The City and Guilds of London Art and Design Foundation Course, in common with other Foundation courses in this country, is essentially a bridging course between school and a university Art or Design degree course. Foundation Courses are designed to introduce a broader range of subject areas in greater depth than schools can and are therefore able to provide a basis for informed decisions about applications for further study. The completion of a Foundation Course is a normal qualifying requirement for entry into most BA Art and Design programmes in the U.K, some university courses currently requiring at least a merit grade from a Foundation Course as a condition of acceptance.
Although many of the students undertaking the Foundation Course come directly from U.K. schools there are, in addition, normally a significant number of mature students from a variety of academic and work backgrounds as well as students from overseas wishing to continue their studies in this country. The relative proportions of each group can vary significantly from year to year. Occasionally a student will take up the course and use it as a discrete educational experience in its own right without any intention of continuing their Art and Design education at a higher level. Some school leavers will undertake the course in lieu of a gap year and go on to continue their education on an academic university course rather than on an Art or Design course. Occasionally a student with a previous academic degree will use the Foundation Course as a supplementary qualification in order to effect an immediate transition into a postgraduate or an MA programme in Art or Design. We normally expect a significant group of our Foundation students to wish to continue their education at City and Guilds in one course or another, the proportion varying from year to year but potentially up to a third of the total. Of those who apply to other institutions we have successfully placed virtually all of our students over the last few years, a very high proportion of these on to their first choice courses.
Although all Foundation students have their own studios and staff there are many ways in which a fruitful interaction takes place with students, as well as with staff, across the school. All service areas and facilities are used by all students on site and this means that, for example, a Foundation student who takes a special interest in printmaking can use the print facilities as well as the expertise of the specialist print staff whenever they like after specialisation or at any time of the year in evening classes and will consequently find themselves working alongside BA or MA students or even visiting artists. Occasionally another department can become a resource and staff from other areas will take an interest in, and work with, Foundation students who have expressed an interest in those areas.
The number of students enrolled on the course for the next academic year is 55.
The course is a full-time (Monday to Friday) programme and is generously staffed on a daily basis. The current staff/student ratio averages about 1:12, discounting technical staff (i.e. print staff, computer technicians, woodwork, metalwork, glass technicians, librarian etc.) who are available to all students in the school. Our various Foundation staff, who are all part-time and who all maintain their own professional practices, are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, both Fine Art and Design. Many of them teach, have taught and in some cases have run courses in other institutions as well.
Past Visitors include:
Sharon Beavan, Will Broome, Andrew Eakins, Rannva Kunoy, Annabelle Moreau, Helen Barff, Christina Mackie, James Hart-Dyke, Philip Hughes, Debra Allman, Michael Shaw, Martin Greenland
