If you want to pursue a creative degree at Arts University Plymouth but feel you have yet to acquire the experience and range of skills necessary, our Extended BA programme will prepare you for entry to one of our BA (Hons) undergraduate courses.
What is Extended BA?
Our Extended BA (Hons) Degrees offers a unique four-year route for students aiming to delve into the diverse realm of art, design, and media. This programme provides an initial exploratory year, where you'll cultivate insight into various creative skills and approaches, laying a robust foundation before advancing to a specialised degree of your choice. Whether you're returning to education after a hiatus or entering without formal qualifications, our Extended BA equips you with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience to secure a place in our full undergraduate program.
Our Intensive Extended Degree program is a dynamic blend of lectures, workshops, and practical studio sessions designed to challenge and inspire. Our diverse student body spans from fresh-faced eighteen-year-olds to seasoned creatives in their seventies, fostering a rich collaborative environment. With the freedom to take risks and experiment, you'll develop a diverse skill set through hands-on experimentation with materials, processes, and methodologies. This transformative journey hones critical skills essential for degree-level study, expanding your proficiency in drawing, visual research, contextual studies, digital imaging, and design methods. Gain invaluable experience in a supportive atmosphere that encourages creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
Why Choose BA (Hons) Commercial Photography?
Our BA (Hons) Commercial Photography course will equip you to thrive in today’s dynamic and competitive photographic industry, providing you with the knowledge and skills to flourish. You’ll combine visual awareness and innovation with technical excellence, professional understanding, and business competencies.
From lighting and framing a dramatic fashion shot to visualising concepts for advertising campaigns, commercial photography has the power to influence and inspire. This course combines visual awareness and innovation with technical excellence, professional understanding, and business skills.
Our course is geared towards employability and enterprise. We develop photographers who are technically proficient, visually sophisticated, and professionally astute – who understand trends in the industry and how to pitch for business, and who graduate with a broad range of transferable skills that enable them to succeed in the creative industries.
Students on this course will feel equipped with advanced technical skills in studio and location lighting, digital capture, and post-production techniques. This is an integrated programme of study with industry-oriented assignments, hands-on workshops, and expert tuition using sophisticated camera and lighting equipment. You will also develop your industry knowledge and professional skills to enable you to find work in high-end commercial photographic practice.
Working both individually and in interdisciplinary groups and with real-world mentors, you’ll gain vocational experience to flourish both academically and professionally. You will acquire a broad range of entrepreneurial abilities in marketing, self-promotion, and business development, enabling you to develop a financially sustainable practice, fundamental to your success in the industry.
On successful completion of your Extended Degree year, you will be guaranteed a place on one of our full undergraduate BA (Hons) programmes. Many of our past students have gone on to achieve high grades in their degrees, including a large number with First Class Honours.
The first year of an Extended Degree is not a qualification in its own right, but when you successfully complete it you are guaranteed a place on our full undergraduate programme.
You’ll develop confidence in your use of drawing, visual research, contextual studies, digital imaging and design methods, and you’ll have the chance to experiment with a range of materials, equipment, processes and software.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Arts University Plymouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
Plymouth is the largest city in the county of Devon, and the safest big city in south-west England, listed in the top ten safest cities in the UK. The city has excellent travel links via car, train and ferry, with direct train services to London Paddington and the rest of the country and easy access to three nearby airports (Bristol, Newquay and Exeter). Plymouth is the gateway to the South West of England and is approximately 3 hours from London by train. The best airport to fly into is London Heathrow, which has a direct rail line to Paddington station.
Our dedicated international team will be able to support you throughout your application and enrolment with us, giving you expert advice and guidance on everything you need, from accommodation to what to do once you arrive in the UK.
Your application will tell us about your qualifications and previous experience, but studying the arts is about more than can be captured on forms. We need to find out about your creative potential, your abilities and idiosyncrasies, so we will invite you to talk about your work with a member of our HE academic team. You can tell us about your aspirations, and why you want to study at the university. It is also a good moment to find out what we can offer you.
We encourage you to visit the university, so that you can see our facilities, meet our teaching and technical staff, and discuss any other queries you may have; however we appreciate this may not be possible, and are happy to talk to you via an online platform (such as Google Meet or similar).
We accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | IELTS (Level B2):overall score of 6.0 with minimum scores Listening: 5.5, Speaking: 5.5, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 5.5 |
| Trinity ISE | Pass | Integrated Skills in English II (Level B2), minimum grades required: Reading: Pass Listening: Pass |
| PTE Academic | 50 | PTE Academic (Level B2), minimum grade required: Listening: 50, Reading: 50, Writing: 50, Speaking: 50 |
Click here to find out the most up-to-date information on our English Language requirements https://www.aup.ac.uk/international/language-requirements
We believe in making tailored offers that recognise that artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant experience and skills beyond formal qualifications. We therefore require all applicants to submit a portfolio of work as a condition of any offer to study with us. This allows applicants the opportunity to demonstrate their creative skills, and what they’re passionate about. Following a successful portfolio review, offers will be tailored on an individual basis.
This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
| EU | £17250 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £9535 | Year 1 |
| England | £9535 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £9535 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £9535 | Year 1 |
| International | £17250 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Tavistock Place
Plymouth
PL4 8AT
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Email:enquiries@aup.ac.uk
Phone:01752 203434
Fax: 01752 203444
Email:admissions@aup.ac.uk
Phone:01752 203434
Fax: 01752 203444
At Arts University Plymouth
