UAL Level 3 and 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

This qualification is for 18+ students

We will invite you to a Meet the Tutor event where you will receive information, advice, and guidance about the course you have applied for. This will be an opportunity for you to gain valuable information about the course and give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

You will provide a copy of your last school report and / or a reference from an employer or relevant professional other this will include attendance. This is to ensure we can support to be able to achieve well on the course. Applicants with 85% or below attendance will have been deemed not to have met this criteria. All applicants are given an opportunity to discuss any evidence based mitigating circumstances that may have affected the reference / school report.

A portfolio or example of your work to demonstrate that you have the appropriate level of skill required to succeed on the course. We love to see your creativity!

At least one Level 3 qualification at any grade.You will have gained either English and/or maths at GCSE C/4 or above, or L2 Functional skills in English and/or maths.

We are firmly committed to finding the right course for you to ensure you can flourish. Talk to us today if you have any concerns about the application process, we are here to help take you to the next level.

Usually, Foundation students will progress onto a degree programme within a higher education provider such as a degree programme or a Higher National Certificate, for example. The Foundation course is very much geared towards future career choices and is a pathway onto higher education and a career in the visual arts. Previous students have gone on to study a very varied range of HE courses which have included; Fine Art, Graphics, Illustration, Fashion, Architecture, Interior Design, Visual Communication, Textiles, Media, Photography, 3D Design and Product Design.

There are lots of opportunities available to you to progress across the South Thames Colleges Group and into the world beyond education.

During your time with us you will have access to a dedicated team of careers and education advisors who will help you as you take the next steps towards achieving your goals.

The diploma is run across the academic year and consists of three units that are set within project briefs that range in length and complexity. Each project has a different focus so, for example, one may be concerned with a real live brief or problem and another may involve using presentation skills as part of a group critique project. You will also be taught new practical, theoretical and contextual skills and the opportunity to improve existing ones in-line with eventual pathway choices. This will enable you to produce a very large body of work that incorporates many different creative problem solving opportunities that reflect a really broad range of outcomes both within specific pathways, we have dedicated staff with specialist skills in fashion, graphics and general art and design. This reflects how the industry operates and prepares you for further study at a higher level. UCAS applications are conducted at the beginning of the year with port-folio workshops and development ready for degree course interviews during the Spring term.

Projects are varied in length and they are assessed halfway through (formative) and at the end (summative). You will have frequent 1:1 support from lecturers to help develop your skills and work, along with group activities and class demonstrations of new skills. The practical tasks are mapped against the UAL awarding body criteria and are designed to help you develop a very wide range of skills. The final project of the year is longer as it forms the overall grades for the course with those being a Pass, Merit or Distinction.