Study a Visual Communications online degree program with OCA

Our BA (Hons) Visual Communications degree encourages you to explore the most creative and original ways to communicate a message to any given audience. It provides an opportunity for you to experiment with multiple creative disciplines and topics, so that you gain a more comprehensive understanding of meaning, purpose, interpretation and design.

You’ll learn how to communicate your ideas effectively across various media and practices, equipping you with new thought processes and reasoning behind your methods. This will help you produce an interdisciplinary portfolio of artwork that can span a range of areas including graphic design, illustration, web, moving image, comics, infographics, packaging and beyond.

Throughout your course of study, your specialist tutor will support you and your work, enabling you to work both independently, ready for the world of visual creativity. So if you’re looking to create meaningful communications for a client base or for yourself, our BA (Hons) Visual Communications degree is for you.

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Studying Visual Communications

The BA (Hons) Visual Communications course offers an accessible distance learning experience through which students can develop an understanding of visual enquiry and find a personal creative voice; if you so desired, you could continue onto a visual communication graduate program after you finish.

The curriculum explores a span of visual communication practices that encompasses graphic design through typography, editorial design, branding and packaging and illustration through drawing, image making and visual storytelling, animation and comics, all of which touch upon both traditional and digital skills and techniques. Due to a comprehensive curriculum like this, the range of jobs you can get with a visual communications degree are diverse – from marketing to digital design and beyond – the possibilities are endless!

An Open and Flexible Learning environment supports student expectations and needs, helping you to develop the skills necessary for autonomous learning. Our course team is made up of experienced tutors who are all practitioners within the field or lecturing at other UK art colleges and Universities. This learning environment encourages students to develop a personal creative voice within their work that can be extended into employment, self-employment, further study, or continued personal development.

Course Structure

The course is designed to give students the widest choice of course content while retaining a strong core structure. As students move through the three course levels they can refine their study choices as the range of study options broadens, making the course truly interdisciplinary.

Level 1

Level 1 support the development of creative ideas by examining how to analyse a brief, generate and visualise ideas, use reference material to inform approaches and begin to develop content and meaning within your work. You are introduced to the visual languages of illustration and design thinking through creative problem-solving exercises, explore the relationship between form and function, and consider how to develop a creative process through researching, visualising and presenting ideas. These units also offer a gateway into specialist study through a choice of content in areas of visual practice such as drawing, printmaking and photography.

Level 2

Level 2 supports students’ ability to further develop visual language and develop the critical and reflective skills to evaluate the results. You will explore the integration of typography and visual elements within layouts and examine the role of graphic design within identity design, branding and campaigning. You will also investigate how to use image-making in reportage, sequential narrative through storyboards, and consider a range of contemporary contexts for illustration. Stage 2 study also offers distinct options into specialist study, from book design and visual exploration to comics and graphic novels, and enables you to summarise all that you have learned by undertaking a self-directed brief from a range of professional contexts.

Level 3

Level 3 synthesize students’ creative practice and research interests across a self-directed body of work, and provide a framework that enables you to foster an increasingly autonomous and professional approach. You will demonstrate your creative voice through outcomes that include a portfolio of self-directed work, a reflective learning log, and a critical thinking assignment which can be written or take an alternative presentational format.

We regularly review our curriculum; therefore, the qualification described on this page – including its availability, its structure, and available units – may change over time. If we make changes to this qualification, we’ll update this page as soon as possible. Once you’ve registered or are studying this qualification, where practicable, we’ll inform you in good time of any upcoming changes. If you’d like to know more about the circumstances in which OCA might make changes to the curriculum, see our Academic Regulations or contact us. This description was last updated on 14 December 2022.

Programme Specification New Curriculum 2023/24

This Programme Specification is for all units on the new curriculum.

Review Programme Specification here

Programme Specification Running Out Curriculum 2023/24

This Programme Specification details the units and learning outcomes that are being taught out.

Review Programme Specification here

Visual Communications Accessibility Guides

Accessibility guides give an indication of the type and format of content, teaching, and learning activities on the course, and how these are ordinarily delivered.

Review Accessibility Guides Here

Foundations

£1025

Per course

Level 1 (HE4)

£4,950

For the level

Level 2 (HE5)

£4,950

For the level

Level 3 (HE6)

£4,950

For the level

Total approximate undergraduate fees

Breakdown of costs...

Foundations

£1,175

Per course

Level 1 (HE4)

£5,670

For the level

Level 2 (HE5)

£5,670

For the level

Level 3 (HE6)

£5,670

For the level

Total approximate undergraduate fees

Breakdown of costs...

More Information
  • With the OCA, you can study a BA (Hons) degree in our flexible online learning model at approximately one third the cost of a degree at a traditional physical university.

    Students study and pay for the course on a unit-by-unit basis, so you only pay for the course as you enrol to each unit.

    This course is eligible for a part-time tuition fee loan from Student Finance England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or you can self-fund the course and break down costs even further through the deposit and instalment option.  Find out more about your funding options here.

  • You will require regular use of a computer or laptop and internet access. Most essential reading materials can be accessed through the digital library services and eBooks.

    Students are responsible for sourcing and, where necessary, purchasing any additional software and resources specified. These can be around £400 at Level 1, £500 at Level 2, and £550 at Level 3. Where possible, open or freeware equivalents will be discussed alongside industry standard options.

    You will need some type of editing software for this course. Adobe is recommended but you are welcome to use alternatives.

    You may be eligible for any student discounts on computer equipment and software by using your student email, and you can find out more information about student discounts here.

  • Visual Communications is an open access degree; this means that there are no formal qualifications or experience required to join the course. All you need is a passion for the arts, and willingness to learn.

    All OCA courses require students to be IT literate, have a good internet connection, and have a good standard of English equivalent to CEFR B2. You can review the study requirements here so you’re prepared for online study at higher education.

  • We accept enrolments for our BA (HONS) courses in monthly intakes throughout the year.

    Review the key enrolment deadlines on the link below.



  • Our part-time degree courses are completed on average between 6 and 9 years. The degree is structured into three levels (instead of three years) so you’re able manage study around other commitments.

    Once enrolled, you’ll have a maximum of 12 years to complete your degree course. There are unit and level timeframes within the overall degree time frame, and you’ll need a minimum of 10 study per week to keep on track. To find out more about course duration and managing your time, click here.

  • Your course materials are accessible online through the virtual learning environment, OCA Learn, where you’ll also have access to student forums, a subject space, the student handbook and the online library. You’ll work primarily from a set text of course materials and resources, but can also sign up to webinars, workshops and study groups in addition to your core learning.

    Once you’ve completed the required assignments within a course unit and received tutor feedback, you’ll submit a portfolio of work to an assessment event. This gives you the opportunity to develop your work before you have it formally assessed to achieve credits towards your degree.

  • Upon completing the BA (Hons) Visual Communications degree, you’ll be set with skills to help you navigate the workplace. You could use your practice as a professional illustrator, digital designer, artist, brand or content specialist, the possibilities are endless. Prospects can help you with a variety of options of where your degree could take you.

    In May 2022 the Department for Culture, Media, & Sport estimated there were some 2.3 million jobs in the UK creative industries, and post pandemic the Creative Industries are growing faster than the UK economy as a whole.

  • The Academic Regulations for Subsidiary Institutions of The Open University are applicable to all taught courses offered by the Open College of the Arts (OCA).

    You can review the Academic Regulations on our policy page.

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