Bachelor of Visual Arts

• Five years completed at secondary school with successful art units and portfolio OR

• NCEA Level 3
  • 14 credits at Level 3 in each of three NZQA approved university entrance subjects, and
  • 10 Literacy credits at Level 2 or above, made up of: 
    • 5 credits in reading and 5 credits in writing, and 
  • 10 Numeracy credits at Level 1 or above, made up of:
    • specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects OR
    • package of three numeracy unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627- all three required).
  • OR equivalent qualifications and experience.

COVID-19 adjustments to NCEA requirements

• If you completed your NCEA Level 3 during 2020, you only need 12 credits per Level 3 subject (i.e. a total of 36 credits).
• If you completed your NCEA Level 3 during 2021, please visit this page on the NZQA website. There are different adjustments depending upon which part of New Zealand you studied in.
  
  
• Mature students with work and life experience are encouraged to apply.
• All applicants must submit a portfolio (see further information in the Portfolio and writing requirements section below).
• International students will be individually assessed to ensure they meet degree-level entry requirements and must have achieved the equivalent of Year 13.
• If English is not your first language, you must provide:
  • New Zealand University Entrance OR
  • Overall Academic IELTS 6.0 with no individual band score lower than 5.5 (achieved in one test completed in the last two years), OR
  • Acceptable alternative evidence of the required IELTS (see here for NZQA proficiency table and here for list of recognised proficiency tests).

If you need to improve your English Language skills, we offer a wide range of English programmes.

The New Zealand Certificate in Arts and Design (Level 4) and New Zealand Certificate in Digital Media and Design (Level 4) provide a great pathway into this degree if you don't hold the entry requirements or have the necessary portfolio.  

Portfolio Requirement

We require examples of your artwork and the ways that you develop your ideas. Your examples need to show us your working processes and your ability to use a range of materials.

If you have been working in the NCEA system, please send us twelve (12) examples of your finished works and of your working processes from your folders.

If you have not been working in the NCEA system, please send us six (6) examples of finished work and six (6) pages of sketches or workbook pages.

Please submit your portfolio digitally (2MB file size limit if you are applying online) or in an A4 folder. Please do not submit originals as we do not return application folders.

Writing Requirement

Please include with your portfolio:

1. An essay or written text (at least 300 words). You may include writing produced for any of your NCEA subjects or you may write a new piece on any topic of your choice.
2. A double-spaced letter of not more than one page (300 words) explaining why you want to come to art school and what your experiences of art may have been to date. This may include all or some of the following:
   

   > Why art is important to you, the community and the wider world
   > Your expectations for your own future after your studies
   > Art galleries you may be familiar with
   > Artists whose work you may know
   > Art skills you may have already gained.

Please contact artoffice@op.ac.nz with any further questions. 

You must supply certified copies of proof of identity, academic records, proof of residency (where appropriate) and a curriculum vitae.

All submissions are viewed by a panel of academic staff and applicants are accepted on merit based on an evaluation of a portfolio of art practice and evidence of academic skills. An interview may be required. Where the number of successful applicants exceeds the places available, a waiting list will be kept and applicants will be offered vacant places in waiting list order.

The cost of materials, on top of those provided, vary according to individual projects. 

This programme perfectly prepares you for further learning and you may go on to study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Visual Arts, a Master of Fine Arts or a Master of Visual Arts.

You will complete Health and Safety checklists for specific hazards in your courses. During your study, you will use a range of technical equipment and chemical substances. If you have known allergies or reactions to materials, please indicate these in your application.

In the first semester, you will gain experience in each of the studio disciplines listed below. This will be supported by visual arts courses in Studio Methodologies, and Art History and Theory that will introduce you to a range of key skills in art-making and research. In the second semester, you will extend your knowledge in two of these studio areas and continue with Art History and Theory. In the second year, you will specialise in a single studio subject, developing your core skills and techniques, experimenting widely and engaging with critical debates as you move towards more independent learning in your chosen area. You will also continue to study Art History and Theory, and Studio Methodologies. In your final year, you will extend your art practice into a sustained body of work for presentation in a public exhibition. The Studio Research and Professional Methodologies courses provide critical, historical and vocational contexts for the development of your studio project in your final year.

Specialist Studio Disciplines

Study Ceramics
We have the largest ceramics arts department in New Zealand with wood, salt, electric and gas kilns, electric wheels and online research facilities. You will benefit from an emphasis on hands-on experimentation in clay-making workshops which explore ceramics as a medium with its own language, skills and history.

Study Electronic Arts
Specialise in Electronic Arts, which inhabit a constantly shifting location in art and media practice. You may choose to explore 2D and 3D animation, film, installation, electronics, projection and online media and audio/video production. Through the study of contemporary practice, you will engage with media arts and reflect on their historical and contemporary position in the art world.

Study Jewellery and Metalsmithing
Develop your artistic eye and practical skills with the understanding that the fundamental reference for jewellery is the human body. Jewellery uses a visual language based on interaction, communication and contact, and may be expressive and intimate or aggressively provocative. Art, objects and adornment for the body use an unlimited palette from precious metal recycled materials. 

Study Painting
Here is an opportunity to develop your artwork so it is relevant to today's society and to national and international contemporary practice. That is the focus of this specialty, although you will also be encouraged to investigate painting movements and methodologies in recent centuries.

Study Photography
Gain a solid foundation in the practical and theoretical components of black and white, colour and alternative photographic processes. Use and explore a range of equipment and techniques in our well-designed facility. Understand the principles and history of photography as you study different photographic approaches, such as the antiquarian, formalist, documentary, fabricated or manipulated. 

Study Print
Our internationally-renowned Printmaking Department is well-established and is one of the leading departments of its kind in New Zealand. You will work and learn in its spacious studios and well-equipped workshops, designed to enable you to study and practice a comprehensive range of printmaking processes and related techniques. Experienced and award-winning staff members monitor these programmes, which help you research, explore and develop creative concepts.

Study Sculpture 

Develop a sculptural language through studio workshops focusing on drawing, form and spatial analysis. This department is equipped to international standards with separate workshops for wood, metal and plastics fabrication, a modelling and casting studio and specialist facilities for ceramic shell bronze casting, metal forging, vacuum forming and spray painting. 

Study Textiles
Major in textiles in a visual arts context, examining the value of cloth and its relationship to the body, different genders and classes, and material culture. The field of textile practice can encompass many approaches such as sculptural, 2D and site-specific artworks. We specialise in construction and a variety of print processes such as screen-print methodologies using pigment ink, dye, discharge and burnout applications, manual and digital embroidery and 3D sewing.

A full-time programme entails five full working days (or the equivalent) for 32 weeks. Studios are open for extended hours for senior students.

Student loans/allowances

Student loans and allowances are for domestic students only. For information about student loans and allowances please visit the Studylink website. It is important to apply for your student loan/allowance at the same time as you apply for this programme, due to the length of time Studylink take to process. Loan/allowance applications can be cancelled at any time if you decide to withdraw your programme application or if it is unsuccessful.

If you have extensive knowledge and skills due to practical experience in this area, enquire about our recognition of prior learning process at Capable NZ. You may have already gained credits towards this qualification.

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