If you are applying for this course from within the UK click apply now
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
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If you are applying for this course from within the UK click apply now
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
Develop your core skills and critical thinking. Experience all of the different art and design disciplines. Use the skills and confidence you acquire to progress onto an honours degree of your choice.
Watch our portfolio webcastThe Foundation Diploma is an exciting, one-year course that prepares you for degree level study in the creative arts. You'll experience the full range of art and design disciplines alongside supportive staff, many of whom work within the creative industries.
You will be encouraged to learn through experimentation and risk taking, developing new ways of working and confidence to establish your own ideas. Sunderland has a well-established reputation for innovative art and design projects, with many of these involving social learning and encouraging peer support.
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design is ‘outstanding’
An Ofsted inspection in March 2019 rated this course as ‘outstanding’ and of a ‘consistently excellent standard’. Teaching, learning and assessment outcomes, personal development, behaviour and welfare were all complimented.
The Foundation Diploma is delivered in two stages: The Exploratory Stage and the Confirmatory Stage.
Throughout the year you will be taught in studio-based sessions, supported by a programme of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials.
Visiting artists and designers often complement this exciting course. Recent workshops have been delivered in collaboration with the designer Jimmy Turrell as well as fashion illustrator Sue Dray, and Dave Cooper, former Head of Menswear at Alexander McQueen. Guest lectures have included Lewis Jones from the Turner Prize winning Assemble and the Granby Workshop.
Innovative projects also include those run by our own staff and students as part of Foundation Press.
The opportunity to work in the National Glass Centre and the overwhelming support from staff are just some of the reasons that Sarah Heseltine was happy with her decision to study Glass and Ceramics at the University of Sunderland. Here, she shares her insight into getting the most out of your course while studying for your Glass and Ceramics degree.
Find out how to get the most out of your glass and ceramics course
Employability days organised by the University and the opportunity to showcase her portfolio of work to industry experts in the Design Degree Show led Shauna Hambley to her dream career: working as a Graphic Designer with design specialists at Everything Different. Here she shares her best practice for getting the most out of your Design course and landing your dream job.
Read Shauna's tips for beginning your graphic design career
Why study a fine art degree? We often get asked this at the University of Sunderland. Find out why from Fine Art graduate Stephanie Goldsmith.
Read more to find out why you should study a fine art degree
We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.
If you have studied for a GCSE which has a numerical grade then you will need to achieve a grade 4 or above.
If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age on 31st December on year of entry.
We are interested in your creative potential – please prepare a portfolio of the work you have created so far. We would like to see:
If you can document this work and create a .pdf of up to 15 pages (you can use Powerpoint or similar packages to create this – Instagram art accounts could also work), we'll use this at interview or in a portfolio review, both of which are offered to all of our applicants.
This course is free for school-leavers aged 18 at the start of the course and is the ideal preparation for the full range of creative degrees.
If you will be 19 or above at the start of the year, you may want to consider our Integrated Foundation Degrees. These courses help prepare students for higher-level study on our creative degrees here at Sunderland.
You may be eligible for a government bursary. Please see more information about the 16-19 bursary and the Advanced Learner Loan on the gov.uk website.
Please note that this course is not available to international students.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
This Foundation Diploma gives you a full year to explore different creative areas and you are guaranteed a place at Sunderland if you complete the course successfully. Students from the Foundation Diploma at Sunderland have gained offers from the most competitive art and design courses in the country.
The large majority of our students progress from our foundation year to an honours degree. Having successfully passed the course, you can progress directly onto any of the following courses at Sunderland:
We recently won a national award for teaching excellence (the Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence 2018). This acknowledged the Foundation Press project where students work on innovative, live projects alongside practising artists and designers.
Through these enjoyable, social experiences, you will gain confidence in applying your skills in real-world contexts.
The course allows you complete freedom to explore the discipline fully, cultivating originality.
This past year allowed me to broaden my perspective and really find out what I want to do.
I’ve loved doing the course, it’s really given me that freedom to work the way I wanted.
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