Why study this course?

Our Fine Art BA (including foundation year) BA (Hons) is a four-year degree with an in-built foundation year that will give you the chance to explore a range of artistic directions before going on to specialise specifically in areas of fine art during your subsequent years of study.

Our foundation year course is a great route into a fine art degree, especially if you don’t meet the necessary requirements to enter a three-year undergraduate degree in fine art or painting.

More about this course

In your foundation year you'll undertake intensive studio workshops that will allow you to develop a range of skills and techniques that you will be able to take with you into the following years of your fine art degree.

During these workshops you’ll have the opportunity to explore observational drawing, creative drawing, painting, conceptual modelling, practical making, performance, colour, materials, process, collage, composition curating, exhibiting and more. You’ll also work on interpretative projects that will enable you to establish your own artistic style and forge a clear direction.

Your tutors will introduce you to the skills and work ethic you’ll need to study fine art at undergraduate level and also encourage you to be experimental in your approach to fine art projects.

Towards the end of your foundation year, you’ll work on subject-specific projects that will strengthen your independence as an artist and allow you to further show off your creativity. You’ll also attend a series of lectures and seminars that frame creative practice within historical, contemporary, conceptual and cultural contexts.

As part of the course, you’ll have regular opportunities to present your work – both as works in progress and finished projects – to your peers and tutors. This will allow you to gain feedback on your work, hone in on your individual objectives and develop your own creative style as you progress through the course.

After your foundation year (year 0), you will study the same modules and content as students on our Fine Art BA (Hons) degree.

Fine art is a hugely broad and popular area of the arts but should you decide you want to specialise in a more specific subject following your foundation year, we will be able to facilitate this.

Visit our Fine Art BA online degree show to see what our students have achieved over the past year and celebrate their successes with us!

Assessment

You will be assessed through project work, essays and an individual portfolio.

Fees and key information

Course type
Undergraduate
UCAS code W122
Entry requirements View
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Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

  • at least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
  • English Language GCSE at grade C/4 or above or will need to take the University English test

You will need to attend an interview with your portfolio of creative work. We encourage applications from international/EU students with equivalent qualifications. We also accept mature students with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

If you live in the UK, you will be invited to a portfolio interview. If you live outside the UK you will be required to submit a small portfolio of work via email.

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

English language requirements

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2023/24 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 0 modules include:

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Wednesday morning

The Critical and Contextual Studies module introduces a range of cultural and contextual practices and is diagnostic in helping students to identify areas of reading, writing, information gathering and research in relation to their abilities, needs and aspirations. The intention is to prepare students for critical and theoretical work in Higher Education.

The focus of the Critical and Contextual Studies module is on the ability to ask questions and find answers; specifically, those bearing on Art, Architecture and Design and Media in the broad sense and to the conventional means to present these. The experience of the module is structured by a sequence of three submissions: an initial patchwork assignment that includes a Learning Reflection element, an analysis of the works of a particular creative practitioner and a final submission is a self-directed essay.

The contents include answers to questions that range from practical or theoretical ‘how to’ or ‘what is’ exercises; to simple ‘what do you think?’ form of analysis or reflection; to complex structured responses in the form of the essay.

The module is constructed around two core blocks of intensive study. Each block has a thematic structure to allow the exploration of different topics and approaches, for example: ‘Contexts’, ‘Connections’, ‘Themes in creative practice’. The first assessment includes the Learning Reflection element.

The module aims to motivate and aid the student to find out about and engage in the practice and culture of Art, Architecture and Design and Media. The module should help inform the student about their future direction of study as well as providing useful insights into their potential and abilities. Students learn how to ask and begin to answer questions about the discipline they are interested in and its broader context. They should acquire a portfolio of methodological and critical writing and communication skills that enable them and know how to apply themselves to the various forms of study and assessment ahead following progression to the next level in Higher Education.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Wednesday afternoon

The module addresses what is fundamental to creative practices across all disciplines; colour, composition, the fabrication, discussion and development of ideas, visual narratives, collaborative practice, documentation, presentation, curation, critique and exhibition of creative work.

You will work in both digital and analogue formats to explore a range of materials, methods and presentation formats, e.g. sketchbooks, drawings, watercolour, photography, collage, AI and digital platforms.

The module aims to validate and build upon student’s existing creative practice. There is an emphasis on the process of learning from self-evaluation and critical reflection of intuitive making and testing. Throughout the module you will students work both individually and as part of a team to share, discuss and critique creative work in order to extend their capacity to confidently develop, articulate and presenting work. The module encourages peer-to-peer learning via teamwork and the required presentation of collaborative outcomes. The module aims to expand subject-area knowledge and introduce practical strategies for the formation and growth of student’s nascent creative practice.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Monday morning
  • all year (September start) - Friday morning
  • all year (September start) - Thursday morning
  • all year (September start) - Tuesday morning

The Project module provides a broad, varied, stimulating experience of a range of creative practices that allows for self-assessment of individual interests and aptitudes towards developing a specialism. It enables the development of a productive, disciplined and critical approach to visual and practical enquiry; and to individual independent thinking, making and communicating. It develops the individual’s portfolio of work in a distinctive and ambitious way as evidence of a personal creative practice in the context of a specific subject area. Assignments and study trips will open up London as a source of limitless research potential and creativity.

A project develops ideas through conceptual and material processes towards outcomes that can be evaluated in relation to the initial idea; and other related contexts that may arise during the timeframe of the project. The Project module is an introduction to the project as a key feature of creative practice. The projects in the Project module vary considerably in aim, structure and duration to reflect their application in a wide range of creative practices. The definition, implementation, development and outcome of the projects is transferred from tutor to student as the course develops. The projects are inherently student-centred with course demands satisfied by nurturing the student’s independent inquiry, discovery & production.

Practical elements of project-work are built-up by a close relation with the Techniques module. Critical reflection and self-evaluation encourage the development of self-organisation and effective time-management.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
  • all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon
  • all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
  • all year (September start) - Friday afternoon

The Techniques module introduces a wide range of materials, methods, techniques and processes to produce work in a broad sense. It is closely aligned with the Project module to develop a working knowledge of the potential and limitations of selected media, materials and techniques in the development of project work. Responsible attitudes aligned to ethical and professional contexts are applied and considered in relation to imaginative experimentation and exploitation for innovation.

Techniques explores approaches to the skills-based, technical aspects of creative practice in relation having, developing and resolving ideas through processes towards media/material outcomes. It concerns the quality of making, considerations of care, appropriateness and endeavour. It encourages recognition of the intrinsic formal and structural qualities of different media as essential elements in visual/aural communication. The module involves a series of learning experiences that introduce and develop many of the key skills and techniques needed for a range of making practices across various subject areas; the outcomes are in the context of and further developed in close relation with the Project module.

The Techniques module links the analysis and evaluation of technical quantitative properties with qualitative aesthetic discernment and judgment and introduces a common vocabulary, technical/professional language, core skills and reference models.

It introduces safe and appropriate studio/workshop/site practice.

Year 1 modules include:

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Thursday morning

Critical and Contextual Studies 1 will introduce you to the history and theory of your discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice.

You will be guided towards critical reflections on what you see and learn how to read connections between different ideas. In particular, the module investigates how thinking and articulating ideas about practice in your field might be framed – for example in relation to history, the economy, society and the environment, or through theory and practice. Teaching and learning on the module encourages you to explore these questions in relation to your own background and identity, and to broaden your thinking and understanding of previously marginalised contexts and histories of your discipline.

The module will begin to introduce you to a range of academic skills needed to produce a graduate-level study in their final year. It helps you to develop your own interests, and to reflect on and take responsibility for the development of your own learning.Critical and Contextual Studies 1 will introduce you to the history and theory of your discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice.

You will be guided towards critical reflections on what you see and learn how to read connections between different ideas. In particular, the module investigates how thinking and articulating ideas about practice in your field might be framed – for example in relation to history, the economy, society and the environment, or through theory and practice. Teaching and learning on the module encourages you to explore these questions in relation to your own background and identity, and to broaden your thinking and understanding of previously marginalised contexts and histories of your discipline.

The module will begin to introduce you to a range of academic skills needed to produce a graduate-level study in their final year. It helps you to develop your own interests, and to reflect on and take responsibility for the development of your own learning.

This module introduces you to the core principles and skills of an independent Fine Art practice. The direction of your practice will be guided by a series of seminars, workshops, crits and tutorials that will provide you with the skills needed to think critically and work independently in the studio. Through experimenting with a wide variety of media and considering the relationship between method, medium and meaning, you will gain experience and knowledge needed to initiate a practice of your own direction. The module also puts you at the centre of the formulation of group ethics in the studio - defining under supervision how you as a group of practitioners are to conduct yourselves and help each other in you work and study. 

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of a wider creative framework of art, exploring contemporary cultural, political, critical and economic contexts. It aims to improve your ability to appraise and evaluate methods of research in fine art and to allow you to develop an understanding of its exhibition context, including an understanding of diverse audiences. The module aims to provide you with the ability to act on a code of group ethics for studio practice in a shared setting and to provide you with the tools to document, reflect on and communicate the progress of your practice through different formats.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Friday
  • all year (September start) - Friday morning

The Fine Art Techniques module introduces you to range of media through a programme of practical, hands-on workshops. This module will teach you the medium specific techniques and skills that will enable you to develop a materially diverse and technically proficient studio practice.

This module supports an applied understanding of technical literacy through the development of basic skills and the advancement of techniques. The programme of study utilises the technical facilities of AAD to provide the necessary technical skills required for the development of medium specific art practices. The technical demonstrations are supported by introductory seminars that provide a contextual framework for each medium within a diverse field of contemporary fine art practice.

This module focuses upon key skills and concepts, with the aim to enable you to make heuristic connections between intention, process, and outcome as you test the methods of art enquiry introduced in other modules by applying art processes and art media techniques effectively. This module will induct you to the essential health and safety procedures and processes that are necessary in order to access the workshops independently with the aim for you to be proficient in the organisation of tools and materials and to use the technical facilities and equipment with confidence.

Year 2 modules include:

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon

Critical and Contextual Studies 2 will continue to critically engage you in the history, theory and practice of your discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice. You will build on studies undertaken in Level 4 and develop into independent thinkers, capable of selecting an appropriate topic and producing a sustained piece of independent study in the form of a dissertation in Level 6.

The module aims to situate your own ideas and practice within the process of constructing knowledge about your discipline. It rehearses the analytical and discursive skills you need to become knowledgeable about the authorities, objects and methods in your field and to understand the roles, locations and responsibilities of important players within it. In particular, the module encourages you to weigh and understand the broader ethical questions relevant to your discipline, and to become conversant with the themes and current debates that animate it. The module recognises that you are an active contributor in this process: what you bring to the construction of knowledge counts – and how effectively you are able to construct and apply this knowledge depends on how well you understand the field of your discipline.

You will be encouraged to think creatively and take responsibility for the development of your own learning. Critical and Contextual Studies for second year students is structured in order to foster confidence through applying analytical skills to a growing body of knowledge, and expressing this through debate, discussion and public presentation.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Monday morning
  • all year (September start) - Thursday
  • all year (September start) - Monday morning
  • all year (September start) - Thursday morning

This module supports your developing cross-disciplinary practice in the studio through practical workshops, seminars, technical demonstrations, and tutorials. Centred on thinking-through-doing and learning, you will focus on the ways that making art can be understood as a space of active learning. While the module takes place in the studio and expects students to make the most of that environment as a space of practical experiment and as a social space, you will also explore the ways in which different audiences and contexts (social, political, historical, architectural) impact upon your work.

The module requires you to develop your ideas independently and/or collaboratively and encourages you to understand how they might intersect with issues related to social justice and environmental concerns.

The module aims to support you to realise your own practice and to develop an understanding of technical knowledge as well as a development of being both socially and professionally-minded to support a diverse range of interests and abilities. It furthermore aims to enable you to work collaboratively and independently on group work, understanding the ethical values of shared space and independent learning.

This module currently runs:
  • all year (September start) - Monday afternoon

In FA5009 Fine Art Professional Practice you will be exploring and learning how to engage your practice in a professional capacity outside of the university structure, through tasks such as writing artist statements, proposals for residencies, organising an exhibition and other ways in which artists engage audiences and the public sphere.

The module builds on the key technical skills and concepts introduced at Level 4, now providing students with a sustained and in-depth engagement with the world of work in the Fine Art area by encouraging students to begin to contact and engage with viewers of art, art exhibition visitors and various art operators. You will be engaging with live briefs, whilst gaining support on how to formulate your work and ideas in a succinct and clear manner for a professional public use. Technical competence is enhanced and advanced while exploring the range and application of Fine Art practice in the realisation of group and individual projects, as well as the documentation of work made.

FA5007 Professional Practice 1: Fine Art serves and sustains an award in the BA Fine Art course only, delivered in a seamless and integral relationship with the work of other core modules on Level 5. Students are expected to investigate and develop critical and aesthetic working relationships between and across the Level 5 modules.

The module aims to enable students to develop key subject-specific skills and
knowledge in the concepts and principles of Fine Art only, as they apply to the world of work in that discipline. Through mastering the organisation of tools, fine art equipment, materials and pre- and post-production aspects, this module’s objectives are to enable students to develop the key cognitive skill of applying what is learned in the Fine Art studio to novel situations in the presentation and display of work to new audiences or a wider public. The module also aims to provide students with work-related learning about applications, planning, together with exhibition practices and structures to develop that wider public and those new audiences, with a view to creating a sustainable legacy of career assets to aid employability.

Year 3 modules include:

This module currently runs:
  • spring semester - Monday
  • spring semester - Thursday morning

FA6P02 Consolidating Studio Practice marks the summation of the programme of studies on the BA Fine Art course. The module comprises a major body of work demonstrating independent study, produced under supervision and guidance. The purpose of this final module is to demonstrate the application and integration of the skills and knowledge gained throughout the course.
The module requires you to appropriately frame your studio work building on your planned proposal undertaken in FA6011 Planning Studio Practice in Semester 1, and culminating in the submission of a final body of work using ideas, techniques and processes at the forefront of fine art practice.

The module will be supported by a series of sessions on curatorial decision to suit a range of audiences, which will enable you to realise your final outcomes. On this basis, the module requires you to frame the project in contemporary terms and be able to justify and present the methods employed in its execution, including the conceptual and practical aims of the project and its intended audience or reception.
Students are encouraged to act as critical and autonomous learners, taking increasing
responsibility for the progress of their project work.

The module aims to allow students to show they have acquired coherent and detailed
knowledge at the forefront of fine art, able to deploy critical thinking with
accuracy by developing and sharing the context for their project. Students are expected to synthesise the experience and knowledge gained over the course, and employ a range of transferable skills in communication, negotiation, analysis, project planning and project management. The module also aims to provide students with work-related learning about different outreach strategies, curatorial practices, setting up and running of exhibitions. Finally, the module aims to enable the student to successfully mount their final degree exhibition, through a series of sessions on technical as well as theoretical exhibition practices.

This module currently runs:
  • autumn semester - Wednesday morning
  • autumn semester - Wednesday afternoon

Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) in Level 6 offers you an opportunity to develop a sustained enquiry into a topic you choose because it particularly interests you. Building on critical and academic skills gained during two years of previous study, the module encourages you to develop an awareness of issues around which there is some debate, uncertainty or contest. Based on this awareness, you will develop a set of research questions which constitute the topic of your study. This topic can be theoretical, historical, or technical and you may, with guidance, decide to engage with an area of scholarly interest outside the territory of your degree course.

You will develop your topic and respond to your research questions in the form of an extended critical study or Dissertation (6,000–7,000 words). Through this study you demonstrate that you can thoroughly research a topic, use appropriate methods of investigation, and work in a methodical and organised way to develop a coherent argument or line of thought. Teaching and Learning on the module is designed to support you in this process through a combination of seminars, workshops, academic skill sessions and one-to-one supervision; as well as a series of formative and summative assessments which prepare you for the final submission.

The final form and presentation of your Dissertation can reflect a broad range of approaches to research and writing. It may include visual materials or other non-written forms of presentation as long they support your enquiry and comprise an integral part of the whole. By prior approval at the start of the module, your research can be part practice-based, and include primary research and fieldwork.

By virtue of the sustained, independent nature of the learning and substantial final output, the dissertation is also intended to prepare you for possible postgraduate study.

This module currently runs:
  • autumn semester - Monday
  • autumn semester - Monday morning

The FA6011Planning Studio Practice module supports intensive research and development towards the realisation of your major body of work in the second semester module FA6P02 Consolidating Studio Practice. In this module you will engage in methods of enquiry that are appropriate to your identified areas of interest and supportive of your future creative aspirations.

During the module, you will test out working methods, clarify your intentions,
and frame your project in a contemporary context. The module includes talks, seminars and workshops to support your ability to deliver a professional artistic Project Proposal, a document that you will submit at the end of the module. The document will allow you to clarify the intensions of your final body of work, outline the research context, understand professional practice aspects such as timing, planning, health & safety and other measures needed to be considered in the work towards the realisation of your final body of work.

The FA6011 Planning Studio Practice serves and sustains the BA Fine Art course, delivered in a seamless and integral relationship with the work of other core modules in the level. Students are expected to reflect upon and represent the complexity of critical and creative relationships between and across the body of work undertaken in Level 6, including in the Critical and Contextual Studies dissertation.

By developing and sharing methods of enquiry and professional practice skills - through a journal and project proposal - the aim of this module is for you to acquire knowledge of contemporary art research in such a way that will be enable you to deploy critical thinking with accuracy. By planning and communicating methods of enquiry to peers in advance, one of this module’s objectives is to enable you to identify potential obstacles and solve complex problems throughout the initiation and production of your projects. The module will also enable you to demonstrate skills of reflection and evaluation of concepts and methods of enquiry and the analysis of materials and techniques in the body of work, via a public dialogue with a specialist audience - your peers.

What our students say

"I chose London Met because it was one of the few universities with a good diagnostic foundation year. The course is demanding but well worth the effort. There is strong support from the teaching team and excellent technical support."

National Student Survey

Where this course can take you

Our Fine Art BA (including foundation year) BA degree is the ideal course if you’re planning a career in the cultural or creative industries.

The opportunities for careers are extensive, with London’s creative industries representing an estimated £42 billion of the capital’s economy.

Roles specific to fine art include artists, artists’ assistants, art technicians, exhibition and museum curators, and teachers, but a fine art degree can also open up creative roles in marketing, journalism and events management.

Important information about this course

We're committed to continuously improving our degree courses to ensure our students receive the best possible learning experience. Many of the courses in our School of Art, Architecture and Design are currently under review for 2023-24 entry. We encourage you to apply as outlined in the how to apply section of this page and if there are any changes to your course we will contact you. All universities review their courses regularly and this year we are strengthening our art, architecture and design courses to better reflect the needs of employers and ensure you're well-equipped for your future career.

What is a degree with foundation year?

This is a four-year degree course with a built-in foundation year (Year 0). A foundation year at our School of Art, Architecture and Design is the starting point for many of our art, architecture and design students and acts as an introduction to the wide range of creative practices explored within the University. You may join us with a clear idea of the subject you intend to study or you may use it as an opportunity to explore a number of different directions or experiment with your creativity. A foundation year degree is also a great choice if you don't meet the necessary entry requirements for the standard undergraduate degree. You'll graduate with a full undergraduate degree with the same title and award as those who studied the three-year course.

Additional costs

Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.

Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.

Stay up to date

Treat yourself to snaps of our latest students' work and news from the course by following us on Instagram @metartlondon.

You can also follow our School of Art, Architecture and Design on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with everything that's happening in our creative community.

Discover Uni – key statistics about this course

Discover Uni is an official source of information about university and college courses across the UK. The widget below draws data from the corresponding course on the Discover Uni website, which is compiled from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges. If a course is taught both full-time and part-time, information for each mode of study will be displayed here.

How to apply

If you're a UK applicant wanting to study full-time starting in September, you must apply via UCAS unless otherwise specified. If you're an international applicant wanting to study full-time, you can choose to apply via UCAS or directly to the University.

If you're applying for part-time study, you should apply directly to the University. If you require a Student visa, please be aware that you will not be able to study as a part-time student at undergraduate level.



When to apply

The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) accepts applications for full-time courses starting in September from one year before the start of the course. Our UCAS institution code is L68.

If you will be applying direct to the University you are advised to apply as early as possible as we will only be able to consider your application if there are places available on the course.

To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates.

News and success stories