Art & Design - Foundation Year

Click Here

Click Here

Start date: September 2024

Deadlines for on-time applications

2024 entry application deadlines

For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.

16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.

31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.

Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests

Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.

Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.

All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing

Overview
Explore and engage with a wide range of art, design, and digital design areas in a creative learning environment.

Summary
Foundation Studies Art and Design is an exciting and intensive one year, practice-based programme that enables students to explore and engage with a wide range of art, design, and digital design discipline areas. The Foundation Art and Design experience builds confidence and supports students to make an informed decision about their specialism for undergraduate progression and future career pathway.

This studio-based programme is taught by core and specialist tutors. It is supported by contextual studies; so, as well as studio-based practice work across a range of discipline areas, written projects and academic tasks are also explored. The course is delivered through a combination of lectures, practical demonstrations, workshop practice, studio critiques, seminars and individual tutorials.

Final practice-based project work from Foundation Studies Art and Design is exhibited at the Belfast School of Art annual Degree Show in June.

Modules
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.

Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.

Semester 1
AAD009 Drawing in Practice
This module introduces students to visual fundamentals with particular emphasis on drawing practices across art, design, and digital design. Students will be encouraged to develop their understanding and knowledge of such practices in order to develop their proficiency in communicating visually in a range of materials and approaches. It is the first module on the course and leads directly into the next module AAD010 Introducing Studio Practice.

AAD010 Introducing Studio Practice
This nine-week module provides the opportunity to explore the various workshop approaches and practices within Art, Design, and Digital Design discipline areas. This module is divided into three blocks of workshop areas where students explore each of these areas in rotation. This will allow students to make an informed choice for the second semester specialisms and future degree pathway. Students will also develop skills in contextual research and understanding and link these with studio practice areas.

Semester 2
AAD011 Creative Careers + Sustainable Futures
This module will enable students to gain an understanding of professional practice within the creative industries while importantly linking this with global citizenship and sustainable futures. It will allow students to build knowledge and awareness on how to develop into a responsible creative practitioner while building key transferrable skills in preparation for Level 04 study.

AAD012 Exploring Studio Practices
This twelve-week module offers students a choice of specialism to further their study from a range of practical projects that are representative of undergraduate degree programmes. Students enhance their practical skills with an emphasis on idea development and interpretation within their chosen specialism. Contextual research and writing is embedded into the workshop areas. In addition, students complete their final portfolio of work in preparation for progression to chosen degree pathway.

Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.

Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.

Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.

Associate awards
Diploma in Professional Practice DPP
Diploma in International Academic Studies DIAS
Diploma in Professional Practice International DPPI

Ulster University,
2-24 York Street,
Belfast
BT15 1AP
T: 02870 123 456