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Offers for Art and Design Foundation courses

Hello there. I a bit confused about offers for art and design foundation courses. After applying for the foundation diploma at a variety of colleges and universities I have some offers for the course to start this September.

The only problem is I will only be able to make my decision once I get back my A-levels so I can plan which one to accept based on my results. So basically I want to know whether I can accept them all and then on results day let all of them, but one, know I don't want to go on their course, despite accepting the offer. Will this be a problem?

Reply 1

Misshavisham

If you have applied through Ucas then you can't accept them all.. You have whats called a firm choice and an insurance choice. The firm is where you want to go to and your insurance is your back up choice...
Everyone is in the same position as you, you usually have a set of predicted grades ..perhaps you could use those to make a decision. For your insurance choice
to be on the safe side you could pick a course with lower entry requirements to give yourself the best chance of getting a place and avoid going into clearing on results day

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(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

RaaStam

You don't apply through UCAS for foundation courses so it was just individual applications for each uni/college.

Reply 3

Saitarra

Original post by RaaStam

Hi! Not sure how it works with foundation courses because there seems to be no firm/insurance offer system; I've just accepted a conditional offer and it automatically classed itself as "firm" so I guess what you choose now is what you're expected stay with later. Your best bet would be to e-mail the unis themselves to see what they say - as these offers are conditional most of the time I don't think you need to have passed your A-Levels to accept but if you're waiting to see if you can achieve the grades for a specific foundation course then you might want to ask the unis if you can have a back up choice (arranging your own firm/insurance system, so to speak!). If entry requirements are in the same range research/visit the course/unis in more depth - if you haven't done so already, of course! - and make a decision (you might want to check how long they'll "keep" your offer for before hearing your response if that makes sense). Accepting all offers and then withdrawing from the ones you don't want to go to could take away someone else's chance to go to that uni so be careful there.

Where have you applied to? Hope you end up somewhere you'll have a great experience at! :biggrin:

Reply 4

beccafairy

yes, you can accept them all for now. good luck with your A levels!

Reply 5

Sandy K

The whole 'unable to accept more than 1' system applies to courses linked to UCAS. Since you apply to foundation courses through the institution directly, you can accept as many as you like until you finally decide which you'd definitely prefer. It shouldn't be a problem, a lot of people I know did the same thing! The only thing the rejected institution might send you is a questionnaire asking why you rejected them so they know how to improve, but your situation itself is very flexible.

Reply 6

Lauren1204

Original post by RaaStam

You don't apply through UCAS for foundation courses so it was just individual applications for each uni/college.

At Uclan the Ba hons foundation entry is applied for through UCAS. So it depends on the University as to whether its through UCAS or themselves.

Reply 7

beccafairy

Original post by Lauren1204

At Uclan the Ba hons foundation entry is applied for through UCAS. So it depends on the University as to whether its through UCAS or themselves.

OP made this thread about foundation diplomas in art & design, none of which you can apply for through ucas as they're not degrees. you are thinking of another course type :smile:

Reply 8

RaaStam

Thanks guys, and I've applied for two local colleges, Oxford Brookes, Loughborough uni and Central Saint Martins.

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Reply 9

gler

I'm on the foundation course now, I'd had only applied to 3 FE colleges as I was told applying to HE institutes will cost you money or something (kicking myself for not researching more into this as I would've applied to CSM otherwise!). I managed to get 2 conditionals of a D in Fine Art and one unconditional from the colleges after a set portfolio interview. Having achieved A* in fine art, I had to freedom to choose which of the 3 I applied to lol.

Local colleges tend to be very lax on conditions though I cannot say about universities. The only other reason why I wouldn't've applied to any universities that wasn't close (Loughborough was one I had in mind) is that you get no financial help from the government at all. So you would have to pay for your own accommodation, art supplies etc plus the course fee if you were over 19 when starting. However, I've had friends who did their foundations at uni and went on with that uni for their BA courses and they found it a lot easier settling in so the pros and cons are rather balanced.

Best of luck getting into the one you want!

Reply 10

Sandy K

I completed a foundation course at Central Saint Martins last year, let me know if you have any questions, I'll be happy to help :-)

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