<p>My son is applying to art schools in the UK. He goes to a competitive U.S. east coast high school and has a 3.28 (3.40 adjusted) gpa. Discovered art in the last few years, as well as some alternative programing his high school has offered the past few years. This has really saved him, as traditional academic classes are not the way he learns... he is more visual and experiential. He also has executive function issues and is not very communicative... hence my question.</p>
<p>Can someone explain the UK foundation year to me? I understand it is a "year 0" and students move on to a 3 year degree afterwards, but if he gets into the foundation year program, is he automatically accepted into that colleges program if he completes his work?</p>
<p>He has applied to Goldsmiths Fine Art (extension... this one I believe includes all 4 years), Plymouth College of Art, The Cass School of Art and Design of the London Metropolitan University, and the fine art program at the University of East London. I can (and have) navigated the US college admission system well, but I'm having trouble understanding the UK, as well as getting reliable reviews and assessments of the above programs. UEL and the Met seem like they may be sub-standard, but the art programs may be decent, particularly the The Cass. And Goldsmiths seems to receive some good buzz. I don't think he has the academic profile to get into any of the more competitive UK schools.</p>
<p>Any information would be greatly appreciated by a confused parent.
Thanks,
Buster</p>
<p>I would either phone or email someone in International admissions at Goldsmith’s (a great place – my daughter did her junior year abroad there and was very impressed), and ask them to clarify their definition of a Foundation program for you. </p>
<p>My understanding is that it’s for students who need either language support, or for those who are coming from the the 12th grade, rather than having completed A or O-levels.</p>
<p>If he’s planning on studying fine art, his general academic background will be of almost no interest to the schools. His portfolio will be much more important.</p>
<p>You’re right that London met is poor from an academic point of view, but that isn’t really relevant for an art course. One concern with LMU might be that its ability to sponsor overseas students for visas was suspended a year or so ago - I think restored, but I suspect it’s on the UKBA (immigration) watchlist. I’d say Goldsmith’s has the best overall reputation of your choices, but a lot depends on what kind of art your son does.</p>
<p>Art foundations are a bit different, Hop. Most fine art degree courses seem to expect them. Whether there is automatic progression to a degree will probably depend on the individual colleges, so you’d need to check the websites of each one being considered.</p>
<p>I think you check the visa requirements. At my S’s school he was told that tier 4 visas are not issued for foundation courses. Perhaps this is subjective, but I would check nonetheless. </p>
<p>Art foundations or year 0 are different to the others as they are usually a prerequisite for acceptance to a degree and intensively cover a wide variety of areas. Students at our local college choose their area of specialisation in the 2nd term, eg, fine art, graphic design,stage design and so on. The list is long. Conformist gives good advice to check with individual colleges.We came across some where year 0 was part of the whole course. The portfolio is the most important part of admission requirements, but colleges vary in the level of academic achievement required. Again, check the college websites. Good luck</p>