Advance your skills, business acumen and critical understanding as an independent photographer — and work towards your creative and professional goals.
Acquire digital and traditional photographic analogue skills, digital capture and production and image management and manipulation, using industry standard equipment.
Develop core practical skills through creative professional practice and a critical engagement with image making.
Refine your ability to solve problems, manage complex projects, and communicate your ideas effectively.

Engage with a distinctive, independent approach to a wide range of photographic contexts with this professional and practice-based degree. You are encouraged to take risks in a highly creative environment, developing your understanding and knowledge of the medium to enable you to fulfil your potential in the constantly-evolving discipline of photography.

Work placements

The course has established professional working relationships with a number of photographic professional partners including the Photographers' Gallery, the National Media Museum, Site Gallery, Millennium Galleries, The Hepworth Wakefield, Village Bookshop and Gallery, and Impressions Gallery.

Field trips

Throughout the programme you will have the opportunity to attend national and international photography and art events which will broaden your understanding of the wider photographic industry, its stakeholders and key requirements (additional costs may apply).

Networking opportunities

A number of industry days and events (Grad Talk, Pathways) are held on campus where you can network with and attend talks and workshops run by creative media industry professionals and organisations. You will also have access to guidance from our professional careers and employment service, CV preparation and interview practice, an annual programme of employer recruitment fairs, and an online graduate vacancy service.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

You learn through a creative, practice-based approach to self-directed production which emulates the independent nature of professional practice within photography. This is underpinned through an exploration of historical and contemporary approaches and relevant theoretical issues in order to help situate your work in a critical context.

You learn through

• specialist workshops
• technical surgeries
• large group lectures
• smaller group seminars
• group critiques and review sessions
• individual tutorials

There are opportunities to study abroad at one of our partner universities with the possibility of funding through the Erasmus+ programme (until 2023) or the Turing Scheme.

This course prepares you for a career in

• documentary
• fine art
• fashion and advertising
• editorial
• press and photojournalism
• general and social portraiture
• scientific and medical
• stills for film and video productions
• post-production (picture editing, processing, printing and finishing)
• picture research and publishing
• curatorial and gallery contexts

Graduates of this course have gone on to work for

• S1 Artspace
• Webber Agency
• Gill Turner Photo Agency
• The Lowry
• Wex Photo Video
• Apple
• Salt-Street Productions
• American Golf
• Pinkbike
• Alpkit
• JD Official
• Size Official
• Boohoo
• Flannels
• THG Studios
• NHS England
• Mission Foodservice
• My-Furniture.com
• Frasers Group

 

UCAS points

• 112

This must include at least two A levels or equivalent BTEC National qualifications, including points in a relevant* subject. For example:

• BBC at A Level including a grade C in a relevant subject .
• DMM in BTEC Extended Diplomain a relevant subject.
• A combination of qualifications which must include a relevant subject and may include AS levels, EPQ and general studies.

You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.

GCSE

• English Language at grade C or 4
• Maths at grade C or 4

• Access - an Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 18 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above, in a media-related programme from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.

If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills, or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.5 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend a selection event with a portfolio of work to demonstrate your ability. This will take place online (via Zoom) so you will need to have your portfolio of work in digital format.

Your digital portfolio could be original digital files or photographs of any physical work. Any sketchbook, painted or printed examples should be photographed or scanned and placed within your portfolio. If you wish to submit a video as part of your portfolio this should be embedded within your portfolio as a link for us to view. Please collate the edited selection of work into a single document, preferably this should be in PDF format (the finished portfolio size shouldn’t exceed 25mb).

Further information will be provided once you have been invited to book an interview slot.

We welcome applications from people of any age. There may be some flexibility in entry requirements provided you have other relevant learning or experience. This must show that you will benefit from and finish the course successfully.

* Relevant subjects are • photography • art • design • visual communication • film and media studies • digital media

Please note the University will only admit students who are aged 18 or over at the point of enrolment.

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

 

Year 1 Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Photography: Analogue Practices	40	Coursework
Photography: Digital Techniques And Skills	20	Coursework
Photography: History - Practices And Debates	20	Coursework
Photography: Introduction To Critical Analysis	20	Coursework
Photography: Professional Development (Production And Output)	20	Coursework

 

 

Year 2 Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Photography: Advanced Techniques And Skills	20	Coursework
Photography: Concepts And Questions	20	Coursework
Photography: Contemporary Photographic Practice	20	Coursework
Photography: Professional Application - External Exhibition	40	Coursework
Photography: Research And Reflection	20	Coursework

 

Year 3 Optional modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Placement Year

 

Final Year Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Photography: Critical Research Project	20	Coursework
Photography: Independent Practice	60	Coursework
Photography: Independent Practice Preparation	20	Coursework
Photography: Professional Practice	20	Coursework