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Undergraduate prospectus 2022

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Fine Art BFA

2022 entry | 2021 entry

This three-year programme comprises three areas of practice: painting, fine art media, and sculpture, with an integrated critical studies component. All practice-based staff are practising artists and scholars with significant exhibition and public profiles. Our students also benefit from London's vast cultural resources.

Key Information

Programme starts

September 2022
UCAS code
W101
Duration
Full-time: 3 years
Application deadline
26 January 2022
Location
London, Bloomsbury

Entry requirements

A Levels

Grades
ABB
Subjects
No specific subjects, but a portfolio of work is required. At least two A level subjects should be taken from UCL's list of preferred A level subjects.
GCSEs
English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5.

Contextual offer

Grades
BBB (more about contextual offers)
Subjects
No specific subjects, but a portfolio of work is required. At least two A level subjects should be taken from UCL's list of preferred A level subjects.
GCSEs
English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5.

IB Diploma

Points
34
Subjects
A total of 16 points in three higher level subjects, with no score lower than 5, plus a portfolio.

Contextual offer

Points
32 (more about contextual offers)
Subjects
A total of 15 points in three higher level subjects, with no score lower than 5, plus a portfolio.

UK applicants qualifications

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

Equivalent qualification

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF - teaching from 2016) with Distinction, Distinction, Distinction.

Pass in Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 30 credits at Distinction, 12 credits at Merit and 3 credits at Pass, all from Level 3 units.

D3,M1,M1 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects. A portfolio of work is required.

ABB at Advanced Highers (or AB at Advanced Higher and BBB at Higher). A portfolio of work is required.

Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A levels at grades ABB. A portfolio of work is required.

International applications

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

English language requirements

If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency. Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.

The English language level for this programme is: Standard

A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.

Degree benefits

  • Each student is allocated their own studio space each year. This can be accessed in line with the current Covid guidelines. First-year students explore each area on rotation during the first year.

  • All undergraduates may apply for international exchanges. The Slade has exchange agreements with art schools in China, Europe, Israel and the USA, which are offered on a competitive basis. Please note that exchanges may be limited by Covid travel restrictions.

  • The Slade's location, close to many important galleries, museums, libraries and theatres, allows students to access a range of learning resources and research opportunities. 

  • Distinguished former students include Jenkin van Zyl, Marianna Simnett, Zeinab Saleh, Imran Perretta, Sofia Mitsola, Emma Hart, Jadé Fadojutimi, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley and Phoebe Boswell. 

Degree structure

The BFA Fine Art is a non-modular, integrated course.

The programme comprises three practice areas: Painting, Fine Art Media and Sculpture. The programme is practice-based and you are expected to develop your own work with tutorial and technical assistance from a specialist team of academic and technical staff. Cross-area seminars and tutorial groups ensure that the three areas have a forum for the exchange of ideas. You will also benefit from a programme of visiting artists, gallery visits (when possible) and other events that aim to develop exciting and rigorous debate. Areas are mixed together in the studio spaces (subject to Covid regulations) providing a lively cross-fertilisation of ideas and practice.

The BFA includes a critical studies component in each year of study, designed to provide you with the ability to reference your work within a broad cultural context and enable you to develop verbal and writing skills to articulate the development of your work within a critical context.

Upon successful completion of 360 credits, you will be awarded a BFA (Hons) in Fine Art.

Modules

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Compulsory subjects

  • Practice-based work in chosen specialism
  • Critical Studies

During the Spring Term, students selected for study abroad complete the Study Abroad Preparation Programme. The successful completion of this is a prerequisite for progression to the year abroad.

Compulsory subjects

  • Practice-based work in chosen specialism
  • Critical Studies
  • Study abroad in Autumn Term (optional)

Optional modules

Where can you study abroad?

Institutions expected to be open to the programme include:

  • The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art
  • Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
  • New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
  • The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York

Note: students cannot study at an institution where UCL does not have a bilateral exchange set up. This list is correct at time of press (subject to Covid-related regulations). 

Compulsory subjects

  • Practice-based work in chosen specialism
  • Critical Studies
  • Slade Careers Programme

Your learning

The BFA is practice-based, with an emphasis on a self-initiated programme of work. This is supported by one-to-one and group tutorials, across-school events, critiques, contemporary art lectures and the critical studies programme. Technical inductions, workshops and one-to-one technical instruction are provided according to each student's academic needs.

Assessment

You will be assessed through tutorial reports, annual assessment of your practice-based work, and critical studies component. Your final assessment will be based on a final exam when you present your work.

Detailed module descriptions are available on the department website: Fine Art BFA.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support & Wellbeing team.

Careers

The programme aims to: develop the individual visual intelligence you bring with you to the school; develop your critical awareness and understanding of fine art and its contexts; and provide the intellectual and practical resources to enable you to realise your creative potential as a professional artist.

Most Slade graduates become professional artists but you will leave UCL with a range of skills to branch out into a variety of careers in the creative professions and beyond. You will have built up practical, transferable and academic skills and these, alongside any experience you may have gained outside your degree, will widen your career options.

UCL is committed to helping you get the best start after graduation. Read more about how UCL Careers and UCL Innovation and Enterprise can help you find employment or learn about entrepreneurship.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2021/22 academic year. The UK fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2021/22 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below. Fees for the 2022/23 academic year will be advertised as soon as they are available.

UK students
£9,250 (2021/22)
Overseas students
£31,200 (2021/22)

Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

The Slade has a media store where media equipment can be borrowed. You will need to supply your own materials, including for the final exam. You will also need to pay for entry to any galleries/shows, and any travel and maintenance associated with any study abroad.

A guide including rough estimates for these and other living expenses is included on the UCL Fees and funding pages. If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc., please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).

Funding

Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.

The Slade School has a number of scholarships, prizes, awards and bursaries which are awarded by nomination annually. All incoming students are considered for any awards for which they are eligible.

Departmental scholarships

Funding opportunities relevant to the department may appear in this section when they are available. Please check carefully or confirm with the programme contact to ensure they apply to this degree programme.

The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.

Application and next steps

Your application

You must submit a portfolio for inspection inlcuding a selection of current work demonstrating your skills/interests e.g. drawings, photographs, paintings, sketchbooks and/or notebooks. Videos/films should be included as a showreel of less than five minutes' duration.

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.

Application deadline: 26 January 2022



Selection

After submitting your UCAS application, follow the instructions sent by email from UCL’s student administration system, Portico. (You may need to check your junk folder.) Portfolios should comprise a selection of current and recent work including self-initiated work. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview in late February or March.

Once you have submitted the UCAS application, you will be sent a link to Slideroom (this may take a few days, whilst UCAS transfers the application). Applicants should submit up to twenty images with each image no larger than 5Mb. Titles should be included for each image including the date the work was made, size and materials. Applicants with time-based or performance elements to their work may include a showreel with a maximum duration time of five minutes, no larger than 500MB. We also encourage applicants to upload a short video featuring pages from sketchbooks. Applicants submitting by Slideroom are required to pay the portfolio handling fee of US$20.

For further information on UCL's selection process see: Selection of students.


UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.


Page last modified on 5 August 2021


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