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- BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics
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BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics
- Duration: 3 or 4 years full-time
- Placement year: Optional 1 year
- Course code: W45G (UCAS)
- Institution code: A66 (UCAS)
BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics course information
What makes BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics distinctive is its interdisciplinary and collaborative culture, which integrates creative practice with theoretical study. You'll have opportunities to work on film projects within Bournemouth Film School (BFS), work on live productions, and collaborative opportunity across all schools situated within AUB, as well as external industry partners. These experiences enhance employability and help you understand how make-up functions as an interface between creativity and performance. By engaging in real-world projects, you'll gain practical insights into professional environments and industry expectations, while developing teamwork and communication skills.
BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics provides you with the opportunity to develop skills, competencies, and creative practice through a bold and innovative approach to the study of make-up. To make the most of the opportunities that this course offers, you'll need determination, an inquiring mind, enthusiasm, a passion for the subject and a desire to work within a creative community. The course enables you to grow as a designer, a reflective thinker, a decision maker and as a make-up practitioner. As graduates, you'll be ready to progress into professional careers in the opted industries or to move on to postgraduate study.
Three reasons to study BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics at AUB:
- Collaboration: Our structure, as part of Bournemouth Film School, provides an ideal context to enhance study through collaborative opportunities and live projects.
- Named awards: We offer a unique student-centred experience that explores the diverse and exciting spectrum of make-up disciplines. This develops and builds strong skill sets that'll allow you to make informed decisions regarding your chosen specialist practice and future.
- Industry engagement: We offer broad connections with industry experts and practitioners from the world of film, television, stage, prosthetics and fashion. Course-devised projects provide engagement with award winning make-up artists. Our Industry Patron, Industrial Liaisons Group and alumni provide further opportunities for you to engage with industry practitioners and employers.
Placement year
All undergraduate courses at AUB offer an optional placement year, to be taken between your second and third years of study.
If you’re unsure about this optional placement, you don’t need to decide now. Once you’re here and studying with us, the course team will discuss the placement options with you, so when the time comes, you can make a decision that’s right for you.
Exchange and international summer programmes
Students on BA (Hons) Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics have the chance to broaden their horizons through exciting exchange and international summer programmes. These opportunities allow you to study abroad at one of our brilliant partner institutions, experience different cultures, and enhance your academic journey.
Level 4 (first year)
The first year establishes the core creative, practical, analytical, and critical skills required of make-up artists working across a range of industry pathways. Through workshops and practical projects, you'll develop and extend your existing skills in make-up, prosthetics, wigs, postiche application and hair design. Interpersonal, communication, and employability skills are embedded within these units, as you undertake supervised make-up, special effects and hair projects on peers, models, and performers.
You'll also be introduced to the process of professionally documenting your work through the creation of a make-up portfolio. Alongside practical learning, you'll cultivate your analytical, research, reflective, and writing abilities, linking critical enquiry with creative development to build a strong foundation for further study and professional practice.
Level 5 (second year)
The second year builds upon the skills, knowledge, and creative foundations established at Level 4, providing opportunities to refine your technical abilities and to begin identifying specialist interests and potential career pathways for Level 6 study. You'll strengthen your understanding of the make-up artist’s role within the wider creative team, developing both professional and employability skills through engagement with industry contexts, digital technologies, and collaborative projects.
Practical experience is central to this level, with live projects encompassing film, performance, photoshoots, and make-up events. These experiences are supported by research and contextual study, deepening your understanding of make-up as a transformative and performative art form. Through these activities, you'll enhance your technical precision, creative confidence, and critical awareness, preparing you to navigate professional environments with increasing autonomy and purpose.
Level 6 (third year)
The third year provides a platform for you to consolidate, extend, and define your intellectual, practical, and professional capacities, enabling you to operate as an increasingly autonomous practitioner. This stage of study encourages you to formulate and articulate your individual academic and professional interests through both written work and "thinking through practice."
Risk-taking and ambition within your field are considered essential to your personal and professional growth, while intellectual integrity and critical engagement are fostered through sustained research and reflective inquiry. The structure of Level 6 comprises units designed to support your development as an independent, critically informed, and self-directed professional.
There's a strong emphasis on synthesising conceptual and critical thinking, research methods, technical and practical application, independent and collaborative working, and the cultivation of lifelong learning skills. You'll further develop your specialist areas of interest, extending your portfolio through live projects, collaborations, and engagement with a range of professional contexts. Learning Agreements at this stage will clearly articulate your individual focus, supporting the culmination of your professional and academic development.
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN
Now that you've found the perfect course, it's time to apply.
Check out our handy 'how to apply' guide and our portfolio top tips.
OPEN DAYS
Open Days are a great way to get a feel for undergraduate life at AUB. At an Open Day, you'll be able to explore the campus, talk to course teams and discover our industry-standard facilities.
Visit us on:
- 6 December
- 10 January
AUB SHOWCASE
We're proud of our alumni, and rightfully so.
Explore the incredible work of our graduates in our online AUB Showcase.
Browse work by course, student or theme.
Teaching, learning and assessment
The course objectives are met by deploying a wide variety of teaching and learning methods including projects, lectures, seminars, group critiques and tutorials. In consultation with the course leader, staff are responsible for co-ordinating individual units of study, and for selecting appropriate methods of delivery according to subject matter and student experience.
The methods employed induct you to the disciplines required of a creative practitioner and promote the development of transferable skills.
The study time allocated to each unit in the course incorporates a balance of formal teaching, tutorial support and independent learning.
The student-centred approach allows individuals to shape their learning journey according to their own artistic interests and career aspirations. Encouraging experimentation and innovation, the course provides a supportive environment where creativity thrives alongside professional discipline. Students develop a blend of practical and conceptual skills through research, analysis, design, and realisation, learning to apply independent judgment and critical self-awareness. This process cultivates reflective practitioners who are equipped to solve complex problems and communicate creative ideas effectively. A major focus is the development of a professional portfolio that represents each student’s unique artistic identity and demonstrates readiness to enter the global make-up industry.
For every unit of your course, we'll inform you of what you're expected to learn; what you have to submit; how your work will be assessed; and the deadline for presenting your work for assessment. This is made available through Unit Information, which will be on your Canvas pages.
Each unit is assessed separately, and the assessment forms part of the unit. Assessment both provides a measure of student achievement and provides students with regular feedback on how their learning is developing.
You'll receive a final mark for each unit in the form of a percentage, which will be recorded on your formal record of achievement (transcript). Each component of assessment is graded using a notched marking scale, whereby only certain marks are used within each grade. The only marks available within any 10-point band are *2, *5 and *8 (e.g. 62, 65, 68). These marks correspond to a low, mid, and high level of achievement within each grade band.
All learning outcomes must be passed to successfully complete the unit.
On successful completion of your Honours degree course, you'll be awarded a degree classification based on your unit marks. The final classification is determined using all unit marks at Levels 5 and 6 using two different algorithms, which are detailed in the HE Student Regulations. If the two algorithms produce different results, you'll be awarded the higher class of degree.
If you have joined Level 6 through either the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) route or having completed a Foundation Degree (FdA), the final classification is determined using only your unit marks at Level 6.