The course is delivered by experienced professionals including a specialist tattooist. All teachers are experts in their field with extensive industry and teaching profiles.
The HNC qualification is delivered through practical projects that cover ideas generation and using visual techniques that explore the cultural contexts of tattoo artistry and body art to develop your practice. The focus is on exploring exciting current practices in body art, body modification and wider notions of body aesthetics. There is a strong emphasis on drawing throughout the course, developing a steady hand and strong fine art skills through the exploration of the visual language of line, colour, form, shape, tone. Professional Practice is a key element to this qualification and is focussed on establishing your personal portfolio development and working towards establishing you as a Tattoo Artist.
Units studied include:
•Professional Practice
•Contextual studies
•Techniques & Processes
•Typography
•Graphic Design Practices
•Art/Craft Production
•Surface Design
Please note that at no time will this course involve tattooing onto skin as this is only appropriate after a formal industry placement is completed. There will, however, be appropriate alternatives used throughout this course.
The course provides you with opportunities to test your understanding of the subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Assessment methods include a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, presentations and your final year major project. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.
All assessments are spread across the year to make the workload manageable. The course work will be based on practical demonstration of skills as delivered by the lecturers.
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.
South Thames College Group (inc Carshalton, South Thames and Kingston College) 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:
Please contact the international office to see whether this course is able to accept international applicants requiring a Tier 4 Visa.
Substantial relevant work experience also considered in lieu of qualifications.
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | An overall band score of 6.0, with none of the four skills below 5.5. |
| Cambridge English Advanced | Level B2 | B2 First, formerly known as Cambridge English: First (FCE). |
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.
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|
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.
Email:clearing@stcg.ac.uk
Phone:020 8918 7354
Email:admissions.kingston@stcg.ac.uk
Phone:020 8268 3073
Kingston Hall Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
London
KT1 2AQ
At South Thames College Group (inc Carshalton, South Thames and Kingston College)
