Firstly, I did my degree during the plague years so only my first year and last year were intact. The gaping void of the rest of the degree was still good but the last year was most certainly the best.

The Fine Art Department in Newcastle University has a wonderfully warm community feeling. The technicians are incredible; they will realise any project that you can clearly articulate. The tutors are all from varied fields of research which is a great help as you receive a multitude of viewpoints that you would have never considered alone.

You get to explore many mediums within your practice. The course begins with strands that guide you through the different fields of practice. I had never considered doing video art before and now that is the main component of my practice. This course will not box you into to one particular form of art and that can be vital.

My one main critique will be that, as a video installation artist, I headed into my final year knowing that the most experienced video artist had taken a sabbatical. Other very experienced tutors took the same action and it was hard to find replacement opinions and it left me and some other students at a loss.

Furthermore, the general management of the course by the wider university management left much to be desired. During the first semester after lockdown, the management told our department that we could only have 3 hours of studio time a week. 3 hours. Our course is almost entirely marked on practical work so it was a pain. Thankfully, our head of department worked very hard to secure 13 hours instead.

During the strikes, the University management shut down talks with the unions at a very pivotal point in the last semester of the year. It was particularly pivotal for myself as it was at the time of the final assessment. The talks were resolved eventually but not without the threat that all of our grades were going to be withheld indefinitely. I am in full support of the strikes and I think that prospective students should consider how a University’s management responded to strike action when considering which course to do.

Overall, this course has given me the freedom to shape my practice the way I saw fit and didn’t restrict me to one medium or one field of research. I would strongly argue that this is the best art course outside of London. I would still consider how Newcastle University’s management of the course could effect both you as a student and the staff in the department as this did impact my experience.