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.
Start your career journey as a compelling, powerful commercial photographer.
On this Commercial Photography degree course, you will find your unique creative voice while learning how to thrive in a fast-changing industry.
Whether you're creating photographs and films for high-end campaigns or producing innovative digital content for social media, you’ll learn how to tell impactful stories and shoot commissions which could take the worlds of advertising, marketing and branding by storm.
Combining visual communication and innovation with technical expertise and business skills, you will curate and refine your personal brand while building professional networks and producing an industry-ready portfolio.
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 how to tell compelling multi-channel stories across a range of photographic genres for commercial brands and clients
Work on real industry briefs, from concept to pitch and delivery, using professional-standard studios and digital post-production suites
Get equipped with specialist technical skills including working in a studio, pre and postproduction, digital workflows, editing, design, layout and retouching
Collaborate with other specialists on live campaigns and brand strategies
Gain the business prowess needed to excel in the industry, including communication skills and project management alongside sustainable and ethical considerations
Develop valuable skills in creative problem solving, critical thinking and negotiation
Using industry-standard equipment and processes, you'll master a wide range of techniques and technologies to produce innovative photographic, video and multimedia content. You'll explore the histories of advertising and the fundamentals of marketing communications, narrative and audience, interrogating the relationship between image and text and how images make an impact in complex media environments.
Building your knowledge of how brands build successful communication strategies through narrative and digital storytelling, you will build your own self-directed projects and produce a commercial portfolio that defines your unique creative stance
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:
From day one of your Commercial Photography degree, you'll develop specialist photographic skills and learn to market yourself as a professional visual content producer. You'll explore the contexts and histories of modern advertising and the fundamentals of marketing communications, and we'll introduce you to a range of commercial photography and moving image-making techniques and technologies.
Modules
Professional Presence
Play
Impact
Move
Visual Communication
Year Two:
Through portfolio development, live briefs and work placements, you'll raise your level of technical ability, explore the commercial environment and build on your critical and collaborative working skills. You'll also begin to understand how photography and moving image are used within multi-channel campaigns and use theories and concepts to critically reflect on the impact of emerging technologies.
Modules
Brand Narrative
Production
Going Live
Collaborate
Audience and Intention
Year Three:
The final year of your Commercial Photography degree represents your chance to shape your professional and creative identity. Putting your skills to use, you'll showcase your unique photographic practice and critical mind through your final contextual project, portfolio and degree show.
Modules
Positions
Approaches
Professional Futures
Launch
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 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 with no formal examinations.
Assessment methods:
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.
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
