Develop your skills by entering the creative industries on an Integrated Foundation Year degree.
If you’re interested in taking on a new subject that you’ve not had the opportunity to study in depth before, or have been out of education for a while, then our Integrated Foundation Year courses might be for you. These four-year courses include an introductory year to help you build the core skills needed for specialist degree-level study.
This is a chance for you to let your imagination run wild and explore your creativity, expand your professional skills and develop enhanced subject knowledge in the domain you want to study. We’ll help nurture your expertise in problem solving, risk-taking, designing and making as you develop your abilities through five core modules.
After your foundation year, you’ll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skill set and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.
Expose truths, prompt emotion and provoke action through visual media.
If you want to use your camera to expose truths, prompt emotion or evoke action, this course is for you. With expert tuition from industry-connected lecturers and access to specialist photographic facilities, you’ll learn to tell compelling visual stories for the media. On this photojournalism course, you'll explore documentary, portraiture, news, sport, music and fashion as well as immersive multimedia narrative photography. You’ll develop sophisticated photographic and multimedia skills while gaining professional experiences that will give you the critical edge when you graduate.
You will:
Develop technical, design thinking and production skills in your chosen specialism.
Learn teamwork, leadership and project management skills through a variety of learning environments.
Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills through the development of unique and innovative projects.
Complete your chosen degree over a four-year period.
Learn from experienced, industry-connected lecturers that offer unparalleled access into the ever-evolving photography industry
Work like a professional photographer from the start, while gaining valuable industry insight and technical know-how
Develop essential skills in creative problem solving and collaboration, and an understanding of photographic law, ethics and human rights
Have full access to our state-of-the-art educational photographic facility, which includes the latest camera equipment, studios and post-production technology
Enjoy opportunities for local, national and international work placements
Take part in optional local and international study trips, to places including London and New York
Get the opportunity to present your work to leading names in industry through our annual Press Awards and have the option to display your work at an exhibition in London
You’ll learn to tell compelling and original visual stories by developing comprehensive and sophisticated photographic and multimedia techniques. You’ll develop a deep understanding of how impactful photographic stories are constructed, explore the relationship between image and audience, nurture critical communication, collaboration and professional skills and discover the importance of media law and ethics.
Foundation Year:
In your foundation year, you'll study five core modules: three short modules in the first study block and two in the second (one short, one long). These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of both creative practice and your chosen specialism. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.
After your foundation year, you'll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.
Modules:
Explore
Technique
Apply
Industry
Launch
Year one
You’ll start by building a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of photographic techniques, the history of photography and the basics of professional practice. Through a series of modules, you’ll develop skills in studio lighting, editing and production software, website building and presenting. You’ll also be introduced to concepts of critical thinking, analysis and reflection.
Modules
Essentials of Photographic Narrative
Professional Presence
Photography Histories & Visual Culture
Photographic Narrative in Context
Critical Approaches to Reading the Image
Year two
In year two, you’ll add moving image to your artistic toolkit. You’ll apply your new photographic and analytical skills to video and multimedia, taking creative risks as you continue to develop your unique approach to visual narrative storytelling. Building on your professional experience, you’ll also organise and complete a work placement.
Modules
Audio Visual & Interactive Storytelling
Law, Ethics & Human Rights
Audiences
Cultural & Critical Context
Year three
You’ll start your final year deep in dissertation research, while pursuing guided independent photographic work for your final major portfolio. Reflecting on the work completed in the early part of the academic year, you’ll build your final major project and prepare a professional toolkit for entry into industry.
Modules
Developmental portfolio
Dissertation
Final Major Portfolio
Professional Futures
As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.
Foundation Year
Foundation Year assessments are 100% coursework based.
Assessment will take place at the end of each module, and you'll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio and a reflective journal. In your foundation year all assessments are pass/fail to encourage students to take risks and engage with the feedback provided.
Progressing in your specialism
Students studying on courses with an Integrated Foundation Year must successfully complete and pass all foundation modules before they can progress to the next stage of their course.
Your specialism
100% of your assessment will be coursework.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment with no formal examinations
Portfolios, journals and logbooks
Presentations and essays
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Falmouth University has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
If English is not your first language, you will need to demonstrate English language skills that are sufficiently developed for successful completion of your studies. We accept a range of recognised English language qualifications that are equivalent to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic minimum score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. Through the award of international scholarships, we aim to support academic enrichment by encouraging diversity and excellence at Falmouth. For details of our international scholarships, and how to apply for them, please visit our website at www.falmouth.ac.uk
At Falmouth, we recognise excellence in many forms, and we see the whole you.
Our diverse community is creative, innovative and entrepreneurial.
We recognise that these qualities aren’t always shown in academic grades alone. That’s why, while many of our applicants achieve high academic grades, we also welcome those who can demonstrate their potential through an exceptional portfolio or performance.
At a minimum, we typically require the equivalent of 64 UCAS Tariff points for undergraduate courses where we can review a portfolio or audition, or a minimum of 96 UCAS points for those courses that do not require a portfolio or audition. For our Integrated Foundation Year courses, we typically require a minimum of 32 UCAS points for courses where we can review a portfolio or audition, or 64 UCAS points for those that do not require a portfolio or audition.
To support this approach, during a friendly conversation with our academic team, we’ll consider your ideas, your creative output and your ambition to ensure you’ll thrive at Falmouth.
If you are able to demonstrate relevant, current, equivalent experience instead of formal qualifications, we encourage you to apply. Please contact our Applicant Services team before applying, for advice regarding your individual experience and eligibility.
If you are an international applicant and require a Student visa to study in the UK, you must have a recognised English language test approved and vouched for by the University at the appropriate level. You can see what we accept on our website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements Our Applicant Services team can help you with any general questions you may have about study visas or suitable language tests. For more specific advice, we recommend you also consult UKCISA http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
View our list of accepted English language tests and qualifications using the link belowhttps://www.falmouth.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements
At Falmouth University, we take a rounded approach to admissions. Instead of focusing on criteria like grades alone, we operate a contextual admissions policy, where we look at you as a person: your talents, your experiences and your potential. Every offer we make is shaped around you and your circumstances, and our conditional offers are always intended to be realistic and achievable.
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Apply for September 2026 through Clearing
Email:applicantservices@falmouth.ac.uk
Phone:01326 213730
Explore our courses available through Clearing and contact our friendly Course Advisors via phone or our online form.
Email:applicantservices@falmouth.ac.uk
Phone:01326 213730
Woodlane
Falmouth
TR11 4RH
At Falmouth University
