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2023/24
2024/25

BA Art and Theatre

  • UCAS code
    WW40
  • A level offer
    BBB
  • Year of entry
    2024/25 See 2023/24 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years

Explore the overlap between art and theatre. Let one influence the other and develop your professional practice with BA Art and Theatre.

This joint art degree enables you to develop a critical understanding of contemporary art and modern theatre. You will have the opportunity to complement your art practice with practical work in theatre.

In art, you will join a lively and creative community, explore a vast range of media and experiment with emerging art forms. You'll be assigned a dedicated 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. Your teaching staff are all artists, curators and researchers of international standing and will encourage regular exhibitions and open debate.

In theatre studies you will investigate a range of contemporary practices from verbatim to immersive, site specific work and examples of digital technologies in live performance. You can explore theatre from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, covering the work of international and British playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Caryl Churchill and Sarah Kane.

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 £11.4m Minghella building, including three theatre spaces, a film and television studio, cutting rooms and audio post-production facilities, and a digital cinema. You will investigate theatre with academics working at the cutting edge of research, and attend performances ranging from popular forms of theatre to performance art.

Placements and collaborations are actively encouraged and there is also the chance to experience life in another country. 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

You are encouraged to work with different artists and designers in hosting events and exhibitions and you will be expected to undertake placement opportunities 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.

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

New international students:

£22,350 per year

  per year

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. 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.

A number of our graduates continue their studies both with us and at other universities or go into teacher training.