Art and Design

Our Art and Design degree allows you to advance your creative potential whilst developing key academic skills.

You'll gain practical skills and learn how to apply tools and techniques in order to produce high-quality work which you'll have the chance to exhibit at showcase events. You'll have the chance to gain a working knowledge of a range of practices from drawing, painting, sculpture and 2D/3D design construction, to photography, digital media and printmaking. In addition, core modules will allow you to gain knowledge and understanding of design theory, history and key contemporary issues.

Our teaching staff are practising art and design professionals and have expertise in a wide range of specialisms, meaning we can offer you a wide range of optional modules so that you can tailor your degree to your interests and career aspirations. We also allow you the flexibility to choose the focus of your work from practical projects to your final year dissertation.

Specialist facilities and support

Take a virtual tour of our facilities.

The School of Design offers excellent facilities and technical support for developing your creative skills. We have dedicated practice studios, workshops and specialist facilities: 3D Art & Design Studio; 2D Art & Design studios; Fashion Design studios; Knit and Weave studio; Graphic and Visual Communication studio; Photography and Film studio; Digital print studio; Laser cut studio; traditional printing studio; Design workshop; 3D workshop with 3D printing; computer clusters.

The School also provides a range of other support to enhance the student experience and prepare students for the workplace: essential learning materials; essential studio and workshop materials; dedicated software (Adobe CC; PointCarre, Solid Works, Cinema 4D, Lectra, etc.); cameras and video recorder on loan; free entry to Inside/Out lecture series; compulsory field trips part of assessment; part of curriculum subscriptions (eg LSN, Special journals and periodicals); costs of Degree Show (infrastructure, course catalogue and exhibition set-up); external promotion (eg New Designer, AD&D, Graduate Fashion Week); Yorkshire Fashion Archive and Membership to the ASBCI (Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing students); Visiting Speakers, who are well known figures from industry or other institutions around the world.

The programme is designed for international students. Applicants must meet two of the following three criteria in order to be eligible for our programmes:

• Have an educational gap between their high school qualifications and the requirements for entry to undergraduate programmes at the University of Leeds. Qualifications beyond high school level will be considered within the applicant profile.
• Have completed the majority of their high school studies in a non-English speaking environment.
• Have completed the majority of their high school studies in a different educational context from that in the UK.

Students who have completed the International Baccalaureate will be considered for the International Foundation Year if they have reached a minimum Grade of 26 points overall with grade 4 at Standard Level or 3 at Higher Level in two subjects. Specific subjects will be dependent on the chosen degree path of progression.

Our Art and Design degree will equip you with a wide range of skills. As well as specialist art and design practice skills, you'll develop sound professional awareness and be able to research different topics independently.

Our graduates have pursued a wide range of careers. Many continue with their own practice as either artists or designers, and a selection of exhibitions by recent graduates include the London Original Print Fair –“ Royal Academy of Art, Baltic Gallery, Jerwood Drawing Prize, Saatchi's New Sensations, Arts at Trinity Leeds and Art in Unusual Places, Leeds.

Others have gone into careers related to art and design in a variety of roles including art gallery manager, fabricator, illustrator, editorial assistant, graphic designer, journalist, theatre staging design, lecturer, learning support worker, artist in residence and study centre assistant. Graduates have worked for a wide range of companies and institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Penguin Random House, National Portrait Gallery, Arts Council Collection, Pinewood Studios, Cath Kidston and Channel 4 to name a few.

Some graduates have decided to move onto postgraduate studies in disciplines such as fine art, design, material futures, art and science, environmentalism, advertising, landscape architecture, illustration, set design, scenic arts, museum studies and curating while others have entered teacher training. Yet more go into completely different careers in accounting, law, marketing, journalism, medicine and retail.

Careers support

We fully support you to prepare for your future throughout your degree. We run regular workshops with employers and have a popular visiting speaker programme which involves established artists and researchers from the field presenting their experience which is a great opportunity to gain an insight into possible career options that may be available to you.

Apply

There are three steps to applying:

1. Read our Access to Leeds application guidelines
2. Fill in our Access to Leeds application form (this will be available here once the application cycle opens). If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader), there is an accessible version of this form available to download. Please only use this version if you have accessibility requirements
3. Submit your application using our online Access to Leeds Application Submission Form (this will be available here once the application cycle opens).

If you require it for your application, please download our Declaration of Household Income Form (this will be available here once the application cycle opens).