Fine Art with Foundation

Fine art is the practice of making visual art with the primary concern of expression, inquiry, and communication rather than purely functional or commercial application. It is a discipline that requires both technical facility with different media and a developed creative sensibility, an ability to identify what you want to say and to find the visual means to say it with conviction. Fine art as an academic subject also demands critical and conceptual engagement, so that your practice is not just skilful but informed by an understanding of art history, contemporary art discourse, and your own artistic positioning.

At the University of Gloucestershire, this four-year full-time programme, which includes a foundation year, develops your creative practice across a range of fine art approaches. The foundation year provides a structured entry into degree-level art study, building your technical skills and conceptual understanding before you enter the main programme. In the main degree you will develop your own creative identity across different media and approaches, supported by critical and theoretical study that gives your practice its intellectual context.

Second-year students have the opportunity to undertake work placements across a range of creative areas including art therapy, education, artists' studios, theatre and film, and museums and galleries, giving you real-world professional experience and exposure to the range of contexts in which art practice operates. With a typical entry tariff of 120 UCAS points, the programme is accessible to students with genuine creative ability and ambition.

Fine art graduates pursue careers as practising artists, arts educators, gallery workers, curators, arts administrators, art therapists (typically with further postgraduate training), and in arts journalism and criticism. Many graduates build portfolio careers that combine studio practice with teaching or other professional activity. Postgraduate study in fine art, curatorial practice, or arts therapy is available for those who wish to develop further.