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Our Photography BA (Hons) degree is designed to create ‘next generation’ photographers – independent, creative, critical, adaptable and professional.
Year of entry
2025-26
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Sandwich
Duration
3 years full-time
4 years sandwich
Course code
W640
Start date
September 2025
The course is designed to be highly motivating with teaching and learning activities conceived to have clear relevance to your future career. You will focus on developing problem-solving skills, reflective practice, critical thinking, technical and practical skills related to photographic practice. With a broad view of photography, we aim to develop your interests towards careers as photographers, editors, art directors, curators, designers, writers, multimedia makers and producers, wherever your passion leads.
We will:
Engage with and explore the talents and achievements of our art and design Foundation Year course and final-year students.
Find out moreThis course has a common first year.
The common first year enables you to work alongside students doing similar courses to you, to widen your knowledge and exposure to other subject areas and professions. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, so you can share your insights and experience which will help you to develop and learn.
If you discover an interest in a specific subject you have studied, upon successful completion of your first year, you could swap degrees with another course in your common first year (subject to meeting progression requirements).
Common first year courses
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.
Our teaching places an emphasis on experimentation, critical research, versatility and technical expertise.
It is informed by staff practice and research in areas such as photobook publishing; documentary photography; collaborative photographic practices; socially-engaged practice, photography education; digital appropriation and expanded photography practices; the representation of death in contemporary culture; art and anthropology; the ethics and aesthetics of participation; photography and time; photography and cinema; community photography; the pedagogical turn of contemporary art; and photography and the archive.
Students successfully completing the first two years of the course can opt to take a UK work placement, or international study/work experience module, spending a year out between the second and third years on placement or study abroad (subject to availability, competitive application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs2).
Your personal tutor, who will be a member of the photography team, will review and discuss your progress with you and will be available for advice.
We understand that everyone learns differently, so each of our courses will consist of structured teaching sessions, which can include:
As a full-time undergraduate student, you will study modules totalling 120 credits each academic year. A typical 20 credit module requires a total of 200 hours study. This is made up of teaching contact hours, guided and independent study.
Teaching hours vary each semester, year of study and due to module selection. During your first year you can expect 15 -18 teaching hours each week. You will also have the option to attend optional sessions including time with a progress coach or to meet with staff for advice and feedback. As you progress through your studies, teaching hours may reduce.
Throughout your studies, you will be expected to spend time in guided and independent study to make up the required study hours per module. You’ll be digging deeper into topics, review what you’ve learned and complete assignments. This can be completed around your personal commitments. As you progress through your studies, you’ll spend more time in independent study.
As an innovative university, we use different teaching methods including online tools and emerging technologies. So, some of your teaching hours and assessments may be delivered online.
Assessment methods may include:
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments may include exams, individual assignments or group work elements.
Our sandwich degree option allows a full-year placement, which can be taken abroad2. In the past, photography students have studied abroad at places such as the International Centre of Photography, New York, USA; Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain; Karlstad University, Sweden; Hanze University, Groningen, Netherlands; and Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. The university also runs a number of schemes to allow students short periods of overseas study, places include: China, USA, South America and parts of Europe2.
Throughout the course, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects are facilitated in collaboration with universities overseas, enhancing your global experience and international networks. Recent COIL projects have taken place with collaborators in Universidad de Europa de Madrid, Spain, and Universitatea Nationala De Arte, Bucharest. (Projects are subject to availability2).
Please note that all international experience opportunities may be subject to additional costs, competitive application, availability, and meeting applicable visa and travel requirements, and are therefore not guaranteed2.
Typical entry requirements:
Student | Full-time | Part-time |
---|---|---|
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year |
Not available |
EU | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year with EU Support Bursary** 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year without EU Support Bursary** |
Not available |
International | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year |
Not available |
If you choose to study this course with a professional placement2 or study abroad year, you will need to pay a tuition fee3 of £1,250 to cover your academic support throughout your placement year.
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.
The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permits an increase in tuition fees, the university 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.
For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.
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.
The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:
Find out what's included in your tuition costs.
The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.
Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.
Coventry University has invested in superb arts facilities with Ellen Terry, Delia Derbyshire and the Tank forming your primary learning locations4.
All within a minute's walk of each other in the city centre you will have access to purpose built studios and a well-stocked Media Loan Shop. Here you can borrow an extensive range of specialist, professional equipment, including 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment and lighting. Kit is allocated on a first come first served basis via the booking system which you will get to know well.
The course supports the development of a range of techniques and approaches with access to digital and analogue facilities and workshops. Our darkroom and processing facilities offer the opportunity to explore and experiment with film, cyanotypes and anthotypes.
Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.
Where applicable, you’ll have access to our on-campus TV studio The Tank, with its specialist TV studio equipment, including large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.
The photography suite is a superb facility that includes virtual drum scanning, photography studios, black-and-white print darkrooms, free black-and-white film processing, and a digital print bureau.
As a student, you’ll have access to Coventry University’s specialist Media Loan Shop. This well-stocked facility offers an extensive range of specialist, professional photography and film equipment.
On successful completion, you will be equipped with the skills to:
Like all of our creative courses, Photography is very much practice-led and informed by research and critical thinking. Throughout your course, you will be encouraged to develop projects that enable you to determine which fields you wish to specialise in, while at the same time building a portfolio of work which will stand out from the crowd.
To celebrate your works of art, we produce a Degree Show exhibition every year. This is an important platform for graduates as professionals from across the industries of photography are invited to view the exhibition and receive copies of its accompanying catalogue. The Degree Show is also an important opportunity to host portfolio reviews with high profile industry experts, picture editors, curators, and commissioners.
Through our strand of professional development modules in all years, we work with you to identify and target specific areas of industry that are aligned with your interests. The culmination of this process leads to clear and specific career goals that we work towards throughout the degree with the aim of immediate career paths after graduation.
Graduates from this course have gone on to work at photography companies such as Grain Projects, Multistory, Photomonitor, British Journal of Photography, NHS Wales, FORMAT Festival, Wellbeck Publishing, Cheshire Young Carers, Big Sky Studios as freelance photographers, visual artists, picture editors, curators, archivists, researchers, writers, gallery and museum educators, art therapists, and teachers.
You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Photography 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.
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