UAL Level 3 Award and Certificate in Photography - City of Wolverhampton College

UAL Level 3 Award and Certificate in Photography

The course will introduce new photographers and digital print artists to the potential of the photographic medium, support you in your progress and development as image-makers by instilling strong technical, conceptual and visual skills and expand your knowledge of both contemporary and historical photography and graphic artists.

Alongside specialist photography and digital imaging topics you will also work on projects that develop transferable skills that are relevant to all areas of creative arts and will prepare you for the next career step. Our tutors are practicing photographers and artists and bring current industry practice to the classroom.

To enable you to put the skills you learn on the course into practice, you will be expected to complete 30 hours of work experience. Students are expected to find their own work placements, however will be provided with support and guidance from teaching staff to find these. We have a small range of WEx opportunities available for over 18s including work experience in Florence Italy through the Turing scheme, and local collaboration with music venue employers for gig/events photography.

The course is taught through a range of approaches designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your technical and conceptual skills.

We aim to provide you with an experience that balances the development of creativity with the technical skills involved in the creation of pieces of photographic and digital print work. Through our experienced tutors you will receive extensive guidance for application to higher level courses together with help to build a varied portfolio of work enable you to progress successfully.


Our creative arts courses have been named the best in the country and earned the college a prestigious national award. We have been named Training Provider of the Year at the Creative and Cultural Skills Awards 2019! Our creative arts department is forward thinking, innovative, committed and that's why we have been nationally recognised.

Awarded Arts Mark Gold status by Arts Council England for our excellent courses and links with employers we pride ourselves on producing work-ready students equipped with the skills and knowledge to be a success in the industry.

City of Wolverhampton College is an approved centre for UAL Awarding Body Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art, Design and Communication (Photography Pathway)

Entry Requirements

To access this course you are required to:

  • Have a Level 2 qualification in photography OR 
  • Relevant knowledge and experience of photography 
  • Attend an interview and provide examples of your work to demonstrate your suitability for the course 

In addition, the following would be an advantage:

  • Basic knowledge of using Photoshop 
  • Your own digital SLR camera you can use during and outside of lessons, however if you do not have access to this equipment you will be provided with one to use during lessons.


What will I learn?

During this course you will study:

  • Darkroom practice
  • Studio techniques
  • Location photography
  • Portraiture
  • Photoshop
  • Experimental photography


What skills will I gain?

By studying this course you will:

  • Gain experience in the potential of still photography, both traditional and digital
  • Learn location photography techniques where you will explore the basic principles of camera operation, lens selection, composition and visual imagery
  • Learn studio based techniques where you will build on your current knowledge to further develop your skills and outcomes in the studio environment


How will I be assessed?

This is an assignment based course so there are no exams. You will be continually assessed throughout the programme and the course will culminate in a final project which will be graded as pass, merit or distinction.

What can I do next?

The skills you will learn from this course will enable you to:

  • Enrol on our HND in photography
  • Pursue further study in art and design or graphic design


Location

Paget Road Campus

 

Start Date

September 2025

Study Mode

Part-time

Course Code

Q1593