Fine Art with Contemporary Cultural Theory BA

Year of entry

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UCAS code
3E5Z
Start date
September 2024
Delivery type
On campus
Duration
3 years full time
Work placement
Optional
Study abroad
Optional
Typical A-level offer
ABB
Typical Access to Leeds offer
BBC at A Level and pass Access to Leeds
Full entry requirements

Course overview

Female student working

You’ll explore and challenge your idea of art by engaging with a broad array of artistic practices and theoretical ideas. We approach fine art as a collection of forms, concepts and creative methods for addressing some of the most pressing questions society is faced with today. You’ll investigate the interconnections between art and the larger social dynamic that shape our culture, such as ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, being human and our relationship to nature and the environment.

You’ll become equipped to act in the world as artists and creative global citizens, innovators in your respective fields of making. We’ll prepare you to be a socially conscious graduate with an array of relevant and transferrable skills.

By immersing yourself in a range of art techniques and practices, you’ll experiment with your own creativity and discover your personal style. You’ll be given a dedicated studio space to work from, allowing you lots of opportunity to embrace a multitude of materials and methods.

You’ll have opportunities to contribute to the creative community, to build networks in the city and to exhibit your work regularly. Through a range of professional development programmes, such as our weekly visiting art talks and surfacing skills workshops, you’ll discover what kind of practitioner you want to be.

Additional highlights

You’ll experiment across different media and undertake original research, while building broader skills in curating, event production, critical thinking, writing, researching, publishing and media content production. You’ll work alongside art historians and cultural theorists within a purpose-built School that includes studios, technical workshops, a project gallery, seminar rooms and a shared student common room.

Throughout the course, we’ll support you in discovering what kind of creative practitioner you want to be. You’ll evolve a personalised approach to achieving your creative aspirations and develop an ambitious body of work produced in our excellent workshop facilities. You’ll be guided by artist-lecturers, technicians, visiting practitioners and original thinkers, while gaining a critical awareness of your own identity as a creative practitioner. Your practice will be enriched by modules in art history, museum and curatorial studies and cultural and media theory, alongside professional practice opportunities that help you thrive within the wider artworld and creative sectors.

We champion a School-based artist community ethos by providing a shared studio space with 24 hour access, regular open studio and exhibition events, informal learning groups, opportunities for student-led social events and access to the city’s artistic scene. Field trips to art fairs, exhibitions and festivals, regional museums and galleries are organised across all levels. Our exemplary Year in Industry programme has led to students successfully undertaking work placements in the UK and internationally, some of which have become permanent employment in the arts sector, whilst our Study Abroad programme has provided life-changing experiences for many in our community.

Specialist facilities

The School has excellent facilities and resources including:

  • The Project Space – a professionally fitted exhibition space, suitable for all media

  • dedicated Mac and PC computer suites for audio production, video editing animation and image manipulation

  • printmaking workshops for etching, relief and screen printing 

  • a photography darkroom for film developing and printing 

  • a woodworking and casting area 

  • digital and 3D printing

  • ceramics and kiln facilities 

In addition to the wide range of museums and galleries in the city and beyond, the University campus features: 

  • The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery 

  • Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery 

  • Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine 

  • Marks & Spencer Company Archive 

  • International Textile Collection 

  • Public art trail 

  • @Stage Theatre

  • Clothworkers Hall music venue

  • Leeds University Union events

Course details

From the start of the course, you are encouraged to find your own direction as an artist.

You'll split your time equally between studio practice and the theory and analysis of culture. You'll also gain professional skills as you develop and exhibit your work every year.

You’ll take field trips to exhibitions, galleries and fine art fairs and combine lectures with group seminar sessions to discuss contemporary art practice, which you can use to inform your own creative work.

During term time, we invite arts practitioners from around the world to talk to our Fine Art students. The Visiting Artists Talks provide an excellent opportunity to engage with national and international contemporary artists, art writers and curators.

Year 1

The ‘Studio Work’ module allows you to build your knowledge of art and culture and use various media to develop your own creative portfolio. Compulsory and optional modules will introduce key themes and interpretive methods, consider the nature of cultural analysis, and examine the relationships between art, culture and society.

Year 2

You'll build upon and critically apply the knowledge and skills learned in year 1 and further pursue your own interests. Compulsory modules will deepen your understanding of the complex relationship between visual cultures, history and society, and encourage you to think conceptually about art and cultural objects and practices. You will also continue to develop your individual practice, which will be explored and developed throughout the year.

Year 3

You’ll consolidate your individual practices, which will culminate in planning and organising a curated exhibition and public degree show. You have full authorship of this project where you can apply your artistic and professional skills as you interact with your fellow students, outside agencies, sponsors and the media.

This will be supported by applying your research and critical skills to an independent piece of research on a topic of your choice, which can either complement your studio practice or focus on a topic arising from your theoretical study. You will complement and support these projects with a choice of optional modules.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.

Year 1
Compulsory modules

Introduction to Practice  (40 credits) - You’ll undertake core modules in fine art practice and cultural theory. You’ll be given the chance to explore contemporary and traditional approaches to fine art across a range of disciplines, making use of our excellent resources, including, film, experimental printmaking, ceramics, art writing, sculpture, photography and audio-visual practices.    

You’ll be introduced into the broader context of contemporary art practices, engaging with artists, tutors and curators through practical studio workshops, live projects and exhibition opportunities. You’ll begin to develop the skills to discuss and analyse contemporary art as well as deepening your understanding of art history and critical theory.  

You'll be introduced to the fundamental skills for developing your own exciting body of work while building critical awareness of the spaces, institutions, social practices and networks in which art is produced and disseminated. Working independently and collaboratively, you'll make and study contemporary art practice in its most diverse forms, culminating towards the end of the year in a curated exhibition or public event, related to personal research interests.    

You’ll have access to our project space and external venues for display, curating and performance.    

Practice [2] (40 credits)  - This module continues with the development of independent studio work for developing self-directed practice-based research. You must also engage with a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials and visiting speakers throughout the course which contributes to the discussions around contemporary art practice and professional development.  

You’ll work in self-selected groups to realise some form of exhibition or equivalent public presentation of your work. This module invites you to engage with audiences, new places and spaces, curating and disseminating your research within and outside of the University.  

Introduction to Cultural Analysis 1 (20 credits) - This module introduces ways of reading different aspects of culture. It should enable you to discuss the full range of cultural forms including film, television, popular literature and music as well as more canonical modes of culture such as opera, philosophy, art and architecture. This module will equip you with the skills to appreciate, criticise, and understand culture through intellectual approaches. This module covers questions of cultural studies, representation, authorship, meaning, close reading, ideology, race, sexual difference and psychoanalysis.

Introducion to Cultural Analysis 2 (20 credits) - This module introduces you to different methodological and critical approaches to the analysis and study of cultural production and consumption, in a range of different social, historical and political contexts. Week by week you are taken through a range of relevant questions, topics and themes relating to the critical and contextual analysis of culture and are shown the ways in which culture itself informs how it is theoretically interpreted.

Year 2
Compulsory modules

Practice [3] (20 credits) - This module builds on your achievements of the previous year as you take on your own studio in a shared communal studio space. The emphasis is on independent, self-directed, practice-based research and continuing to address questions of its dissemination, presentation and audience. You’ll develop your work supported by individual tutorials, group crits and technical workshops that allow you to explore the processes and materiality available to realise your creative aspirations. You work towards presenting your work in an open studio event and an exhibition. This module furthers your exploration in developing your professional practices through the programme of visiting artist lectures, the surfacing skills talks and workshops.

Practice [4] (40 credits) - Working in small collaborative research clusters, you’ll develop a body of work that explores your ideas of audience in relation to appropriate methods of display for your work. Individual work will continue to be developed while collaborative support discussions will establish clear strategies to present your work for public display. This module will be supported by individual tutorials and group crits, that continue to support your analytical approach to your own work and that of your colleagues. Technical workshops and individual sessions with our technicians will allow you to continue to explore a range of processes and materials in order to realise your creative aspirations.

Optional modules

Cinema and Culture (20 credits) You’ll comparatively examine specific films and their remake(s). This approach enables us to note cultural, social and technological shifts over time, to discuss the possibilities and challenges of transnational remakes and to consider wider questions of inter-, para- and metatextuality in 20th century cinema and our postcinematic age. You’ll engage with relevant discourses and make detailed analyses of screenings, readings and terminologies. The module also dedicates time to develop your writing and presentation skills. Techniques and strategies of how to construct a focused argument, find appropriate literature and read a film closely will be explicitly addressed and practiced in this module.

Image, Music, Text: Reading Roland Barthes (20 credits)  - This module offers a detailed encounter with the work of Roland Barthes, and provides, more generally, an introduction to structural linguistics, critical semiology and its poststructuralist afterlife. Taking its cue from Barthes’ extreme attentiveness to language in the broadest sense of the word, the module explores important philosophical questions of thought, meaning, art, culture and human relations. The module follows the arc of Barthes’ work, from the rigour of his structuralist phase, with its eye-opening revolutionary insights into the structure of language and cultural systems, to his more personal and open-ended later writing, which both extends and critiques the strictly semiological approaches.

The State of Utopia (20 credits) - This module offers you the opportunity to explore a multitude of different ideal cities and model communities from the sixteenth century to the present day. The tracing of the various forms utopianism has adopted since Thomas More will take us into the fields of architecture, art, literature, politics, philosophy, sociology, women's studies and religion. In parallel to this historical approach to utopian thinking, you’ll be encouraged to think critically and imaginatively about our contemporary society and to propose a theoretically informed utopia for the future. The study of dystopias (failed social experiments) will be an unavoidable component of this module.

Live Issues and Contemporary Art Practice (20 credits) - You’ll consider how cultural theory and contemporary aesthetic practice critically engage with current social and political issues. Focussing on two “live issues” for five weeks, you’ll be encouraged to focus on subjects that incisively bear on what it might mean to be alive in the 21st century. Both issues will be framed with an appropriate theoretical framework that introduces you to the complexity of the topics being addressed. The “issues” focussed on will vary so to reflect recent works and current exhibitions.

Bodies of Difference: Gender, Power and the Visual Arts (20 credits) - This module explores a range of feminist, postcolonial and queer theories of the embodiment of gender, its performance, performativity and representation in art and visual culture, showing the relations between the two. You’ll address shifts in the representational schema of the woman's body by the study of a range of feminist perspectives that offer a critical framework for thinking about the body, embodiment and difference in all its intersectional complexity. This module also covers a range of theories and concepts that are vital to our understanding of the power and dynamics of gender and the body that are operative in art history and visual culture. It is in this sense that we will move toward the recent critical feminist theories and art practices that have revisited and challenged the conventions and representations that encoded ‘woman’ as the image of desire.

Seeing in Asia (20 credits) - Are there fundamental differences between the ways you see familiar objects and those from Asia? Are there ways in which the power and meanings of 'seeing' change in an Asian context, so that even though we are 'seeing' the same object, we understand the object differently? How do cultural and historical values and standards shape the act of seeing and how we interpret images? By engaging with wide-ranging historical and cultural examples drawn from a range of specialities from art to science, this module addresses the age-old problem of ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’ through the perspective of Asian Culture.

Showing Asia (20 credits) - This module focuses on the historical practice of collecting and exhibiting Asian objects, both within and outside Asia. It offers you a thematic survey of the history of engagements that displayed “Asian” cultures from 19th century to today by exploring wide-ranging primary sources from catalogues of Crystal Palace exposition to internet home pages. You’ll analyse the interconnected ways through which political and social forces shape the access to and formation of knowledge of art in/of Asia.

State of the Art: Contemporary Perspectives in Art, Science and Technology (20 credits) - This module explores how art and curatorial practice can offer an investigative lens on scientific and technological innovation. You’ll engage with and challenge the logic of art as a medium for the communication of science and consider the collaborative potential within these fields and the reciprocal dialogue between artistic and scientific methods and practices. Through discussion of contemporary issues in art, science and technology, you’ll be encouraged to critically reflect on the socio-political context of current debates and the ethical implications of their treatment in curated settings.

Year 3
Compulsory modules

Practice [5] (20 credits) - In this module you’ll begin to consolidate some of the ideas, theories, processes and materials that make up your individual creative practice. This module is taught through individual tutorials with professional artists, curators and writers and group crits. Over this module you’ll make work for a group exhibition project set by your lead tutor, to be exhibited in The Project Space. By the end of the module, you’ll have gained advanced technical skills in your chosen media and a highly critical understanding of contemporary art practice and its history. You’ll continue to benefit from the Visiting Artist talks, and a programme of surfacing skill workshops, talks and projects. There will be additional opportunities for you to participate in technical workshops and field trips to contemporary art exhibitions and events.

Practice, towards exhibition (40 credits) - In this module you’ll continue to develop your research driven creative practice to produce a highly consolidated body of work and apply critical skills to its presentation. The focus is towards the public platform of the degree show exhibition. In addition to exhibiting, you’ll have the opportunity to volunteer on the curatorial organising group and to gain invaluable experience of planning and delivering a large-scale group exhibition. Our artistic community have full authorship of their degree show; you’ll apply your creative and professional skills to collaborate with your fellow artists, engage with partner external agencies, sponsors and the media, while being supported by our specialist technicians, academic staff and the University marketing team.  

Dissertation (40 credits) - The aim of a dissertation is to foster your own independent research and scholarship alongside your studio practice, by identifying appropriate critical, historical and theoretical frameworks for your chosen subject. Your project is supported by a dedicated dissertation supervisor, who is aligned to your research interests. You might use this arts-based research opportunity to further your own practice concerns, helping you to address critical cultural questions, or material concerns, future practice options or to identify new forms of knowledge that will support you in your future career plans or to launch further study in an MA or similar further postgraduate study programme.

Optional modules

From Trauma to Cultural Memory: The Unfinished Business of Representation and the Holocaust (20 credits) - This module addresses debates in literary, historiographical and psychological theory about the ways in which witnesses provide testimony, and the ways in which the legacy of a historical trauma of the magnitude of the Holocaust is represented by historians, sociologists, writers, artists and museums. Rather than an historical study of the events of 1933-45, you’ll consider the continuing significance of this disaster in the larger context of European history. You’ll pay close attention to the voices and images of those who continue to live with a trauma that only psychological, analytical, creative work can turn into memory, which the cultures of Europe must take on as the history that continues to shape our present responses to all forms of racism, genocide and violence against the stranger.

Cultural Diversity in Museum and Material Culture - Case Study (20 credits) -  Museums are increasingly conscious of the need to be socially inclusive. Traditional models of privileging high art and 'white western' art have come under sharp criticism. On this module, you’ll examine how museums have integrated (or failed to do so) the artefacts of the Jewish minorities in Europe and the USA. You’ll look at the historical reasons for the omission of Jewish culture from many museums, and the particularities of the models adopted for Jewish museums and Jewish exhibits in ethnographic and local history contexts.

Critical Approaches to Photography (20 credits)  - Photographic images saturate every corner of contemporary society in a developed country to such an extent that it is difficult to spend a day without seeing a photographic image. Yet, the popular concepts in discussions of photography remain overused and unexamined at best ('truth' 'reflection' 'index'). By engaging with historical and cultural treatises about the medium and its property (how photography 'reflects' reality, how photographers 'see' differently, for instance) this module excavates the multiple layers of philosophical issues embedded in concepts such as 'truth,' 'reality' and 'mediation' in thinking about and writing about photographic images.

Postcolonial Feminisms (20 credits)  - You’ll examine feminist theory and politics, as they have developed in the context of the period of decolonization and its wake. Emphasis will fall on theoretical formulations concerning sexual difference and the social division of gender as these have been produced by women writing to or from former European colonies. Attention will also be given to questions posed by and for feminism within postcolonial metropoles.

Movies, Migrants and Diasporas (20 credits) - This module is dedicated to migration and diaspora in Europe as reflected in the cinema. It introduces you to the work of filmmakers with, for example, German Turkish, Black or Asian British, Maghrebi French, Roma or Jewish backgrounds, productions made by transnational Eastern European practitioners and films about migration and diaspora created by non-migrant/diasporic writers and directors.

Learning and teaching

Learning and teaching is delivered within a collective community environment, where shared interests and aims can be explored to embrace an inclusive sense of belonging and ownership. Mutual support and collaboration are openly encouraged.  

Studio tutors are practising artists, writers and curators who are contributing to national and international exhibitions and publications. Their research informs and contextualises your learning and teaching. 

This course combines studio, exhibition and curatorial work, with traditional teaching and learning methods such as lectures, seminars, studio crits, tutorials and workshops. You’ll also have the chance to enhance your knowledge and learning by attending talks from nationally and internationally renowned visiting artists and creative practitioners, as well as attending exhibitions and conferences both on and off campus. 

Independent study is a vital element of this degree, allowing you to develop your creativity and build important skills in areas such as research, analysis and interpretation. 

We encourage you to carry out small research projects, on your own or as part of a group. The final-year dissertation enables you to undertake substantial independent research in a topic of particular interest to you. 

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus. 

We encourage you to carry out small research projects on your own or in groups. The final year dissertation enables you to undertake substantial independent research in a topic of particular interest to you.

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

We use a combination of assessment methods that allows you to develop diverse skills. These include your studio work, essays and exams, depending on the modules you have selected to study. 

Assessment is led by principles of relevance, fairness and inclusivity, and the development of vital skills beyond university, such as problem-solving, adaptability, self-reliance and reflexivity.   

Practice modules, across the three years of study, are assessed by the submission, at the end of each module, of a single PDF portfolio and supporting statement.

Entry requirements

A-level: ABB

Other course specific tests:

Where an applicant is undertaking an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), the School may make an alternative offer that is one A level grade below that of our standard offer – on the condition that the applicant achieves a grade A in their EPQ (e.g. ABB at A level / alternative offer BBB plus grade A in EPQ).

NB: An EPQ is optional and not a requirement of application.

All applicants will also be required to submit a satisfactory portfolio of work.

Alternative qualification

Access to HE Diploma

Pass with 60 credits overall including 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 must be at Merit level.

BTEC

DDM

Cambridge Pre-U

M1, M1, M2

International Baccalaureate

34 points overall including 16 at Higher Level with 4 in English

Irish Leaving Certificate (higher Level)

H2, H2, H2, H3, H3, H3

Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers

BB in Advanced Highers and AABBB in Highers OR B in Advanced Highers and AAABB in Highers OR AABBBB in Highers

Welsh Baccalaureate

The Welsh Baccalaureate is not typically included in the academic conditions of an offer made to you for this course.

Other Qualifications

Art Foundation Diploma: Merit or higher with A-level: Grade A (any subject considered other than Critical Thinking or General Studies).

UAL Extended Diploma: Distinction (or High Merit where available).

European Baccalaureate: 75%

Read more about UK and Republic of Ireland accepted qualifications or contact the School’s Undergraduate Admissions Team.

Alternative entry

We’re committed to identifying the best possible applicants, regardless of personal circumstances or background.

Access to Leeds is an alternative admissions scheme which accepts applications from individuals who might be from low income households, in the first generation of their immediate family to apply to higher education, or have had their studies disrupted.

Find out more about Access to Leeds and alternative admissions.

Arts and Humanities with Foundation Year

This course is designed for students whose backgrounds mean they are less likely to attend university (also known as widening participation backgrounds) and who do not currently meet admissions criteria for direct entry to a degree.

The course will give you the opportunity to be taught by academic staff and provides intensive support to enable your development of academic skills and knowledge. On successful completion of your foundation year, you will progress to your chosen degree course. Find out more about the Arts and Humanities with Foundation Year

International

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. Contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for more information.

International Foundation Year

International students who do not meet the academic requirements for undergraduate study may be able to study the University of Leeds International Foundation Year. This gives you the opportunity to study on campus, be taught by University of Leeds academics and progress onto a wide range of Leeds undergraduate courses. Find out more about International Foundation Year programmes.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.0 overall, with no less than 5.5 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.


Improve your English
If you're an international student and you don't meet the English language requirements for this programme, you may be able to study our undergraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

Fees

UK: £9,250 (per year)

International: £24,500 (per year)

Tuition fees for UK undergraduate students starting in 2023/24 and 2024/25
Tuition fees for UK full-time undergraduate students are set by the UK Government and will remain capped at £9,250 for 2023/24 and 2024/25. The fee may increase in future years of your course in line with inflation only as a consequence of future changes in Government legislation and as permitted by law.

Tuition fees for international undergraduate students starting in 2023/24 and 2024/25
Tuition fees for international students for 2023/24 and 2024/25 are available on individual course pages.

Tuition fees for a study abroad or work placement year
If you take a study abroad or work placement year, you’ll pay a reduced tuition fee during this period. For more information, see Study abroad and work placement tuition fees and loans.

Read more about paying fees and charges.

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page.

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There is help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Find out more in our Undergraduate funding overview.

Applying

Apply to this course through UCAS. Check the deadline for applications on the UCAS website.

Read our guidance about applying.

International students apply through UCAS in the same way as UK students. Our network of international representatives can help you with your application. If you’re unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Next steps

Applicants will also be required to submit a satisfactory portfolio of work.

Admissions policy

University of Leeds Taught Admissions Policy 2024

This course is taught by

School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies

Contact us

School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies Undergraduate Admissions

Email: finadm@leeds.ac.uk
Telephone:

Career opportunities

We have a strong commitment to enhancing student employability and embedding transferrable skills that are extendable into a range of careers. Our graduates become ambitious and pioneering artists, curators, critics, journalists and innovative initiators working across a wide range of creative fields.

Many of our graduates combine careers as artists with work in education, museums and galleries and art therapy. They have established new cultural enterprises including The Tetley, Leeds’ contemporary art space. Others use their knowledge and skills to launch careers in fields including journalism, broadcasting, marketing, technology, business or design. Our graduates have gone on to postgraduate study including fine art, curating and museum studies, arts marketing, art and business, art and design PGCE, interactive design, gaming, animation and art and ecology. Many have completed PhDs and are teaching in higher education institutions around the world. As a School we have an engaged research community made up of MA and PhD students working across fine art practices, art history, cultural studies, gallery, museum and heritage studies.

We are dedicated to helping you achieve your career ambitions - you'll be able to work closely with our exhibiting and research active staff in the School to source opportunities to gain experience, develop your skills and build networks. The optional Study Abroad or Year in Industry also offers opportunities to gain transferable skills, develop your experience and create strong working relationships.

Leeds for Life is our unique approach to helping you make the most of university by supporting your academic and personal development. Find out more at the Leeds for Life website.

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.

For my dissertation I was able to choose a research area related to the career that I would like to pursue after university. Through this research project I had the opportunity to make professional contacts within arts events management.

- Imogen Dunkley, Fine Art with CCT

Careers support

Each level has regular opportunities for making and exhibiting work off site as well as in the School, to explore innovative forms of audience engagement and participation. At each level we introduce you to a range of essential skills workshops, talks and presentations, with practical advice to support your thriving in the wider creative and artworld.

Study abroad and work placements

Study abroad

On this course you have the opportunity to apply to spend time abroad, usually as an extra academic year. We have over 300 University partners worldwide and popular destinations for our students include Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa and Latin America. 

Find out more at the Study Abroad website.

Our exemplary Study Abroad programme enables you to undertake formative and exciting year-long study in year three, with our partner universities all over the world. You’ll be able to choose from an array of institutions and benefit not only from different approaches to art teaching and making, but cultural experiences and new friends that could transform your life forever, graduating with a BA Fine Art with Contemporary Cultural Theory (International) degree. Universities and art schools recently chosen by our students for their study abroad year include:

Find out more at the Study Abroad website.

I went on a year abroad to Toronto, and had an amazing experience. I gained inspiration for my art practice and I now know that I could live anywhere in the world if I wanted to – it gave me so much confidence.

- Alex Oliver, BA Fine Art with History of Art

Work placements

Practical work experience can help you decide on your career and improve your employability. On this course you have the option to apply to take a placement year module with organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK, or overseas.

Find out more about work experience on the Careers website.

Our exemplary Year in Industry programme has led to students successfully undertaking work-based placements locally and internationally, some of which have led to permanent full-time employment after graduation. On undertaking this opportunity, students will graduate with a BA Fine Art with Contemporary Cultural Theory (Industry) degree. Recent placements include; Archival assistant at Chert Ludde Gallery, Berlin; Social Media assistant at CeeCee, Berlin; Arts PR Consultancy with Bolton & Quinn, London; Marketing assistant, L’Oreal, UK; Programme Assistant at Oris House of Architecture, Croatia and Palazzo Monti Artist Residency, Italy; Gallery assistant at Wychwood Gallery, UK; Assistant Producer at Limehouse Film Production, Leeds; Gallery Assistant at ArtDog London & Nahmed Gallery, London; Marketing role with Adobe Design Projects. 

Student profile: Daniel Cole

When choosing an institution that would best prepare me for the art world, I became aware of the diversity that Leeds offers, providing diverse facets of culture coupled with a rich history.
Daniel Cole, School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies
Find out more about Daniel Cole's time at Leeds