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This is a four-year version of our popular BA (Hons) Fine Art course, with an integrated foundation year. Discover and develop your own perspective and ideas within contemporary art. Nurture your creative talent alongside professional artists in our artist community. Graduate with a skill set that meets the needs of employers across the globe.
Britain’s creative industries are worth £92 billion, employ two million people, and are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. This course will give you the skills to join this growing industry.
The tradition of art runs deep at Sunderland, but we don’t stand still. We’ve built on this history and experience, adding innovation and modern teaching approaches to create a course that gives our graduates the edge.
Our Fine Art team, all working artists, have a wealth of professional practice and subject expertise to help you realise your art aspirations. Guided by these experts, you'll have the freedom to explore your creative interests across a broad range of fine art practice including painting, printmaking, digital photography, film, sound, drawing, sculpture, and performance.
Working collaboratively, you’ll learn to see the bigger picture and will develop highly adaptable skills, alongside your technical abilities. Throughout the course, you’ll work towards live outcomes, building your confidence as an artist to promote yourself, your art, and to understand the impact you can have as an artist in society.
You’ll be allocated your own studio space and this will be your space to build and develop your creativity alongside fellow students.
In the first year – the foundation year – you'll study five modules. After completion of this foundation, you'll then move onto the Fine Art honours degree course.
In your second year, you’ll experience a range of working methods, honing and testing your technical, making, and artistic ability, while building your studio practice. At the end of the year, you’ll show your achievements at your first exhibition.
In your third year, you’ll start to link your artistic practice with live experiences. You’ll work collaboratively with students from other disciplines in the ‘Integrated Creativity’ module; replicating the practice of some the world’s biggest artists who draw on a range of creative talents. You’ll also start to consider your place in society; how you want to work and where your art can take you. You’ll undertake a project with a live outcome that could be a group exhibition, a workshop in the community, or a project with a local school. All of this will also extend your understanding of the creative industries and develop your team working skills, which will be essential for professional life.
Your final year is about building your professional practice, skills, and experience to prepare you for your final Degree Show, graduation, and beyond. You’ll produce your own book, showing a window into your practice and skills, which will help you promote yourself to employers. Understand what it takes to bid for funding or secure an exhibition space, all before critically selecting your work for public exhibition at your Degree Show.
Assessment methods vary between modules. They include studio presentations of artwork, a variety of written projects, and exhibitions.
Are you considering a creative career? Do you wonder what it’s really like to work in the creative industries? This sector can offer you an exciting and varied career, where no day is the same and creative thinking is actively encouraged. There are so many creative job roles up for grabs and there’s something to suit everyone’s career goals.
Learn more about careers in the creative industries.
Why study for a fine art degree? What does fine art mean? And can you find a job as a fine artist?
Read more to find out why you should study a fine art degree
We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.
Entry requirements are provided for guidance only and we may offer you an entrance interview which will help us determine your eligibility for your chosen degree. This enables us to consider making you an offer if you're perhaps a mature student who's been out of education for a period of time, or you've gained significant knowledge and skills through employment rather than traditional education.
Eligible entry qualifications:
If you're unsure of whether you think you might be suitable for the course, please contact us.
**If you've studied for a GCSE which has a numerical grade, you'll need to achieve a grade 4 or above. Equivalent alternative qualifications are also accepted, such as Level 2 Key Skills in Communication and Application of Number.
If English isn't your first language, please see our English language requirements.
The annual fee for this course is £9,535 if you're from the UK/Ireland/EU settled/pre-settled.
Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. The fee for your first year of study for 2025/26 will be £9,535. You will pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.
If you're a full-time UK/Irish/EU settled/EU pre-settled student, you may be eligible to receive financial support to cover your fees for the full four years. UK and EU settled students may also be eligible to receive a maintenance loan.
Please note, this course isn't available to international students.
Learn more about settled status, pre-settled status, special discounts, visa requirements, and Common Travel Area (CTA) agreements for the Republic of Ireland applicants in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
Fine artists gather skills that are essential to the world of work. Creative thinkers are called for in a range of sectors beyond the creative industries thanks to the range of transferable skills. This course is an opportunity for self-development and exploration. We’ll support you to develop your professional practice, build your confidence as an artist to promote yourself and your art, help you to understand the impact you can have on society, and explore where your art can take you.
To enhance employability, we encourage you to develop a professional portfolio throughout your time at the University.
This includes an online art blog and art book publication of your work, with an artist statement and a CV – this will be invaluable for promoting your skills to future employers.
We aim to prepare you to become a confident professional with transferable skills. Increasingly, creative workers follow a ‘portfolio’ career comprising a range of roles such as teaching in schools, colleges, and universities; artist residencies; creative practitioner; and as a practising fine artist. This makes for a really flexible lifestyle enabling you to extend your professional contacts, build your artistic practice, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Many creative workers are self-employed, and this course provides sessions on becoming self-employed, and our ‘Creative Lives’ lecture programme offers case studies of creative careers.
Destinations for Fine Art graduates also include public arts, curating and other areas within the creative industries. Some of our graduates work as artists and show their work in commercial galleries. Others have gone on to work in museums, galleries, and many different types of employment and self-employment.
this course will encourage you to consider employment options both in the creative sector and in other types of industry. A number of our students have chosen to progress to postgraduate courses, such as our MA Visual Practice course, teacher training PGCEs, and PCET SCITT teacher training courses.
Sunderland Culture is a collaboration between the University, council, and the city’s key culture organisations. This partnership brings big name creatives in contemporary visual arts, glass, ceramics, and performance to the city; showcases exciting local talent; and gives our students unique experiences including exceptional career-enhancing opportunities.