ART AND DESIGN courses at Salford

The shared Foundation Year provides the perfect opportunity for people who want more time to explore the key principles of art, design and media. The course is designed to help you develop your creative skills, it gives you a chance to build a larger portfolio, and provides a good transition period to familiarise yourself with the School of Art and Media and life as a student at Salford. The following are four year programmes: our shared Foundation Year followed by the degree programme: 

• BA (Hons) Costume Design with Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Film, TV and Stage Design with Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Fine Art with Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design with Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Interior Design with Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Photography with Foundation Year

Undergraduate art and design degree courses

Spend three years exploring the areas of art and design which interest you most. You’ll gain an understanding of the general skills you’ll need, and as you progress, you’ll get the chance to shape your degree how you want to.

• BA (Hons) Costume Design
• BA (Hons) Film, TV and Stage Design
• BA (Hons) Fine Art
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design
• BA (Hons) Interior Design
• BA (Hons) Photography

Postgraduate art and design degree courses

These courses will allow you to build on your undergraduate and work experiences too far, to further develop your skills and job prospects in a specific area.

• MA Contemporary Fine Art
• MA Creative Technology
• MA Photography
• MA Socially Engaged Arts Practice
• MA Socially Engaged Photography
• MA Visual Communication

As part of your application, we will need to see a portfolio of your work to provide an opportunity for you to share your creative practice with us. Any offers will be conditional upon our subject team having the opportunity to review your portfolio.

The below course areas have an Instagram account so you can keep up to date with what our students and staff are up to:

• Graphic Design
• Costume Design
• Fine Art
• Film, TV and Stage Design
• Interior Design 
• Photography
• Art and Design Foundation Year courses 

You can also follow the Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. 

In year one, you’ll be taught the basics of various media, such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, film, digital software and more. You can apply these processes to whatever ideas you are exploring in the studio. 

Our students have the freedom to specialise in one particular media, or they can try out lots of different ways of working over the three years of study.

The nature of most of the art and design courses is to be taught face to face in the studios creating and learning alongside peers and staff. 

Most sessions will be taught face-to-face. However, since the pandemic, we have listened to our students and found that including some elements of online teaching works well.

We have a resource centre where you can buy a wide range of consumables like paper, paints, brushes, printmaking materials and much more.

When you come to study with us, we recommend that you bring a pencil case full of your favourite drawing materials and some essential tools, depending on your budget and the course you want to study.

We also have an equipment store located on campus for you to loan a range of cameras, tablets, lighting, and other specialist equipment.

Yes! At the University of Salford, we offer lots of support for commuter students. We have two Commuter Hubs, which are designated areas on campus for students who want somewhere to study away from the library, make and eat their own food, or even play some Xbox games. 

We also have excellent transport links - there is reasonable parking on campus, a train station next to Peel Park Campus, and buses running every few minutes into Manchester and going into Greater Manchester.

This depends on the programme you are on. First-year students are often in three days a week. Typically, the contact hours are 09:30 - 16:30, although some days may be shorter. You will usually have one full day free a week to enable you to participate in extra-curricular activities or work part-time.

You can see some examples of our art and design students' work on their course Instagram profiles below:

• Graphic Design
• Costume Design
• Fine Art
• Film, TV and Stage Design
• Interior Design 
• Photography
• Art and Design Foundation Year courses 

You can also follow the Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts to see examples of student success stories and more.

All of our art and design university courses will require you to explore theory and will involve writing essays or giving group presentations. This will help you become a better communicator and support your learning and development practices. 

We do have a strong practical focus in our degrees though, which allows you to take advantage of our cutting-edge facilities, so you can refine your craft and learn new techniques and skills.

We have experienced staff teaching on all our courses, who have built great and long-lasting relationships with the creative sector. You'll be encouraged to apply for opportunities throughout your learning experience where you could gain practical work experience.

Graduates may be able to apply for internships in the School of Arts, Media or Creative Technology, or in the University Marketing and Communications teams.

Once you graduate, you'll gain the skills needed to apply for a job within the creative industry. You can find out more about the type of jobs you get once you complete a degree with us by attending our upcoming Open Days.

Yes, we have many industry professionals involved in our art and design programmes and special guest lecturers talking about their work and professions throughout the year.

We celebrate the achievements of our students and graduates each year at our annual Create Student Awards, and through the Degree Show, School Graduate Scholarship Award, and subject level celebrations.

We'll encourage and support you to find your voice, take bold creative risks and get industry-ready. Depending on the course you choose, you'll take part in seminars where you'll present your own ideas to both our teaching staff and your peers to help you develop your ideas. 

We know that having great facilities is only half the story. We employ specialist technicians who will work with you on your chosen course to teach you the relevant skills needed to succeed, whether that's learning how to use industry-standard design software or how to use our specialist arts facilities. 

We've had students that have won numerous industry awards from D&AD's to School Graduate scholarships.

Read through some recent success stories about what projects our students and staff have supported:

• Extinction Rebellion and The University of Salford collaboration 
• Snappy Valley: The small market town with the big lockdown story to share
• Salford to support Tate Liverpool on Emily Speed exhibition 
• Design students bring Manchester Day Parade to the New Adelphi
• Graphic Design graduate collaborates with MIF on response to Riz Ahmed's The Long Goodbye 
• Fine Art students work with Sally Gifford for this year's Art Assembly 2022

Many of our graduates have shaped successful careers within the creative sector. One of which is Sade Dobbs, a proud graduate from our BA (Hons) Fine Art course. Sade was awarded with the University of Salford’s Alumni Achievement award for her creative contributions to the Art and Design sector.