Art foundation recommendations

[maofteens]

My daughter is in Y12, but is anxious about what happens after A levels so looking in to it now.
She is considering an art foundation course, which she would like to remain at home for (we live in London). If she was to pursue a creative career, she might be willing to go elsewhere for the actual degree course. She is particularly interested in 2D animation.
My questions are: any recommendations for art foundation in London; is it possible to do an art foundation then a gap year then a degree, especially if the art foundation course is linked to a degree course?
Has anyone got experience of the Animation illustration course at Kingston? And I've heard it doesn't matter particularly where you do your foundation course- is that true?

You can do a standalone art foundation course, and they are cheaper at further Ed colleges than universities. She can then take a gap year and apply later for a degree at the right institution for the speciality she's interested in, she may change her mind during art foundation, that's why it's a good idea. Also when looking at universities, for specialist niche subjects look beyond the name of the institution, the best courses are sometimes in unusual places!

Thanks. We live in London so that restricts her choices if she wants to live at home that year. But good to know any foundation course will do, though that does seem counter intuitive.

@maofteens take a look at this foundation thread on The Student Room - www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5017684 . It tells you everything that your and your DD would need to know about foundations.
Essentially, it doesn't really matter where she does her foundation, a local college is fine. Ideally she should do a Level 3 foundation because it attracts UCAS points.

If she starts the course straight after her A levels it's free, except for the course at City & Guilds - www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/foundation/.
North London
Working Men's College
City & Islington College
UAL Central Saint Martins (You've got to be confident and fairly thick skinned for their foundation)
Westminster Kingsway College (offer Level 3 & 4)
South London
UAL Camberwell College of Art
Kingston College
Morley College (offers Level 3 & 4)

Info on Animation courses:
Screen Skills Select
The Student Rooms
Animation Career Review

If your DD is interested in 2D, University of Hertfordshire, Arts University Bournemouth, Teeside University and University of South Wales are good.

ARU's Illustration and Animation is supposed to be good. But if she's keen on animation then she should go for animation. The best places for that are:
Teeside
Bournemouth
Arts Bournemouth
Hertfordshire

Most foundation art courses are designed to allow the student to explore art media. They are not subject specific like a foundation for a university degree. A friend’s DD did Vet foundation as she had the “wrong” science A levels. Art is completely different and is a lot more varied. It gives an opportunity to prepare a portfolio and make sure the student applies for the best course for them. Their views might change. Some courses take students without the foundation and some universities guarantee you a degree place if you do the foundation with them. I would also look at employability and industry connections when choosing. I don’t see why you cannot ask to defer the degree start date if the university states they are ok with this.

A one year foundation course is probably what you’re thinking of. They are free to anyone under the age of 19. The cost for this age group is not dependent on the tier of education establishment you attend. I don’t know about fees for older applicants.

Some art degrees are less worried about your qualifications and more concerned about the portfolio. You have to have a basic number of GCSEs and perhaps a basic number of UCAS points but they could be from A levels. In other words not all art degrees require a one year art foundation BUT this is an “easy” way to get the portfolio which is required.

Saying that art foundations are “free” there are private art schools and portfolio courses in London. I’m thinking of Hampstead Fine Arts. I think the fees for that are around £7k a term...

You can only apply to ONE of UALs art foundation courses. Either Camberwell or CSM but not both. CSMs is taught at a separate building, away from the degree students. I’m not sure why you’d have to be thick skinned?

Kensington and Chelsea college user to have a great reputation for art courses.

Where do you live?

We looked at Hampstead Fine Arts for DD. It’s more of a 6th form college but they do a portfolio course.

It’s definitely worth looking at what the courses expect regarding portfolio. DD did hers whilst doing A levels and it’s very hard work as you need them by (in her case) late January. They might want to see some elements of it to help them shortlist applicants for interview. DD had to send elements via Flickr. So the portfolio was done before she finished her A levels which included Art and Photography. So it wasn’t for the faint hearted!

Main London (or near London) Art Foundations:
UAL (choose either CSM or Camberwell to apply to) - rely on reputation
Kingston Uni - apparently the best
Ravensbourne - very computer/media design based - not much drawing/painting.
Epsom - great facilities - no idea on course

Lots of Art/Design degrees say that you don't need Art Foundation, (mainly as they just want 'bums on seats' for funding, and don't want to put anyone off applying), but ultimately the student will be 'better' if they've done one, more creative and ready to start a degree. Especially as A level art is so tight and prescriptive. And they're free too!

@maofteens - A good friend of mine's daughter went to Camberwell and subsequently ended up at Manchester Metropolitan if that helps Not fine Art ( though she is good at that ) but they have lots of options ( of which she took another. ) I think Camberwell has a good reputation , but if living at home she would obviously have to check out the commute.

Denmark Hill station is on the Overground system and is a 10 -15 minute walk to Camberwell School of Art.

UAL only offer the traditional art foundation at Camberwell and CSM as far as I can see. However local colleges can be good if they have a good track record.

Thanks everyone. I know what a foundation course is, and through research I notice some have you narrow down your specialty after the first term. Kingston is easiest commute (we are in Wimbledon), and also has a combined Animation and Illustration degree course. Camber well had more appropriate content than Chelsea.
I've heard conflicting info whether doing your foundation course at a particular place makes it almost guaranteed you can do your degree there too.
It does seem odd that so many say any art foundation course would do as surely you are relying on the quality of the tutors to guide you and facilities of that institution?
Thanks for the recommendations @Soma. A friend's daughter started at Bournemouth for art foundation this year but the accommodation situation was unsafe and they were not at all helpful so she left - and she also said that half the course would not be face to face, which she wasn't told til she got there. I'll check it and the others you mention got degree options.

@maofteens glad I could help.

I forgot to mention that Kingston University's foundation is supposed to be very good. I think people say that it doesn't matter where you go to because there is a lot of quality assurance. Having said that, I believe Central Saint Martins has over 500 on its foundation and their studio space is quite small.
One of the better digital focus foundations is Ravensbourne's.

Can you say more about your friend's DD's experience with accommodation at Bournemouth? Was she in halls?

My daughter started at UCA Epsom in September, as a PP mentioned they have excellent facilities.

I've just found out that the 1 year Art Foundation at Epsom will not be running next year, so 2021/2022 is its final year! Really sad as my dd wanted to apply and also as I think it was less competitive than others in the London/Surrey area. They will run it at Farnham and Rochester but too far to commute.

@Soma I believe she was assured that she would be in an all girls flat with four others, all foundation or first years. She turns up and no one joins her for three days, then some guy (Y2) who doesn't talk to her does. As the course has started she asks the powers that be if anyone else is moving in and they say yes. Then one day she comes back to find a party going on which she had no idea about (undoubtably a fairly normal thing, though not very thoughtful). The next day some random guy, off his head, is hanging out there (without the other flatmate). Her mum gets involved and the upshot seems to be that despite there being room in other halls, and that after three weeks after the start of term any student that was going to take up their place would have, they refuse to move her. Her daughter felt unsafe and coupled with the fact more of the course was to be online than anticipated, they decided to withdraw her from the course entirely.

Also can anyone advise how hard these are to get into? I know the reputation of degree courses and ucas/ grades required etc, but are there similar rankings for foundation courses or do they follow along similar lines?

@maofteens thanks for the info on Arts Bournemouth.

CSM and Camberwell are the hardest to get into, partly because of the sheer numbers, although Camberwell have 600 places and CSM has 500+.

I don’t think many foundation art courses are very competitive.

You ask about why all are suitable? It’s because they are foundation courses. They are not specialist so they allow students to explore their art, try media they may not have considered, but most of all, work up a portfolio. It’s not just about what you produce, it’s about your thought processes and work books too. Most portfolios include how ideas are developed, successes and “failures” and inspiration. They also allow a student to prepare a targeted portfolio for the degree they want. I don’t really see these courses are about facilities. More about expertise of lecturers and portfolio prep.

From what I understand, Kingston Uni Art Foundation is the hardest to get into and by far the best in terms of tutor interaction and quality of work produced.

We went to the Open Day at Kingston yesterday and we're very impressed. A tour of the art school was really helpful too. I hadn't realised how competitive it will be though..... approx 1700 applicants last year for approx 170 places 🙄
As another has said Epsom aren't running it in '22 so we will also look at Farnham. CSM/CSA are still only doing virtual open days which is a bit disappointing but will watch the videos......
We're only 4 miles from Kingston so 🤞

Don’t forget students will apply for several courses. That 1700 will have applied elsewhere too. So the ratio isn’t really 10:1. It’s always important to concentrate on the admission criteria and meet it though. My DD applied an arts degree at Brighton with what tyrhex out to be an A in Art and A* in photography. One interviewer still thought she should do a foundation year. So competition would be stiff if all students were told that!

I would not recommend Camberwell for the foundation.
DD said the tutors could not be arsed and there was very little in the way of resource as the college wasn’t making money out of them.
Also a fair few foreign students with very poor English being totally ripped off.

Yes Tizerorfizz you're right about the end ratio not being 10:1. I just had a depressing deja vu that reminded me of looking at private schools in Yr6.
Anyways - advice we've had from family who work in the arts is that she should do a foundation as it will give her a good grounding in lots of areas, help inform her specialism and create a portfolio.

Appealing to the hive mind here. My DD only wants to do a foundation diploma that specialises in fashion and textiles. I found one at Central Saint Martins and also Ravensbourne but I'm struggling to find any more. It's so frustrating that there isn't a national database of these courses. Can anybody suggest anywhere else?

Nottingham college has fashion and textiles courses from levels 1-6. Tbh I’m a bit baffled by the levels and the names of things but would a foundation diploma be a level 4 ie after A-levels or btec/extended diploma?
It’s a FE college, not a university so you can go at 16 but it does do BA level courses. Not sure if that’s the sort of thing you are looking for.

www.nottinghamcollege.ac.uk/study/courses/art-design-and-fashion?query=&subjectAreaFlat%5B0%5D=Art%2C+Design+and+Fashion&index=courses