There are around 140 full-time undergraduate students at the Slade studying on either the four-year BA or the three-year BFA studio based programmes in Fine Art. The BA and BFA are of equal academic standing and have the same entrance requirements. The BA includes a history and theory of art component and an additional course chosen from another UCL department. The BFA includes a studio-based critical studies component.
See the work from the Slade Degree Show 2019.
INTRODUCTION
The studio programme for the BA and BFA is structured around three studio subject areas: painting, sculpture and fine art media. After an initial period of orientation as a first-year group, students choose to be based in one of the areas. Students are expected to initiate and develop their own programme of work with tutorial guidance and technical support. Each subject area has a specialist team of academic staff supported by technical facilities and expertise and provides a focused environment in which students can address the practice and theory of the subject. Workshops enable students to develop their skills and technical abilities and each area runs a programme of seminars, visiting artists, gallery visits and other events pertinent to students' interests and the development of exciting and challenging debate.
During the first two years BA students attend courses in the history and theory of art and produce written assignments, culminating in an Independent Study in year three. They also take an additional course in another department of UCL. BFA students complete a studio-based critical studies component. All undergraduate students can apply for a period of study abroad on the exchange programme.
AIMS
BA and BFA Fine Art Programme Aims:
- to develop the individual visual intelligence each student brings with them to the School
- to develop in each student a critical awareness and understanding of fine art and its contexts
- to provide the intellectual and practical resources to enable each student to realise his or her creative potential as a professional artist
- to provide studio-centred teaching and a forum for debate through which students become increasingly professional and articulate in their questioning
STUDIO PROGRAMME
The tutorial system
Each student is assigned to a tutor group comprised of students from all three areas, which meets twice a term. One-to-one tutorials can be arranged with the tutor, as well as with other academic staff, through a system of sign-up sheets and appointments.
Subject-area seminars
Each area organises regular seminars where students present their work for discussion. The aim is to relate the work to debates specific to the subject area and develop critical awareness.
Cross-area seminars
The cross-area seminars provide a forum for students to present their work to students and tutors across the subject areas. The aim is to relate the work to a broader context beyond the subject area in which it is produced. Cross-area seminars also aim to develop students' understanding of how to locate, place and present their work for exhibition. History and theory of art staff regularly participate in both series of seminars.
Group work
Students work as a group across the subject areas in a number of different ways, including an introductory course to the contexts and histories of art practice in the autumn term of the first year.
Visitors’ programme
Each area has a programme of visitors including artists, critics and curators who give tutorials, lectures and participate in seminars. Recent visitors include: Recent visitors include: Larry Achiampong, Jonathan Allen, Michael Armitage, Oreet Ashery, Stefania Batoeva, Sutapa Biswas, Holly Blakey, Maeve Brennan, Lisa Brice, Heath Bunting, Bonnie Camplin, Alice Channer, Celine Condorelli, Chen Chieh-Jen, Lewis Hammond, Than Hussein Clark, Enrico David, Siobhan Davies, Peter Doig, Kaye Donachie, Eloise Hawser, Jana Euler, Extinction Rebellion, Adham Faramawy, Azadeh Fatehrad, Denzil Forrester, Charlie Fox, Lothar Goetz, Max Haiven, Ayeesha Hameed, Mark Harris, Eloise Hawser, Lubaina Himid, Andy Holden, Marguerite Humeau, Evan Ifekoya, Tarek Lakhrissi, Joshua Leon, Rachael Jones, Isaac Julien, Samson Kambalu, Mikhail Karikis, Patrick Keiller, Ibrahim Mahama, Paul Maheke, Johnathan Meese, Rosalind Nashashibi, Harold Offeh, Isabel Mallet, Melanie Manchot, Jennifer Martin, David Medalla, Dawn Mellor, Jade Monserrat, Oscar Murillo, Ima-Abasi Okon, Imran Perretta, Heather Phillipson, Amalia Pica, Planningtorock, Candida Powell-Williams, James Pyman, Morgan Quaintance, Raju Rage, Rachel Reupke, Maggie Roberts/Orphan Drift, Prem Sahib, Larissa Sansour, Hannah Sawtell, Malik Nashad Sharpe, Tai Shani, Marianna Simnett, Alexandria Smith, Melanie Smith, Hannah Starkey, Clare Strand, Sintra Tantra, Luc Tuymans, Bedwyr Williams, Zadie Xa, Shen Xin.
Painting in the BA/BFA
Andrew Stahl Head of Undergraduate Painting
The undergraduate painting course aims to enable each student to pursue their ideas in and around painting in all its forms in the most committed, imaginative and experimental way. Work may manifest itself in a wide variety of different mediums and materials. Studio interaction is an essential aspect of the painting course. Each painting student is given studio space and the years are mixed together to provide a lively cross-fertilisation of ideas and practice. One-to-one tutorials are a crucial part of the course and regular seminars and crits take place where students are encouraged to discuss and present their work to fellow students and staff. Workshop programmes to introduce painters to stretcher-making and some materials of painting are available to students. An integral part of the course is the extensive programme of visiting artists and critics, who give tutorials and lectures and participate in seminars.
Sculpture in the BA/BFA
Brighid Lowe Head of Undergraduate Sculpture
The undergraduate sculpture area embraces an expansive idea of sculpture towards the expression and exploration of ideas in space, using material or dematerialised processes. We encourage experimentation, invention and intervention which may incorporate object making, installation, the uses of appropriation and the found object, drawing, still and moving image, sound, text, printed matter and performance. Staff and students engage in rigorous, discursive conversation, exploring and developing the ideas generated by student activity, and the subject of sculpture and its possibilities. We consider production in its broadest sense, the contexts of space and place, audience, process, temporal and haptic encounter through the discussion of work, the contexts of art practice and relevant historical and contemporary models of thought. Field visits are made to galleries, studios, factories and sites. Technical support is provided in the use of wood, metal, plastic, ceramics, construction, casting, carving and moulding techniques, moving, still and 3D digital image, sound and printed media.
Fine Art Media in the BA/BFA
Melanie Counsell Head of Undergraduate Fine Art Media
The undergraduate fine art media area encourages a diverse approach to exploring media and ideas. The area allows students to specialise and develop expertise in a chosen medium or a combination of approaches that test the boundaries and relationships of different media. Students can develop their practice through a broad range of technologies and approaches that include film, video, photography, print, electronic and digital media, drawing, performance, sound, object-making, installation and the production of texts and publications. An experimental and critical approach is encouraged and a wide range of conceptual and practical expertise is provided by staff who are practitioners specialising in the field. Technical tuition and theoretical and philosophical discourse relevant to the area are introduced to students through workshops, gallery visits and seminars.
HISTORY AND THEORY OF ART IN THE BA
Joy Sleeman Head of History and Theory of Art Taught Courses
History and theory of art courses in the first two years are thematic, looking at both historical and contemporary art. They provide a grounding in histories and theories of art which contributes to students' overall development as artists and their awareness of the relevance of these critical studies to the contemporary practising artist. The programme helps students to contextualize their studio work and to understand and negotiate the complex relationships between making art and the ways in which contemporary and historical art is interpreted, displayed and understood. The programme takes the form of lectures, seminars, individual tutorials, written papers and gallery and museum visits. It is structured to encourage increasing independence of thinking and the third year Independent Study is an in-depth research project on a subject chosen by the student and developed through regular supervision. Students are expected to participate actively in the programme: reading set texts in preparation for seminars, visiting exhibitions and generating discussion through informed questioning and debate. Through a range of assessed assignments, seminars, tutorials and more informal discussion, students develop and refine their skills in articulating ideas in spoken and written forms and their powers of criticism and self-criticism.
ADDITIONAL COURSE IN THE BA
BA students take one additional course from a vast range of options offered in other UCL departments, normally in their second year. This may relate to their studio work, for example, a course in anthropology, psychology, architecture or film, or it may provide an additional skill such as mathematics or computing. Students may apply to take an intercollegiate module at other University of London colleges.
CRITICAL STUDIES IN THE BFA
The critical studies component of the three-year BFA programme is integrated into the undergraduate studio course and the tutorial system. Students’ understanding of critical studies will be developed through their participation in seminars, tutorials, lectures, the visiting artists’ programme and gallery and museum visits. Critical studies is designed to provide students with the ability to reference their work within a relevant contemporary and historical cultural context, to enable students to develop verbal, written and practical skills in relation to the development of their work and to enable them to develop effective methods for the presentation of their work. It is supported in the first year by an introductory core course into the contexts and histories of art practice and Critical Studies seminars and workshops in years two and three.
ASSESSMENT AND EXAMINATION
Studio work in the BA and BFA
Tutorial reports are written annually and together with the students' own evaluative comments, form an individual academic record. There are assessments of studio work at the end of each year. The assessment process requires students to demonstrate, through the development of their studio work, critical awareness and their participation in and contribution to the programme. It is a constructive process and helps students become aware of what is required for the final degree examination and exhibition and their future development as artists. Final-year students present work in the form of an exhibition or another form of presentation, such as a screening or performance, at the end of their final year. After the examination process is complete, the final degree exhibition is open to the public, attracting around 3,000 visitors each year.
History and theory of art in the BA
Through coursework, seminars, tutorials and more informal discussion, students develop and refine their skills in articulating ideas in spoken and written forms and their powers of criticism and self-criticism. Assessed essays and the third year Independent Study help students to develop skills that are valuable to their professional life as artists and or for further study. The programme as a whole promotes independent research and the critical contextualisation of studio work. Marks for elements of the history and theory of art programme contribute a total of 20% towards the final BA degree, the other 80% being derived from the final degree show exam.
Critical studies in the BFA
Critical studies is assessed in years one and two and must be passed in order for the student to progress to the following year of the programme. Students are required to identify and articulate their work’s critical context and practical concerns by presenting a text and by making a presentation of their work at their end of year assessments. In the second year, the critical studies text is presented before the end of the second term.
ADMISSIONS
Visit the Slade
Applicants for our undergraduate programmes are encouraged to visit the Slade during the autumn term on an organised tour where they can meet a member of academic staff and tour the studios and facilities with a current student. Alternatively, you can visit us during our Open Studios on Wednesday 11 December 2019 from 10am - 4pm or the Degree Shows in the summer term.
Application Procedure for BA and BFA in Fine Art
All applications to the BA and BFA in Fine Art at the Slade must be made through UCAS by 15 January at 6.00pm (GMT).
UCAS codes UCL: U80 / BA in Fine Art: W100 / BFA in Fine Art: W101
Portfolio Inspection
All applicants are required to submit one portfolio for inspection by the entrance examiners. Applicants may choose to submit a physical portfolio for inspection, or, upload a digital portfolio. Portfolio inspections will take place 3 – 7 February 2020.
Portfolio Handling Fee
All applicants must pay a handling fee of £15 or US$20. The handling fee is not returnable.
Student submitting in person should submit one portfolio comprising a selection of current and recent work which may include drawings, photographs, sketchbooks and notebooks. Larger paintings or 3D works should be shown as photographic prints. Videos or films should be in QuickTime on a USB drive. A showreel of five minutes’ duration is recommended for these. Each piece of work should be named and dated and where work is reproduced the dimensions of the original should be provided. The portfolio may include coursework, for example from A level or Foundation, but should also include self-initiated work. The portfolio must not measure more than 40”x30” (100cm x 75cm) and must not weigh more than 12kg. Work will not be accepted unless packaged in a durable portfolio. Do not exceed the maximum size and weight. Complete the Portfolio Label and attach it to the outside of your portfolio. Do not stick it to the wrapping paper or the inside of the portfolio.
Portfolios may be delivered by hand to the Slade School of Fine Art, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT on weekdays only from 3 – 7 February 2020 between 9.00am and 11.15am. You can book a date and time online. You will be given a receipt for your portfolio and asked to collect it between 4.00pm and 5.00pm the same day.
If you choose to submit a digital portfolio online, you will be sent a link to Slideroom once you have submitted your UCAS application. Applicants submitting a digital portfolio 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.
Slideroom (www.slideroom.com) is a USA based company and users IT infrastructure located in the USA. By uploading your portfolio via you agree that the personal details that you have provided along with your portfolio will be stored and processed in the USA. Slideroom’s privacy policy is available here: www.slideroom.com/privacy.html. UCL will remain responsible for your personal data and acts as the Data Controller as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998. Further information about ownership of content is available here: www.slideroom.com/applicant_terms.html.
Applicants must book a portfolio submission slot, or upload your portfolio to Slideroom by Thursday 30 January 2020.
Conditions
If portfolios are not sent in the specified format, they will not be viewed and your application will be rejected. Portfolios will not be viewed without payment of the Portfolio Handling Fee. While all reasonable care is taken of work submitted at all stages of the selection process, work is accepted only on condition that neither UCL, nor its agents, undertake any responsibility for any loss or damage that may be incurred. The handling fee is not returnable.
Interviews
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for interview at the Slade.
Please note: Interviews have been rescheduled due to a nationwide strike. If you are selected you will be notified by the week commencing 17 February. Interviews will take place 16, 17 and 18 March and 25, 26 and 27 March.
You will be expected to bring further examples of your work, including larger pieces of work as well as your portfolio. Interview dates cannot be rearranged. If you are shortlisted but unable to attend, you must ensure that your portfolio is at the Slade for the examiners to view again when they are making their final decisions. Interviews cannot be conducted by telephone or Skype. Applicants who are not shortlisted at the Portfolio Inspection will be notified through UCAS that their application has been unsuccessful.
Entrance Requirements
The BA and BFA programmes are of equal academic standing and have the same entrance requirements.
In order to be admitted to UCL students must normally be at least 17 years old by the start of the programme. Please list your previous qualifications clearly and completely on the UCAS application form, plus details of any courses you are currently taking. Your qualifications must satisfy the specific degree programme requirements as outlined below.
Normally, three GCE A levels at Grades A,B,B, (or equivalent) will be required. A level General Studies or Critical Thinking are not recognised for admissions purposes.
In addition, candidates must possess GCSEs (or the equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics at Grade C or higher and show evidence of a broad general education.
A range of other UK as well as international qualifications is recognised and full details can be found in the application and entry section of the UCL website.
All applicants must supply a reference with their UCAS application form. The UCAS website has advice on choosing a referee, whether you are applying through a school or college or as an individual.
Special Entry
In exceptional circumstances, a candidate who does not satisfy the above requirements may be admitted to the programme on the recommendation of the Slade Director and with the permission of the Dean of Students (Academic).
Mature Applicants
Applications from 'mature' candidates (aged 21 or over), who may not have a standard educational background, are welcome and are considered individually on their merits.
Deferred Entry
Applications for deferred entry are not normally considered.
English Language Requirement
Any applicant whose first language is not English must be able to provide recent evidence that their spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programme. This is to ensure that their academic progress is not hindered by language difficulties and that they are able to benefit fully from their time at UCL.
A list of all the qualifications accepted and the grades required can be found on the UCL website. The Slade requires the Standard level for the BA, BFA and Affiliate Study.
FEES AND FUNDING
This should be read in conjunction with the UCL Scholarships and Funding web pages and the Slade’s own scholarship page.
Tuition fees
UCL’s tuition fees are set annually and cover registration, tuition and supervision for each academic year, or part of an academic year that you are enrolled. Tuition fees are subject to an annual increase. The fee does not cover artists' or other academic materials. Current fees and further information about fee status, how to pay and living expenses can be found on the UCL Money pages.