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Would you like to develop the practical and intellectual skills required to be a creative, critical and reflective arts practitioner?

Acting as a gateway to degree-level study, the Fine Art Foundation Year course allows you to study a broad range of creative arts disciplines, with a key focus on fine art. You will also acquire key transferable skills such as effective communication, team work, time and project management, research and digital literacy, all of which can prove vital to achieving at University and gaining employment after graduation.

Taught by a team of world-leading artists and academics, you will be equipped to successfully take your learning to the next level.

This course is delivered through a mix of classroom and studio-based learning, with engagement with the cultural centres in the region available to further enhance your learning. You will be studying together with students on the Drama foundation programme.

Why choose Northumbria to study a Fine Art Foundation Year?

Top 20 - Art & Design at Northumbria is ranked Top 20 in the UK by the Complete University Guide for 2024.

Research powerhouse - Art and Design at Northumbria is ranked 4th in the UK for research power. This is a rise of 6 places compared to 2014.

Taking on Tomorrow - This course is contemporary, future-facing and critically rigorous, preparing you to make a positive impact in the world.

Partnered with Industry - The fantastic opportunity to work with the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, where you will be set live briefs and can work within public and community settings.

Graduate prospects - Art & Design at Northumbria is ranked 9th in the UK for Graduate Prospects (Times Good University Guide, 2024).

 

What can I study after this foundation year?

Upon successful completion of the foundation year, you will be able to progress into any of the following undergraduate programmes.

BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance

BA (Hons) Fine Art  

Course Information

UCAS Code
W150

Level of Study
Undergraduate

Mode of Study
4 years full-time or 5 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad

Department
Arts

Location
City Campus, Northumbria University

City
Newcastle

Start
September 2024 or September 2025

Fee Information

Module Information

News and Events / Arts

Find out what our Art students and staff are taking part in.

Delve Deeper / Discover more about life at Northumbria

Entry Requirements 2024/25

Standard Entry

80 UCAS Tariff points

From a combination of acceptable Level 3 qualifications which may include: A-level, T Level, BTEC Diplomas/Extended Diplomas, Scottish and Irish Highers, Access to HE Diplomas, or the International Baccalaureate.

Find out how many points your qualifications are worth by using the UCAS Tariff calculator: www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator

Northumbria University is committed to supporting all individuals to achieve their ambitions. We have a range of schemes and alternative offers to make sure as many individuals as possible are given an opportunity to study at our University regardless of personal circumstances or background. To find out more, review our Northumbria Entry Requirement Essential Information page for further details www.northumbria.ac.uk/entryrequirementsinfo

Subject Requirements:

There are no specific subject requirements for this course.

GCSE Requirements:

Applicants will need Maths and English Language at minimum grade 4/C, or an equivalent.

Additional Requirements:

There are no additional requirements for this course.

International Qualifications:

We welcome applicants with a range of qualifications which may not match those shown above.

If you have qualifications from outside the UK, find out what you need by visiting www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry

English Language Requirements:

International applicants should have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 with 5.5 in each component (or an approved equivalent*).

*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades in our English Language section: www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications

Fees and Funding 2024/25 Entry

UK Fee in Year 1: £9,250

* The maximum tuition fee that we are permitted to charge for UK students is set by government. Tuition fees may increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, these are subject to government regulations and in line with inflation.


EU Fee in Year 1: £18,250

International Fee in Year 1: £18,250


Please see the main Funding Pages for 24/25 scholarship information.

 


ADDITIONAL COSTS

There are no Additional Costs

If you’d like to receive the latest updates from Northumbria about our courses, events, finance & funding then enter your details below.

* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

AD3017 -

The Body (Core,20 Credits)

This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of the ‘Body’.
You will learn to develop and produce a range of experimental collaborative and individual artworks under the direction of academic staff from across subject disciplines. Through directed and self-directed approaches around a range of studio and workshop practices you will produce a portfolio of work that offers a personal reflection on a subject that has fired the imagination since the first humans established their presence through paintings on cave walls, collective performance or carvings into rocks.
You will learn to understand the importance of primary research from source and the application of collaborative interdisciplinary practices.
The Body is a complex subject and you will be engaged in a number of learning situations that will build your awareness and understanding of critical engagement and reflective thinking through creative practice.
You will develop a greater knowledge of how the Body has been the catalyst for artists producing paintings, sculpture, live art performances, drama, dance, text, photography and film; and be introduced to the theoretical debates such as body politics, feminism and ethics.
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making and discussion. This will enable you to build confidence in outlining your own views and position.

Creative practitioners have often looked to artists in the past to inspire new directions in their own work. In this module you will be asked to identify a specific artwork inspired by the Body theme and transcribe it in your own terms. This is a valuable learning tool in research and development leading to a final output. The transcription project will aid you develop a more personal direction that will inform the Identity module in semester 2.

More information

AD3018 -

Art and the City (Core,20 Credits)

This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of Arts and the City.
You will learn to develop and produce a range of experimental collaborative and individual artworks under the direction of academic staff from across subject disciplines. Through directed and self-directed approaches around a range of studio and workshop practices you will produce a portfolio of work that offers an exploration of the inter-relationship between the city that we see and the city that we imagine.
Arts and the city are intertwined, and this module gives you an opportunity to develop your own arts practice through observation and interrogation of the cultural life, activities and artefacts of a real city.
Through arts practices, students will consider the role of arts within the environments of the city, developing knowledge on how arts can explore, reflect, enhance and critique the city and its citizens.
The module will consider the location and impact of arts and culture in introducing the relationship between artist and spectator/audience/public.
The module will also introduce you to the distinctive environment and culture that has shaped Newcastle and Gateshead and how Tyneside has evolved into an international centre for the arts. Consequently this Semester 1 module will help locate you in a studio culture for the first time and complement the learning activities around interpretation of form and function linked to the Body module.

More information

AD3019 -

Identity (Core,20 Credits)

“Identity’ is the final module in the Arts Foundation Year course and helps position your practice towards a BA Honours programme in one of the visual and performing arts subjects.
Through this module you will learn to demonstrate in a portfolio of work your creative practice and emerging personal philosophy moving towards a major project output and personal statement.
In building a profile as a student of the arts, your practice is informed by your skills, knowledge, experience and imagination. Across the visual and performing arts there are a wide range of delivery processes and methodologies for presenting your practice. This module enables you to be ambitious with your creative studio work and learn to make critical decisions about your identity that will influence your future direction.
Gombrich once told us that ‘there is no such thing as art, only artists.’ In completing this final study you will learn how to draw upon the creative practitioners that have influenced you and examine 2 artists/performers/directors/scriptwriters with whom you strongly identify.
In this module you will also learn to outline your personal development to date and position your practice against the cultural sector that it is most aligned (fine art, drama, live art performance, applied theatre, animation etc). A supporting document will provide a narrative of that development and will be considered alongside a final major work.
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making, discussion and evaluation. Following semester 1 and the Nature and Technologies module you will learn how to use your feedback to develop a greater understanding of your personal artistic position moving towards your final submission.

More information

AD3020 -

Nature and Technologies (Core,20 Credits)

Our interaction with nature and the environment and a need to capture and understand these experiences has informed the production of a range of creative arts practices (landscape painting/site specific performance/multi-media installation). Likewise artists have always had an interest in the natural sciences and have an increasing concern about the trajectory of change given the rapid developments in modern technologies in the last century.
This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of Nature and Technology. You will learn about new digital methodologies of production and be able to discern between appropriate use of low tech or high tech production processes in the making of work and the development of your practice.
Workshops will enable you to learn more about new media technology and how it may be applied to your scholarly and studio interests.
Creative practitioners often look to the sciences to develop new directions in their own practice. In this module you will also be asked to examine the concept of evolution and how this is aligned to your own creative practice; the germination of an idea, fermentation and final output/product.
You will learn to understand the value of being a student in a university that has a wide variety of academic resources available to enable you to develop your knowledge and creative practice (geo-sciences/life and chemical sciences/earth and space research)
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making, discussion and evaluation.
Following semester 1 you will learn how to use your summative feedback to develop a greater understanding of student centred learning building a more personal artistic position in advance of the final ‘Identity‘ module

More information

AD3037 -

Skills for University 1 (Core,20 Credits)

On this module, you will build, and evidence the broad range of academic, professional and transferable employability skills you have developed through your Foundation Year. These will include short demonstrations of cogent academic prose, accurate academic citation, research skills, independent learning. Assessment foregrounds oral presentation and teamwork. You will develop skills throughout the semester, drawing evidence from workshops, lectures and seminars from this first semester module.

More information

AD3038 -

Skills for University 2 (Core,20 Credits)

On this module, you will build upon and further evidence the broad range of academic, professional and transferable employability skills you have developed through your Foundation Year. These will include demonstrations of cogent academic prose, accurate academic citation, research skills, independent learning, oral presentation, and teamwork. You will develop skills throughout the semester, drawing evidence from workshops, lectures and seminars from this second semester module.

More information

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

AD3017 -

The Body (Core,20 Credits)

This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of the ‘Body’.
You will learn to develop and produce a range of experimental collaborative and individual artworks under the direction of academic staff from across subject disciplines. Through directed and self-directed approaches around a range of studio and workshop practices you will produce a portfolio of work that offers a personal reflection on a subject that has fired the imagination since the first humans established their presence through paintings on cave walls, collective performance or carvings into rocks.
You will learn to understand the importance of primary research from source and the application of collaborative interdisciplinary practices.
The Body is a complex subject and you will be engaged in a number of learning situations that will build your awareness and understanding of critical engagement and reflective thinking through creative practice.
You will develop a greater knowledge of how the Body has been the catalyst for artists producing paintings, sculpture, live art performances, drama, dance, text, photography and film; and be introduced to the theoretical debates such as body politics, feminism and ethics.
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making and discussion. This will enable you to build confidence in outlining your own views and position.

Creative practitioners have often looked to artists in the past to inspire new directions in their own work. In this module you will be asked to identify a specific artwork inspired by the Body theme and transcribe it in your own terms. This is a valuable learning tool in research and development leading to a final output. The transcription project will aid you develop a more personal direction that will inform the Identity module in semester 2.

More information

AD3018 -

Art and the City (Core,20 Credits)

This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of Arts and the City.
You will learn to develop and produce a range of experimental collaborative and individual artworks under the direction of academic staff from across subject disciplines. Through directed and self-directed approaches around a range of studio and workshop practices you will produce a portfolio of work that offers an exploration of the inter-relationship between the city that we see and the city that we imagine.
Arts and the city are intertwined, and this module gives you an opportunity to develop your own arts practice through observation and interrogation of the cultural life, activities and artefacts of a real city.
Through arts practices, students will consider the role of arts within the environments of the city, developing knowledge on how arts can explore, reflect, enhance and critique the city and its citizens.
The module will consider the location and impact of arts and culture in introducing the relationship between artist and spectator/audience/public.
The module will also introduce you to the distinctive environment and culture that has shaped Newcastle and Gateshead and how Tyneside has evolved into an international centre for the arts. Consequently this Semester 1 module will help locate you in a studio culture for the first time and complement the learning activities around interpretation of form and function linked to the Body module.

More information

AD3019 -

Identity (Core,20 Credits)

“Identity’ is the final module in the Arts Foundation Year course and helps position your practice towards a BA Honours programme in one of the visual and performing arts subjects.
Through this module you will learn to demonstrate in a portfolio of work your creative practice and emerging personal philosophy moving towards a major project output and personal statement.
In building a profile as a student of the arts, your practice is informed by your skills, knowledge, experience and imagination. Across the visual and performing arts there are a wide range of delivery processes and methodologies for presenting your practice. This module enables you to be ambitious with your creative studio work and learn to make critical decisions about your identity that will influence your future direction.
Gombrich once told us that ‘there is no such thing as art, only artists.’ In completing this final study you will learn how to draw upon the creative practitioners that have influenced you and examine 2 artists/performers/directors/scriptwriters with whom you strongly identify.
In this module you will also learn to outline your personal development to date and position your practice against the cultural sector that it is most aligned (fine art, drama, live art performance, applied theatre, animation etc). A supporting document will provide a narrative of that development and will be considered alongside a final major work.
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making, discussion and evaluation. Following semester 1 and the Nature and Technologies module you will learn how to use your feedback to develop a greater understanding of your personal artistic position moving towards your final submission.

More information

AD3020 -

Nature and Technologies (Core,20 Credits)

Our interaction with nature and the environment and a need to capture and understand these experiences has informed the production of a range of creative arts practices (landscape painting/site specific performance/multi-media installation). Likewise artists have always had an interest in the natural sciences and have an increasing concern about the trajectory of change given the rapid developments in modern technologies in the last century.
This module will introduce you to contemporary concepts and creative studio production processes related to the theme of Nature and Technology. You will learn about new digital methodologies of production and be able to discern between appropriate use of low tech or high tech production processes in the making of work and the development of your practice.
Workshops will enable you to learn more about new media technology and how it may be applied to your scholarly and studio interests.
Creative practitioners often look to the sciences to develop new directions in their own practice. In this module you will also be asked to examine the concept of evolution and how this is aligned to your own creative practice; the germination of an idea, fermentation and final output/product.
You will learn to understand the value of being a student in a university that has a wide variety of academic resources available to enable you to develop your knowledge and creative practice (geo-sciences/life and chemical sciences/earth and space research)
Working in a team you will further learn from each other’s practices and creative interventions through experimentation, making, discussion and evaluation.
Following semester 1 you will learn how to use your summative feedback to develop a greater understanding of student centred learning building a more personal artistic position in advance of the final ‘Identity‘ module

More information

AD3037 -

Skills for University 1 (Core,20 Credits)

On this module, you will build, and evidence the broad range of academic, professional and transferable employability skills you have developed through your Foundation Year. These will include short demonstrations of cogent academic prose, accurate academic citation, research skills, independent learning. Assessment foregrounds oral presentation and teamwork. You will develop skills throughout the semester, drawing evidence from workshops, lectures and seminars from this first semester module.

More information

AD3038 -

Skills for University 2 (Core,20 Credits)

On this module, you will build upon and further evidence the broad range of academic, professional and transferable employability skills you have developed through your Foundation Year. These will include demonstrations of cogent academic prose, accurate academic citation, research skills, independent learning, oral presentation, and teamwork. You will develop skills throughout the semester, drawing evidence from workshops, lectures and seminars from this second semester module.

More information

To start your application, simply select the month you would like to start your course.

Fine Art Foundation Year

Home or EU applicants please apply through UCAS

International applicants please apply using the links below

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All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here

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