Overview
Top reasons to study with us
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4th for Drama
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2022)
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7th for Art and Design
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2022)
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12th for Art and Design Graduate Prospects
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2022)
Taught by academic staff who are themselves practising artists, historians and theorists, you will be able to study the Fine Art disciplines separately or through interdisciplinary practice. Every Lancaster Fine Art student has their own dedicated studio space from day one, accessible 24/7, day and night.
Our aim from the beginning of your course is for you to become an informed Fine Art practitioner with clear creative aspirations and ambition. You will achieve this through the integration of studio-based art making and the study of both art theory and history. We have a wide ranging view of what fine Art can be in the 21st century and have no ‘house style’. Our emphasis is on Fine Art practice and Fine Art thinking. Students work across painting, drawing, sculpture, digital, live art and their hybrids. Our aim is for you to develop the practice and ideas that best reflect your aims and values as a young Fine Artist. Your tutors will be professional artists and publishing historians and the mix of academic and creative skills gained at Lancaster makes you highly attractive for postgraduate study and employers. Getting seen is crucial for those who want to pursue careers in Fine Art. With this in mind, our degree programme ends with both a group exhibition in the university art gallery and a solo show for each student.
Studying Theatre at Lancaster gives you the opportunity to learn about innovative twentieth and twenty-first century theatre and performance through an exciting and varied mix of practical and academic approaches. You will be taught by internationally esteemed, award winning theatre practitioners and scholars and will be given the opportunity to gain critical and creative skills that open up possibilities for working in theatre and a wide range of other employers.
The study abroad option is an exciting and informative experience for anyone who is thinking of working abroad during their career or who simply wants the experience of living and studying overseas as part of their degree. You will study in your third year at one of our international partner universities. This will help you to develop your global outlook, expand your professional network, and gain cultural and personal skills. During your year abroad, you will choose specialist modules relating to your degree as well as other modules from across the host university.
Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner university that offers appropriate modules. Occasionally places overseas may not be available for all students who want to study abroad or the place at the partner university may be withdrawn if core modules are unavailable. If you are not offered a place to study overseas, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent standard 3-year degree scheme and would complete your studies at Lancaster.
Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of the year abroad.
Your department
Careers
Fine Art and Theatre graduates from Lancaster University have developed careers as professionals for creative agencies, working in television or for museums and galleries, while some go on to be professional artists. Our graduates have become professional performers, choreographers, dramaturgs, technicians, directors and published novelists, poets and playwrights; community artists; administrators and producers of arts events; and therapists, teachers, lecturers and researchers.
As well as teaching and arts administration, the multidisciplinary skills our graduates acquire during their Fine Art degree open doors across the creative industries and in many employment sectors.
Lancaster graduates successfully progress onto PGCE, MA, MPhil and PhD courses, either with us or at other high quality national and international institutions, for example the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent.
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, but that you also graduate with relevant life and work based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability/career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.
Entry Requirements
Grade Requirements
A Level ABB
Required Subjects A level Art and Design or one other humanities subject considered desirable but not essential
IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.
Portfolio Applicants will typically be required to submit a portfolio before being made an offer. The department will contact applicants to request the portfolio. The portfolio should include imaginative, expressive and analytical work as well as objective drawing.
Other Qualifications
International Baccalaureate 32 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects
BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Merit
Foundation Courses Art Foundation Courses are not an essential requirement for this degree. Please not Foundation Courses are considered but not accepted in lieu of our academic entry requirements. Level 3 Art Foundation courses are considered on a case-by-case basis alongside two A levels at grade B or above.
We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualification. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.
Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
Course Structure
Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.
The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.
Core
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Fine Art Practice
This module seeks to establish fundamental Fine Art practices and principles and initiate development of critical understanding of basic concepts, approaches, possibilities and ways of working. The module enables students to engage with the practical disciplines of painting, sculpture, digital art, drawing and inter-media practices that combine two or more disciplines. This creative work alongside academic work in LICA100 initiates training in thinking and making as a fine artist.
This practical course combines technical skills with different approaches to the disciplines as appropriate to developing individual interests as a practitioner of fine art. The teaching and learning systems for this course are designed to expose the student to ways of working and thinking as a practitioner; to thinking visually.
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Fundamentals: Art (part 1)
In this module, Fine Art ideas and movements are surveyed viewed through pairings of major exhibitions throughout modern history, from the birth of avant gardes in The Salon des Refuses (1863) and Manet and the Impressionists (1910), to major shows on Digital Culture, Neoliberalism and non-Western art in the 21st century. This module is designed to supplement, contextualise and enhance the essential knowledge and skills covered in the Studio Practice module, and develop study and writing skills that you will need as you progress through your degree.
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Fundamentals: Drama (part 2)
This module will introduce you to a series of historical and theoretical perspectives on drama, theatre and performance. Through lectures and seminar group discussions, you will learn what the key movements have been in performance work, and understand how to apply theories to your own reading and making of contemporary theatre.
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Skills and Concepts in Drama, Theatre and Performance
This practical introduction to drama, theatre and performance will provide you with an introduction to key skills and theoretical concepts that are relevant to the study and production of theatre and performance. The module begins with a review of key historical moments, exploring the function of theatre within society and its continued relevance from ancient times to the present day. Following this we take a closer look at some sample bodies of practice that have sought to empower people politically. We then explore ways of creating spaces through scenography and technical skills, before moving on in the second term to study movement, voice, postdramatic performance, and environmental performance. The module culminates with a group performance project.
Core
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Critical Reflections in Creative Arts
Critical Reflections explores a number of key interdisciplinary philosophical and cultural concepts which will enable you to analyse, engage with, and reflect upon artworks in your own discipline. It also allows you to establish a common set of concepts which can be shared by students from all LICA subjects. The structure of the module consists of six three-week blocks: (1) Aesthetics, Formalism and Beyond, (2) Phenomenology, (3) Semiotics, Structuralism and Deconstruction, (4) Class and Society, (5) Feminism, Queer Theory and Gender, and (6) On Difference.Weekly plenary lectures make connections across the arts, and are supplemented by weekly, two hour seminars/workshops which allow students to work in their subject groups (art, film, theatre, design) on ideas and examples specifically tailored towards these disciplines.
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Studio Practice
This module develops your knowledge and skills in fine art thinking and making. The module prepares and encourages you to direct your own research and to develop a self-reliant and independent approach to studio practice. You will work in your own dedicated studio space with 24/7 access. You will be supported by specialist tutors who are practicing artists. You will belong to a tutor group led by dedicated tutors with expertise in your area of practice. To support your creative development you will engage in one-to-one tutorials, group tutorials, technical workshops, and peer-feedback. You will also be encouraged to visit exhibitions and attend our visiting artist programme of talks.
Optional
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Art, Site & Interaction
This practical fine art focused module will introduce the skills and sensitivities needed to work outside the studio through interactions with people, places, and technologies. The module introduces you to the way that current fine art practitioners employ a wide range of strategies for such interaction. You will work through practical projects and critical reflection. The course will begin with an art historical grounding for this area of practice. You will then experiment and test out new ways of working in a variety of locations and situations such as: in the rural or urban landscape, in the virtual online world, or in a social space such as a cafe. We will explore a range of processes such as conversation, performance, video, movement and digital interaction.
Throughout the module you will build a range of skills and knowledge of technologies, for example: practical considerations in working ‘off-site’ (responding to and researching a place, collaborating with the public, gaining permission to work in specific sites); digital tools for working with networks and strategies and sensitivities for working with people (ethics, interviews, collaborations etc).
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Dance Theatre
This module combines theoretical and practical approaches to provide an introduction to American and German modern dance pioneers of the twentieth century. It compares their systems of technical training, choreographic methods, signature dance works, and considers the relationship of those systems, methods and works to the social context and philosophical ideas of their time. Assessment is through the choreography and performance of a short trio, and an essay. The module prepares students for more advanced dance and physical theatre projects in later modules.
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Devised Theatre
This practical module provides a comprehensive understanding of compositional strategies and methodologies used in making theatre and performance, whether as a performer or as a director, writer or designer. Particular emphasis will be placed on investigating notions of form and structure and on how performance material can be generated through creative strategies of sourcing, developing and editing material towards a completed work. Assessment is through the production of a performance score and a group practical project.
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Documentary Drawing
This module will enable you to develop a range of graphic skills with the opportunity to approach and represent ideas, issues and experiences in a documentary manner. The module is designed to be relevant to creative practice in Fine Art, Theatre, Film and Design. You will have the opportunity to expand your knowledge and experience of observational and on-site drawing, and develop their learning and experience by engaging in further technical training and by introduction to drawing beyond the studio and 'in the field'. On completion of this module our aim is for you to have significantly developed their knowledge and awareness of drawing and the ability to engage in independent study and develop a substantial personal project for assessment.
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Environmental Performance
This module will equip students with a critical understanding of twentieth and twenty-first century performance practices that respond to anthropogenic climate change. Students will explore a range of theories and practices relating to ecocriticism and environmentalism.
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Expanded Painting Practice
The module provides training and experience in visual communication through painting in the broadest sense. Our aim is to provide students with an understanding of painting as an ‘expanded’ and interdisciplinary art form. Weekly workshops will introduce you to the scope of contemporary painting and some of its methods and approaches. You will develop skills through experimentation with a range of traditional and contemporary painting methods, approaches, ideas and equipment. Building on the teaching, you will develop an independent project that extends the language of painting beyond conventional bounds.
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Performing Texts
This module develops analytical and practical skills in performing texts, particularly in dramaturgy and composition and vocal and physical performance techniques. Taking into account the respective political, social and aesthetic contexts from which the works emerged, it focuses on modern and contemporary European play texts that are marked by their formal experimentations associated with two major theoretical paradigms: The Theatre of the Absurd and Postdramatic Theatre.
The module explores the playwrights’ formal experimentations with time and space; plot, story and narration; character, persona and ‘text bearer’; language and breakdown of language; rhythm and musicality; as well as the relationship between performer and audience.
Assessment is by group practical project and an essay.
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Studio Practice
This module develops your knowledge and skills in fine art thinking and making. The module prepares and encourages you to direct your own research and to develop a self-reliant and independent approach to studio practice. You will work in your own dedicated studio space with 24/7 access. You will be supported by specialist tutors who are practicing artists. You will belong to a tutor group led by dedicated tutors with expertise in your area of practice. To support your creative development you will engage in one-to-one tutorials, group tutorials, technical workshops, and peer-feedback. You will also be encouraged to visit exhibitions and attend our visiting artist programme of talks.
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Theatre for Social Change
This module introduces you to community and applied theatre practices that seek to create social, cultural, or political change. You will have the opportunity to explore key theoretical concepts alongside practical skills in facilitation, appropriate to a variety of contexts. You will study examples of applied theatre practice, with an emphasis on techniques that seek to empower marginalised communities and increase political and social dialogue. The syllabus will cover influential practices from around the globe, taking heed of the diversity of approaches and their applicability to contemporary contexts. Core topics may include theatre in education, theatre for development and disability theatre. Assessment is by group practical work and essay.
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Theatre Practice
This practical module is designed to allow you to work collectively to produce an original performance piece informed by material studied in the second year as a whole. Students are supported by a supervisor who will provide feedback on progress throughout the module.
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Visual Theatre
This module introduces practical approaches in visual and image-based theatre and methods of analysing visual theatre and investigating its key histories and models of practice. The module focuses on key approaches to image-based theatre that are central to understanding contemporary visual performance. Each approach interrogates the work of an existing company, which in turn is related to historically important practice from twentieth-century dramatic and/or postdramatic theatre.
The module will practically explore key skills in lighting, sound, digital technologies and scenography with reference to specific practitioners and companies. Assessment of skills and knowledge acquired will be a by practical group project and an essay.
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What Is The Contemporary?
This module aims to give students a grounding in “the contemporary” as a key critical concept used in artistic discourses, and provide a number of ways that students can explore and articulate their own contemporaneity. In conversation with cutting edge ideas from art, science, technology and popular culture, the module will enable participants to discuss and identify what they are contemporaries of, how they relate to their own time as artists, citizens and critical writers and what this necessitates in their own practices.
Students will engage in critical discussion of key terms used to define the current moment, such as Anthropocene, Singularity, Post-Truth, and Globalisation, as well as understanding how particular technologies and phenomena, such as distributed and decentralised networks, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are reshaping the contexts in which the arts are made. These topics are explored through lectures and seminar discussions in which students are encouraged to produce and define their own position and modes for articulating what makes them contemporary.
The module is designed for creative students who wish to use writing and material practice to explore their own relationship to the ecologies, politics, trends, technologies, and aesthetics that typify our experience of the world today.
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Writing for Performance
Drawing on tendencies from both visual art and theatrical fields, contemporary performance has generated multiple approaches to the dynamic relation between text, language and performance. Eschewing the conventional dramaturgical structures of literary theatre, ‘text’ in this parallel history is an unruly, generative force – a writing for performance (and writing as performance) that is by turns highly performative, precise, nonsensical, philosophical and playful.
The module aims to explore a variety of contemporary and historical approaches to writing and performance through both key readings and workshop/seminars as well as practical tasks for you as creative writers and performance makers, establishing a conceptual ground, highlighting and developing strategies for your own work.
Core
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Your Year Abroad
In your third year you will study at one of our international partner universities. This will help you to develop your global outlook, expand your professional network, and gain cultural and personal skills. You will choose specialist modules relating to your degree as well as other modules from across the host university.
Core
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Advanced Studio Practice (single weighted]
This module is a student centred course, which requires students to direct their own research and to develop a self-reliant approach and an increasing responsibility for the creative and conceptual direction of their studio practice; leading to independence. To support the creative development of the individual student the appropriate teaching and learning mechanisms are one-to-one tutorials, group tutorials, and peer feedback
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Dissertation
This core module is directed towards completion of an independent research project on a topic of your choice, presented in the form of a dissertation. The course is taught through lectures focused on research skills and one-to-one supervision. Students of Film can choose to make a short film as part of their project, and students of Design are encouraged to do a practical design project.
Optional
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Advanced Theatre Practice
In this practical module you will work in groups on an intensive practical project that will lead to public performances. Groups work is supported by the module convener and with a supervisor.
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Community Performance
This module addresses applied performance projects that are co-created in collaboration with community groups. This may include people living within specific geographic areas, but it might also encompass shared identity traits, experiences, or interests. Students will explore a range of practices that facilitate collaboratively-designed theatre as a means of bringing about positive changes within these communities, and their broader social and cultural settings. Through a consideration of contemporary practitioners from a range of global contexts, students will learn techniques to develop effective community-based projects and to ensure equitable participation and accessibility. Practices studied might cover topics such as intergenerational theatre, street theatre, staged readings, puppetry, participatory arts, storytelling, environmental performance and more. Students will engage with the theories and practices of the module through a combination of lectures, seminar discussions and workshops, culminating in a short community performance project.
Students will be assessed by a combination of essay (50%) and group practical project (50%).
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Contemporary Dance and the Visual Arts
The module has two aims. Firstly, it aims to explore methods of improvising or choreographing movement from the practice and study of drawing, and, reciprocally, approaches to drawing that emerge from the experience of movement and the analysis of motion. This is assessed through either a staff-supervised, student-led group choreographic project with documentation or, alternatively, a portfolio of drawings presented at the end of the module. Secondly, the module examines twentieth and twenty-first century works in which choreographers have collaborated with visual artists. This part of the module is assessed through an essay. Teaching is through lecture, seminar and practical compositional exercises in movement and drawing.
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Contemporary European Postdramatic Theatre
This module combines theoretical and practical approaches to explore important European writers, directors and companies by studying their innovative dramaturgies, scenographies, uses of ‘no longer dramatic’ text, and new acting/performing styles. These aesthetic forms are also discussed in relation to the performances’ thematic and political concerns with developments such as globalization and late capitalism, increasing mediatisation, (anti-)immigration, terrorism and the war on terror and ecological concerns, as well as with the enduring memories of the Second World War and a European history of colonialism. Teaching is through lecture, seminar and practical workshop and assessment is by practical presentation and by seen examination.
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Creative Enterprise
This module provides an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the ways in which creative practitioners produce and deliver their work. It will provide an overview of the challenges faced by freelance practitioners, producers and small cultural companies within the creative industries. You will also develop a working understanding of the key management and enterprise skills involved in delivering creative projects. Working in groups you will put your learning into practice through the delivery of your own live creative arts project. This will enable you to understand the skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviours relevant for employment in the arts and creative industries.
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Expanded Drawing
The module will be taught through workshops which examine the methods, process and approaches in drawing that are at the cutting edge of contemporary fine art drawing practice and at the boundaries of other disciplines. The workshops provide knowledge, skills, and opportunities to test and try approaches. This learning will be developed through independently researched work. This independent work is documented in a sketchbook and extended at the end of the syllabus to provide a final major project.
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New Scenographies in Performance
This module combines theoretical and practical approaches to explore new scenographic approaches to contemporary performance. The module is structured to introduce you to the theories and histories of scenography and then progresses to locate scenography through the theatre, through technology and finally in relation to site. The module is focused around four cutting edge contemporary theatre companies (previous examples include The Wooster Group, Need Company, Imitating the Dog) used as paradigms to introduce you to the ways in which text, the body, light, visual/spatial organization, technology and choreography are used as scenographic tools to create specific and unique instances of contemporary performance. Teaching is through lecture, seminar and practical workshop and assessment is by practical workshop and seen exam.
Fees and Funding
We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2023/24 entry fees have not yet been set.
Scholarships and bursaries
At Lancaster, we believe that funding concerns should not stop any student with the talent to thrive.
We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to help cover the cost of tuition fees and/or living expenses.
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Additional costs
Additional costs for this course
You will need to buy some art materials during your course. Materials and equipment are available to use during some classes, and the departmental art shop sells materials to students at cost price. We will send you information about materials and equipment before you arrive so that you know what to bring with you and what you might need to buy during your course. It is likely that you will want to have appropriate clothing for practical classes and, depending on the scale of what you wish to do, there may be costs associated with your performances, such as costumes and props. We may be able to reimburse you for some of these expenses. It is also likely that you will want see theatre productions as part of your course both locally and sometimes further afield, and it is usually possible for you to get discounted tickets for these events.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small college membership fee which supports the running of college events and activities.
For students starting in 2022, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Fees for students starting in 2023 have not yet been set.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
Study abroad courses
In addition to travel and accommodation costs, while you are studying abroad, you will need to have a passport and, depending on the country, there may be other costs such as travel documents (e.g. VISA or work permit) and any tests and vaccines that are required at the time of travel. Some countries may require proof of funds.
Placement and industry year courses
In addition to possible commuting costs during your placement, you may need to buy clothing that is suitable for your workplace and you may have accommodation costs. Depending on the employer and your job, you may have other costs such as copies of personal documents required by your employer for example.
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Fees in subsequent years
Fees are set by the UK Government annually, and subsequent years' fees may be subject to increases. For international applicants starting in 2022, any annual increase will be capped at 4% of the previous year's fee.
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Drama, Theatre and Performance
- Drama, Theatre and Performance BA Hons : W440
- Drama, Theatre and Performance (Placement Year) BA Hons : W441
- Drama, Theatre and Performance (Study Abroad) BA Hons : W442
- Film and Theatre BA Hons : PW34
- Film and Theatre (Placement Year) BA Hons : PW35
- Film and Theatre (Study Abroad) BA Hons : PW36
- Fine Art and Theatre BA Hons : WW14
- Fine Art and Theatre (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW17
- French Studies and Theatre BA Hons : WR41
- German Studies and Theatre BA Hons : WR42
- Spanish Studies and Theatre BA Hons : WR44
- Theatre and Chinese Studies BA Hons : W4T1
- Theatre and Creative Writing BA Hons : WW48
- Theatre and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW49
- Theatre and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW50
- Theatre and English Literature BA Hons : WQ43
- Theatre and English Literature (Placement Year) BA Hons : WQ44
- Theatre and English Literature (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WQ45
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Fine Art
- Fine Art BA Hons : W100
- Fine Art (Placement Year) BA Hons : W101
- Fine Art (Study Abroad) BA Hons : W102
- Fine Art and Creative Writing BA Hons : WW18
- Fine Art and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW19
- Fine Art and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW20
- Fine Art and Design BA Hons : W1W2
- Fine Art and Design (Placement Year) BA Hons : W1W3
- Fine Art and Design (Study Abroad) BA Hons : W1W4
- Fine Art and Film BA Hons : WP13
- Fine Art and Film (Placement Year) BA Hons : WP14
- Fine Art and Film (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WP15
- Fine Art and Theatre BA Hons : WW14
- Fine Art and Theatre (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW17
Important information
The information on this site relates primarily to 2023/2024 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.