Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

Program Overview

Integrated Foundation Year for Art and Design Courses

Overview

Develop your ideas, skills and confidence during this Foundation year, in readiness for your chosen degree course.

Art and Design Undergraduate Courses

The Bath Spa University Foundation Diploma in Art and Design can only be taken in conjunction with a full degree. You'll choose your undergraduate course when you apply (see the list below).

• BA (Hons) Architecture
• BA (Hons) Creative Arts Practice
• BA (Hons) Fashion Design
• BA (Hons) Fashion Photography
• BA (Hons) Fine Art
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design
• BA (Hons) Interior Design
• BA (Hons) Photography
• BA (Hons) Product Design

What You'll Learn

Foundation Year Modules

• Play Make Draw: Explore and expand on a broad range of approaches within art and design.
• Evolve: Identify and develop personal connections to explore ways of working within contemporary art and design.
• Develop: Develop a reflective and analytical approach to personal learning, project planning and outcomes.
• Realise: Create, manage, and curate a body of work within your chosen specialism for public exhibition.

Our Art and Design Staff

• James Sale
• Natalie Francis Massong
• Andrea Medjesi-Jones
• Karen Richmond
• Kellie Hindmarch
• Jonathan Kelham
• Toby Smith
• Gaby Durnford
• Ian Parkes
• Natasha Kidd
• Hugh Sanders
• Julia Keyte

Opportunities

• Fieldwork: Opportunities for fieldwork and drawing visits to museums, art galleries and exhibitions in the UK.
• Professional workshop facilities: Attend introductions to a range of professional workshop facilities offered by Bath School of Art, Film and Media and Bath School of Design.

Facilities and Resources

• Locksbrook Campus: A Grade II listed building designed by Nicholas Grimshaw in 1976, transformed into an innovative, open plan space.
• Specialist technical workshops: Access to comprehensive digital workshops and specialist art and design facilities.

Fees

2025 Entry – Foundation Year (Year 0)

• UK full time: £9,535*
• International full time: £18,380*

Scholarships

• After you progress to undergraduate level, you'll be awarded a Progression Scholarship in all three years of your undergraduate course.
• Year one: £1,250
• Year two: £1,000
• Year three: £1,000

Additional Course Costs

• You may need to pay additional course costs over and above your tuition fees, for example, for specialist equipment or trips and visits.

How to Apply

• Select your course below to apply for the Art and Design with Integrated Foundation programme:
  • BA (Hons) Architecture with Integrated Foundation Year) (AR13)
  • BA (Hons) Creative Arts Practice with Integrated Foundation Year (W193)
  • BA (Hons) Fashion Photography with Integrated Foundation Year (FP13)
  • BA (Hons) Fine Art with Integrated Foundation Year (W103)
  • BA (Hons) Graphic Design with Integrated Foundation Year (W203)
  • BA (Hons) Interior Design with Integrated Foundation Year (HH21)
  • BA (Hons) Photography with Integrated Foundation Year (WPQ5)
  • BA (Hons) Product Design with Integrated Foundation Year (TT20)

Interview and Portfolio Guidance

• Applicants for this course will be asked to provide an electronic portfolio of their work.
• Full details of what to include will be provided upon initial assessment of the application.

Contact Us

• Admissions: +44 (0) or
• Course coordinator: Jonathan Kelham
• Email:

Related Courses

• Bath School of Art, Film and Media
• Bath School of Design
• Creative Arts Practice
• Fine Art

Key Facts

• Award: Integrated Foundation in Art and Design, leading to a BA (Hons) in one of our Art and Design courses
• School/s: Bath School of Art, Film and Media, Bath School of Design
• Campus or location: Locksbrook Campus and Newton Park
• Course length: Four years full-time.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Bath Spa University Foundation Diploma in Art and Design is a one-year intensive and experimental program designed to develop students' art and design abilities in relation to contemporary practice. It is an integrated foundation year that leads to a BA (Hons) in one of the university's Art and Design courses. The program aims to:

• Evolve: Build students' confidence, skills, and knowledge in preparation for their undergraduate course.
• Develop: Challenge perceptions, make, explore, and investigate new territory through active projects.
• Realise: Pursue their undergraduate specialism and benefit from scholarships at each level of their BA studies.
The program provides students with a comprehensive introduction to art and design, covering a wide range of materials, processes, and concepts. It also emphasizes the development of personal connections and a reflective and analytical approach to learning.

Outline:

Foundation Year Modules:

• Play Make Draw: This module explores and expands on a broad range of approaches within art and design.
It introduces the notion of a personal body of work and develops contextual awareness through interpretation of information and ideas. Students reflect on and evaluate their progress and performance, developing a responsive approach to advice and guidance. They also maintain reflective records via sketchbooks, logs, and/or journals.
• Develop: This module emphasizes a reflective and analytical approach to personal learning, project planning, and outcomes.
Students identify and adapt appropriate methods and materials to develop ideas that address specific pathway briefs. They also develop an integrated approach to research and ideas, maintaining a detailed reflective journal throughout. Students write a proposal outlining a sustained art and design project that is inspirational, realistic, and achievable, using a wide range of critical, contextual perspectives. They also identify their project aims, objectives, and influences. Reflection and evaluation play a key role in this task, and work must be supported by evidence of this process, together with experimentations and researches into the work of others to underpin and support the project.

Undergraduate Degree:

Upon successful completion of the Foundation Diploma, students progress to their chosen art and design degree course. The available degree courses are:

• BA (Hons) Architecture
• BA (Hons) Creative Arts Practice
• BA (Hons) Fashion Design
• BA (Hons) Fashion Photography
• BA (Hons) Fine Art
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design
• BA (Hons) Interior Design
• BA (Hons) Photography
• BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design

Assessment:

Students are assessed at the end of each module via presentation of their work, which may include:

• Experimental work
• Developmental work
• Journal-based work
• Reflective analyses of talks and workshops
• Documentation and analysis of exhibitions visited with the course
Presented works may include journals/sketchbooks, material experiments/test samples, and digital files in the form of USB, DVD, and/or URLs.

Teaching:

• All teaching staff are practicing artists or designers.
• Teaching is held through personal tutorials, as well as demonstrations and discussions.
• There are lectures on aspects of contemporary practice, in addition to collaborative work and outside visits.
• Teaching methods include workshops, one-to-one tutorials, lectures, and demonstrations.

Careers:

The program provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue a variety of careers in the art and design industry. Potential career paths include:

• Architect
• Creative Arts Practitioner
• Fashion Designer
• Fashion Photographer
• Fine Artist
• Graphic Designer
• Interior Designer
• Photographer
• Product and Furniture Designer

Other:

• Students have opportunities for fieldwork and drawing visits to museums, art galleries, and exhibitions in the UK.
• They can attend introductions to a range of professional workshop facilities offered by Bath School of Art, Film and Media and Bath School of Design.
• Bath Spa University is one of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, providing all students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite.
• Students have access to comprehensive digital workshops and specialist art and design facilities, including:
• Specialist technical workshops across all of art and design.
• Access to studio space where they can work on projects and refine their practice.
• Locksbrook Campus is a Grade II listed building designed by Nicholas Grimshaw in 1976.
It has been transformed into an innovative, open plan space, redesigned to meet 21st century environmental standards, with technical workshops surrounded by flexible studio spaces and large social areas.
• Locksbrook has received both a RIBA South West Award 2021 and RIBA National Award 2021, recognizing and celebrating what an amazingly inspirational space it is to come together to design, make, do, create, and learn in.

2024 entry Student Annual tuition fee UK full time £9,250 International full time £17,585 Scholarships After you progress to undergraduate level, you'll be awarded a Progression Scholarship in all three years of your undergraduate course. The scholarships will be applied as a tuition fee waiver. They apply to home and international students, but not for repeated years. Year one: £1,250 Year two: £1,000 Year three: £1,000 Fee notes

• See "Scholarships" for more details of the equivalent £3,250 fee reduction.