Art and Design at university; for past, present, and future students and parents

[PhotoDad]

I've been on a wonderful thread about applications for art/design applications for the coming academic year, and I thought it might be useful to have a more general place for people at different stages of the process to share advice and hints. The normal MN advice about universities is often not applicable to these subjects!

I'll keep this short because I personally don't like huge posts that appear at the top of each page, but I'll add some starting thoughts below. I know that there's a huge range of experience here and a lot of support, so please do ask questions, or share triumphs and disasters.

The original thread is here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

My DD flew off to start her 12-month au-pair job yesterday! She's taken her good camera and drawing pad, and I suspect that art and pictures of rural Germany through the seasons will appear in due course. Not much idea of what happens after that, but after her frustrating year of job-seeking she is very happy to push that to one side for now. (I'm now an empty-nester as DS, definitely not an artist, has just started uni too.)

How are all the others doing?

DS started his grad job with a major retailer. Got his preferred stream of marketing (one of 5 taken on this year in that area). He is currently on week 5 of a 16 week store placement. Getting stuck in and also undertaking a project for his head office team (find an area to do with marketing that you think could be improved in store, he so far has at least 3 ideas!). So far so good. He has been assigned a mentor/ coach from Uni of Herts, and is being treated well. Got his first pay check which was fabulous! Living back at home, which has taken some adjusting too (for all of us, from empty nest to one back!). And he is also juggling long distance with his girlfriend who remained in Bristol and is developing her freelance illustration business, whilst doing two part time jobs.
He misses his practice and uni, but he is slowly adjusting to the real world.

DD1 is back at university for her final year after a successful industry placement year. Hoping that year of experience will help when she applies for jobs.
DD2 has just begun an art foundation course locally. She's enjoying it and it has already clarified for her that she does not want to do a fine art degree. We did a second open day at the university she wants to go to and the admissions tutor said they'd offer her a place with the A level grades she has so she's currently completing her UCAS form with the intention of starting next autumn.

@PhotoDad Germany is surprisingly pretty. I lived there for a few years a very long time ago. People don't tend to go there on holiday but parts are really lovely. Hope your DC is able to travel a bit and see some of the sights.

She's in a part of North Germany which is very pretty, and near a tourist-attraction city. It's all quite exciting!

That sounds like a wonderful opportunity!

Hi can I join?

My DD is off to the UCAS creative career showcase with her college today. She is doing a UAL extended diploma in animation and concept art and really wants to study animation at university. She really liked Uni of Herts at the open day but it is very competitive. She has a couple more open days booked but went to one a couple of weeks ago and didn't like it so that one is off the list and I'm not sure she is going to have time to visit five before the deadline. I suppose she could apply and then do offer holder days next year? She's not very keen on London or Scotland but I'm sure there are probably some that she hasn't thought of, any suggestions?

Everyone is welcome! There is a wealth of experience here. My DD graduated in Illustration from Cambridge School of Art (at Anglia Ruskin) and had an amazing experience there. They have an "Animation and Illustration" course. Feel free to DM me!

DS went to UWE in Bristol which has an animation course. Good industry links i think, Bristol is a bit of an animation hub with Ardman etc located there. DS did Fine Art, but used the workshop facilities at Bower Ashton where animation is based. He loved Bristol and UWE. Worth a look?

Hi, another newbie on the thread tentatively waving. DD is looking at design for 2027 entry, but not decided on a specialism yet. Rapidly realising that we should have started looking at least a year ago. We live in a very remote area, so there hasn't been any opportunity outside of school lessons to explore different art and design disciplines. We have been focused on Scotland, because of fees, but there's only Dundee with a foundation year (and RGU, but interior design is a possibility and is outside of their foundation), so now considering England and Wales. Any recommendations for courses with a general art and design foundation first year? Or a tool to help people determine the right area of design for them if such a thing exists?

Why not do a stand alone Foundaton course, then could apply to Scotland for degree? Quite a few stand alone foundations in England. Tuition fee free. As long as not part of a 4 year degree

DS did his at Leicester DMU. excellent course and facilities.

Lovely. Now thinking fondly of Bremen, Lubeck, Schwerin, Celle, Hameln, Hamburg etc. And of the lovely Christmas markets that will start soon.

@Issy422 i thought most Scottish art degrees just had a built in foundation year, so the first year pretty much covers what you would get on a foundation course? There is also Leiths which offers an independent foundation in Scotland.

Dd graduated concept art and her friend animation from Herts - they did well and courses seem solid. Getting a job is the bigger challenge. Dd has some commissions but I am not optimistic that this could be a proper long-term way to make an independent living (i.e. so she can move out) and she will need a supporting other job - but that is also a challenge. I worry a lot about this - the job market is really brutal even for more traditionally employable grads. We also have the common post uni issue of a bf in another location with poor transport between the two.

@Lottsbiffandsmudge Thanks. I'll look again at that. Previously the foundation courses DD had found were FE and I was advised by SAAS that if she does an FE course outside Scotland, she would lose her Scottish residency status. There's also no living costs loans for FE, so I have to be careful that it's a SAAS-funded HE course and not an FE one.

@FriendlyLaundryMonster DJCAD is the only one with a foundation year covering all subjects. RGU has one covering everything except interior design and GSoA has one for international students only. Other courses do three subjects in the first year, for example, English, Music and History and then choose two of those for year two, only specialising in one for the final two years. It's a shame for DD that the Art and Design courses don't work the same way. Leiths looks great but funding is an issue, unfortunately, as there's no living costs funding. Same for Edinburgh College.

Another option is RCS where she can do a major and minor subject and would do set design and costume design, but it's only an ordinary degree. I worry that not having the final year to get an honours degree may be limiting for transferability into another profession if the set and costume design doesn't work out.

@Issy422 But I presume all arts first year students have access to all the workshops in their school? Ie dd has now chosen her speciality but she can still quite freely use any of the facilities and be given technical support, ie foundry, carpentry etc…

@Issy422 Also if you’re considering England, surely it would be overall cheaper to do Leiths foundation for a year rather than paying 4 years of tuition in England? I sympathise. we live in what some would call a remote part of Scotland and I have one who just finished at an English uni (lots of loans) and one who’s opted for Scottish and it’s likely she’ll come out with no debt.

@FriendlyLaundryMonster It's the issue of having the funds upfront for Leiths versus a SAAS loan and the gamble on whether the extra loan for fees in England/Wales would ever be paid off over and above the £40k living costs loans for Scotland. Great that your DD is coming out debt free.

The main issue with how rural we are is the lack of FE art courses that are daily commutable. With hindsight, DD would have been better doing an FE foundation instead of S6, but there isn't one without moving away. We are doing GSoA and DJCAD open days in a fortnight, so it will be interesting to see what GSoA say about the first year.

@Issy422 i understand. Lots to weigh up. Dd will only come out debt free as she has been working her socks off and has a strong commission list. She will need to keep working through it for the duration of her course. She also applied straight to 2nd year which has reduced her costs by a year. So it’s worked out well. DS meantIme has about £65k of debt and no job yet!

@Issy422 what about doing an hnc first, this one at Glasgow Clyde worked out really well for my DC and they got their first choice of art school. Saas will cover 5 years, do an hnc first is a good option.

www.glasgowclyde.ac.uk/courses/448-hnc-art-and-design/691

Thanks @PhotoDad and @Lottsbiffandsmudge I will get her to look into those options. She is busy working on her portfolio to try and make it as good as it can be. Most unis don't seem to ask for more than 120 UCAS points which would be a merit on her course so hopefully not too much pressure on her final project ( except from herself, she really wants to get a distinction!) I guess it is all about the portfolio and getting the offer is the hard part.

DC at Hereford College of Arts studying illustration (that can be combined with animation too). Lovely college. Fab accommodation too.

Has your DD considered Kingston? They have a combined illustration and animation course.

For anyone considering a creative course I would strongly recommend doing a placement year, so a four year degree or trying to get experience and or internships throughout their time at university. The Eric app is a good place to look.

As lovely as illustration and animation sounds it is really animation that she is passionate about so I'm not sure she would be so interested in a joint course. Hopefully she is getting some guidance from her teachers at college who must have experience in this area, it's all new to me!