Photography
The world needs people who can make an impact with images. Our course helps you discover your passions, strengths and your own visual language as you work alongside industry experts. You’ll develop skills that make you valuable everywhere from the arts and advertising to fashion and forensics.
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Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
PW36
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Start Date
September
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Location
Cardiff
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Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£9,535*
International students
£15,850*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
-
Start Date
September
-
Location
Cardiff
-
Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£9,535*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Follow your interests to become the versatile and multi-skilled photographer you’re meant to be, capable of thriving in any work environment.
DESIGNED FOR
Our course nurtures your unique vision, helping you grow as a photographer and individual. Discover your strengths, build confidence, and follow your inspiration. Embrace a transformative journey with 100% coursework and no exams. If you want to explore and challenge yourself this course is for you.
Accredited by
- The Association of Photographers
Skills taught
- Technical skills (camera and lighting craft, moving image and editing)
- Communication, presentation and networking
- Creative and critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Independent working
Career paths
- Photographer (Advertising, Art, Fashion, Architecture, Events etc.)
- Medical Photography and Forensic Imaging
- Advertising
- Publishing
- Curation
- Retouching
- Technician or Photography Assistant
- Photography or Studio Management
- Education
Course Highlights
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Module Overview
After gaining the key technical and conceptual groundwork in year one, you’ll apply your skills and knowledge in various industry-relevant projects alongside established pros, finding your own visual identity in the process and creating a body of work that supports your career aspirations.
Explore key technical skills and ideas relevant to the contemporary photography industry through engaging and challenging practical projects. Stimulating assignments and industry experiences will foster your creativity and help you understand and control the medium.
Is It Real?
Gain camera and exposure skills as you explore photography’s relationship to truth, reality and the physical world.
How We Tell Stories
Learn about photographic storytelling using key narrative tools such as image editing and sequencing.
Fake Views
Explore photography as make-believe, manipulating images through lighting and digital editing to create illusions.
What Do We Remember?
Understand how photos shape memories, connect us with the past and inform our view of the present and future.
Who We Are
Investigate how photography shapes individual and cultural identities, creating images based on your own cares and concerns.
Can We Create Change?*
Showcase your emerging visual identity with a collaborative project on positive environmental and societal impact.
*Part of this module can be studied through the medium of Welsh
Deepen your knowledge and learn how it applies to the contemporary photographic industry and various potential job roles that exist within it. Further develop your skills and gain the confidence to build your unique visual identity.
The Public
Advance your technical skills as you create a commercial campaign that informs and educates a defined public audience.
The Client
Work directly with a notable industry figure to produce and evaluate a commercial photographic advertising campaign.
The Idea
Use photography to explore the big questions of our time, initiating and researching ideas and developing subject matter.
The Commission
Work with an industry pro as you initiate, develop and realise a personal project in response to a given site.
Finding Your Place*
Dive into the industry as you explore career paths, engage with professionals, visit workplaces and get valuable feedback.
*Part of this module can be studied through the medium of Welsh
Make decisions about the kind of work you want to make, themes you wish to explore, and the position your work occupies within the broader photography industry. We will support you in building your confidence as an individual and preparing you for employment in the industry.
Independent Vision
Develop an ambitious, relevant and contemporary body of work demonstrating your capabilities and individuality.
Critical piece
Choose one of two critical modules where you’ll develop an academic piece relevant to your ambitions.
Either:
Critical Catalogue
Define and develop a visually creative catalogue pulling together contrasting imagery and ideas from existing artists.
Or:
Critical Paper*
Complete an essay exploring a subject relevant to your interests and supporting your practical photographic work.
Making Ready
Publish your work to the highest possible standard in a specific area of the industry, and present yourself professionally, ready for employment.
*Part of this module can be studied through the medium of Welsh
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS Points: 96 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: CCC to include a relevant art and design subject (this is equivalent to 96 UCAS tariff points).
- Welsh BACC: Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C in the Skills Challenge Certificate and CC at A Level with a relevant art and design subject (this is equivalent to 96 UCAS tariff points).
- BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Merit Merit Merit in a relevant subject (this is equivalent to 96 UCAS tariff points).
- Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points.
Additional requirements include:
- The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
- Applicants in the UK: Selection for this course is based on a suitable application. If you do not meet the entry criteria, you may also be required to provide a portfolio of your work to help us assess your suitability for the course.
- Applicants outside the UK: Selection for this course is based on a suitable application and submission of a portfolio of your work which the Course Leader confirms is suitable for an offer to be made.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,535
per year*£15,850
per year*Additional costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
* Obligatory
Printing Materials, Analogue Film, Processing, Props etc. dependent on nature of an individual student's photographic work.
Cost: £100-400 Per Annum
Course day trips to see photography and visit industry.
Cost: £20-40 Per Annum
Year 3 cost of professionally publishing final year work - this cost is dependent on the nature of an individual's photographic work and their specific aims regarding career steps and future employment.
Cost: £50-500 Final Year Only
* (Optional) Year 1, 2 & 3 Annual International Trip e.g. Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona (All trips are subject to change and viability in relation to student numbers)
Cost: £300-500 Per Trip
* (Optional) Digital SLR or Mirrorless Camera with interchangeable lens option – please note that we have a wide range of digital and analogue cameras available to Photography students to loan, following induction, from our excellent stores.
Cost: £250-£1000 One off purchase
Media Loans
You can hire a range of equipment, for your assignments and practical work, for free from our Media Loans facility.
Media LoansUniversity Quality Assurance
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
Assessment is 100% coursework - no exams on this course! Learn through a combination of workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials alongside screenings, gallery visits, field trips, industry briefs, and guest talks, all designed to further enhance and enrich your experience and knowledge. The emphasis is practical, but theoretical elements provide context and help you to place your work within the wider photographic world. Throughout the course you’ll have dedicated guidance and support but will also be expected to work independently and manage your time – especially in your final year where you’ll create a significant body of work.
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Teaching staff
Your teaching team is made up of passionate and dedicated tutors who are committed to your progression as a photographer and a creative individual. They provide the support, encouragement and freedom to discuss and explore the things that matter to you. All staff are accomplished photographers, artists, filmmakers and writers on photography, who are committed to helping you develop your unique vision in ways that lead to the best outcomes for you. We also invite industry specialists in to work with you, provide feedback and advice, talk about their photographic work and share insights into their areas of specialism.
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Placements and work experience
We pride ourselves on strong industry links and offer many opportunities to work with creative professionals through live projects and industry-facing modules. In year two, you work directly with leading figures and organisations, exploring areas of the industry that excite you. Placements at studios, events and workplaces give you unparalleled insights into how photography operates in the real world. You also have the option of a sandwich year between years 2 and 3 during which you can undertake a longer placement or series of placements within relevant areas of the photographic industry.
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Facilities
Our industry-standard facilities let you push visual boundaries with two professional studios, an editing suite, high-end print room, and darkroom. You also have access to a fabrication workshop, laser cutting, and 3D printing. Enjoy free use of our camera store, featuring brands like Phase One, Fuji, Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, and Sony, along with lighting gear from Profoto, Dracast, and Aputure. Based in Cardiff, you'll be near stunning urban, rural, and coastal landscapes, and you'll collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds and creative fields.
Equipment
At our Cardiff Campus we have a vast range of equipment that you will be trained to use as part of your course. To help support your studies we have a Media Loans facility that allows you to hire the equipment, at no cost, for you to then use for your assignments and practical work. We have both basic and high-end film and photography cameras, portable lighting and sound equipment as well as a range of professional studio recording microphones, instruments and associated equipment to use in our music studios or on location. The team of technical officers and instructors are also available to help you with any queries and technical issues.
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Life at USW
Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.
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Top in Wales for assessment in Film Production and Photography (Guardian University Guide 2024).
100% of BA (Hons) Photography students at USW were satisfied with their course. (National Student Survey 2024).
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How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time.)
Advanced entry
If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
International admissions
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
