options can be selected from within History of Art, and from fields such as Anthropology, Archaeology, History or Philosophy.

Further details available on degree page of subject website:

Your Career

You will gain the skills necessary to carry out historical and technical projects, communicate effectively, interpret material analysis, and to pursue academic research or take up responsible employment in a variety of contexts.

This BA provides an excellent basis for any career dealing at first hand with works of art, such as museum and gallery curators and registrars, art dealers, valuers and auctioneers. It is also a good foundation for those wishing to take up further training in any discipline within art conservation.

Any profession dealing with art would benefit from the expertise gained from this degree.

Destinations

First destinations of recent graduates (2009-2011) of this programme include:

  • Assistant Press Officer, Tate Britain (2011)
  • Fundraising Assistant, Jozef Pilsudski Institute (2011)
  • Full-time student, Postgraduate Diploma in Conservation at Camberwell College of Arts (2010)
  • Full-time student, Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP Law School (2010)
  • Full-time student, Postgraduate Diploma in Conservation at Courtauld Institute of Art (2009)

Find out more about London graduates' careers by visiting the Careers Group (University of London) website:

Application

Your Application

We welcome applicants who have a serious interest in, and enthusiasm for, the study of art history. Entry is highly competitive, but we do consider students who - for good reasons - lack the standard entry qualifications. You will not be required to have studied history of art before, but advanced study in history, English or a language would be an advantage.

How to Apply

Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however, applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.

Selection

Applicants will be assessed not only on academic achievement, but on evidence of intellectual curiosity, and of critical appreciation of visual culture. If we are considering making you an offer you will be invited to the department for interview to discuss your application in detail.