Fine Art (Extended Degree)

If you want to pursue a creative degree at Arts University Plymouth but feel you have yet to acquire the experience and range of skills necessary, our Extended BA programme will prepare you for entry to one of our BA (Hons) undergraduate courses.

What is Extended BA? Our Extended BA (Hons) Degrees offers a unique four-year route for students aiming to delve into the diverse realm of art, design, and media. This programme provides an initial exploratory year, where you'll cultivate insight into various creative skills and approaches, laying a robust foundation before advancing to a specialised degree of your choice. Whether you're returning to education after a hiatus or entering without formal qualifications, our Extended BA equips you with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience to secure a place in our full undergraduate program.

Our Intensive Extended Degree program is a dynamic blend of lectures, workshops, and practical studio sessions designed to challenge and inspire. Our diverse student body spans from fresh-faced eighteen-year-olds to seasoned creatives in their seventies, fostering a rich collaborative environment. With the freedom to take risks and experiment, you'll develop a diverse skill set through hands-on experimentation with materials, processes, and methodologies. This transformative journey hones critical skills essential for degree-level study, expanding your proficiency in drawing, visual research, contextual studies, digital imaging, and design methods. Gain invaluable experience in a supportive atmosphere that encourages creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

Why Choose BA (Hons) Fine Art? Our BA (Hons) Fine Art course is rigorous and questioning, encouraging diversity of approaches in thinking and making. Embark on a dynamic journey of artistic exploration with our interdisciplinary Fine Art course. We champion ambitious, self-directed, and critically engaged approaches to contemporary art, fostering an environment where creativity knows no bounds.

Throughout the course, you'll cultivate invaluable skills to critically question and actively create within a supportive community of like-minded artists. Explore diverse modes of practice and gain hands-on experience in the creative sector, forming lasting professional networks for your creative future.

Our dynamic Fine Art degree prioritises contemporary art practice and critical inquiry, offering a studio-centred, interdisciplinary environment fostering artistic freedom and exploration. Through strategic partnerships with ambitious art spaces, you'll have opportunities to test, experiment, and exhibit your work in real-life settings. This course fosters individual artistic growth and exploration, focusing on practice-based study to nurture diverse artistic expression.

From traditional to cutting-edge techniques, access a range of practices spanning 2D, 3D, 4D, as well as workshops in sound drawing, performance painting, scale sculpture, performance, video, projection mapping, sound, traditional printmaking, welding, mould making, casting, critical and reflective writing. Refine your artistic practice in a nurturing environment that intersects creativity with social justice. Master working to briefs, exploring creative ideas solo and collaboratively, and expertly managing projects from inception to fruition.

This course provides opportunities for working collaboratively, deepening cultural understanding and exploring new processes in workshops. Students on this course will work in a learning environment that provides a meaningful link between your studio practice and contemporary art theory.

On successful completion of your Extended Degree year, you will be guaranteed a place on one of our full undergraduate BA (Hons) programmes. Many of our past students have gone on to achieve high grades in their degrees, including a large number with First Class Honours.