BA Art and Film

With BA Art and Film discover film from the late nineteenth century to the modern day while developing your professional practice under the guidance of internationally renowned artists and curators at Reading School of Art.

Explore both the practical and theoretical sides of art and film and investigate how each discipline has influenced the other.

You will join a lively and creative community, explore a vast range of media, experiment with emerging art forms and develop as an artist. Your art will be complemented with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art. You will have your own dedicated space, accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and a studio tutor who will help you develop your individual and professional practice. The studios are a busy place with events, screenings, performances and exhibitions happening regularly.

There are regular trips to museums and art galleries to prompt thoughts on how art is displayed and received. You will gain professional experience throughout your degree by taking part in your own exhibitions, public art commissions and events.

In Film, you will choose from a range of modules covering world cinema, new forms of digital entertainment and video art, and the cinema of classical and contemporary Hollywood, such as musicals, melodrama, action cinema and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Practical work complements your critical and theoretical study allowing you to apply what you learn through practice, drawing on the market-leading facilities of the £11.4-million Minghella building, including a film and television studio, cutting rooms and audio post-production facilities, three theatre spaces, and a digital cinema.

Placements and collaborations are actively encouraged and there is also the chance to experience life in another country by studying abroad. Opportunities for work-based learning and personal development complement your core learning.

In the National Student Survey 2023, 90% of our students said that teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (89.92% of respondents studying in the School of Arts and Communication Design).

Placement

All students are encouraged to work with different artists and designers in hosting events and exhibitions. Past students have enjoyed internships at Studio Voltaire and the Frieze Art Fair. Others have performed at the ICA, taken part in an Arts Council-supported film project at the Museum of Rural Life and participated in an international exhibition at the Seoul Institute of Arts in South Korea.

Regular field trips to national and international museums, art institutions and galleries allow you to consider the diverse conditions in which art is displayed and received. There are also many opportunities for you to apply to study abroad: Reading School of Art has links with universities in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, France, Switzerland and Finland.

For more information, please visit the Reading School of Art website.

Overview

Explore both the practical and theoretical sides of art and film and investigate how each discipline has influenced the other.

Placement

For more information, please visit the Reading School of Art website.

Entry requirements A Level BBB

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Our typical offers are expressed in terms of A level, BTEC and International Baccalaureate requirements. However, we also accept many other qualifications.

Typical offer

BBB

You will be asked to provide an online portfolio of your work when you apply.

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM

UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma

Merit

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5.

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Compulsory modules

Art Studio

Discover contemporary art and its global histories, models of practices, and practical and professional skills. You’ll learn the codes of good practice, health and safety, and sustainability in the studio, while producing and presenting artworks that develop your reflective and analytical skills.

Drawing

Expand your drawing competence and skill set as you discover a range of different methods, techniques, materials and tools, applying your enhanced proficiency to different contexts and subject specialisms.

Approaches to Film

Critically interpret film texts and discover the conventions of fiction and non-fiction cinema. Explore cinema as a diverse, global and transcultural medium, focusing on historical and cultural contexts.

Approaches to Television

Gain a critical understanding of central issues in television texts and fiction and non-fiction programming. You’ll examine television forms and narratives, industrial contexts, digital platforms and new delivery technologies, as well as the role of the audience and public service broadcasting.

Optional modules

Comedy on Stage and Screen

Gain insights into how comedy intersects with film, theatre and television through a series of case studies. You’ll learn how humour highlights critical issues such as identity politics (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability), taboo, embarrassment, cult, cancel or outrage culture, and explore relevant production, industrial and socio-cultural contexts.

Radical Forms in Theatre and Performance

Discover the history, traditions, practices, and theoretical and analytical perspectives of radical theatre-making and experimental performance practice. You’ll learn to appreciate the cultural, political, and aesthetic significance of radical experimentation in theatre and performances, and express critical understanding of creative practice and risk-taking.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Art Studio 2

Learn to identify and investigate your own interests and concerns through practical engagement in the studio. You’ll develop your capacity for self-criticism through informed debate, as well as your confidence and the ability to present exhibitions.

Film Forms and Cultures

Discover the rich variety of film forms and explore critical and conceptual issues of form, including theoretical perspectives, questions of form, and form’s meaning and politics.

Optional modules

History of Art 3

Explore different forms of art writing, from criticism and visual analysis to interpretation and digital culture. You’ll consider how art history shapes our world and is shaped by our world, as you develop your research and communication skills and reflect critically on the different purposes of art writing.

International Study

Embark on a supervised study visit to a major European art centre where you’ll encounter and experience contemporary art and art history first hand. Your trip will incorporate major museums, galleries, and collections as you enhance your understanding of art history beyond an academic context. Recent visits have included Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Venice.

Placement and Employment Skills

This module provides you with an opportunity for reflective learning and intensive research through an industry role of your choice. You’ll reflect critically on your career development and acquire transferable skills for future employment.

Documentary

Develop skills to critically analyse and produce non-fiction films and television through close analysis of texts and engagement with various industrial and technological contexts. You’ll engage with critical debates and conceptual issues and put ideas into practice. You’ll understand documentary-makers' creative decision-making and their connection to ideological concerns.

Television and Contemporary Culture

Engage with issues of genre, globalisation, industry, and representation. You’ll examine the construction of critical and contextual frameworks that underpin television studies. Explore television’s international flows, build a picture of national industrial practices, and analyse digital media practices and platforms. You’ll develop a critical understanding of conventions and histories of selected genres and explore the implied impact of ideologies of representation.

Identity, Performance and Culture

Understand the construction, representation and performance of diverse modes of identity in theatre and in culture. You’ll develop skills of close textual and performance analysis, and learn how local, national and global contexts have influenced playwrights, theatre makers and theatre cultures.

Reworking Shakespeare in Performance

Understand Shakespeare as a powerful signifier of culture, explore adaptations of Shakespeare and learn how these relate to broader cultural and political contexts. You’ll learn about the practices and preoccupations that currently affect the interpretation of Shakespeare and gain the ability to make connections between social and cultural concerns and their presentation on stage.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Art Studio 2b

Situated Art Practice 4

Shape your understanding of the global and historical diversity of models in artistic practices. You’ll realise your active role as an artist in shaping and being shaped by the world as you apply key research methods and present your material an appropriate format.

Optional modules

Performance and Design

Critically explore theatre and performance design by engaging with historical and contemporary scenographic practices. You’ll learn about the role of designers in shaping and reimagining theatre and performance. You’ll advance the ways you read, see and encounter the visual, aural, spatial, material and technological elements of design. Get involved in critical reading and discussions on a diverse range of international designers, methods and performance environments. You’ll gain exposure to professional contexts through visits to archives, talks or masterclasses from visiting designers and/or scholars.

Adaptations across Stage and Screen

Develop your knowledge and artistic practice in film, television and theatre through exploration of the processes of adaptation and engagement with critical, cultural and political considerations. You’ll have the opportunity to explore a range of practices, such as page to stage/screen, citation of iconic characters, fanfiction and digital reworkings, docudramas and documentary theatre, intercultural retellings and translations, contemporary retelling of historical narratives, and reworkings of productions in the same media.

Screen Bodies

Discover how diverse bodies move on screen, and how those bodies engage the spectator’s body. You’ll explore how the screen representation of the body is shaped by culturally situated ideas about body and society, and power and desire – including creative traditions, influences, technologies, and innovations. As you examine how the screen body generates meaning, you’ll study access to representation, visibility, marginalisation, and consent.

Advanced Scriptwriting

Create original scripts and develop your critical understanding of key storytelling issues such as narrative, character, dialogue, and place. Your scriptwriting practice will include both individual and collaborative forms of writing and rewriting, and you'll engage with discourses around scriptwriting emerging from both theatre pedagogy and screenwriting studies, including projects for decolonising stage and screen writing traditions.

Musical Theatre

Explore the theories, themes, politics, and practices of contemporary musical theatre. You’ll focus on the research and development (R&D) of musical theatre, its dramaturgy, political context, modes of production, representation, and reception.

Film Festivals and Programming

Gain advanced knowledge of modes of programming arthouse, alternative, and experimental venues, as well as organising festivals. Through seminars, workshops and group projects, you’ll explore how festivals (such as Cannes, Venice and Berlin) work as effective filters for wider distribution, and how festivals and programing are key to understanding the kinds of world cinema we watch.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Art Studio 3b

Challenge yourself by developing an independent, creative and critically informed art practice as you advance your own interests and concerns through practical engagement in the studio. Expand your research skills in relation to your individual art practice, and in the understanding of both historical and contemporary practices of art.

Optional modules

Dissertation: Art and Film and Theatre

Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired in the previous modules to a major piece of independent work around an area you are interested in. Independently initiate and develop the project under the guidance of a supervisor.

Creative Research Project

Apply your previously gained knowledge and skills to a significant research-based project that includes a creative element and critical research and reflection. You’ll develop the project independently under supervision.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,535 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

New international students: £25,250 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

Tuition fees

To find out more about how the University of Reading sets its tuition fees, see our fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. In addition to university-wide scholarships, the department offers the Bulmershe Bursary that supports eligible students with £1,000 towards the costs of university life. It is open to all full-time UK or EU undergraduate students studying degrees offered by Film, Television, and Theatre including our joint honours programmes. Students can apply in semester 1 of each year. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Placement year fees

If you spend a full year on placement, you will only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee for that year. For more information, please see our fees and funding pages or contact placements@reading.ac.uk.

Careers

As well as the practical experience gained on this degree our students also graduate with a range of transferable skills, such as self-motivation, time management and strategic thinking. They have greater self-confidence and are better able to express themselves.

Overall, 93.5% of graduates from Reading School of Art are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (based on our analysis of HESA data (c) HESA 2023, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21 includes first degree Art responders).

We also incorporate careers development into your learning from your second year.

Many of our graduates develop successful careers as artists, writers and curators. These include a number of famous alumni, such as Turner Prize-nominated artists, and PhD students who are award-winning artists and curators at influential museum.

Others have found employment in galleries, education, art therapy, film and video production, journalism, advertising and teaching. Recent employers include Tate, Whitechapel Gallery, Christies, Microsoft, the BBC, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Manolo Blahnik.

Other graduates continue their studies both with us and at other universities, or go into teacher training.

BA Art and Film

Placement

Tuition fees

Additional costs

Financial support for your studies

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