Photography
BA (Hons)
Key facts
UCAS code
W640
Start dates
September 2023 / September 2024
Location
Course length
Full time: 3 years, or 4 years with a work placement
Part time: 6 years, maximum 8 years
Department
UCAS Tariff Points
112
Overview
You'll explore the evolving role of photography in the 21st century while developing a distinct identity as a photographer. You'll balance academic study with hands-on photographic practice. Our teaching focuses on photography as a profession and a visual language appropriate for the creative industries. You'll have the support to develop a professional practice centered around your passions.
The course is flexible, with the opportunity to specialise in:
- fashion
- still-life
- portraiture
- sports
- interiors
- music
- food
- documentary
- contemporary art practice.
You will learn skills from moving image production to concept generation, social media implementation, and analogue and darkroom practice. A third year optional work placement/ internship will help you progress your skills.
You'll learn from leading photographers and creatives working within the creative industries. You will gain strong technical, creative and communicative skills, all informed by an understanding of photography as a visual language.
See our students' work by visiting @photooxbrookes on Instagram.
.jpg?width=800&height=450&ext=.jpg "Student sitting with laptop")
How to apply
Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.
Standard offer
UCAS Tariff Points: 112
A Level: BBC
IB Points: 30
BTEC: DMM
Contextual offer
UCAS Tariff Points: 88
A Level: CCD
IB Points: 27
BTEC: MMM
Further offer details
We welcome applications from candidates with alternative qualifications, and from mature students.
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
GCSE: Grade 4 (C) in Mathematics and English
Please also see the University's general entry requirements.
Selection process
Applicants are offered places through:
- a portfolio review - see guidance below
- an interview with a member of staff from the programme
Portfolio guidance:
What are we looking for?
Your portfolio should introduce us to your work, passions and skills as a photographer. We want to see your interests outside of photography and how they inform what, where and who you photograph. Through your portfolio we encourage you to demonstrate your inspirations and what motivates you as a photographer. It is important that your portfolio contains a range of work including recent work for college / school and personal self-initiated images.
What do you need to include?
- Your portfolio should feature between 10 - 15 photographic images that you feel represent who you are and what you like to photograph.
- Your images should be formatted to fit pages which are all the same size.
- Within your portfolio, you can also share with us other visual work that gives us insight into your creative background. For example, if you have any of the following, you could include a link to your Instagram page, YouTube account or examples of self-created video.
- In addition to your portfolio of photographs you should include images of your workbook or sketchbook. These demonstrate your creative processes and show the research, reflection and analysis that is behind your photographs. They help us to understand your practice as a photographer.
You can present your portfolio as a PDF file or you can use an online service to put your portfolio together such as Issuu or a similar provider of your choice.
When putting your portfolio together, ensure that it is well organised and that your work is clearly labelled. The portfolio is all about you as a photographer, so give it the best possible chance of making a good impression.
English requirements for visas
If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.
Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.
Credit transfer
Many of our courses consider applications for entry part-way through the course for students who have credit from previous learning or relevant professional experience.
Find out more about transferring to Brookes. If you'd like to talk through your options, please contact our Admissions team.
Application process
Full time Home (UK) applicants
Apply through UCASPart time Home (UK) applicants
Apply direct to the UniversityInternational applicants
Apply direct to the UniversityFull time international applicants can also apply through UCAS
Tuition fees
Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
Tuition fees
Please note, tuition fees for Home students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.
Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.
The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.
How and when to pay
Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.
- For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
- For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page
Additional costs
Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.
Compulsory costs
| Additional costs | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
Adobe Creative Suite |
£16 per month |
Degree Show Presentation |
About £100 |
Website domain name |
From £6 per month |
Website hosting |
From £16 per month |
Optional costs
| Additional costs | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
You will have the opportunity to go on a photography field trip to Paris. |
About £350 |
It’s your responsibility to cover print / binding costs where coursework submission is required. Please note that a lot of the coursework is now submitted online. |
From £30 |
| You may choose to purchase books to support your studies. Many books on our reading lists are available via the Library, or can be purchased secondhand. | £20-60 per book |
Accommodation fees in Brookes Letting (most do not include bills) |
£94-265 per week |
Accommodation fees in university halls (bills included, excluding laundry costs) |
£122-180 per week |
Graduation costs include tickets, gowning and photography. Gowns are not compulsory but typically students do hire robes, starting at £41. |
Typically £0-200 |
Students are responsible for their own travel to and from university for classes. BrookesBus travel is subsidised for full-time undergraduate students that are on a course with a fee of £9,250 or more, or living in an Oxford Brookes hall of residence. There is an administration fee for the production of a BrookesKey. |
From £10 |
Funding your studies
Financial support and scholarships
Featured funding opportunities available for this course.
All financial support and scholarships
Learning and assessment
This course is structured around a sequence of six photography projects. Your learning will incorporate creative experimentation, critical and historical approaches, professional standards and technical methods.
The Photography projects focus on the development of your practice, voice and identity as a photographer.
The Histories and Theories modules are linked to practical work, bringing depth, intelligence and insights to your practice. This will ensure the development of transferable skills, so that you can graduate confident, articulate and culturally aware in preparation for a wide range of career opportunities.
Professional Contexts modules are about the process of translating great ideas, personal interests and creative work into realisable, professional propositions. You will develop a range of practical skills in order to do this.
.jpg?width=800&height=450&ext=.jpg "Student taking pictures with a camera")
Study modules
Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.
Learning and teaching
The first year provides opportunity to explore your passions and interests outside of photography. You will use your interests to identify an area of specialisation. This will provide you with the basic skills and insights fundamental to aspects of photographic practice and theory. You will have the opportunity to explore moving image creation, visual narrative, darkroom practice and digital workflow.
In the second year you will develop your specialisation, further evolving your own interests and career trajectory. You will create your own website, an online presence through social media channels and undertake a work placement within the creative industries.
Your final year is made-up of modules that encourage confidence and independence. It culminates with an in-depth critical analysis dissertation, and an opportunity to develop a self-directed body of work with which to showcase your development. An end of year degree show will allow you to present your portfolio to industry.
After you graduate
Career prospects
You will graduate with an informed knowledge of the industry and strong technical competencies. Your specialisations and industry understanding will allow you to stand out from the crowd. You will have developed your practice, voice and identity as a photographer and visual communicator. The course has strong links with the creative industries, locally, nationally and globally, who offer a rich network of expertise and support, bringing invaluable first-hand accounts of professional life and offering perspectives throughout the three years of the course.
Potential career options include:
- photographic practice
- publishing
- marketing
- television production
- film production
- post-production
- design studios
- social media
- photo editor/researcher
- curation
- press relations
- teaching.
Our Staff
Grant Scott
Grant Scott, BA Photography Subject Coordinator, specialises in photography, the moving image, visual narrative and professional practices, and teaches across the course. He is a working photographer and has written three books on photography including 'The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography'. Grant is also the founder/ curator of www.unitednationsofphotography.com and the presenter/producer of the weekly podcast 'A Photographic Life'.
Read more about GrantFree language courses
Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
Related courses
Information from Discover Uni
The BA Photography was launched in 2019 and we are excited that our first cohort completing the course will be graduating in the summer of 2022. As such, there are no National Student Satisfaction (NSS) survey scores for the BA Photography at Oxford Brookes just yet. In this case, we are obliged to show a satisfaction score for a wider group of courses. The satisfaction score shown below does not include any students from the BA Photography course.
Full-time study
Part-time study
Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been
published on the website. For more information, please visit our
changes to programmes page.