The Art School is committed to an intensive and individual approach to teaching and this course is rare in offering generous teaching and tutorial support from Monday to Friday with an exceptionally high ratio of staff to students. You will find that there are always tutors on site offering advice and running specialist workshops. You can also be sure of your own designated studio space in the 1937 industrial building adjacent to the Art School’s historic campus.
The Art School is excellently situated: by Tube, it takes just 10 minutes to travel to the National Gallery and 15–20 minutes to the contemporary art scene of Old Street and Shoreditch.
CREATIVE COMMUNITY
Students of different academic backgrounds and nationalities flourish on this course. We accept around 95 students a year – a number that strikes a balance between a stimulating mix of people and our individual approach, with small tutorial groups and a very high staff to student ratio. Our end-of-year Foundation show is testament not only to the imagination, creativity and commitment of our students, but also to the dedication of our team of enthusiastic and committed tutors – artists and designers in their own right. See our 2020 online Foundation Show here.
SPECIALIST FACILITIES
In addition to the department’s own technical resources, our Foundation students have access to the Art School’s shared facilities and technical support including the print studio, the wood, metal, glass, casting and ceramics workshops, the library and our dedicated Drawing studio. Working alongside BA and MA students, visiting artists and fellows in our close knit creative community adds to the richness of your learning experience.
ART HISTORIES
We believe strongly that specialist skills should not be taught in a vacuum, so we make Art Histories an integral part of all our courses, and teach it in such a way that it informs, inspires and incentivises. Read more about our engaging approach and stimulating Art Histories programme.
YOUR CREATIVE DIRECTION
This course will enable and challenge you to identify your creative direction. Your existing passion may be confirmed, or perhaps shift from fashion to costume design, fine art to textiles, illustration to painting. After a year of creative immersion and self-discovery, some of our Foundation students choose to continue their education at the Art School, and nearly all of the rest take their studies to the next level elsewhere – usually on their first-choice of courses.
You may be able to benefit from the grants and financial assistance offered by the Art School, which you may apply for once you have been offered a place on the course. You can find out more about the available options on the Fees and Funding page.
You can download a pdf of our prospectus here and read our News page see what’s been happening at the Art School.