Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Duration
1 year
Institution code
L28
Validated by:
UAL Awarding Body
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Indy Appleton-Gregg / 3D pathway
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Evie Ballaam / Fashion and Textiles pathway
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Amy Bowen / Fashion and Textiles pathway
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Edie Brunt / Fine Art pathway
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Lewis Collin / Graphic Communication pathway
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Oliver Davies / Fine Art pathway
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Molly Dunn / Graphic Communication pathway
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Alice Hardman / 3D Design pathway
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Grace Le / Fine Art pathway
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James Marsden / Fashion and Textiles pathway
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Ifigeneia Osagiede / Graphic Communication pathway
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Edith Pettler / Fashion and Textiles pathway
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Seb Rea / 3D Design pathway
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Milo Timlin / Fine Art pathway
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Emily Walton / 3D Design pathway
The Course
This transformative course develops your creative practice and critical independence needed to progress in the creative sector. It challenges preconceptions, expands your practice through problem-solving, idea generation, and critical thinking. Originally developed at the University in the 1950s, this course is a respected and nationally recognised qualification, with an ever growing number of notable alumni.
The course encourages students to take creative risks, exploring a variety of ideas, media and techniques to develop their own creative style. Learning through playful experimentation will develop lateral-thinking strategies that allow students to approach problems from new perspectives.
Based at the University’s Vernon Street site in central Leeds, the Foundation Diploma has three stages guiding students to identify or confirm their specialist practice. Your tutors will guide you on the development of an individual portfolio to help you progress within the creative sector. You will be taught by staff with experience across a range of disciplines, and have access to specialist workshops, library, and a variety of online resources.
The course helps you make informed decisions and gain a broader understanding of the career opportunities within the specialist pathway areas. You will have insights from Higher Education tutors, industry professionals and alumni, and access an independent careers advice service. Our students’ diverse experience and innovative portfolios often lead to a range of prestigious, highly competitive degree courses, including those at Leeds Arts University.
Our students make lifelong friends who become important members of their creative network or business partners. Prominent former students have included Danny Sangra, Sam Arthur, Georgina Starr, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Marcus Harvey, Georgia Shaw, Jill Shaddock, Phil Proctor, Laura Carlin, Alex Farrar, Nicholas Wheatley, Lucy Clout and Si Scott.
Our latest Ofsted inspection judged our further education provision overall as ‘Good’. Both the quality of education and the personal development of our students was deemed ‘Outstanding’.
Full course title: UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
The Structure
The course begins with a diagnostic phase, where you will develop your understanding of visual ‘languages’ and technical processes in art and design through a variety of short projects that explore creative problems using different media. These projects include a diagnostic investigation into visual language and creative practices, allowing you to experiment with a range of disciplines. This exploratory process helps you identify or reinforce your specialism. With support from your tutors, at the end of stage one, you will select your specialist pathway area in either Graphic Communication, Fashion and Textiles, Fine Art or 3D Design.
The Pathways
For us design is not just a way to make things; it is a way to understand and engage with the world. It’s about making sense of the world and ultimately creating a change. It is about playful experimentation, challenging the current. Within this pathway we explore our physical experience and emotional connection – with our objects and spaces.
Design could be about changing an experience, a form, a structure, a way of doing things. It could be about changing something personal to you, or a small number of people, or it might be for anyone.
With 3D Design being such a broad area, the pathway is kept quite open, focusing on design attitudes and thinking. The course aims to equip you with the skills and confidence to construct a career in a wide range of professions. Stage Two is dynamic, with various different briefs and projects to help keep you on your toes. Some will be quick, whilst some you will extend independently, to allow you to both generate ideas quickly, and take the opportunity to develop and refine them. You will be working in your notebooks, and beyond, developing a portfolio to address the subject 'what is my work and what is the point of it?' You will have access to workshops and facilities to enable you to work with a variety of materials, researching and testing ideas, and creating objects; gaining confidence in your own ability to change things. You might work with all the senses, encompassing practical skills in a critical and creative environment.
Course Facilities
Further education students have access to resources based at our Vernon Street campus all run by experienced instructors. Students are introduced to a wide range of materials and processes that assist their studies depending on their course specialties. These include:
Computer suites housing networks of Apple Mac computers, with regularly updated, creative software.
A specialist art library with print and online resources to support studies in the creative arts, and a not-for-profit shop selling a wide range of materials.
Print workshop which includes extensive facilities for screen-printing, traditional printmaking and bookbinding.
Photography resource with a range of equipment for loan including digital cameras for still and moving image and a range of support equipment for use in the dedicated lighting studio or off-site.
Wood, metal & casting workshop equipped with industrial-standard machinery, supplemented by hand- and power-tools.
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Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Virtual Tour
Further Education careers guidance (pre-degree)
At Leeds Arts University, our further education courses are designed to help you grow not just as an artist or designer but as a confident and adaptable individual ready for progression in the creative sector. Guided by the Gatsby Benchmarks, our study programme combines personalised career guidance, personal development, specialist skills training and industry insights, alongside employability skills.
The programme equips you for your next steps—whether that’s university, an apprenticeship, or entering employment. It blends hands-on learning, expert advice, and opportunities to develop the skills you need for the creative sector.
We tailor your study programme through an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) to meet your goals. Your ILP is informed by your progression aims, assessments, and regular tutorials with experienced tutors or external careers advisors.
Programme highlights:
• Specialist Careers Programme: Receive personalised, ongoing support to help you make informed decisions about your career in the creative sector.
• Internal/External Careers Services: Access both internal and external impartial career coaching and developmental workshops that offer opportunities to grow your professional skills.
• Industry Insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the job market through specialist tutors, alumni talks and interactions with industry professionals.
• Live Briefs and Competitions: Work on real-world projects and specially designed briefs that replicate industry standards. Showcase your work at exhibitions and sell your creations at our art market. Access competitions and job opportunities through our VLE/careers portal and sign up for a regular newsletter with opportunities based on your own interests.
• Workshops and Portfolio Building: Develop specialist skills through workshops and tailored portfolio development.
• CV, UCAS, and Application Support: Get personal guidance for applications — whether for university, apprenticeships or employment.
• Personal Development: Grow as an individual by building skills and confidence and by looking after your well-being. This includes:
Time Management and Organisation: Learn to balance responsibilities and meet deadlines.
Presentation and Problem-Solving Skills: Gain confidence in sharing your ideas and tackling challenges creatively.
Financial Skills: Develop budgeting and money management, from navigating student finance to pricing your work for sale in opportunities like the art market.
Where next?
Career paths students have gone on to study from our different specialist pathways include:
Graphic Communication: Graphic design, illustration, comic and concept art, games art and games design, animation, marketing communications, advertising, photography, and filmmaking
Fine Art: Painting, printmaking, sculpture, drawing, museums, curation, teaching, installation, and performance
Fashion and Textiles: Fashion, fashion photography, costume design, fashion marketing, fashion communication, surface pattern or textile design
3D Design: Product design, interior design, theatre design, design crafts, and architecture
Course News
Student Stories
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Academic Staff
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