The Courtauld offers one undergraduate degree programme, the BA (Hons) History of Art. This seeks to attract students of the highest calibre, who are driven by an insatiable curiosity to learn about the visual arts and their histories.
The education we offer equips our students with a critical understanding of art from antiquity to the present, thus giving them an ideal foundation for further academic study. Our BA also inculcates a broad range of transferable skills that qualify our graduates to pursue a wide variety of careers. Taught mainly in small groups, and as often as possible directly in front of original works of art and architecture, our undergraduates learn to think for themselves, and how to communicate their thoughts to others in a lucid, disciplined and professional manner.
The undergraduate student who comes to The Courtauld becomes part of a vibrant intellectual community united by the same passion for knowledge about visual culture. Like all of our degree programmes, the BA aims to give our students access to the best available research-led teaching, and to world-class learning resources, starting with our own specialist libraries and the treasures of The Courtauld Gallery, and encompassing the full and rich panoply of relevant materials that are on offer in London. Most students will also experience at least one study trip abroad during the course of their degree.
Course Details - Modules
The BA History of Art is a full-time, three-year course designed to prepare you for a career in the arts or for further academic study.
The undergraduate degree at The Courtauld Institute of Art is a course unit degree, that is to say, a degree which aims to be responsive to the particular choices of individual students without losing its identity as a qualification in the study of the history of art. Your Personal Tutor will guide you in a structured and progressive set of choices through each successive year of the degree, and to advise on the assessment procedures.
You will be assigned a personal tutor who will help you put together a structured and progressive set of course choices in each successive year of the degree. Personal tutors can also discuss assessment procedures with you and provide the first point of contact for academic and personal problems.
Course Details – Assessment Method
Each year you will complete a number of essays and formal exams, which are designed to measure your level of achievement and understanding of the subject matter:
First Year
You will submit two essays in each of the autumn and spring terms, and take two formal examinations at the end of the academic year.
Second Year
You will take three formal examinations relating to Frameworks for Interpretation and each of your Constellation courses at the end of the academic year and submit one 4,000-word essay which should address interests arising directly from your courses.
Third Year
Assessment is based on four formal examinations at the end of the academic year relating to the Special Option Courses and one 5,000-word essay on a topic of particular interest.
In addition to formal assessments, you will be assessed informally on an ongoing basis, which may include:
Contribution to class discussion
Class presentations
Written work
At the end of each course, you will have a tutorial session with your personal tutor to discuss your progress and performance.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
V350
Institution code:
C80
Campus Name:
Courtauld Institute of Art
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
The BA History of Art page of our website has the most up-to-date information on entry requirements both for Home students and those applying from the EU/overseas.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
