Illustrators create exciting concepts and visuals for books, magazines, and advertising campaigns, as well as concept art for games, films, and TV. On this course you'll learn the drawing and illustration techniques you'll need in the professional creative world, with a focus on craft, versatility, and imagination.
In our large professional studio you'll explore both traditional and digital approaches to illustration and find your own distinctive way to bring your ideas to life, from creative problem solving and idea generation to drawing, painting, printmaking, and digital design. As well as developing your own personal creative portfolio, you'll have the chance to put your skills to the test with live industry briefs and the opportunity to enter international creative competitions.
This programme is also available with an Arts Foundation Year, which can provide an alternative route of entry onto the full degree programme. Find out more at https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/afyafyub/.
Gain industry insight from guest speakers
Subject area ranked in top 20 in the UK*
Specialist illustration studios and equipment
Access to industry-standard software and technology
Enter international student design competitions
A professional network of alumni
*Out of 84 ranking institutions Complete University Guide 2025.
This BA (Hons) Illustration degree aims to help students to explore their personal direction, as an illustrator in preparation for a career in industry. By delving into both traditional and contemporary approaches to illustration, this course deals not just with 'what it is', but also what you think it should be.
Tutors place an emphasis on experimentation, and on developing an ability to visually communicate with audiences by seeing relationships between image and text, or the spoken word. The course is also focused on helping students to contextualise the profession of illustration in relation to society.
Students are able to develop a professional portfolio of work by engaging with independent, collaborative, and industry-led briefs and projects, and by developing a range of professional skills that will serve them throughout your career.
The first year of study focuses on helping students develop visual and conceptual skills through drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, and associated digital, design, illustration, and thinking processes.
This is followed, in the second year, by the study of editorial and book illustration aimed at selected clients and audiences. During this year, ethically and culturally orientated issues and debates are explored.
In the final year, students may have the opportunity to respond to contemporary illustration briefs, including 'live' competitions. The focus is on enabling students to produce a portfolio that showcases their unique, individual abilities and a bespoke approach to illustration.
Studio practice is a key element of this course, and students will have the opportunity to spend a lot time in a creative studio environment. Teaching and learning experiences may include studio activities, peer groups, lectures, workshops, seminars, and group tutorials. Students can also benefit from face to face consultation with your tutor during portfolio reviews and around self-directed projects.
† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.
We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, contact hours, and our return to face-to-face teaching.
As this course aims to develop a wide range of practical and intellectual skills, assessment is varied and includes presentations, written projects, individual and group practical work, projects, and portfolios, in addition to academic essays. There are no formal end-of-year examinations. Throughout the degree, students are assessed through their production of practical and written work.
At the University of Lincoln, we aim to equip you with a thoughtful and critical mindset, preparing you to become a leader in the creative industries. To encourage this, our comprehensive facilities provide a supportive, dynamic environment for creative growth. You can access workshops, labs, studios, and industry-standard equipment, with guidance from highly skilled technicians. This environment, along with our large purpose-built design studios, empowers you to expand your skills and knowledge, fully preparing you for the demands of the creative field.
Move through our dedicated illustration studio space in 3D and see exactly where you could explore your creativity.
Our degree show is an exciting opportunity for our Lincoln School of Design students to showcase their work both physically and digitally to the public and businesses.
We want to create employable graduates, and as part of the course you can undertake a module focused on preparing for a successful career in the creative industry. Designed to foster confidence in your professionalism you can explore illustration through a lens of business skills, research, self-promotion, and presentation. There is also a strong emphasis on self-promotion, agility, utilising existing skills in other creative fields, and building professional integrity.
Innovation is actively encouraged throughout the course, whether this is discovering new markets, materials, processes, or engaging with emerging technologies such as VR.
There may also be opportunities to take part in live projects across the course, providing opportunities for you to gain valuable experience interacting with industry professionals from areas including publishing, the music industry, tourism, conservation, and many more.
We run an ‘Industry Week’ across the School of Creative Arts where speakers from across the design industry are invited to speak to students. You are encouraged to attend talks from speakers from across the spectrum of design practice to inform your own approach to illustration.
We also regularly invite guest speakers to give you an insight into the broader illustration community. Past speakers have included Graham Rawle, Jonny Hannah, Lydia Monks, Derek Brazell, Gareth Brooks, Scott Garrett, Tom Gauld, and Jade Sarson, providing valuable perspectives on diverse practices in illustration.
You may have the opportunity to participate in national and international study trips. These extra-curricular visits, which in the past have included places such as New York for publishing and advertising agencies, the Bologna Book Fair, The House of Illustration (now the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration), the International Comic Strip Festival in Angoulême, and other museum and exhibition tours, offer exposure to global industry events as well as inspiration for students’ own practice. Students who join these trips will be responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and living expenses.
Students are provided with access to the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of software which includes Photoshop and Illustrator, LinkedIn Learning as well as the Microsoft Office suite.
One of the key ways the course prepared me for freelance life is the way they let us manage our own time and work independently, as time management and independence are key skills for freelancers.
Ellie Roe
BA (Hons) Illustration
Lincoln School of Design students have a long history of winning and being shortlisted for international and national student design competitions, and the last few years have been no exception.
Illustration graduates have gone on to develop successful international careers in illustration and art direction for advertising agencies, publishing houses, in graphic novels, zines, comics, as well as book illustration. They've also gone on to work in games design, storyboarding for cinema, graphic design, and animation. An increasing number of entrepreneurial graduates have launched their own businesses and pursued careers in the broader creative industries.
104 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma: Distinction, Merit, Merit.
T Level: Merit
Access to Higher Education Diploma: 45 Level 3 credits with a minimum of 104 UCAS Tariff points.
International Baccalaureate: 28 points overall.
GCSE's : Minimum of three at grade 4 or above, which must include English. Equivalent Level 2 qualifications may be considered.
The University accepts a wide range of qualifications as the basis for entry and do accept a combination of qualifications which may include A Levels, BTECs, EPQ etc.
We may also consider applicants with extensive and relevant work experience and will give special individual consideration to those who do not meet the standard entry qualifications.
Non UK Qualifications:
If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.
EU and Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/
If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-sessional English and Academic Study Skills courses.
For applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements, our Arts Foundation Year can provide an alternative route of entry onto our full degree programmes:
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/afyafyub/
If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the Admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk
Going to university is a life-changing step and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found on our course fees pages.
For eligible undergraduate students going to university for the first time, scholarships and bursaries are available to help cover costs. To help support students from outside of the UK, we are also delighted to offer a number of international scholarships which range from £1,000 up to the value of 50 per cent of tuition fees. For full details and information about eligibility, visit our scholarships and bursaries pages.
Materials
Students on the illustration programme are likely to incur some additional costs for specialist art materials throughout the duration of their three years of study.
Equipment and some specialist materials are supplied by the School, especially in respect to printmaking, 3D modelling, and Adobe Creative software suite, which enables the production of digital material. However, students will have to provide their own drawing materials, paper, pencils, sketchbooks etc. A materials list is provided at the beginning of the academic year. Students are not expected to buy everything immediately but build up an individual resource of materials suited to their interests and their project work.
Students can purchase art materials from the art shop located nearby in the Nicola de la Haye building. The course has recently increased its digital resources for students within the studio. However, blended learning approaches (a mixture of online and studio learning) allow students (where applicable) greater freedom to learn where and when they wish. In this way, students may wish to purchase a laptop, tablet and stylus, prior to or during their study depending on their personal approach to illustration production.
Study Visits
Students on this course may have the option to take part in international study visits. The University covers the costs of mandatory field trips , but students who choose to participate in optional study visits are expected to cover their own travel, accommodation, and general living costs.
The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to visit us in person. We offer a range of opportunities across the year to help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.
