Applications for 2025/26 study are now OPEN.
Please visit our Apply page for updates and full information on how to submit your application.
The Foundation course is suitable for applicants who can meet the entry requirements that are detailed below, and who have an appetite to find and begin to explore their practice within an intensive studio-based teaching environment.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
All applicants have to meet the minimum entry requirements for admittance to the course, including the English Language Requirements (if English is not your first language), though there are three different ways of doing so:
| 1. | Standard Educational | ||
| Applicants who have achieved, or are expected to achieve: | |||
| a) | five GCSEs at grade 4 – 9 or the equivalent; OR | ||
| b) | three GCSEs at grade 4 or above, plus one GCE ‘A’ Level or equivalent. | ||
| 2. | International educational | ||
| This educational level may also be demonstrated by possession of a combination of other qualifications, equivalent to our Standard educational requirement. | |||
| For example: | International Baccalaureate – minimal of 26 IB points or above | ||
| For other equivalent qualification such as High School Diploma, please see the UCAS International Qualification Guide for your qualification. | |||
| 3. | Other experiential | ||
| Applicants who can demonstrate equivalent prior practice and experience, such as work in administration; or perhaps minimal GCSE qualifications plus a few years working in an arts context.
Using a process called Recognition /Accreditation of Prior Learning (R/APL), Art School Admissions Tutors consider how various work-life and (in)formal educational experiences meet the educational level of the entry requirements. Please see our Recognition/ Accreditation of Prior Learning Policy here. |
|||
ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
All applicants who do not speak English as a first language are required to provide evidence of their English language skills. The Art School cannot accept any applicant who scores lower than the equivalent of Level 5.5 on the standard English language tests (SELT) which can be taken with one of the recognised providers: a minimum of 5.5 is required for each of listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
If you do not require a Student visa and wish to take The Cambridge English Exams, your score must be in the range of 162–168 or higher.
SELECTION CRITERIA
To distinguish between all the applicants that meet our entry requirements we select those that we believe have the current ability and potential to:
| · demonstrate commitment to, and enthusiasm for, art and/or design; |
| · an ability to employ a variety of creative skills and creative problem solving; |
| · an ability to gather and research visual and textual material to inform your ideas; |
| · an ability to demonstrate an awareness of contemporary and historical culture related to your work; |
| · an ability to explain ideas, be critical and evaluate your work. |
THE INTERVIEW
We interview all applicants who reach our minimum entrance requirements. For further details on the interview process please consult the Course page that you are interested in. All tutors involved are trained in the fair and equitable conduct of interviews and are fully conversant in the Art School’s Admissions Policy.
We encourage you to inform us in advance if the arrangements for your interview require adjustment due to an existing condition or disability. For example if you might require more time or specific access arrangements or other support. Our aim is to ensure that all eligible applicants are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their potential to study on the course.
INTERVIEW INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS
The interview will be relatively informal and we want you to feel comfortable and confident. To ensure fairness and to help you prepare we have agreed upon a set of key questions that all applicants for their designated course will be asked at interview and these are set out below:
Please remember that the purpose of the interview is to enable you to demonstrate, and help us to see, your potential to study on the course. You should also use your interview visit as an opportunity to get a good idea about the Art School: our values and ethos, the course, and what studying here would be like and we encourage you to ask questions and see the interview as a two-way process.
PORTFOLIO
If you are applying for our Foundation course then you must provide a link to a portfolio when completing our application form.
For the digital portfolio, we recommend that you display 15-20 images. You should choose what you consider to be your strongest work undertaken within the last two years, representing the range of your interests and practice. We are not only interested in seeing finished work, so please include work in progress.
CONTACT US
If you’d like to find out more about the Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at the Art School, you are advised to attend an Open Day – you can book your place here.
To discuss the application process with our Admissions Team, please email admissions@cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk or call us on 020 7091 1683.
Alternatively, you can send a WhatsApp or text message to +447379 678 596 and a member of our team will get back to you. Be sure to leave your name, contact number and email address and a brief outline of your query.