Newcastle University

Graduate Destinations

Each year, every university in the UK contacts all UK and EU graduates to find out what they are doing on a specific date, approximately six months after graduation. This is the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.

The following analysis is based on the data supplied by 30 Fine Art BA Honours graduates from Newcastle University who responded to our survey.

2011 Newcastle University Fine Art BA Honours Graduates

87% went into work, study or a combination of both.

Some of those took on voluntary or unpaid work to gain valuable experience for highly competitive art gallery positions.

The 10% assumed to be unemployed includes those with jobs arranged to start after the date of this survey. It also includes those taking time out of employment and study to build up a portfolio of work to pursue a career as an artist. Students who leave their job search until the end of their course can find it takes over six months to find the right graduate job.

Explicit refusals are where leavers send back the questionnaire marking it as a refusal, write a letter stating not to include them, or verbally state on the telephone that they do not wish to be included in the survey.

Of those in employment, 38% were in graduate-level jobs. Often, non-graduate level roles are used to gain work experience for competitive positions or to earn money to fund further study. For example, in this survey, 'Gallery Assistant' is not classed as a graduate level occupation, even though it is highly competitive for graduates to secure these roles, especially when they are paid positions. It is essential to gain experience as an assistant before progressing to curatorial, conservational or exhibitions officer roles.

£14,000 was the average salary of all of the graduates who supplied us with salary details. This includes salary details of graduates working on a casual or part-time basis, as well as those working abroad where average salaries may be lower than the UK.

Career Choices

Many Newcastle University Fine Art graduates have found employment in galleries and museums, applying their detailed subject knowledge and appreciation for fine art. Securing competitive roles as gallery assistants could enable our graduates to progress to curatorial or conservational roles, however, it also enables valuable networking in the art world for those seeking to establish themselves as artists. Outside of gallery work, some apply their creative thinking and design skills in editorial and marketing roles. Others pursue careers in teaching, using their enhanced ability to explain and express ideas.

Some Fine Art BA Honours graduates are working on a self-employed or freelance basis, using the self-motivation and independent learning skills they acquired while studying. Newcastle graduates are supported in self-employment and business start-up by the Careers Service while studying and after graduation.

Below are examples of our 2009-2011 graduates' employment and further study destinations.

Graduate Employment

Further Study