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Photography

BA (Hons)

Key facts

UCAS code

W640

Start dates

September 2023 / September 2024

Location

Headington

Course length

Full time: 3 years, or 4 years with a work placement

Part time: 6 years, maximum 8 years

Department

School of Arts

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.

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

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 language requirements

Please see the University's standard English language requirements.

International qualifications and equivalences

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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 UCAS

Part time Home (UK) applicants

Apply direct to the University

International applicants

Apply direct to the University

Full time international applicants can also apply through UCAS

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

International full time
£14,600

Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£15,200

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2022 / 23
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

International full time
£14,600

2023 / 24
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£15,200

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

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. Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.

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.

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. 

Student taking pictures with a camera

Study modules

Year 1

Compulsory modules

Photography Project 1: The self & the other

Professional Contexts 1: Exhibiting Photographs

Histories and Theories 1: The politics & poetics of looking

Photography Project 2: Location & environment

Professional Contexts 2: Modes and sites of publication

Histories and Theories 2: Space, place & culture

Year 2

Compulsory modules

Photography Project 3: Mediation & moving image

Professional Contexts 3a: Photography and the Creative Industries

Professional Contexts 4: Professional Practice

Histories & Theories 3: Media, culture & communication

Photography project 4: Visual narratives & cultural contexts

Histories & Theories 4: Ethics, politics and visual narratives

Optional modules

Professional Contexts 4a: Editorial photography

Year 3 (placement year)

Optional modules

Career Development Placement

Career Development Placement The aim of this module is to develop the professional profile and professional confidence of a student through experiential learning opportunities and engagement with external organisations by undergoing work placements, internships and industry experiences. It aims to enable students to manage their own learning and self-direction through identifying opportunities that align to their disciplinary ambitions, situating their practice in a professional context. It offers a range of options including an Enterprise Residency where students can operate as freelancers and develop ideas for a start-up business with the full support of Brookes Enterprise Support.

Year 4 (or year 3 if no placement)

Compulsory modules

Photography Project 5: Research & development

Written Research Project

Photography Project 6: Independent Practice

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.

The 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.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

You are assessed on coursework only. This will include a final body of practical work and a dissertation. 

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 and 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 Grant

Free 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.

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.