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Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (W501)
Course Code: W501
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (W500)
Course Code: W500
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Why choose the School of Arts and Creative Industries
96% of our cinematics and photography students were satisfied with the learning opportunities their course offered, including teaching skills for the future (NSS, 2024).
About the course
If you have a passion for photography this course gives you the knowledge skills and techniques you need for a successful career in the field whether your dream lies in fashion advertising animation scientific and medical or local studio photography.
Gain the practical skills and theoretical knowledge of both traditional and digital photographic formats on a course that includes darkroom techniques; medium- and large-format photography; studio photography; stop-motion techniques; and event and location photography.
See your images come to life collaborating on projects with students from other degrees such as fashion animation art and graphic design. Every day is different whether working on location or in our airy open-plan studios at Alexon House formerly home to a leading UK fashion house.
Why choose this course?
- Explore the ways a professional photographer works alongside other professions in the creative industries such as fashion designers art directors graphic designers and animators
- Learn from leading professionals in photography and design who exhibit internationally and work with clients including The Sunday Times Mack Books and international design magazines such as Eye Magazine
- Amass a professional-standard body of work and a network of contacts through events exhibitions and industry-based opportunities
- Learn how to use social media and other digital platforms to promote your work
- Develop your personal communication and entrepreneurial skills so you enter the world of work with confidence
- Take the course over four years and include a year’s placement in industry building your experience and creating contacts for the future
- If you need to step up into higher education start with a Foundation Year which guarantees entry to the undergraduate course
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Dr Nicoló Giudice
Nicoló Giudice is a photographer, writer and lecturer. After studying modern literature in France (BA and MA), he received his PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London. Between 2004 and 2009 he worked for Magnum Photos and Jim Goldberg on projects such as Open See (2009), Access to Life (2009) and Documenting Disposable People (2008). His own photographic work consists of long-term projects about contemporary forms of alienation and the process of imprinting from social, psychological and environmental points of view. A selection of his work has been exhibited and published in England, Italy and France. His research interests focus on the history of photography and its relationships with literature, cinema and the fine arts, in particular in the context of photobooks.
Course Leader - Dr Nicoló Giudice
Nicoló Giudice is a photographer, writer and lecturer. After studying modern literature in France (BA and MA), he received his PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London. Between 2004 and 2009 he worked for Magnum Photos and Jim Goldberg on projects such as Open See (2009), Access to Life (2009) and Documenting Disposable People (2008). His own photographic work consists of long-term projects about contemporary forms of alienation and the process of imprinting from social, psychological and environmental points of view. A selection of his work has been exhibited and published in England, Italy and France. His research interests focus on the history of photography and its relationships with literature, cinema and the fine arts, in particular in the context of photobooks.
What will you study?
English Language Foundation
This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.
We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving.
A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.
Academic Skills Foundation
When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study.
All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.
Developing English Language Skills
This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1.
We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy.
You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.
Academic Skills Development
This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.
We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field.
You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.
Context And Ideas
This unit introduces Context and Ideas in Art and Design, exploring visual culture, ideologies and interpretations of historic and contemporary practice. You will consider research methods to help you analyse art and design theory and practice. Lectures and seminars will introduce key ideas in art and design, and their effects on culture and society, allowing you to reflect on how they impact and influence your own studio practice. You will develop your academic study skills.
Photography: Exploring Materials And Methods
This level 4 unit will introduce you to essential skills needed to visualize and produce photographic images in responses to industry related assignments, and to provide an opportunity to explore, test and experiment using a range of skills, methods and material processes. This unit will help you learn practical and critical skills that are fundamental in the development of your studio practice.
Introducing Studio Practice
This unit introduces you to Art and Design study in a higher education environment. It will introduce you to the learning resources available to you and the types of learning in which you will engage. An important aspect of the unit is to lay the foundation for your own personal approach to study.
This will include helping you to develop as an independent learner with the self-confidence to reflect upon personal performance and identify areas for action.
There will be a strong relationship between the learning involved in this unit and its application to other units on the art and design courses.
Over the duration of this unit, you will experience cross discipline learning and development, collaborative working, as well as discipline specific skills and experience.
Thinking Through Making
This unit introduces you to practical working methods in Art and Design - where you will be encouraged to develop a personal understanding of your discipline through testing, experimenting and making.
The unit will enhance your ability to communicate and ‘play’ in a range of formats the capacity to be creative and to develop an aesthetic sensibility through engagement with technology, processes and ideas.
Using a practice-based approach you will be encouraged to take creative risks, allowing you to develop practice that enriches your work, giving you the freedom to explore and discover creative processes that are both discipline and non-discipline specific.
You will learn how to test and translate your ideas using a range of media that articulate and communicate visual ideas and develop an understanding of your practice.
Developing Professional Practice
This unit consolidates your development and understanding of subject specific materials and methods, and encourages you to consider their application to professional practice.
You will take into account commercial, cultural and social contexts in response to projects and visual enquiry, and develop the confidence to take creative risks in your practice.
There is an increasing emphasis on your portfolio and exhibition practice, to further encourage independence and professionalism in the presentation of your work.
Collaborative Enterprise
This unit allows you to apply your acquired knowledge and expertise in your discipline, to a collaborative interdisciplinary project.
The work and learning of this unit are seen as an important link between your academic work and the professional world.
You will negotiate your learning with your supervising tutor who will take account of your agreed role within group scenarios. The unit tests your abilities to work both independently and collaboratively in the wider professional community.
Context And Meaning
This unit builds upon knowledge gained at level 4, to place theory and practice into global contexts. You will examine a range of critical texts and practices related to art, design and visual culture.
You will further develop your research and analytical skills, so that you can engage with the contexts and meanings that underpin your own practice, and inform the way you critically evaluate the development of your creative work.
Photography: Developing Materials And Methods
The aim of this unit is to provide an opportunity to research, test, experiment, explore and learn to manage creative risk. You will establish a focused and effective photographic studio practice using creative production methods. You will investigate subject specific skills, methods and material processes for photography. You will select and develop technical skills and integrate working methods to support image-making and story-telling. This unit consolidates and develops practical and critical skills involved in photography, introduced in level 4.
Creative Futures
At level 6, you will be preparing yourself for a professional creative role. This unit provides an environment in which you will prepare for a professional life after your degree, helping you to develop creative futures that focus your ambition and interests. This may include preparation for: becoming a freelance artist, designer or maker; working independently, in a co-operative, agency or enterprise; teaching or pursuing further study.
The unit will encourage you to participate in live projects, competition briefs or collaborative teamwork.
As part of professional practice, you will further develop your ability to present yourself and your professional portfolio. You will learn how to create relevant marketing and self-promotional material and engage with online media to promote your professional identity, concepts and products.
Critical And Creative Contexts
This unit offers you the opportunity to deepen your insight of contemporary art and design practices, issues and critical debates. Programmes of tutorial support and self-determined study will help you to develop a context, in which you can place your emerging practical work and underpin your major project with a critical and contextual rationale.
The unit will support you in developing and implementing research strategies in the context of your Final Major Project – your investigations and growing knowledge will further inform your final project.
Photography: Final Major Project
This unit will give you the opportunity to pursue your personal creative interests and artistic concerns in the production of a body of photographic work for public exhibition.
The unit allows you to demonstrate your acquired skills and abilities through individual research and practice. The production of a self-initiated research-based project will enhance your personal development as a photographer.
You will explore the relationship between practice and theory in relation to photography and your Final Major Project.
How will you be assessed?
A range of appropriate assessments will enable you to grow in confidence and demonstrate your acquisition of knowledge and skills. The formative and summative assessment methods used across the course include:
- Coursework to include examples of photography visual communication possibly 3-D work or installation research portfolios notebooks research assignments essays contextual writing.
- Assessments based on individual and group presentations.
- Portfolio reviews are as a key means of assessing and as an important method for collating work for a professional portfolio. This instils the right attitudes towards professional work whereby you can use your portfolio to promote yourself in professional contexts.
- Essays and reports feature in developing students writing skills. They help you to express ideas in a variety of ways and styles and also help to develop academic writing skills that are of particular benefit in producing the final year contextual rationale for your major project.
- An online blog/personal website
- A midpoint Formal Formative Assessment to review all work in progress.
Key skills are embedded in the teaching and learning of the course and will be considered in all assessments. Key Skills relevant to photography and creative enterprise are embedded in the teaching and learning of the course and will be taken into account in all assessments. The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow you to gain skills confidence and knowledge; receive feedback and develop as a practitioner thus allowing you to implement this knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments. At the end of the course completion of the assessments will demonstrate your ability to analyse current photographic practices and communicate this in both written and visual formats as well as demonstrate a range of transferable skills relevant to your professional employability.
Careers
Typical graduate destinations include various roles within the photography industry:photography studios agencies film and television multi-media fashion advertising magazine and book publishing design consultancies museum and galleries arts education and freelance creative practice.
Further study at Masters level (Level Seven) include MA in Photography Documentary Photography Fashion Photography Curating Publishing etc.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.