Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning

at University of Bolton United Kingdom

Psychology is a core component of psychotherapy and counselling and the University of Bolton offers one of the oldest and most established psychology courses in the UK. Our BSc (Hons) Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling degree offers you the chance to learn about the interaction between these disciplines, gaining an appreciation of the diversity of perspectives involved, along with an understanding of their therapeutic use.

Our friendly and experienced team will guide you as you develop knowledge of the theories, methods and debates central to the three core elements. We’ll support you as you explore psychology, gain specific counselling skills, and consider broader social issues that impact on the roles of psychotherapist and counsellor, such as assumptions, stereotyping, diversity and prejudice. We’ll also focus on developing your knowledge and skills in the use of psychological research methods, and your appreciation of the ethical issues involved.

Inter-personal and transferable skills are also vital, so we’ll challenge you to develop sought-after communication, problem solving, numerical, analytical, self-management, IT skills, and more. Overall, our dedicated team are focused on helping you gain the skills employers’ value along with a detailed understanding of psychology, counselling and psychotherapy.

Highlights

• Our psychology courses are ranked top in the UK for teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020, as well as top in the UK for student satisfaction by The Complete University Guide 2020.
• This course is one of only a few Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling degrees in the country accredited by the British Psychological Society. Accredited as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartership, this degree is the first step towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist.
• Integrated into this degree are opportunities for you to gain accredited qualifications in counselling skills. Through successful completion of this degree, you’ll also achieve the Level 2 and Level 3 Certificates in Counselling Skills conferred by ABC Awards.
• We emphasise inter-personal, transferable and employability skills as well as academic success. After graduation, you may have the opportunity to progress onto professional qualification in applied psychology, such as our Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapies.
• We focus strongly on employability skills and the practical application of your studies as well as academic success. Workshops will involve analysis of life events and role playing of various scenarios using case study material. You can also benefit from final year applied sessions in counselling skills.
• Your personal tutor will be on hand to support you throughout your degree; one of our team of helpful and approachable psychology staff with a diverse range of research interests and professional experience.
• We’ve invested to create a learning environment that offers innovative methods of teaching and assessment using top-class facilities, such as our observation laboratory with video cameras, microphones and video editing equipment.

Key Features

• We stress the applied nature of psychology throughout the programme, emphasising learning through experience to help prepare you for further professional qualifications in psychology, counselling or psychotherapy.
• We’ll explain the principles and methods of psychological research, including the collection, analysis, reporting and interpretation of data. During your final year you’ll have the opportunity to carry out an individual research study.
• Teaching is dynamic and varied using methods that include lectures, small group work, discussion groups, case studies, demonstrations and laboratory workshops. You’ll be encouraged to take responsibility for your own learning with opportunities for you to participate and gain practical experience.
• Course content is delivered by our highly-qualified staff who have substantial experience in the field. By offering personal supervision throughout the course, we aim to give you the best possible opportunity to achieve your true potential.

Professional recognition
Successful completion of the degree course is approved as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society, provided the minimum standard of qualification of second class honours is achieved.

The British Psychological Society is the professional body for psychologists.

Through the successful completion of the module "Introduction to Counselling Concepts" (PPC4001) you’ll gain the ABC Accredited Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills. Through the successful completion of the module "Counselling Skills" (PPC5001) you’ll gain the ABC Accredited Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills.

The study of literature is the study of the representation of life, a metaphor for understanding how the world works. Our BA in English aims to broaden your life experience, by introducing you to a wide variety of literary texts – fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry, historical, contemporary, from near and far. Through close study, you’ll develop your critical skills, and learn to consider texts from many different perspectives.

We want foremost to expand your understanding of literature and its relation to society – how books have informed, persuaded, shocked and delighted their readers over the centuries and up to the modern day. We’ll support you as you develop your written, oral and critical abilities in a challenging and supportive study environment.

We offer small classes full of big ideas. Our lecturers are renowned scholars and award-winning teachers, who will work to meet your individual learning needs. Through research, discussion, argument and analysis, we offer opportunities for you to learn about the workings of the world around you and to use language effectively and powerfully to achieve your goals.

Highlights

• Our English and Creative Writing courses are ranked second in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2020.
• The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 also ranks our English subject area as top in the UK for student experience and second in the UK for teaching quality.
• You can benefit from our strong links with external creative organisations, including the nationally acclaimed Octagon Theatre, Bolton, where you can gain behind-the-scenes access and workshop experience.
• You’ll have access to reduced-price tickets for Octagon performances and other events related to your course, including poetry readings.
• We’ll encourage you to submit your work to our recognised literary magazine The Bolton Review so you can gain publishing experience.

Key Features

• We offer popular options in women’s writing, Gothic fiction, children’s literature, film adaptation and contemporary poetry, in addition to a range of exciting core modules that build on our close links with the Creative Writing team.
• Our English tutors actively research the three core areas of poetry, prose and drama, feeding their knowledge back into the curriculum so you can benefit from the latest thinking and discoveries.
• We work to help you develop a range of skills that are highly valued by employers, such as written and verbal communication, presenting information and ideas, argument and persuasion, working to deadlines, research and critical analysis, listening, IT, cultural awareness, and lifelong learning.
• You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures from literary scholars, and to hear contemporary writers read at the University’s regular, well-established “Live Literature” events.

Business management qualifications open doors and are considered essential whether you are looking to pursue a career in business, or achieve higher levels of responsibility in your current work.

Our BSc (Hons) in Business Management (Enterprise) offers a strong grounding in an essential range of contemporary business management subjects combined with the opportunity to focus your studies in the final year. When you successfully complete the course you’ll also receive the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

By studying core modules that are common between all our BSc (Hons) Business Management programmes, you’ll be exposed to key concepts in areas such as business law, leadership and people management, marketing, strategic management, information systems and big data, project management, finance, innovation and enterprise. This solid foundation will support your advanced studies into specialist areas that support entrepreneurship, such as e-commerce and marketing practice, company law, and financial reporting for management.

Developing your employability is a key focus of this dynamic and flexible programme. Real-life case studies, guest speakers and industry visits are designed to help you to understand the business environment and the needs of employers in local, national and international contexts. We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as communication, data analysis, time management, team working and problem solving.

We also aim to help you develop lifelong learning skills so that you can take ownership of your professional development for the future, maximising your potential for success.

Highlights

• Our team of highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic business management lecturers offer face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support, ensuring you can access help and advice when you need it.
• On successful completion of this dual award course you’ll receive both an academic degree and a professionally-recognised management qualification – the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. You don’t need to take extra exams or coursework to achieve the Diploma – we combine our degree module and CMI assessments streamlining your route to both qualifications.
• This course is part of our Business Management suite of degrees. All students study the same modules at the first two levels of the course to gain an in depth knowledge of the major business disciplines. At Honours level, you can follow the specialist pathway in Enterprise, choose to transfer to one of our other specialist pathways in Law, People Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing or Retail, or follow the core Business Management route.
• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced and enthusiastic lecturers who have worked in a wide range of businesses ranging from multinational organisation to SME’s.
• The University offers excellent 24/7 library and IT facilities, WiFi, and well-appointed learning areas.

Key Features

• This course is offered within our vibrant Institute of Management environment in Bolton town centre.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent support offered by our teaching staff.
• We regularly invite guest speakers who hold senior positions in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and advice.
• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching. We offer a robust academic underpinning to your studies of business management.
• Our dedicated team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research skills and apply these during your final year dissertation.

Interested in a career that combines technical skill, the ability to care for people and a level of artistry? Dental technicians (or dental technologists as they are often referred to) make dentures, crowns, bridges and dental braces that improve patients’ appearance, speech and chewing function. The University of Bolton is home to state-of-the-art facilities and knowledgeable, professional staff committed to delivering a varied curriculum of theoretical, practical and transferable material. Studying subjects within the fundamental areas of oral anatomy and physiology, you’ll have the opportunity to get hands-on with the latest equipment in our specialised laboratories and learn the biomechanics and biomaterials science behind dental appliance design.

We’re dedicated to coaching the next generation of dental technicians in the knowledge and competency required to compete and exceed in this sought-after profession. Strongly employer informed and designed to meet the learning outcomes required by the General Dental Council, this course aims to provide students with a thorough overview of the key regulatory, legal and ethical topics relevant to the industry today, as well as the essential theory of dental technology and biomedical science.

Highlights

• As a dental technology undergraduate, you’ll have access to the latest specialist equipment in our advanced laboratories and have the chance to participate in regular hands-on sessions to help develop your practical capabilities.
• You’ll have the opportunity to apply your skills to live patient cases via work-based learning modules.
• The course has strong employer links, reinforced by industrial dental laboratory work placements. Every student is assigned a work-based mentor, supported by a work placement officer from the dental academic team.
• On successful completion of this course you will be awarded a BSc (Hons) in Dental Technology.

Key Features

• Practical projects are assessed in the three key disciplines of fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics and orthodontics. You’ll have the opportunity to further demonstrate your skills by completing a specialist dental technology module.
• In preparation for your dissertation, you’ll focus on study skills and research methodologies over two modules.
• Opportunities for progression after completing the include BSc (Hons) course include dental technology MSc and PhD programmes.

Professional recognition

• This programme was new for 2016 and has been provisionally accepted to commence delivery by the General Dental Council (GDC) following initial quality assurance processes. The GDC inspected the University provision in the academic year 2018/19 and have reported to the Registrar that the programme is fit for purpose to develop individuals for professional registration as dental technicians.

Our Master’s in Positive Psychology takes you on an immersive journey into this relatively new subject area within psychology. The programme’s modular nature allows you to take a flexible and fairly autonomous approach to learning, theorising, reflecting and researching.

You’ll get the chance to learn, debate and critically evaluate Positive Psychology’s new techniques and research. You’ll also have the opportunity to evaluate developing theories and applications in Positive Psychology, supported all the way by experienced and enthusiastic teaching staff with an excellent knowledge base. We offer expert training in research techniques, helping you to conceptualise, design and implement an independent research project that explores new ideas and approaches at the forefront of this increasingly popular subject.

Successfully completing a Master’s in Positive Psychology should put you in a highly favourable position for seeking employment in relevant care professions, educational institutions, and for securing a place on a specialist psychology-related higher degree or doctorate programme.

Highlights

• We’ll support you as you develop an in-depth and advanced knowledge of this emerging field of psychology, and develop your own research projects.
• Many of our teaching staff for this programme are involved in significant and ongoing research in this subject.
• You’ll have plenty of opportunities to develop highly sought-after skills in critical evaluation and reflection relating to theories and research techniques in Positive Psychology.
• Focused research training is designed to support and guide you in conceptualising, designing and implementing your own independent research in Positive Psychology.
• The programme is designed to enhance your employability, particularly in the care professions – or to help you progress to further studies in psychology.

Key Features

• An enthusiastic, dedicated and supportive teaching team delivers this pioneering programme.
• The course curriculum gives you the opportunity to explore issues from a diverse range of perspectives – all underpinned by a research-informed knowledge base.
• Learning and teaching is student-centred, with small group sessions and one-to-one tutorials. This is supported by the University’s virtual learning environment.
• We’ve designed the programme to encourage and support your unique approach to research and critical enquiry.
• You can enjoy contributions from expert guest speakers on a range of subjects covered in this exciting postgraduate programme.

If you’re looking for a postgraduate course that exactly matches your strengths and ambitions then your search is over. The University of Bolton's MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) allows you to design your own master’s degree. We’ll help you personalise your postgraduate education by combining the disciplines that matter for your future. This bespoke course will support you to gain a combination of academic, analytical, and employment-focused skills that will prepare you for a career in your chosen professional area, as well as provide a sound basis for doctoral-level study.

Supporting your choices
Working with our expert tutors, you can choose two modules from across the whole spectrum of master’s level modules available at the University of Bolton. You’ll also be supported to devise a master’s-level dissertation or major project that develops your research and critical thinking skills and allows you to demonstrate your expertise. We’ll counsel you as you make these choices to ensure you create a coherent programme of study – one that is achievable and that will support you to develop the skills and knowledge you seek. We offer a wide range of subjects and you can choose modules from a single area or from two different disciplines, depending on your interests, prior qualifications and experience.

Capture essential employability, transferable and business skills
Alongside your subject-specific studies, you’ll have the opportunity to build the essential employability, transferable and business skills you need to compete with confidence for your dream job or build your own successful business from the ground up. You’ll focus on developing the skills that are most valuable to you as an individual, as shaped by your prior learning and future plans. We’ll guide you to explore areas such as influence and impact, self-management, creativity and innovation, and professional identity, bringing in business and psychological concepts to enhance your development as a professional.

Focusing on your future
We want to help you gain the skills and self-belief to showcase your worth in your chosen field. We’ll guide you to explore and understand the postgraduate labour market in the sector you wish to join, preparing you to apply your new knowledge, attributes and experiences so that you can satisfy and impress your stakeholders (such as employers, clients, commissioners and funding bodies). We’ll help you learn about the recruitment methods used by different types of organisations in your field, explore your personal brand and self-positioning, and prepare for recruitment and selection or self-employment. In addition, we’ll support you to develop skills in commercial ability and acumen, networking and professional relationship management, as well as strategies for career maintenance and growth.

Tried and tested research-informed coaching
Throughout the programme, we’ll use tried and tested, research-informed coaching and training methods to support your development. These will range from postgraduate-level skills in research, critique, problem-solving, professional presentation and synthesis to interpersonal and business-relevant skills such as innovative thinking, team working and project management, the effective use of technology, public speaking and professionalism. All this knowledge will be tailored to your chosen employment context to help you achieve your vision for your future.

An ideal course for graduates and professionals in a wide range of areas
This course should appeal to (but isn’t limited to) graduates and professionals in areas such as art and design, accountancy, science, engineering, business management, film FX, performing arts, community development and youth, computing, games, construction, law, crime and criminal justice, early years, education, English and creative writing, mathematics, nursing and the caring professions, media, psychology, the humanities and sport.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a longer time? We also offer this course with a duration of 18 months full-time or 24 months part-time. For full-time study, please visit our MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism): Extended course search web page for details and to apply. Alternatively, for part-time study, please visit our MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• This course allows you to focus on one subject or to combine two areas of interest to follow an interdisciplinary route. When you successfully complete the master's, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
• Our highly qualified and professionally experienced staff have strong links with many economic sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• The University of Bolton offers a host of world-class facilities across our campus and faculties. Depending on your choice of modules, you'll be able to make use of our specialist facilities to support your studies.
• This MA/MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, which offers shared modules designed to give you a wider business perspective, including tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as knowing how to start a business and to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to your areas of study and professional development needs.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from industry professionals.
• We'll offer you opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration.
• Your studies will culminate in your Professional Dissertation, an independent and substantial piece of research that will further your knowledge and practice. This will demonstrate your mastery of an aspect of your field, showcasing your expert knowledge to employers as well as forming an ideal preparation for doctoral-level studies should you to wish to pursue a PhD.
• Your final master’s degree title will reflect your specialist areas of study (please note that the final award title will be selected in agreement with the University within the parameters specified in programme documentation). If you have chosen two specialist subject areas with equal weighting, the title will reflect both specialist subject areas; for instance, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing and Computing. If one of your specialist subject areas has a greater weighting than the other, the word ‘with’ will be used instead of ‘and’ between the two subject areas; for example, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing with Computing.

MSc Physician Associate Studies has a limited number of places available. Please note, that the closing date for applications is Monday 1 June 2020 for the September 2020 intake of this programme.

The physician associate (PA) is one of the newest allied medical professions and presents a unique and exciting route to clinical care for graduates. Physician associates play a key role working as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside doctors, nurses and the wider health care team to deliver care to patients of all ages. As a physician associate you’ll take medical histories, perform clinical examinations, order and interpret test results, take part in clinical reasoning and diagnosis, and develop evidence-based patient management plans.

Working in partnership with local NHS Trusts, our experienced and dedicated academic staff will support you to achieve clinical learning and skills development. We’ll guide you as you gain the theoretical knowledge that underpins the physician associate role, and integrate this knowledge into your practice during your clinical placements.

Initially, you’ll focus on developing a thorough understanding of the academic knowledge that underpins the physician associate role. We’ll also support you to gain core clinical skills, developing your confidence and practical knowledge in the safe confines of our state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Suites, before you’re exposed to primary and secondary care environments and practice through short placements.

In the second year, you’ll have longer clinical placements in these areas, as well as gain experience in emergency care, paediatrics, mental health, and obstetrics. As a graduate, you’ll have competence in the core clinical skills of the physician associate, and possess practical experience of health care procedures ready for a career in this demanding and rewarding profession.

Highlights

• This course offers the high-level of clinical knowledge and skills needed to achieve certification as a physician associate (PA) in the UK. To qualify to practice you’ll need to pass the National Certification Examination run by the Faculty of Physician Associates at the Royal College of Physicians (FPARCP) and enrol on the Physician Associate Managed Voluntary Register (PAMVR).
• Developed in response to employer-led demand for the physician associate role in the Greater Manchester area, this course offers you the opportunity of qualify to work in medicine as part of a multi-professional team in just two years.
• You don’t need prior experience in health care or health and social care qualifications to join this course – we also welcome applications from graduates in areas such as biology, chemistry, engineering, psychology and other social sciences so long as you have some prior higher education knowledge of human biology, and areas such as infectious disease, public health, molecular science or cell biology.
• You’ll have access to facilities in the flagship £31 million Bolton One building, including our state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Suites where you’ll be able to practice skills and develop knowledge using clinical equipment and simulators.

Key Features

• Our teaching team includes expert clinicians who are working in current practice in addition to supporting and teaching students on the course. This ensures your clinical learning is at the cutting edge of practice.
• As well as in-class learning, simulated clinical experience and real-life clinical practice, this course includes time dedicated to supporting and preparing you for your first National Certification Examination.
• Your highly-structured academic studies will be complemented by personalised work-based learning offered through placements in various clinical areas in primary and secondary care facilities.
• Your Clinical Tutor will act as an advocate during your work-based placements, supporting you, your mentor and your assessors to agree on appropriate workplace activities that support your learning goals.
• You’ll gain first hand clinical experience and have the opportunity to develop an invaluable network of professional contacts during your extensive time on clinical practice placements in Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

Professional recognition

• Physician associate courses in the UK are not currently subject to formal accreditation; however, this is likely to change in the very near future. In anticipation of this change the course will meet the Royal College of Physicians Faculty of Physician Associates draft accreditation standards.
• All students will be registered with the Faculty of Physician Associates at the Royal College of Physicians (FPARCP).
• On completion of the programme and passing of the National Certification Examination, you’ll be required to register on the Physician Associate Managed Voluntary Register (PAMVR) held by the FPARCP. This will incur an additional cost.

If you’re looking to become a solicitor or barrister, you’ll need a recognised law qualification. The full-time LLM in Law offered by the University of Bolton’s School of Law is suitable for law graduates, non-law graduates, and practicing lawyers.

Our challenging but supportive environment gives you the chance to acquire postgraduate legal skills from a team of tutors with specialist knowledge and close links to the legal profession.

You’ll have the opportunity to explore the law’s key themes and focus your studies on areas of personal and professional interest, ranging from corporate and finance law through to employment law, intellectual property law, European law, international law, and medical law.

The programme is designed to provide intellectually-stimulated course content underpinned by internationally recognised research. By the end of the course, you will have had the opportunity to develop key transferable skills that are in demand in both legal and non-legal careers worldwide.

Highlights

• This professionally-focused programme is designed to provide advanced knowledge and skills directly relevant to international and corporate law sectors.
• You’ll benefit from the opportunity to critically analyse and understand the complexities arising in your chosen specialist field.
• You’ll have the chance to develop originality in the application of your knowledge, along with a practical understanding of how established research and enquiry techniques can be used to best effect.
• Students are given the chance to develop strength in data collection, critical data analysis, creative thinking, formulating, and solving complex legal problems.
• By developing your interpersonal skills to interact effectively with a range of specialists, you could also enhance your professional prospects.

Key Features

• Establish your knowledge and understanding of the doctrines and principles which underpin the law of England and Wales.
• Learn about the sources of the law, how it is made and developed, the institutions that administer it, and the personnel who practice it.
• Enjoy the opportunity to explore a wide range of legal concepts, values, principles and rules of English law.
• Benefit from the chance to learn how to explain the relationship between legal concepts, values, principles and rules in several areas.
• Practice your skills in the university’s dedicated new court room, a cutting-edge learning environment – and an excellent venue for guest speakers.

The BA (Hons) degree in Performing Arts offers a combination of teaching expertise, facilities, resources and industry contacts. Throughout your training, you'll explore the core techniques of acting, voice and dance, whilst developing a wide range of knowledge in devising, developing a production, audition and casting techniques. Additionally, you'll have regular performance opportunities throughout the programme to help develop a diverse range of technical performance skills. Staff include a range of industry experts, performers and lecturers, ensuring this course offers a unique and potent blend of teaching expertise, industry knowledge and professional experience.

We offer intensive practical training in dance, singing and acting techniques. Alongside this, you'll benefit from regular performance opportunities that help you develop and hone a diverse range of performance and production skills. We focus on training all-round performers and artists in both the emerging contemporary and traditional musical and theatre practices.

We aim for you to graduate with the confidence, skills and knowledge needed to excel in the performing arts and across the full spectrum of performance arenas offered by this vibrant industry.

Highlights

• You’ll have regular classes with professional artists from the performing arts and dance industries, such as professional actors and dancers, directors, producers and choreographers.
• You can gain additional insights and knowledge of the performing arts industry by attending our ‘master class’ sessions and guest workshops given by renowned industry experts from the performing arts industry, including musical theatre, TV and film.
• We aim to immerse you in the current performing arts, TV, film and live theatre/performance arenas so you can understand and prepare for the constant changes and innovations of the industry.
• You'll be based at the Queen’s Specialist Building in Farnworth studying and training in purpose-built, high-specification performing arts studios.

Key Features

• We’ll focus on helping you gain a wide range of relevant knowledge and skills such as singing techniques, voice and speech, movement, and acting techniques for actors, storytelling, improvisation, as well as jazz, ballet, tap and commercial dance techniques.
• We’ll guide you as you explore theatre so you gain experience of the history, traditions, practitioners and innovators that form the foundations of contemporary and future performing arts.
• You’ll have the chance to learn specialist techniques for performance, rehearsal and audition scenarios.
• To ensure you’re prepared for the practicalities of paperwork and self-promotion that are required of professional performing artists, we’ll support you to learn how to perfect your CV and job applications, deal with agencies, tackle the tax and self-assessment system, create showreels and develop your online/social media presence.
• We’ll encourage you to develop essential transferable skills and attributes such as effective communication, creative problem solving, working collaboratively with other people, resilience, adaptability, self-awareness and confidence.

Photographs are the most exciting and important visual form of global communication, forming a significant part of everyday life. It’s estimated that 4.2 billion people now use the internet and that around 1.2 trillion photos were taken last year*. The image has become the most widely used international language, and the ability to communicate concise visual statements that engage audiences is at the heart of our course and teaching.

Our broad-based degree offers you a unique pathway of visual self-discovery. You’ll benefit from the freedom to pursue your own interests while receiving expert support from our industry-experienced tutors, developed with help from a panel of industry professionals. We offer a supportive market-aware environment, in which you can explore a variety of photographic genres such as documentary, fashion, editorial, photojournalism, commercial advertising, portraiture, architectural, wildlife, landscape and fine art.

We’ll invite industry experts to share their knowledge during guest lectures, and offer you opportunities to work on placements, ‘live briefs’ and commissions. Our industry links will help to enrich your learning experience and provide you with invaluable ‘insider’ information and possible employment opportunities. You can be part of this fully integrated programme of practical and theoretical knowledge, building your confidence and skills ready for a career in this dynamic industry.

Highlights

• Our team of highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic photography lecturers offer face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support, ensuring you can access help and advice when you need it.
• Based on your interests and strengths, our experienced team will work to help you identify a potential career path and plan your future professional development based on your individual needs. We want to support you as you establish the foundation of your career in your chosen area of the photography industry.
• Exhibition and display are key themes in the final year, and we’ll offer you the opportunity to present your work in an external exhibition as well as during Bolton School of the Arts’ Creative Showcase.
• We offer opportunities for you to participate in foreign study trips, as well as visit collections and current exhibitions at galleries, museums and arts centres around the UK. In recent years, visits to major cities such as New York, Paris, London and Toronto have proved valuable learning opportunities for our students.
• You’ll also have the opportunity to progress seamlessly onto our Master of Arts Photography programme.

Key Features

• Our custom-designed photography department offers outstanding facilities including darkrooms, a dedicated computer suite with a high output printing facility and four studios with specialist lighting.
• Practical knowledge, such as studio lighting and location techniques, combined with research and critique help you learn to develop your ideas and produce innovative research-led work.
• You’ll have access to a rich visiting speaker programme, providing insight into industry experts’ professional practice and up-to-the-minute developments in the sector.
• The programme offers work placements, internships, masterclasses, awards, competitions and open calls, such as the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.
• Our specialist tutors and technical support staff have professional experience and industry connections.
• As a graduate, you’ll have a wide range of independent, specialist photographic styles based on your own planning and development.