What will my study involve?

Entry requirements

To apply for admission to the Intermediate Year (first year) of the BFA, you need to have met University Entrance requirements.

We prefer students who took arts in high school, but anyone with a good portfolio will be considered.

All applicants need to submit an application form, a letter of introduction, and a portfolio of work.

Entry to the first year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts is limited. Send your application materials by 15 November:

• the Application for Fine Arts Intermediate course form
• a letter of introduction
• a portfolio of work, including a written statement.

You are encouraged to apply as early as possible, and to visit the Ilam Campus Gallery before making your application. You should expect to be advised of acceptance by the end of November.

One a case-by-case basis, we may accept late applications. Please contact the Fine Arts Administrator at creativeartsadmin@canterbury.ac.nz

Portfolio of work

Your application should include a portfolio of 12 image-based examples of your artwork. The format should be in colour and can be submitted in an A4 or A3 folder or as a single file PDF either on a USB drive, attached to an email, or shared via a reputable file sharing service (eg, weTransfer or Dropbox).

This is your opportunity to demonstrate:

• your competency and ability in artmaking – so please make sure you include your best work. We also need to see aspects of your methodology; examples of preliminary sketches are important here.
• your best possible presentation of work. There are a number of formatting requirements for the supply of your work portfolio – please see the application form for details.
• your ability to express your thinking in a written statement. This is your chance to demonstrate a critical understanding of how the work operates, the decisions you made, and what you are trying to address through your work.

For more information on the application process for the Intermediate Year, go to the Department of Fine Arts website.

Subjects and courses

The Bachelor of Fine Arts is a highly flexible degree, allowing studio practice in one area of Fine Arts, introductory courses in Art History and Theory, and courses from subjects within other degrees.

See ‘Planning my degree’ below for an example degree structure diagram.

In the first year of the degree, called the Fine Arts Intermediate Year, you will complete the following compulsory courses:

• FINA101 What is Practice?
• FINA102 Communities of Practice
• FINA103 Studio Practice
• Two 100-level ARTH courses

During the second year, you will also need to complete one 200-level course in ARTH (or CINE if majoring in Moving Image or Photography).

UC offers five studio specialisations in the Bachelor of Fine Arts. On passing the Intermediate Year, you will gain a place in one of the following majors:

Students that achieve good results during the three years of the degree may be approved for entry to the Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours programme at their fourth year.

You will need to include at least one 300-level course in ARTH (or CINE for Moving Image and Photography students) and achieve a B grade or better in your third year courses to be eligible.

Students accepted into the BFA(Hons) will take FINA601 Fine Arts Honours Research instead of the usual fourth-year courses in the BFA.

Further study

UC's postgraduate Fine Arts options include:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts
• Postgraduate Diploma in Art Curatorship
• Master of Fine Arts

A UC Fine Arts degree is accepted as an entry qualification to postgraduate studies in other tertiary institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. UC graduates have been accepted into the best graduate programmes in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Career ready

Find out more about what can you do with a degree from UC.