Teaching and learning

The foundation year in art and design comprises students from all our art and design degree courses learning together as one creative community. You'll be taught by an expert team who will help you to achieve your goals and support you throughout. 

Your foundation year is full-time and there are two semesters which you are required to pass to progress onto the degree. You will have approximately 12 hours of contact time each teaching week, and use independent study time to develop your work.

The first semester is built around discovery, experimentation, and creation. You'll learn through doing in a series of workshops linked together by stimulating design briefs. Online resources support the taught sessions to help you plan and utilise your time effectively. 

In the second semester, you'll tackle a brief written in collaboration with your chosen degree route. You'll have time and space to delve into a project in more depth, develop autonomy and have creative freedom over your work.

Throughout both semesters, you’ll be given opportunities to connect with your chosen degree paths through a program of talks, lectures, and creative events. Alongside this, you’ll have access to all our top class facilities, technical expertise, award-winning teaching and student support, enabling a smooth transition onto the degree. 

Using the studio space as the primary teaching and learning environment, you will receive continuous individualised formative feedback to develop confidence in independent creative inquiry. We value you all as individuals and aim to provide a safe environment for you to connect with your creativity, build confidence, and discover your potential.