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2023/24
2024/25

BA Art and Psychology

  • UCAS code
    CW81
  • A level offer
    ABB
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years

With this BA Art and Psychology develop your practical skills and explore new and emerging art forms. Be stimulated by our internationally excellent staff, take part in wide variety of exhibitions and gain your first qualification towards training as a professional psychologist.

Explore how art and psychology feed into one another and discuss the therapeutic properties of creating art on this well-established course.

Join a lively community and explore a vast range of media, experiment with emerging art forms, and develop as an artist. Modules in Contemporary Art Theory and the History of Art will complement your practical study. You will receive a 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. The studios are a busy place with events, screenings, performances and exhibitions happening regularly.

Trips to museums and art galleries help prompt thoughts on how art is displayed and received. You will gain professional experience by taking part in your own exhibitions, public art commissions and events. Our teaching staff are all artists, curators and researchers of international standing and strongly encourage regular exhibitions and open debate.

The psychology element of this course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and enables you to move on to further training as a professional psychologist. Your first year will introduce you to the concepts required for BPS qualification, including cognition, neuroscience, development, personality and social psychology.

Throughout the course you will gain practical experience, and learn how to devise and run your own experiments. You will develop your knowledge by exploring areas of interest in greater depth. Modules are regularly revised and recent additions include autistic spectrum conditions, behavioural economics, nutritional psychology, and cognitive behavioural theory and therapy.

In your final year you will concentrate on your psychology dissertation and art degree show.

Both departments actively encourage placements and there is also the chance to experience life in another country. Throughout your degree you will receive advice and guidance in career development.

In the National Student Survey 2023, 92% of our students said that their knowledge and skills for the future were developed well or very well (91.67 % of respondents studying BA Art and Psychology).

Placement

All students are encouraged to undertake several placement opportunities in both art and psychology. Past students have enjoyed art 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.

Psychology students have undertaken placements at outside organisations such as charities, at one of our three in-house NHS clinics, and at the world-renowned Charlie Waller Institute for Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments. Alternatively, you can volunteer as a research assistant on a range of projects within the School.

There are also several opportunities – across all our undergraduate courses - for you to study abroad at an international university. Institutions include the Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver, Canada; Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA; Monash University, Australia; and National Taiwan University of the Arts in Tapei, Taiwan; as well as Art Universities in Dijon, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Budapest, Hungary; and Tampere, Finland.

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

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250

New international students: £27,650

UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

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. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these 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.

As well as the practical experience gained on this degree, our students graduate with a range of transferable skills, such as self-motivation, time management and strategic thinking, and the ability to think and analyse scientifically.

As a graduate of this course you will be qualified for further training as a professional psychologist. Our BSc Psychology is accredited by the British Psychological Society and provides you with the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership. You could go on to work for organisations such as the NHS, civil services, schools or charities.

97% of leavers are in work and/or study 15 months after the end of their course (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018/19; First Degree responders from Art). 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 museums.

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

Alternatively you can choose to further develop your skills by moving into research, teacher training or postgraduate studies.