Program Overview

BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History

Overview

The BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History course challenges the boundaries between fine art practices, offering students the opportunity to develop and expand their fine art practice through a deep engagement with art historical knowledge and theoretical ideas. The course also offers a curating pathway, allowing students to explore exhibition-making in its own right and as a form of artistic practice.

Course Information

• The course is taught by a multidisciplinary team of practising artists, art historians, curators, and theorists.
• Students from the BA (Hons) Art History and Curating course collaborate on projects and exhibition making.
• The course is part of the Manchester School of Art at Manchester Met.

Features and Benefits

• Globally recognised: Ranked in the top 100 schools for art and design in the world (QS World Rankings 2024).
• Creative industry connections: The course works closely with arts institutions and galleries in Manchester and beyond, helping students to foster professional skills and contacts.
• Flexible pathways: Students have the opportunity to expand their learning outcomes through following the curating pathway.
• Collaborative working: Students have access to cross-disciplinary forms of collaboration, including the opportunity to take part in the Intra-actions module, with students from across the department.
• Varied course content: The course offers integrated learning through studio-practice that is supported by academic study.
• Learn from experts: Students are taught by arts practitioners and scholars with diverse, contemporary expertise and knowledge.
• International connection: Opportunities to learn a foreign language, visit international exhibitions, and access international study programmes.

Accreditations, Awards, and Endorsements

• Teaching Excellence Framework: The university has received an overall gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), meaning it's rated as an outstanding university for its student experience.
• National Student Survey 2025 (NSS): 100% of students were positive about teaching staff being good at explaining things.

Year 1

• Future X: Kinship: Students explore their creative field through questions of belonging, encouraging them to consider relationships with the planet, people, and place.
• Art History 1: The Nineteenth Century: Introduction to art history, addressing Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism in relation to modern life and modernity.
• Studio 1: Introduction to methods, materials, and processes relevant to fine art.
• Art History 2: The Early Twentieth century: Examines the early twentieth-century artistic avant-garde, including groupings such as Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism, Constructivism, Dada, and Surrealism.
• Intra-actions: Opportunity to explore collaborative and interdisciplinary art and/or curatorial practice by undertaking work alongside students from other programmes in the department.

Year 2

• Future X: Symbiosis: Students tackle complex planetary challenges by working with students from different creative fields.
• Studio 2: Development of an independent studio practice, providing an opportunity to further explore materials, processes, and issues relating to fine art.
• Art History 3: Post-war Art History: Explores art from the mid-to-late twentieth century in different geographical locations.
• Art History 4: Interpretations: Examines methods and theories relevant to the historical study and interpretation of art and other forms of visual culture.

Year 3

• Future X: Re-worlding: Students explore the boundaries of where their discipline intersects with other fields of practice as a catalyst for innovation.
• Studio 3: Students work with increasing independence to create art works that demonstrate an engagement with contemporary art practices.
• Art History 6: Framings: Explores institutional contexts for the teaching, production, and use of art.

Study and Assessment

• Year 1: 25% lectures, seminars, or similar; 75% independent study. 100% coursework.
• Year 2: 25% lectures, seminars, or similar; 75% independent study. 100% coursework.
• Year 3: 100% placement (optional). 100% coursework.
• Year 4: 20% lectures, seminars, or similar; 20% independent study. 100% coursework.

Entry Requirements

• Typical offer: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
• IELTS score: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5.
• UK students:
  • Level 3 qualifications: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
  • GCE A levels: grades BCC or equivalent.
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma: grade DMM.
  • Access to HE Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum 106 UCAS Tariff points.
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma: grade of Merit overall.
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: grade DMM.
  • T level: We welcome applications from students undertaking T level qualifications. Eligible applicants will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of Merit as a condition of offer.
  • IB Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum overall score of 26 or minimum 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects.
• International students:
  • IB Diploma: with minimum 26 points overall or 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects.
  • IELTS: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are still being finalised for all courses.

Careers Support and Prospects

• Employed or in further study: 88.7% of UK-domiciled, full-time, first-degree graduates are employed or in further study 15 months after graduation.
• The course allows students to develop into informed, critically capable art practitioners, able to take their place as professionals in the arts and the wider cultural industries.
• Careers in a range of cultural roles such as artist, curator, journalist, arts manager, gallery assistant, teacher, as well as being appropriate for postgraduate study.