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BA Art and Film
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UCAS code
WW60 -
A level offer
BBB -
Year of entry
2025/26 -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
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Year of entry
2025/26 -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
Discover films from the late nineteenth century to the modern day and develop your professional practice with help from internationally renowned artists and curators at Reading School of Art, with our BA Art and Film.
At the University of Reading, you’ll explore both the practical and theoretical sides of art and film and investigate how each discipline has influenced the other. The University of Reading ranks in the top 100 for Arts and Humanities globally (=91 in QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2024) and top 150 for Arts and Design globally (101-150 in QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2024).
Led by staff from Reading School of Art and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, you’ll hone your skills as a thoughtful, informed creator, gaining a meaningful expertise in both subjects. You’ll be encouraged to investigate, critically reflect, and develop independent learning through the study, discussion and practice of contemporary art and filmmaking from a range of periods and cultural settings
During this four-year joint degree, you'll have the opportunity to:
- build on your practical skills
- explore the practice, theory and history of art
- benefit from our approach to the subject, and particular focus on contemporary art
- put your learning into practice through studio-based modules
- attend exhibitions
- receive an induction on the use of filmmaking facilities and equipment
- incorporate career development into your learning from your second year of study.
Your learning environment
The Reading’s School of Art is a hub for many kinds of activities, with events, screenings, performances and exhibitions taking place regularly. Our teaching staff are all artists and curators highly connected with the creative world beyond the University, and strongly encourage regular exhibitions and open debate.
Our new School of Art building opened in September 2023 and is the perfect spot for exploring different media in our workshops and exhibiting your work whist being near the centre of our Whiteknights campus.
You’ll also have access to the Minghella Studios, home of the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, where you’ll complement your theoretical learning with practical work. The £11.4m building includes:
- three theatre spaces
- a film and television studio
- cutting rooms and audio post-production facilities
- a digital cinema.
Your learning journey
Studying at the Reading School of Art allows you to explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms.
Over the course of your four years of study, you will:
- work with academics who include artists, curators and researchers
- be encouraged to participate in exhibitions, public art commissions and events
- receive dedicated studio space, accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and a studio tutor to help develop your individual and professional practice.
You will complement your practical art with modules in contemporary art theory and the history of art. Through the lectures, seminars and studio teaching – as well as weekly visiting artist talks – you will be exposed to the language, vocabulary and debates that have emerged historically and evolved to forge contemporary art.
For your art modules, you will have access to our range of facilities. These include:
- studios for construction, printing and casting
- darkroom for photography
- digital tools for film and video editing, imaging, sound and web building.
In art, you will join a lively and creative community, in which you will explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms. You'll be assigned a studio space, accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a studio tutor who will help you develop your individual and professional practice.
Regular trips to museums and art galleries will 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 studies, 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.
You’ll familiarise with the academic study of film and moving image culture across a range of approaches and practices, instilling foundational terminology and key disciplinary debates. You'll also have the opportunity to engage with the discipline both theoretically and practically, learning the scholarly protocol of formal essay-writing.
Professional development
You may have the opportunity to undertake a placement forming all or part of an optional module.
Past students have:
- interned at Studio Voltaire and the Frieze Art Fair
- performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
- taken part in an Arts Council-supported film project at the Museum of Rural Life
- participated in an international exhibition at the Seoul Institute of Arts in South Korea.
Reading is one of the fastest-growing screen industry hubs in the UK. The University of Reading is a founding member of Screen Berkshire, a partnership between Berkshire based film production companies, studios and the University set up provide training and pathways to employment within the Film and Television industry. By studying with us you will benefit from these connections and opportunities to enhance your industry related skills and experience. You’ll interact with industry standard facilities and professional staff and be supported by our Business and Employability Manager dedicated to helping you develop your CV and find future employment within screen industry. During your time here and once you’ll graduate, you’ll also benefit from the Screen Berkshire Freelance Network which hosts networking events for local freelance film and TV professionals and highlights employment opportunities.
You’ll also be close to Shinfield Studios (hosts to the recent filming for Netflix’s Bridgerton and Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ and ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’) which are built on University of Reading land and part of the Screen Berkshire partnership. The studios include 18 sound stages, a 9-acre filming backlot (for exterior sets for shooting), workshop facilities, sustainable facilities and production support facilities, such as post- production services.
The Screen Berkshire Partnership means you may have the opportunity to take part in lots of exiting opportunities at Shinfield Studios.
Study abroad
You may have the chance to experience life in another country and apply to study abroad for a semester during your third year. To see which institutions participate in this scheme please use our “Find a University” tool. Please note our partners may change and the tool is updated each year.