BA (Hons) Commercial Photography

UCAS code: W640

Start date: September

Course length: full time: three years, part time: up to six years - please contact the faculty for further information.

Campus: Markeaton Street site, Derby Campus

This course is available to international students

Photography has always changed and influenced the world around us. We are becoming ever more sophisticated in the way we understand the visual world, and there have been some significant developments in the imaging sector over recent years with the growth, speed and proliferation of digital technologies.

Increasingly commercial photographers are responding to change, not just in the way we capture images but in the way we use them. Contemporary commercial photographers are at the leading edge and have the skill and vision to work within the demands of a client based economy. We deliver images of outstanding quality and vision, setting the pace for generations to come.

Here at Derby, we encourage you to adapt to the changes in the business environment and we'll help you to look for bespoke solutions, which suit you as an individual.  You'll learn how to adapt and utilise new and existing technologies to deal with the changes in an exciting and fluid industry.

You could also enhance your skills by going on to study our MA Film and Photography.

You'll study a total of 120 credits per year. This will be made up of single or double modules.

Stage one

You'll study modules such as:

• Photographic Histories and Theory
• Analogue Processes
• Digital Practice
• Visual Strategies
• Photography, Design and Communication
• Professional Workplace Development

Stage two

You'll study modules such as:

• Contemporary Digital Practice
• Creative Photographic Communication
• Business and Professional Practice
• Reading Photography
• Combined Technologies in Practice (double module)

Diploma in Professional Practice (optional)

You'll study modules such as:

• Applied Professional Practice
• Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice

Stage three

You'll study modules such as:

• Writing Photography
• Assignment Photography (double module)
• Professional Futures
• Independent Development Project (double module)

Our entry requirements are usually 260 UCAS points, of which at least 220 will be from your core A2s (full A levels) or equivalent qualifications such as BTEC Diploma, International Baccalaureate, Scottish Highers etc.

We'll accept up to 40 points towards the total from level 3 qualifications such as AS levels (where those AS levels are not taken on to A2 level), the Extended Project or Music qualifications.

We don't accept points from Key Skills Level 3. If you have any questions about what is or isn't accepted, please contact our Admissions team.

We also accept the Access to HE Diploma.

Your points at level 3 will be in addition to 5 GCSEs at grade C or equivalent level 2 qualifications.

The UCAS tariff points are a guide - we'll also consider all the information that you've included in your application, your portfolio, and how you've done in your interview. We'll also want to see that you're enthusiastic and motivated to take this course and that you have the potential to benefit from coming to university.

General undergraduate entry requirements

This is a specialist course.

UK/EU students

• Full time: £8,800 (each year)
• £1,100 per module (you usually take 18 of these modules in total)

International students

• Full time: £10,510 (per year)

*These fees apply if you're starting this course between September 2013 and August 2014. We recommend you check fee details with us though, as they can change. Costs can increase each year.

Studio workshops, group and individual tutorials, seminars and lectures. This is supported by a programme of visiting photographers and trade suppliers.

The assessment of all your practical modules is by submission of practical work, formal presentation of course work, and contribution to individual tutorials, group tutorials and seminars. The context and dissertation modules require you to submit essay work and course work. Practical work makes up 75% of the course, and critical studies 25%.

Working closely with industry this course aims to give you the advantage you need when you're looking for a job in the image industry. The skills you'll develop, both academic and practical, are transferable to enable you to be flexible when working in a variety of different areas, from commercial, advertising and editorial photography through to location finding and management, photo retail, image manipulation or being a photographer's agent or picture researcher.

If you want to gain work experience, you can take an optional work placement between stages two and three during which you'll study an additional qualification, the Diploma in Professional Practice.

Find out more about placements.

We also provide support for graduates starting out in the creative industries, through our incubation unit - Banks Mill.  It offers studio workspace and business development activities, in a vibrant and thriving community of artists, designers and makers.