Fine Art BA (Hons)
Subject and course type
- Fine art
- Undergraduate
Study for your degree in Fine Art at Kingston University, ranked Top 10 in the UK for Art & Design (The Complete University Guide 2026). As part of the Kingston School of Art, you'll benefit from a creative community and curriculum that has produced renowned, prize-winning artists.
This course is in Clearing.
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Experiment and explore your creative potential
Develop your ideas through sculpture, painting, printmaking, installation, film, photography, performance and sound.
Prepare for a career in the visual arts or wider creative industries with the Fine Art BA (Hons) course from Kingston University.
You'll benefit from dedicated studios and stunning technical workshops, where you can develop your individual and collaborative creative skills in a range of traditional media and new technologies.
We also have excellent links with many London-based, national and international organisations, such as large publicly funded galleries, museums, private galleries, and artist-run spaces and collectives.
You'll also be part of a community which has produced prize-winning artists, such as Fiona Banner (Tate Britain Duveen commission 2010), Kaye Donachie, Sarah Maple and Sarah McCrory, Director of CCA Goldsmiths and co-judge of the Turner Prize 2014.
Fine art at Kingston School of Art
Fine art students are discovering how their subject is connected to the world around them and exploring their interests through different mediums. Discover the supportive culture at Kingston School of Art.
Student work
Why choose this course
This course enables you to work with a range of traditional and new technologies. You’ll be taught by practising artists, writers and curators, and have opportunities for national and international field trips and studying abroad.
Through exchanges, residencies, competitions, travel scholarships and live projects, we provide students with first-hand professional experience in the creative sector, often leading to ongoing partnerships.
All students attend a diverse series of professional skills lectures, practice seminars and artist talks from staff and guest lecturers. They will share knowledge and advice to help you navigate a future career in the creative industries. You will learn how to develop and present your outward-facing profile using key strategic skills for planning, showing, recording and communicating your work.
Students also have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of workshops and internal/external live projects. This enables you to gain valuable experience of the industry while working collaboratively and across disciplines. Kingston School of Art has recently worked with organisations such as Tate, Stanley Picker Gallery, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), William Morris Society, Drawing Room and Goldsmiths CCA.
The Complete University Guide 2026 ranks us in the Top 10 in the UK for Art & Design – covers Fashion, Fashion Promotion and Communication, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration Animation, Interior Design, and Product and Furniture Design.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and labs are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
This course provides an integrated approach to fine art practice. You'll have the opportunity to study painting, sculpture, printmaking, lens-based media, performance and site-specific activity and new technologies, either in single, unchanging disciplines throughout three years or in combinations. Modules focus on making, exhibiting and contextualising art. You'll be introduced to the importance of understanding the value of professionally sharing your practice though exhibiting work and organising exhibitions within the University and at external venues in Kingston and Central London.
Year 1
Year 1 encourages an exploratory approach to fine art. Subject workshops, talks and critiques introduce a wide range of media, technologies and disciplines. You'll undertake independent studio practice, test your ideas, your use of media and collaborate with your peers. Critical and Historical Studies modules will explore the relationship of written and spoken communications to media and materials.
Core modules
60 credits
This module is designed to promote effective use of the studio to stimulate the establishment of a Fine Art practice and to introduce a broad subject context alongside that delivered through Critical Historical Studies.
Through independent, peer and group learning, you will be encouraged to identify and develop new practical / thinking skills and interests and to nurture existing ones.
With consideration to established methods, you will be asked to consider new and alternative modes of practice in and beyond the studio and to begin to invest in collaborative approaches to making and reviewing your work. You are invited to be curious and reflective in your approach to materials, processes and ideas as well as to establish strategies for self-management and enrichment.
30 credits
This module supports you to disseminate the work you make to critically reflect on what you have done and to gain awareness of a broad professional context for Fine Art practice.
You will be encouraged to acquire strategic skills for planning, showing, recording and communicating work in a variety of formats, including publication and exhibition via analogue, digital and online media. By rendering and displaying practical work for peers, teaching staff and external audiences, you will gain an awareness of the importance of editing and evaluating the work you have made.
30 credits
This module introduces the various contexts in which the contemporary practices of fine art, are defined, debated and displayed. The module is designed to support your first steps as practitioners within the wider field of the visual arts in the 21st century. Through lectures, discussions, screenings and exhibition visits you will be introduced to the historical framework of modernity and post-modernity in order to understand the development and contemporary situation of your discipline.
The module is organised as discrete but related teaching blocks that progress from broader questions of cultural practice to the more specific debates that have framed the historical development fine art and its associated fields - for example experimental filmmaking, video making and photography. In the first block, the emphasis is broad and focused on developing in you, an understanding of the notion of practice in the visual arts, by addressing the historical, theoretical, social and political factors that have affected our understanding of its function. In the second block, you will be encouraged to consider the key debates, theoretical questions and changing contexts that inform your discipline. Throughout, there is an emphasis on the introduction of key analytical, critical and research skills, and through close engagement with visual sources, historical texts and contemporary critical writing, you will begin to develop the tools necessary to discuss, conceptualise and reflect on your own emerging practice.
Year 2
In Year 2 you'll develop your individual creative expression and build your interdisciplinary experience and collaborative skills. This includes optional live projects. You'll develop technical skills and explore a wide range of source material in a critical and analytical context.
Core modules
60 credits
This module promotes effective use of the studio to develop your fine art practice. Through a process of continuous practice-based research, you are supported to expand on ideas with further experimentation, to develop and extend your own formal language within the context of contemporary Fine Art.
Through independent, peer and group learning, you are encouraged to enhance your practical / thinking skills and interests and to nurture existing ones.
Throughout this module, you are encouraged to pursue increasingly self-led enquiry, in and beyond the studio, and to continue to invest in collaborative approaches to making and reviewing your work. You are supported to be increasingly analytical in your approach to materials, processes and ideas, and to hone strategies for self-management and enrichment.
30 credits
Designed to help develop the skills that will equip you for a professional life in work, this module supports you to enlarge upon your knowledge of a broad professional context for Fine Art practice.
You will develop upon and enhance relevant strategies for planning, curating, exhibiting, and documenting work in a variety of ways, including publication and exhibition via analogue, digital and online media. By testing and determining increasingly relevant strategies for rendering and displaying practical work to peers, teaching staff and external audiences, you will develop further awareness of the importance of editing, evaluating and adapting the work you have made in plural contexts.
Assisting Level 6 students with the mounting of a final show further develops your exhibition and project planning skills.
30 credits
This module engages you with the critical issues driving contemporary art practice within the expanded field in which it operates. The module emphasises practical, experiential research-led enquiry and reflection as an integral mode of learning common to both art practice and the study of art's histories and theories. You will identify, explore and analyse current trends by investigating the contexts in which those issues emerge – in critical literature, art writing, exhibitions and curatorial agenda.
Looking outwards to address the contemporary manifestations of the relationships between, for example, art and politics, the operation of global capital, activism and community, changing sites and spaces of the production of meaning, the politics of identity, and contemporary turns in philosophy and critical theory, the module also encourages you to reflect and begin to situate yourself. Making links and interpreting the themes emerging in your own practice, the module gives you the building blocks to construct an informed critical and conceptual framework within which to operate while forging connections to wider artistic networks and contexts beyond the studio.
Year 3
In Year 3, you'll continue your independent study. Your work will express increasingly subtle and complex visual arguments, reflecting current critical, conceptual, theoretical and aesthetic issues. You'll complete a dissertation, final portfolio and exhibit your work.
Core modules
60 credits
This module is designed to be the culmination of previous studio practice modules in which you are required to synthesise the contingent parts of your prior academic experience and consolidate your learning through a comprehensive body of work, enabling you to progress to professional practice or further study.
At previous levels of study, you will have progressed your learning incrementally and as such you will have acquired the tools to engage with this module and demonstrate your achievements in an appropriate final presentation. You are encouraged to reflect on the knowledge and skills that you have acquired during your degree and, through independent, peer and group learning you will be encouraged to learn how to present them to an audience external to your immediate peer group.
Additionally, you are encouraged to continue to develop an authoritative understanding of contemporary fine art and the critical evaluation skills essential to fine art practice.
30 credits
Building on previous achievements in the professional presentation of your work to an audience, in this module you will fine-tune your exhibition skills and extend your ability to document and communicate your work in a way that is fitting to your individual professional.
You are required to develop your understanding of how to pursue a professional fine art practice, and an awareness of the possibilities for success in both continuing as an artist and / or moving into other related areas. A combination of final exhibition and portfolio enable students to highlight and synthesise your achievements in the final year of undergraduate study and produce documentation that can be applied to a range of career choices.
15 credits
This module supports an extended research project that deepens your understanding of critical issues relevant to your practice. You’ll explore a topic of your choosing, framed by questions emerging from your own design work and informed by relevant theory, history, or cultural context. Working independently and with tutor support, you’ll undertake rigorous enquiry using appropriate research methods and sources. Through this process, you’ll build your ability to reflect critically, argue persuasively, and contribute to contemporary discourse in interaction design.
15 credits
This module gives you a dedicated opportunity to develop your Future Skills Graduate Attributes.
At the start of the module, you will be supported to self-assess your current skills profile. You will determine which attributes and skills you need to develop to support your career ambitions. In this process, you will be supported by a dedicated career coach, helping you explore a range of options that includes self-employment/freelancing, starting your own business, higher level study, and other professional graduate-level opportunities. Throughout the module, you will be given opportunities to engage with external mentors, to support reflection and to develop a professional network.
You will undertake a tailored series of activities and projects, aligned to your goals, from a menu of development options. This could include short courses, enrichment activities and experiential learning options such as micro-placements. You will also be able to reflect on activities outside the University that develop your graduate attributes, such as work or volunteering.
International students: direct application
Are you an international student? Have you decided Kingston is the place for you? If so, you can apply for this course directly, rather than having to go through UCAS.
What career opportunities does this course offer?
Graduates from our Fine Arts BA (Hons) course are well-positioned to work as independent artists, curators, writers and beyond. Some are instrumental in setting up, and contributing to, new creative, cultural, and educational spaces. Others progress to postgraduate study and research, or go on to teach and provide technical support to others in galleries and museums, schools and universities.
Future Skills
Our Future Skills programme is embedded within all our undergraduate courses and throughout the whole Kingston experience. These skills will help you to become a future-proof graduate by equipping you with the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency and adaptability.
As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills. You’ll also understand how to demonstrate and articulate to employers how these future skills give you the edge.
Teaching and assessment
Scheduled learning and teaching on this course includes timetabled activities including lectures, seminars and small group tutorials.
It may also include critiques, project work, studio practice and performance, digital labs, workshops, and placements.
Outside the scheduled learning and teaching hours, you will learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, preparing for and completing your work for assessments. Some independent study work may need to be completed on-campus, as you may need to access campus-based facilities such as studios and labs.
Our academic support team here at Kingston University provides help in a range of areas.
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of academic staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at Kingston and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer at Kingston University.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 120 credits across a year (typical for an undergraduate course) would equate to 1,200 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below for each year of study. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- Year 1: 25% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 2: 25% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 3: 19% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Types of assessment
- Year 1: Coursework 100%
- Year 2: Coursework 100%
- Year 3: Coursework 100%
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | £10,050* |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2027/28): | £22,900 |
| Year 2 (2028/29): | £23,800 |
| Year 3 (2029/30): | £24,800 |
The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student.
For courses with Professional Placement, the fee for the placement year can be viewed on the undergraduate fees table. The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.
*For full-time programmes lasting more than one academic year, a tuition fee is payable for each academic year of the course.
Your annual tuition fee covers your first attempt at all modules required for that academic year. Any re-study or repeat of modules will incur additional charges, calculated according to the number of credits taken.
Home students (UK):
Tuition fees are subject to inflation-linked increases in line with government policy. Updated fees will be confirmed in line with the maximum fee cap set by the Government or the Office for Students (OfS) for each academic year. This means your fee may increase for each academic year of study, but only up to the maximum amount permitted for that year.
Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.
International students:
Full-time taught international student fees are subject to an annual increase, which is published in advance for the full duration of your programme.
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | £9,790* |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2026/27): | £21,400 |
| Year 2 (2027/28): | £22,300 |
| Year 3 (2028/29): | £23,200 |
The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student.
For courses with Professional Placement, the fee for the placement year can be viewed on the undergraduate fees table. The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.
*For full-time programmes lasting more than one academic year, a tuition fee is payable for each academic year of the course.
Your annual tuition fee covers your first attempt at all modules required for that academic year. Any re-study or repeat of modules will incur additional charges, calculated according to the number of credits taken.
Home students (UK):
Tuition fees are subject to inflation-linked increases in line with government policy. Updated fees will be confirmed in line with the maximum fee cap set by the Government or the Office for Students (OfS) for each academic year. This means your fee may increase for each academic year of study, but only up to the maximum amount permitted for that year.
Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.
International students:
Full-time taught international student fees are subject to an annual increase, which is published in advance for the full duration of your programme.
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | £9,535* |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2025/26): | £19,500 |
| Year 2 (2026/27): | £20,300 |
| Year 3 (2027/28): | £21,100 |
The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student. In 2025/26 the fees for this course are above.
For courses with Professional Placement, the fee for the placement year can be viewed on the undergraduate fees table. The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.
*For full-time programmes lasting more than one academic year, a tuition fee is payable for each academic year of the course. Your annual tuition fees cover your first attempt at all of the modules necessary to complete that academic year. A re-study of any modules will incur additional charges calculated by the number of credits. Home tuition fees may be subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body. Full time taught International fees are subject to an annual increase and are published in advance for the full duration of the programme.
Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying this course at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip. You'll have access to a range of facilities and resources at Kingston University, however you may choose to purchase your own art materials and equipment, which can cost between £0 and £2,000.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations – Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames and Norbiton.
Students are not required to exhibit off site, however you might choose to invest in external opportunities. There may be costs for participating in external shows and exhibitions, which can range from £0 to £300. You could also incur travel costs, which will vary according to the location.
Collaborations and industry links
A Particular Reality
Founded in 2018, A Particular Reality is a collective formed by students, alumni and educators from the Fine Art departments at Goldsmiths University of London, Kingston School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University and Middlesex University. Together, we have a commitment to building creative learning environments upon the values of equity and care. A Particular Reality has established connections with Goldsmiths CCA gallery and was selected to be one of 10 community and student groups taking up residence in the John Garcia Family Foundation Gallery.
Industry prizes
We have several annual prizes connected to industry. Two of these are the Remit Bronze Awards, which allow 5-6 students each year to realise their work through the medium of bronze, working with industry leading specialists in casting.
Folium Publishers award a prize each year to a current student to realise their ideas into a limited-edition publication at their studios in South London.
Stanley Picker Trust Fund
Through our long-standing connection and support from the Stanely Picker Trust Fund we are able to:
- co-fund 4 students each year to attend to the Summer Salzburg Academy in Austria.
- employ an annual graduate from the MFA Print course at the Royal College of Art.
- provide a yearly project fund for students to apply for, to aid in equipment, material, workshop, exhibition and travel costs.
Staff research
Our staff research and practice feed directly into the course content. In 2023, Fine Art Professor and Turner Prize Nominee Mike Nelson transformed the Hayward Galleries on Southbank with installations that take the viewer on enthralling journeys into fictive worlds, in a show called Extinction Beckons. The immersive installations were constructed with materials scavenged from salvage yards, junk shops, auctions and flea markets.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
Key information
The scrolling banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).
