Fine Art BA (Hons)
Course Code
UCAS Code: W100
International Code: AHU004
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Sandwich
Duration
3 years full-time
4 years full-time with study abroad / professional placement
Start date
September 2022
Course overview
Study level: Undergraduate
This practice-based course will challenge and inspire you, developing the creative, technical, critical, reflective and enterprising skills to support you in forging a successful and sustainable career in contemporary art.
On this course you:
- have access to a range of workshops, industry-standard software, photographic and media resources.
- have the opportunity to explore individual and collaborative 2D, 3D and 4D practices in our spacious studios, experimenting with digital, intermedia and traditional art forms.
- will be taught by practising artists, art historians, and writers whose work has been exhibited at a number of prestigious venues across the world

Global Ready
An international outlook, with global opportunities
Teaching excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
Employability
Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeedWhy you should study this course
Our degree mixes new and traditional technologies to reflect the evolving world of contemporary art. We encourage you to become a highly skilled and self-sufficient practitioner with good working habits and emphasis on interdisciplinary and international practice. You can learn to understand placement of your work within historical and contemporary social, political and cultural contexts.
We offer you a rich experience of guided assignment briefs, self-initiated projects, national or international competitions, ‘live’ projects, and both internal and external exhibition opportunities. Our typical graduate portfolios include: painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, installation, photography, performance, digital media, moving image production and socially engaged practice. Socially engaged practice is work such as Ai Wei Wei’s ‘Sunflower Seeds’ installation exhibited in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall or the activist, community work of the collaborative art group Assemble.
We aim to help you to prepare you for graduation and the world of work. From the outset we aim to develop the professional skills associated with evaluating, exhibiting and distributing your work, which will become more visible to the outside world as the course progresses and your confidence grows.
We have strong links with many regional arts organisations, for example, the Mead Gallery at the Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry ArtSpace Projects, Coventry Collective Pod, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry Contemporary Art Biennale and New Art West Midlands. Our commercial partners currently include Warwickshire NHS Trust, the Coventry Building Society and Severn Trent Water, which runs an environmentally themed tri-annual student art commission with the chance for six students to display their work in the company’s state-of-the art Operations Centre in Coventry (subject to availability, competitive application and additional costs).
Our FACeTS (Fine Art at Coventry Talk Series) gives you an opportunity to hear direct from some of the most innovative contemporary artists and creative practitioners from the UK and beyond – recent topics have explored current changes in cultural opportunities across Eastern and Western Europe, post-object art practices in the context of digital media and the impact that artists can have on their environments.
You may also be invited to take part in study trips to exhibitions and events*. Past trips have included the Tate Modern, White Cube, Saatchi Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Birmingham Ikon Gallery, Digbeth First Friday, Liverpool Biennial and British Art Show and many others.
The thing I enjoy most about my course is the freedom to develop your own areas of interest with the careful support and advice of tutors and peers.

What you'll study
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
How you'll learn
In a typical teaching week, you will have approximately 13 ‘contact’ hours of teaching. This includes a combination of:
- medium group teaching: workshops , seminars and lectures
- small group teaching: seminar, critiques and tutorials
- studio practice and bookable workshop access
The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online activities.
The School of Art and Design often provides opportunities to engage in external or collaborative activities such as competition/industry briefs and speakers beyond your course studies. We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to support your learning journey.
The course can be studied full-time over three years. You can extend your studies by a year by undertaking a Professional Placement or Study Abroad Year.
This course is essentially studio-based, but we encourage you to use some of our specialist digital and media resources, or engage in offsite projects.
Assessment
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which may vary depending upon the module concerned. Assessment methods include exams, practical coursework, essays/reports, presentations, individual assignments and/or group work elements.
This course is predominantly assessed by coursework.
Job Ready
This course explores a number of disciplines within 2D, 3D and 4D fine art studio practice. You have the opportunity to experiment with drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, spatial approaches, fine art performance, video, photography and intermedia. We encourage you to test and explore your understanding and practical skills relating to writing, curatorial and educational roles, putting theory into practice through a variety of opportunities.
From the second year of the course, we switch to a more in-depth study of contemporary fine art. These include examining a broad range of work by contemporary practitioners, writers and critics, and key movements and ideas. You are expected to develop your research ability and engage with relevant debates.
Art consolidations: During the final year of your degree, you should be strongly engaged in studio practice, honing your creative identity, revising and developing your ideas in preparation for the final degree show.
International experience opportunities
Our teaching is underpinned by a contemporary view of art practice. This is reflected strongly in the course curriculum which includes taught sessions on Globalism, Travel and Migration and provides opportunities to engage with students, staff and artists from a culturally and geographically diverse range of backgrounds.
Each year we also offer study trips abroad. Previous trips have been taken to Berlin where students visited galleries such as Hamburger Bahnhof and the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam to visit the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum and Foam Gallery. They have also been to Venice to view artworks and attend events at the Venice Biennale which currently represents artwork from 86 different countries in national pavilions, and also includes a Diaspora Pavilion.
Our connections with the Canal Basin Trust mean that you have the opportunity to undertake studio visits and meet the artists working there to hear about their developing artworks.
Entry requirements
Fees and funding
2022/23 Tuition fees
Student | Full time | Part time |
---|---|---|
UK | £9,250 per year | Not available |
International | £18,050 per year | Not available |
For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.
We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.
Facilities
Fashion studios
You will have access all kinds of industry-grade equipment* for a range of textiles: from laser cutting, digital embroidery, sonic wielding and screen printing, to manufacturing tools for accessories, embroidery and garments.
Clay studio
In our clay studio*, your ideas become realised by using technological software and clay. Here you can create whatever you imagine, whether that’s an animated character, a sleek car design or theatre props.

Games Technology laboratory
Our gaming lab is a technological paradise, equipped with high-end gaming PCs that have all of the industry-standard software necessary for your course*. It also houses virtual reality game development and motion capture technology.
Careers and opportunities
Professional experience is embedded into our course, which is why we have such high levels of graduate employability.
Throughout you will produce professional outputs which can be exhibited in public and used to target curators, arts and cultural administrators, publishers, agents, media organisations, competitions, residency and exhibition opportunities and potential employers.
Where our graduates work
Many of our past students pursue careers as exhibiting artists or utilise transferrable skills towards creative futures in arts administration, museum and gallery curating, careers within the media, photography, art therapy, design and teaching.
Some of our past graduates have progressed to postgraduate study here on our suite of MA courses, while many others have attended a range of institutions including the Royal College of Art, Chelsea College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Warwick University and the Slade School of Fine Art to name just a few.
Further study
You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Painting MA. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.
I volunteered at Coventry biennale in my second year, then completed a placement year, where I worked at Centrala gallery in Birmingham for a few months. I later joined Positive Youth Foundation team in Coventry and I still work with them now.

How to apply
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UK Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS. Part-time students should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.
Chat with our admissions team
Complete our contact form.
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International Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
How to applyFor further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.
You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.
Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.
Chat with our admissions team.
Complete our contact form.
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Disclaimer
Student Contract
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
Tuition fees
The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.
For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
Accreditations
The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.
Facilities
Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.
Placements and study abroad opportunities
Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
Additional costs
This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).