BA (Hons) Craft and Material Practices

Entry requirements

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 between 104 - 120 UCAS points, earned through an Art & Design Foundation Diploma, A-levels, BTEC Extended Diploma MMM grade, Access to HE Art & Design, T-Levels, Irish/Scottish Highers/Advanced Highers, the International Baccalaureate, or other international qualifications.

Applicants also need to submit a portfolio.

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 and discussing your creative experiences as we are in seeing your grades, and we welcome applications from students who have followed less traditional routes.

We also accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Prepare for Success in the Craft and Materials Industry

With almost 150,000 people employed in the UK’s craft industry, skilled craftspeople are putting the country on the map for original, forward-thinking contemporary design. The relationship between thinking and making is constantly evolving. Experimentation and innovation are driving a new wave of craftspeople to explore original directions, often looking to develop methods in which we can live harmoniously within natural and fabricated environments while supporting a healthy ecosystem.

Why choose this course at Arts University Plymouth?

• Explore Material Practices: Discover an array of material practices, including glassblowing and kiln-formed glass, ceramics, metals in various scales, woodworking, concrete, plastics, and textiles in our state-of-the-art workshops.
• Critical and Analytical Skills: Expand your critical approach while honing research and analytical skills. Our programmes foster diversity in both thought and practice, emphasising practical applications alongside reflective, analytical writing.
• Industry Standard Workshops: Engage in practical work with access to our industry-standard workshops for a hands-on learning experience.
• Live Briefs and Real Clients: Engage with live briefs and real clients; students have worked with The Tate Exchange, The Box, MAKE Southwest, Mount Edgcumbe Estate, and New Designers, among others.
• International Maker Community: Become part of the international maker community by participating in our renowned, biennial Making Futures conference, a research platform exploring contemporary craft and maker movements as ‘change agents’ in 21st-century society.

I knew I needed to see the university in person, and the facilities were just unbeatable. That was when I realised how much the course had to offer. I was unsure which creative route to follow, so I took the opportunities offered to learn as much as possible across a number of disciplines, and I found my specialism.

CAROLINE BARR, BA (HONS) CRAFT & MATERIAL PRACTICES STUDENT

Explore State-of-the-Art Facilities & Materials

Our spacious Materials Lab includes specialist facilities for ceramics, glass, metal, and wood, encouraging you to explore traditional making alongside the rapid digital prototyping facilities in our Fab Lab, giving you the opportunity to reinvent craft for the 21st century. However, learning isn’t limited to our design studios and workshops – you will meet some of the UK’s most inventive and entrepreneurial contemporary makers and thinkers through studio visits, demonstrations, and presentations.

Discover Diverse Craft Techniques and Modern Fabrication Methods

You’ll study specialist ceramics techniques such as throwing, slip casting, slab-building, coiling, glazing, and raku firing. Working with glass will include hot glass making, kiln-formed glass, coldworking, and lampworking. Working with metals will see you casting, welding, and grinding. If you’re looking to specialise in wood-working, you’ll have the opportunity to learn woodturning, joinery, and CNC routing. In the Fab Lab you will experience laser cutting, CNC milling, and 3D printing.

Through the use of these traditional materials, as well as explorations in smart and adaptive materials, you’ll develop new modes of creative authorship through experimentation, research, and invention.

Enhance Your Creative Practice

Experience a dynamic and stimulating learning environment, fostering experimentation and innovation in practice. Embrace the dynamic interplay between theory and practice, exploring the potential of material and visual exploration, collaborative working, and the contextualization of histories and contemporary contexts.

Gain Real-World Experience and Industry Exposure

Learn the ins and outs of enterprise and entrepreneurship, mastering skills in pricing, display, and promotion tailored to diverse markets. Gain practical insights through working on live briefs, pitching to clients, and entering competitions, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of customer needs and market dynamics.

Engage with live briefs and real clients, collaborating with prestigious institutions such as The Tate Exchange, The Box, MAKE Southwest, and Mount Edgcumbe Estate, fostering professional connections and real-world experience.

Industry partners & connections

New Designers, Mount Edgcumbe, Plymouth City Council, Eden Project, Make Southwest, The Box.

Fees and funding