A level options relating to Art & Fashion

Hi,
Basically i'm planning to choose Alevel art and textiles as i want to get into the fashion industry. I've already chosen few other subjects such as; psychology, philosophy and ethics anf classical civilisation. The problem is, only 4 subjects is allowed meaning i have to drop one of these subjects.
Though i'm pretty sure i'm going to do choose art and textiles.. Which two subjects would be more relevant to Art & Fashion?

And i was also wondering which of these subjects are highly respected at universities!!
Your help would be very much appreciated!! :smile:

Reply 1

Oldyoldold

A levels don't really matter unless you have significant strength of practice in the fashion area, from the sounds of it you'll need to do a foundation (most unis will reject your application straight away if they see you haven't done one). Check where you want to go and see what their requirements are but I'm sure as long as you do at least one arts subject you should be fine at a level. Different foundations require UCAS points I think my MMU foundation worked out as the equivalent of two Es at A level and Cs in gcse english and maths.

Applying for foundation is much different than applying for a BA. Some courses use their foundation as a year 0 i.e you directly go on to the BA after it, some are endorsed by the uni/college they are at, and some as an externally examined BTECs. The year 0 ones I think you can apply through UCAS, but the others you apply directly to the college/uni so you could pretty much apply to every one in the country if you wanted (though I guess that would be a pain if you had to go to all those interviews!)

Right now, and from personal experience I've heard that unis where foundation is year 0 you have to pay course fees and can get a loan where as the BTEC ones (as they are not classified as Higher education) do not qualify for a student loan. atm if you are under 19 on the day the course starts the fees are paid for by the government.

Almost all unis I am aware of have a system of direct progression where they favour their own students to take to the BA course so if you know you want to go to a place with a hight applicant rate like CSM you should think about applying to their foundation to increase your chances.

How ever, as I don't know where you live I'd suggest that if you can find a good course near where you already live then it will be much cheaper (and trying to do A1 sheets of work in halls is a NIGHTMARE). Having the freedom and space to do your work at home will help you to discover more about yourself and how you like to work.

Don't see foundation as a waste of a year or as an inconvenience because you really do learn a lot about yourself that you didn't realise. It teaches you about being open to new ideas and trains you for how to work in a BA environment.

I know you were asking about A levels and I hope this helps you (and didn't seem too much like a lecture!) but tbh your foundation will count as ucas points too so A levels kind of fall by the wayside. I guess it's always good to show you are a dedicated student (and do please check individual requirements on uni's websites), it's your portfolio that will get you onto the courses at the superstar unis not any amount of A*s.