Work in the stunning Art House, our dedicated city-centre studios. Be inspired by Worcester’s creative community, collaborate with peers, and develop your practice in a space designed for artists and illustrators.
Our Art & Design courses are top 15 in the UK for graduate prospects
of students are positive about the chances to explore ideas and concepts in depth
University of the Year finalist
Recognised for our graduate success, we’re shortlisted for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2025.
Overview
Studying Fine Art and Illustration together as a joint degree gives you the freedom to explore your creativity and the skills to bring ideas to life. This joint honours course combines two exciting and complementary disciplines, helping you develop a distinctive artistic voice while building a strong professional foundation for a creative career.
You’ll have the space to experiment, question and refine your practice across a wide range of media and approaches. From drawing, painting and printmaking to digital illustration and narrative work, you’ll explore techniques that allow your creativity to thrive. Working closely with experienced artists, illustrators and designers, you’ll be supported to take creative risks and build confidence in your craft.
As part of a vibrant artistic community, you’ll work in dedicated studio spaces and have access to specialist facilities. You’ll collaborate with students from across the arts, gaining new perspectives and broadening your creative horizons. Professional development is embedded throughout the course, with opportunities to exhibit your work, take on live briefs and build a portfolio that showcases your unique style.
This degree prepares you for a wide range of creative roles. Many graduates go on to work as practising artists, illustrators, designers and curators, or pursue further study. Others use their creative skills in education, publishing, galleries, arts organisations and beyond.
Arts facilities
Course content
Each year you will study a mix of mandatory and optional modules to explore your creativity.
We regularly review our courses to reflect the latest research and developments in the subject area, as well as feedback from students, employers and the wider sector. As a result, modules may change to ensure the course remains current and relevant.
Optional modules will run if enough students choose to study them. It is not guaranteed that all modules will be offered every year.
Optional modules
Careers
Our course is designed to equip you with the practical and creative skills needed for a successful career in the creative industries. You'll be able to showcase your versatility as an artist through a diverse portfolio while also developing your communication, project management, and problem-solving abilities – vital skills in any workplace.
You'll gain experience working with design and advertising agencies, as well as national brands, through opportunities to collaborate on live briefs set by clients. By the time you graduate, you'll have a strong portfolio, and the skills needed to launch a successful career in the arts.
Our Fine Arts and Illustration degree could be the first step towards your career as a:
- Advertising art director
- Editorial illustrator
- Graphic novelist
- Fashion illustrator
- Agency designer
- Community arts worker
- Graphic designer
- Arts administrator
- Conservator
- Exhibition designer
- Gallery curator
- Arts educator
Opportunities to progress
Opportunities to progress onto postgraduate study at Worcester include our Art and Design MPhil/PhD and Creative Media MA. If you’re looking to pursue teaching as a career you may be interested in our PGCE Primary or PGCE Secondary (Art and Design) courses.
Jess Mason | Arts graduate
Course highlights
Teaching and assessment contents
Fine art
You are taught through a combination of:
- Tutorials- The studio tutorial - that is the discussion between tutor and student in the presence of your work - remains the principle form
of teaching and learning in a fine art education. - Group Crits- Like the tutorial the group crit forms an essential, critical strand of the teaching and feedback that you will encounter. These are opportunities to present finished work or work in progress to a group of peers, that will then be discussed.
- Peer Review- Students will perform peer reviews on each other’s work according to the learning outcomes and grading criteria for the module
- Seminars- These sessions focus on the exchange of ideas, promoting argument and debate. They will often be delivered in response to something that you have been asked to look at, this could be a reading, a film or an exhibition.
- Lectures- These are platforms for delivery of contextual and critical discourse. During these sessions you will develop your knowledge around subject areas, disciplines, and thematic concepts.
- Workshops- These are used to develop your skills and will often take the form of a demonstration before providing you with individual and/or group opportunities to practice and extend these skills through mini projects with technical support.
- Studio time- This is a crucial aspect of the course. You are expected to develop your own areas of study. You are expected to take this forward through research, experimentation and the development of a range of skills required to create a body of work
In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least 4 occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.
Illustration
You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, on-site practical activities and studio practice. Interactive, studio-based sessions are intended to enable learning through integrated research led teaching which directly informs the practical based activity. The studio- based practical's are focused on developing image making skills, visual problem solving and developing a unique, personal visual language. Working in collaboration with peers is also embedded within sessions through group project work. Teaching is focused on delivering upon the University’s graduate attributes
Social responsibility
Many Level 6 students initiate projects that are focused on solving problems through design, such as educational tools for children or raising awareness of environmental challenges. Staff research projects SEA CHANGE project is being used as a learning resource which promotes ocean literacy and supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal UNSDG14 Life Below Water. Previous staff research project MIGRATIONS is also being used as a reference for Level 6 students’ independent project.
- Reflective and resilient lifelong learning- Students reflect on their work on a weekly basis: writing blogs, critical reports and making presentations which also develops a sense of resilience when receiving verbal feedback and questions about their work. The development of a studio culture where students attend extra curricula activities and industry talks, encourages and facilitates a deep enquiry into the subject of illustration.
- Problem solving- Different approaches to tackling assignments are explored throughout the course which results in students developing an individual approach to understanding the problem and solving it through a design process.
- Teamwork and effective communication- Collaborative projects are embedded into several modules and students work together to plan and curate exhibitions at levels 5 and 6.
- Digital citizenship- Industry standard software is taught at level 4 and 5, providing students with skills that can be applied to all future modules. The constant use of the VLE (Blackboard) to communicate with students and store learning materials enables an awareness of how to use these platforms to support learning. As all work is now submitted through Cloud storage and requires scanning/photographing, all students become skilled in presenting work online.
In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each year of the subsequent years.
Entry requirements
UCAS tariff points required: 104
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| A-level | BCC |
| BTEC National Extended Diploma | DMM |
| T-level | Merit |
We do accept Access to HE Diplomas and other qualifications which may not exactly match the combinations above. Work out your estimated points with the UCAS tariff calculator.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please call our Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk.
Fees
Fees contents
UK and EU students
In 2026/27 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees is £9,535 per year (subject to changes in the government tuition fee cap).
Tuition fees are reviewed annually and may increase each year for both new and continuing students.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
International students
In 2026/27 the standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees is £17,200 per year.
Tuition fees are reviewed annually and may increase each year for both new and continuing students.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
Student work
How to apply
How to apply contents
Applying through UCAS
UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for full-time undergraduate courses in the UK.
Read our how to apply pages for more information on the application process, or if you’d like to apply for part-time study.
Fine Art and Illustration BA (Hons) - WW1F
Contact
If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.
Admissions Office
admissions@worc.ac.uk01905 855111More to explore
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