Photography (with Foundation Year)
UCAS Code: WPQ5
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Art & Design or related subjects preferred.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Grades in a related subject in addition to other qualifications or evidence of experience in Art
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About this course
Photography at Bath Spa University offers a hands-on, experiential approach with emphasis on developing your individual interests and abilities in an experimental, creative and critical environment. You’ll explore analogue techniques and be equipped to engage more proficiently with digital methods too. You’ll also explore potential new directions in which digital technological change impacts upon photography and fully utilise new technologies.
- The curriculum is broad with an emphasis on practical learning.
- Content is delivered by a team of full time and visiting specialists who are active practitioners and researchers within the field.
- Develop your creative ability and technical skills through a range of set and self-directed projects.
- Modules cover broad contexts of photography including fashion, landscape, architecture, portraiture and editorial.
Modules
Foundation Year
In Year 1 you’ll look at fundamental photographic principles and practice, and develop an awareness of photographic practice within the creative industries. You’ll gain practical and technical skills, and learn to research visually and analytically and evaluate your work with tutor guidance.
Year 2 develops detailed knowledge of major theories relating to photographic practice, and a deeper awareness of social and ethical implications for the photographic industry. You’ll negotiate activities with tutors and will be able analyse, synthesise and evaluate work more independently. Studio modules are also available.
Year 3 will see you apply appropriate knowledge and practical skills to produce your own body of work as you define your own area of practice. You’ll showcase your work at the end of the year with a public exhibition of portfolio work.
For more information please refer to our website.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Bath Spa University
Bath School of Art and Design

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See your living costsWhat students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Cinematics and photography
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Cinematics and photography
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?A few years ago graduates from this subject were having a very hard time but things have improved a lot thanks to our active media, film and photographic industries - much the most common employers for this group. The most common jobs are in the arts — as photographers, audio-visual technicians, operators and designers, as directors, as artists and as graphic designers. Training in presenting sound and graphics is useful in other industries as well, so you can find graduates in journalism, in advertising, in business management, in events management and in web design and IT. Be aware that freelancing and self-employment is common in the arts, as are what is termed 'portfolio careers' — having several part-time jobs or commissions at once.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Photography
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£18k
£19k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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