Photography with Foundation

Photography is a medium of extraordinary range and versatility, encompassing documentary, fine art, commercial, editorial, fashion, architectural, and scientific applications, and constituting one of the dominant visual languages through which the modern world represents itself. At degree level, photography study goes well beyond technical skills: it asks you to develop your creative vision, understand the cultural and historical contexts of photographic practice, engage with the critical debates about what photographs are and what they do, and build a body of work that demonstrates genuine artistic and professional capability.

At the University of Plymouth, this four-year full-time programme begins with a foundation year that provides students entering from non-standard routes the opportunity to develop skills across a range of media including visual design, animation, illustration, print-making, fine art, and photography, encouraging visual exploration and creative discovery in an engaging and vibrant studio setting. On successful completion of the foundation year, you will join the undergraduate photography course equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a full honours degree in photography. You will continue to develop your practice across documentary, fine art, and commercial photography, engaging with digital and analogue processes, lighting, editing, and the critical frameworks that allow you to situate your work in broader photographic and cultural traditions.

A year abroad is available, giving you an international perspective on photographic culture and practice.

With a typical entry tariff of 104 UCAS points, this programme is accessible to students with creative drive and the commitment to develop it. Graduates work as commercial and editorial photographers, documentary photographers, photojournalists, fine art photographers, digital imaging specialists, photography educators, and content creators, as well as in visual arts administration, publishing, advertising, and the many other fields where photographic skill and visual intelligence are valued. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in photography, documentary, or visual arts.