Program Overview

Introduction to the MFA Fine Art Program

The MFA Fine Art is an immersive two-year program that enables students to develop a critically engaged, ethically aware, and sustainable artistic practice. Based in Nottingham, the program allows students to interrogate, refine, and expand their work while building professional connections with key local, national, and international networks.

Program Structure

• The program is divided into two years, with each year comprising core and optional modules.
• In Year One, students study four core modules and choose one 20-credit optional module.
• In Year Two, students continue to develop their practice through core modules, including Professional Practice in the Arts and Deepening Practice: Critical Contexts & Artistic Development.

Core Modules

Year One

• Establishing Practice: Creative Ethics, Research & Ecologies: This module establishes the foundation for a sustainable, independent, and critically informed fine art practice.
• Culture and Collaboration: Students develop an advanced level of understanding of the wider cultural context for current and future work.
• Expanding Practice: Studio Research & Production: This module provides an intensive, practice-led environment where students evolve a coherent and critically informed body of work.
• Realising Practice: Collaboration, Curation & Public Presentation: Students engage with public presentation and consolidate their professional skills via portfolio development and documentation.

Year Two

• Professional Practice in the Arts: This module supports students' transition from postgraduate study into the wider professional world of contemporary fine art.
• Deepening Practice: Critical Contexts & Artistic Development: Students develop a sustained body of work that reflects critical engagement with wider contexts.
• Exhibition: Reflection & Future Possibilities: This module provides a platform for the realization, exhibition, and critical articulation of students' practice.

Optional Modules

• Professional Pathways in the Arts: This module provides a transformative catalyst for students to rethink their career potential.
• Advancing Research Design: Maximising Your Methods: This module offers an explorative platform for students to deepen their understanding of research methods and methodologies.

Teaching and Learning

• Students spend most of their time in a creative studio environment.
• Teaching and learning experiences include independent studio practice, feedback tutorials, studio seminars, and self-directed research.

Assessment

• Assessment is 100% by coursework and involves the presentation of students' work in the form of an exhibition, reflective document, learning agreement, documentation, and verbal presentation of their practice.

Entry Requirements

UK Students

• Academic Entry Requirements: 2.1 honors degree in a related subject.
• Other Requirements: A creative portfolio and interview.

International Students

• Academic Entry Requirements: 2.1 honors degree in a related subject, with equivalent qualifications from all over the world.
• Other Requirements: A creative portfolio, interview, and English language requirements.

Fees and Funding

UK Students

• ｣10,300 for Home students, with fees increasing each year in line with inflation.
• Scholarships, alumni discounts, and postgraduate loans are available.

International Students

• ｣18,300, with fees increasing each year in line with inflation.
• Scholarships, alumni discounts, and advice on living costs and paying fees are available.

Careers and Employability

• The program helps students develop their ongoing professional practice through exhibiting and audience engagement.
• Connections with industry include partnerships with Nottingham Contemporary and BACKLIT gallery.
• The Live Lecture program welcomes national and international artists, creative practitioners, and theorists.

Campus and Facilities

• Students are based in the Bonington and Waverley buildings on the City Campus.
• The program offers access to specialist facilities, including the Bonington Art Shop and Fine Art facilities.
• A virtual tour of the facilities is available.