History of Art

BA (Hons)

UCAS code: V350

Start dates: September 2025 / September 2026

Full time: 3 years

Part time: 6 years

Location: Headington

School(s): School of Education, Humanities and Languages

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Overview

The moving sun creates shadows that dance over a building by Sir Christopher Wren. You’ll watch the spectacle. Pause and really take it in. Then back in the classroom we’ll talk about the historical and theoretical context that makes the moment even more significant.

At Oxford Brookes, we give you the chance to get out in front of actual art and buildings. Hunt through the riches of the Ashmolean Museum, handling some of the rare objects contained there. You could explore the fascinating tombs of Warwick’s Beauchamp Chapel. You’ll even get to take in a continental European city, perhaps wandering through the Louvre in Paris before heading back to a historic townhouse to discuss what you’ve seen with friends.

We focus on art and architecture from the Renaissance to the 20th century. In addition – in your own projects you can explore any area that interests you. Our team has world class research expertise. Whatever you’re interested in, you’ll find an expert who can support and encourage your specialism. 

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Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Don’t just study, experience

    We want you to enjoy art and architecture first hand, so we provide plenty of opportunities throughout the course.

  • No experience necessary

    If you haven’t studied art history, we’ll get you up to speed. If you have, we’ll introduce you to new topics.

  • Packed with career skills

    You’ll develop your logical and critical thinking skills, learn advanced research techniques, and become a great communicator.

  • Study in Oxford

    The city has renowned museums, galleries, and auction houses to not only visit, but volunteer or work in to gain experience of the sector.

  • Top 10 in the UK

    History of Art is ranked 8th in the Guardian History of Art subject league ranking 2025.

  • Learn a language

    Our university-wide language programme is available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

  • Study abroad

    You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Oxford Brookes. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.

Course details

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Study modules

Teaching for this course takes place face to face and you can expect around 7 hours of contact time per week. In addition to this, you should also anticipate a workload of 1,200 hours per year. Teaching usually takes place Monday to Friday, between 9.00am and 6.00pm.

Contact hours involve activities such as lectures, seminars, practicals, assessments, and academic advising sessions. These hours differ by year of study and typically increase significantly during placements or other types of work-based learning.

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Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Careers

Past students of the course have gone on to a broad range of careers. They’re working in:

  • museums
  • galleries
  • auction houses
  • heritage organisations
  • education
  • journalism.

Employers include Sotheby’s, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Oxford Museum of Natural History. 

In your final year, you’ll develop practical experience of managing exhibitions and curating displays, ideal for a career in museums or galleries. But you’ll also develop lots of other key skills valued by many employers, in areas like administration, communications, public relations or retail.

Student profiles

Joint honours options

You can also study this course as part of a joint honours degree. This course can be joined with:

Related courses

Entry requirements

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

Standard offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 104 - 120

A Level: BCC - BBB

IB Points: 29

BTEC: DMM - DDM

Contextual offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 88 - 96

A Level: CCD - CCC

IB Points: 27

BTEC: MMM

Further offer details

For joint honours, normally the offer will lie between the offers quoted for each subject.

Applications are also welcomed for consideration from applicants with European qualifications, international qualifications or recognised foundation courses. For advice on eligibility please contact Admissions: admissions@brookes.ac.uk

International qualifications and equivalences

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
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Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

International full time
£15,950

2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
£9,535

Home (UK) part time
£1,190 per single module

International full time
£16,750

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Please note, tuition fees for Home students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.

For further information please see our 2025-26 tuition fees FAQs.

Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support. 

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Information from Discover Uni

Full-time study

Part-time study

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.