Our degree courses with Foundation year offer the opportunity to prepare you for advanced study before you progress on to a full honours degree at the University of Westminster. Whether you do not feel ready for degree-level study, don’t have the right qualifications, want to change your subject specialism or return to study after an absence from education, we aim to encourage a broad range of students to undertake our Foundation year in order to progress on to their full honours degree with us.

Our Foundation year in Art and Design is designed to provide you with an introduction to our range of subject areas, and to prepare you for the discipline of your choice. It will give you the opportunity to explore new ideas, opening up new perspectives on the key debates within the field. It begins in the first semester with the development of fundamental art and design skills, as well as practical exploration across all of the disciplines in our Art and Design Foundation programme. In the second semester you are encouraged to specialise in your own discipline and are supported at this stage by tutors from your host course. You will also benefit from workshops in our high-end facilities, and from working with leading academics who will encourage you to become a confident and creative thinker. Your practical development is accompanied by modules in both semesters on foundational academic skills – skills that will be essential as you progress to your chosen full degree.

On successful completion of the Foundation year, you'll be able to move on to study for the Photography BA Honours degree over a further three years of study.

Our Photography BA course is a long-established course with an excellent international reputation for its academic and practical teaching. This reputation is reflected in high application rates, a distinguished record of graduate employment in the industries it serves, and in the publication, production and teaching profile of its staff and graduates.

Our course will enable you to develop your creative production skills across a range of photographic and lens-based media, to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice. It will equip you with the skills to adapt to creative opportunities, participate in contemporary cultural debates, and increase your awareness of the political, ethical and aesthetic implications of your work. You’ll learn to form independent, informed opinions of your own work and that of others.

Our course is renowned for its distinctive philosophy, which aims to provide a holistic photographic education. It combines high levels of technical and visual photographic skills with excellent visual literacy and a critical awareness of visual culture alongside solid professional practice.

You’ll also explore a wide range of relevant contemporary theories and debates designed both to stimulate a critically engaged practice and to better prepare you for a range of related careers.

The course is part of the University's College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, based at our state-of-the-art Harrow Campus – a cutting-edge creative hub.

Placements/ Year abroad

Between Years 2 and 3, you may undertake an optional year-long placement. If you take advantage of this option, you'll undertake an additional year-long Industry Placement Year module running parallel to your work placement, and your final degree award will be BA Honours Photography with Professional Experience.

Career

This course will prepare you for roles such as:

• Magazine editor
• Museum and gallery curator
• Photographer 
• Photographic artist
• Picture editor
• Picture researcher
• Teacher and lecturer