UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

How to Apply

Please apply directly to the University. You will also need to provide a digital portfolio.

Application Timeline

For September 2025 entry—

• Applications can be submitted from Monday 6 January 2025.
• Deadline for submitting a completed application with digital portfolio is Friday 14 February 2025.

You can register your interest to receive updates when applications open and portfolio advice.

Digital Portfolio Requirements

We require you to submit a digital portfolio with a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 20 images or presentation slides (a single slide can contain more than one image).

Your portfolio should evidence developmental and completed work as well as contextual references (artist, designers ‘things’ that inspire you). This might include:

• —Visual and contextual research in the form of sketchbook pages or written notes
• —Developmental work in the form of sketchbook pages, worksheets, notebooks, material samples and experiments for a range of projects
• —Images of resolved or completed project work
• —Photographic images of large scale and/or three-dimensional work

Please write a short sentence to accompany each image which helps to explain what the image is about.

The images should evidence the range of processes and mediums you have experimented with. We are also interested in what inspires and informs your work, so if appropriate please include some information on what you do when you are not making art, such as other interests, reading, being part of group, sport, volunteering, jobs, etc.

Personal Statement

Your personal statement can contain any or all of the following—

• First of all: Outline your reasons for wanting to undertake the Foundation Course in Art & Design.
• Relevant Experience: In what way have you been engaging with Art & Design practices? For example: Are you studying the subject at school? Are you involved with creative practices/activity outside education?
• Themes: Does your creative practice have any particular theme or subject matter which you are interested in? Field of interest: Are you drawn to any particular filed, such as Painting, Textiles, Fashion, Illustration, 3D, multimedia etc.
• Career Aspirations: Do you have any particular career aim? We acknowledge that this may not be fully formed at this stage. Many applicants want to use the Foundation course to explore and identify their strengths – to guide them towards their next step.
• Wider Interests: Any information concerning your social, sporting or other interests which demonstrates an engagement in the world.

The field on the application form is limited to 4000 characters, (approx. 600 words). We recommend you have your personal statement prepared in a separate document so you can copy and paste this into the personal statement field on the application form.

Uploading Your Portfolio

You will need to include a web link to your portfolio with your application. This section provides further guidance on how to set-up an online portfolio.

How to Create an Online Portfolio

There are many free online hosting platforms available, please select a platform that works best for you.

Below are some hosting services that have been used previously by applicants, but you can use any platform you like as long as we can access it.

You can also use YouTube, Vimeo or SoundCloud to host media files, or documents on Yumpu or Issuu.

Protecting Your Privacy

We recommend that you do not publish any personal details on your online portfolio.

Some platforms also allow you to disable indexing of your online content by search engines.

General Advice

— Images and videos should be selected to be representative of your work and interests.

— Consult your teacher to help you create your digital portfolio, but make sure all the work you upload is your own.

— If you do reference other peoples’ work make sure that the source is clearly stated.

— Be prepared to have several attempts at creating the digital portfolio before it is finished, so that it goes through a refining process.

— Make sure that we can access your digital portfolio without a password and that all the images are visible and links work before you submit it.

Submit Your Application

You will be able to apply online for this course from 6 January 2025.