Course contact details
Admissions
Email:admissions@aup.ac.uk
Phone:01752 203434
Fax: 01752 203444
Arts University Plymouth
Tavistock Place
Plymouth
PL4 8AT
Course summary
BA (Hons) Painting, Drawing & Printmaking at Arts University Plymouth offers the only undergraduate degree in the UK that brings these three disciplines together in an holistic way, building on their rich history of nourishing and challenging each other.
On this course, you'll explore painting, drawing and printmaking as three interconnected ways of thinking and making. You'll be given the space, support and practical skills to discover your artistic voice through imaginative questioning, material experimentation and skilled invention.
At a glance
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Degree: BA (Hons) Painting, Drawing & Printmaking
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UCAS codes: 3-year degree WWDF / 4-year extended degree W102
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Typical UCAS points: 104–120
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Studio focus: painting, drawing and printmaking taught as interconnected disciplines
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Student experience (NSS 2025): 100% positive answers on key teaching and development measures (see below)
Why choose this painting, drawing and printmaking degree at Arts University Plymouth?
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Immerse yourself in material experimentation, critical imagining and skilled invention across painting, drawing and printmaking.
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Learn from professional artists who understand the challenges and rewards of creative practice and can guide you in developing your own visual language.
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Study in light and airy studios, with dedicated facilities for crafting an ambitious practice.
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Build specialist and transferable skills to open up a fulfilling and enduring creative career.
What you’ll learn and how you’ll study
You’ll learn through hands-on experimentation, testing materials, processes, approaches and ideas, and reflecting on what you’re doing and why. Regular tutorials, seminars, lectures and group discussions help you develop confidence, identify relevant contexts for your work, and engage with diverse histories and current debates.
Workshops introduce traditional techniques, including intaglio printing and making your own paints from raw pigments, which you’ll explore alongside technologies and know-how from across Arts University Plymouth’s world-class facilities.
You’ll work in a specialist studio environment designed to support focus, curiosity and ambition. As well as course teaching, you can book additional access to specialist facilities for self-directed development through SmartHub, with a guaranteed 11 hours each week during the teaching year.
In printmaking, you can develop a broad technical range, with access to processes such as screen-printing, etching, drypoint, aquatint, lino, woodblock, letterpress, monoprint and more, supported by professional presses and equipment.
Arts University Plymouth was ranked #2 in the UK for Facilities (Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024).
Careers and future opportunities
Career opportunities include: Exhibiting Artists, Teachers, Lecturers, Art Therapists, Illustrators, Curators, Producers, Gallery Managers, Arts Administrators, Community Arts Organisers and Creative Entrepreneurs.
Many of our award-winning students continue to postgraduate study at Arts University Plymouth and other institutions nationally, such as The Royal Drawing School and The Royal College of Art.
You’ll also be supported by a dedicated Careers and Enterprise service, accredited by AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services).
Modules
Course Modules
Arts University Plymouth offers a year long sandwich year option. Framed within the institution’s innovative Common Unit Framework, the sandwich year experience is offered as a unit that contributes to your BA (Hons) Degree.
The sandwich year can take the form of an internship or work placement, and can take place in the UK or abroad. It is intended to give you the possibility of gaining experience in art and design practice in a ‘real life’ industry setting, before you return to complete the final year of your degree. You will be able to build your CV and, if you choose to take on your sandwich year outside of the UK, enhance your experience of international creative practice.
Sandwich year placements will be selected by each student who wishes to take one, assisted by Course staff within AUP. Opportunities may also come through corporate approaches to AUP or through links built by your course tutors. Each placement opportunity will be reviewed by the University before being approved to ensure its suitability to be part of your course. During the Sandwich Year you remain enrolled at AUP with access to IT and your email accounts, online library and learning support.
Once approved, the sandwich year will count towards your overall degree and completion of it will be acknowledged on your degree certificate.
Ways to study this course
Campuses
- Main Site
Study options
- Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) • Full-Time • 3 Years
- Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) • Full-Time • Placement (mandatory) • 4 Years
- Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) • Part-Time • 6 Years
Start dates
Application codes
- Institution code:
- P65
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
Arts University Plymouth 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?
How to apply
Application codes
- Institution code:
- P65
This course may be available at alternative locations, please check if other course options are available.
Course optionsEntry requirements
Typical qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff104-120
Although many of our students do come in with top grades and high UCAS points, these aren’t necessarily essential for entry. We typically ask for a minimum of 104 UCAS points, but we understand that talented artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant strengths and skills beyond formal qualifications. We’re just as interested in exploring your portfolio as we are in seeing your grades.
Your application will tell us about your qualifications and previous experience, but studying the arts is about more than can be captured on forms. We need to find out about your creative potential, your abilities and idiosyncrasies, so we will invite you to talk about your work with a member of our HE academic team. You can tell us about your aspirations, and why you want to study at the university. It is also a good moment to find out what we can offer you.
We encourage you to visit the university, so that you can see our facilities, meet our teaching and technical staff, and discuss any other queries you may have; however we appreciate this may not be possible, and are happy to talk to you via an online platform (such as Google Meet or similar).
We accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.
Entry requirements for students joining after Year 1: We will look at your application on an individual basis, but you must evidence 120 Level 4 credits from another HEI https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply
Additional entry requirements
- Portfolio
- If your application meets our entry requirements, we’ll invite you to submit your portfolio, so that we can review your work and find out more about your creative potential. You will have the opportunity to submit your portfolio digitally, or in person at one of our Applicant Experience Days. At an Applicant Experience Day, you'll also get the chance to discuss your portfolio with a member of our academic team.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | IELTS (Level B2):overall score of 6.0 with minimum scores Listening: 5.5, Speaking: 5.5, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 5.5 |
| Trinity ISE | Pass | Integrated Skills in English II (Level B2), minimum grades required: Reading: Pass Listening: Pass |
| PTE Academic | 50 | PTE Academic (Level B2), minimum grade required: Listening: 50, Reading: 50, Writing: 50, Speaking: 50 |
Contextual admissions
Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.
We believe in making tailored offers that recognise that artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant experience and skills beyond formal qualifications. We therefore require all applicants to submit a portfolio of work as a condition of any offer to study with us. This allows applicants the opportunity to demonstrate their creative skills, and what they’re passionate about. Following a successful portfolio review, offers will be tailored on an individual basis.
Historical entry grades data
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.
This course may have Historical entry grades data available, please select a course option to view.
Course optionsHistorical entry grades report
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.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
Per year tuition fees
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|
| England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands & Republic of Ireland | £10050* | |
| EU & International | £17500 |
* This is a provisional fee and subject to change.
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.
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
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