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As well as gallery visits, some students take part in a trip to Tuscany and the department also runs a three-day residential drawing and sculpture course and critical study visits abroad.

Students go to university to study for a degrees in Textile Design, Fashion Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Automotive Design, Animation, Photography, Fine Art, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Theatre Design, Jewellery, Graphic Design, Film and Television, Furniture Design, Ceramics and Glass, Three Dimensional Design etc.

Personal Investigation – Coursework – 60% of marks

Externally set assignment – Practical Exam – 40% of marks

Summary

A highly practical subject, work is evaluated using the formal assessment objectives stipulated by the exam board which are communicated to students from the outset. Disciplines such as drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture and textiles work are integral to the course, with critical and contextual studies supporting all investigations.

Personal Investigation
An extended unit of practical work, based either on a subject initiated by the student, or inspired by a list of starting points provided by the department. The work is supported by a written and illustrated ‘journal’ analysing the techniques and methods of appropriate artists, discussing the impact and influence of their work on the student’s own. Preparatory studies in support of the final outcome will be informed by knowledge acquired in the initial part of the course, when a series of ‘workshops’ and mini projects will extend existing skills and impart new ones. During this period, emphasis on creative thinking will be paramount. The personal investigation will run from April of the first year until the end of January in the second, an extensive period of time where ideas, techniques, materials and processes can be explored in depth.

External Assignment
Students are presented with an ‘exam paper’ containing a series of specific questions. A practical exam, students produce a set of preparatory studies over an eight week period, in response to their chosen question. Work should be informed by appropriate critical studies and may be produced in any medium or combination thereof using skills and techniques acquired throughout the course. The starting point should be clear with a creative progression towards an unaided final outcome, which again may be in any medium.

Students should visit as many galleries and exhibitions as possible, making notes whilst there of things that inspire and excite you. Visiting the Art and Design Degree Shows, which take place in May and June each year, is also good preparation.