Fine Art (Placement Year)

Ready to sharpen your skills and techniques in the medium/s of your choice? Develop your artistic expression with meaning and skills relevant to contemporary art. Discover how art can erupt and disrupt in the most unusual places.

Bring your ideas to life Discover how wide-ranging fine art can be in the 21st Century with this dynamic degree. With seminars and lectures in history and theory, we’ll help you decide your values and the type of work that is important to you.

You'll have the opportunity to work across painting, drawing, sculpture, digital, live art and their hybrids. Through technical workshops and practical demonstrations, you’ll gain an intricate understanding of different mediums and how they can be exploited to express concepts and ideas.

A thriving creative community Your tutors are professional artists who are exhibiting, curating and writing across a range of art and ideas. You’ll join them in a community of thinkers and makers, that is both highly creative and intellectually vibrant.

As well as refining your practical studio skills, you’ll also become a critical reader and examine how contemporary art is constantly developing new and exciting ways of looking at the world.

Flexibility In the first year, there is a focus on increasing your knowledge and skills in your major degree subject. You will also have the option to complement your degree studies with a module in a 'minor subject'.

Your Placement Year Sometimes known as a year in industry, your placement year will take place between your second and final year of study and this will extend your degree to four years.

A placement year is an excellent way to... • try out a role that you may be interested in as a career path • start to build your professional network (some placement students are offered permanent roles to return to after they graduate) • develop skills, knowledge and experience to put you ahead of the field when you graduate

You'll spend your third year in a paid, graduate-level position, where you’ll work for between nine and twelve months in the type of role that you might be considering for after you graduate. A very wide range of companies and organisations offer placements across all sectors. As a full-time employee, you’ll have a detailed job description with specific responsibilities and opportunities to access training and development, the same as other employees.

Our Careers and Placements Team will help you to secure a suitable placement with expert advice and resources, such as creating an effective CV, and tips for applications and interviews. You will still be a Lancaster University student during your placement and we’ll keep in touch to check how you are getting on.

The university will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.

If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year.