University rejection help!

Don’t worry you will be fine. Just think positive.
Even if you get rejected from all 5 university’s, you can reply through ucas for a extra uni.

Yes, but the thing is I don't know if I want to do that. I'm not sure whether I can find a uni I actually want to attend through extra and clearing. And the idea of a gap year kind of scares me since I've always been told I need to go to university. I really don't want to disappoint my parents too so I haven't told them about this or my worries..

Practically every university (being slightly dramatic) was in extra and clearing last year. There is little chance that ALL 5 of your university choices aren't in extra or clearing, obviously universities like LSE and Oxbridge aren't, but the majority otherwise are.

A gap year isn’t the worst idea if you don’t find a university you’d genuinely like to go to through clearing or extra. You’ll mature a lot more, you can earn money and perhaps improve your portfolio and develop skills so you’re better prepared for your course. I really doubt it will come to this but just for ease of mind, the worst case scenario isn’t the worst thing ever. Good luck!

Thank you so much! I'm probably overeating a little too be honest. Would universities be biased against you if you take a gap year due to not having any offers though?

How would they know?

Would they not be able to check your records in UCAS or something?

No.

To begin with, one rejection doesn't mean all are going to reject you, although if you immediately spiral out of control like this you'll probably do rather poorly in forthcoming interviews and portoflio reviews and then you will most likely get a string of rejections. Keep your head on straight.

Moving on from that, are you a 6th form student, or a foundation art diploma student? If the former, it's quite possible your portfolio just didn't have the breadth and sophistication they would expect from FAD applicants. It would honestly be better to take a year to do a FAD course to prepare a strong portfolio in that case - I'm fairly certain a majority of students on art and design courses have gone through the FAD. If you are a FAD student, then look closely at their feedback and discuss it with the course tutors.

It's worth noting, art/design courses very often end up in clearing, including very strong ones - my sister got into Illustration at ARU through clearing for example, and Newcastle Fine Art was in clearing a year or two ago. Don't just rule clearing out as an option immediately assuming there won't be any "good" courses there - you aren't applying for law or medicine, the situation is a little different for art courses. Additionally I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't more places on those courses available in clearing this year (in fact all courses) on top of that due to a dip in applicant numbers this year (due to fewer births in 2000).

@PQ might be able to give some more concrete info on...well, any of the relevant issues, but certainly clearing availability and so on.

Thank you for the detailed response! I'm currently in sixth form and have considered the option of doing a foundation degree, but the costs and the idea of going through UCAS application again kind of put me off a little. I asked a university lecturer about it and he said that it's fine to skip it, so I took his word. I had no idea extra and clearing was different for art and design courses so thanks for clarifying that! I'll take it in to considering though hopefully I'll hear better news from the other applications haha. Again thanks for your reply! It made me feel a lot better 😄

A foundation art diploma is not a foundation degree, and it's further education, not higher education, so if you are under the age of 19 when the course starts it should be free. You also don't usually apply through UCAS, unless things have changed significantly - as it's FE, not HE, I believe you normally apply directly to the course provider.

Was the lecturer in question a tutor on an art/design course...? I'd be surprised if they were, my understanding is the majority of students who apply have it. Some universities even specifically state many of their successful applicants have done a FAD course (e.g. Oxford and I think Slade Fine Art suggest it). It's not technically a requirement but the structure of it is such that you will actually be doing art and design work only, and you'll have a broad range of experiences in the different disciplines as well as a focused period in your discipline of interest (some let you start off in one area now I think though).

The whole experience is designed to help develop your maturity as an artist and/or designer and hence craft a strong portfolio - also the tutors who will help guide you in your work and portfolio will usually have a lot more experience sending students on to degrees in the area, and may well teach on those degrees or even be involved in admissions (or have been in the past) and have a lot more direct experience as a result.

I would definitely suggest strongly considering your options for that, although bear in mind again one rejection doesn't equate to a full set. However, do take that with a pinch of salt that you might be a little bit at a disadvantage compared to the FAD applicants who have done nothing but art/design work for (half) a year after doing their A-level(s) in a(n) art/design subject(s).

edit: you might want to look at PQ's thread on FADs here - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5017684

Thank you so much! I'm probably overeating a little too be honest. Would universities be biased against you if you take a gap year due to not having any offers though?

Not at all. And they wouldn't know your offer status from the prior year.

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The lecturer was a concept art professor at Teesside university, though I think we talked about a foundation degree rather than a diploma. I didn't know they were different! 😮 Thank you for informing me! I presume the application process is similar to that of sixthform? Is there a time limit for applications or do they vary?
Also I actually did apply to Oxford for fineart as well, went to the interview last week and did an admissions test and all. It was a good experience but I do feel like they might tell me to do a foundation year haha.

I believe it is similar to the process for 6th forms, although maybe a little more formalised - I think it is typical to have portfolio requirements like the courses you're applying to now for example, although likely looking more for potential than achievement through it. If he was talking about a foundation degree then yes, it's both unnecessary (unless you have some particular reason to want to break up the process a bit and get the top up degree later, presumably - most likely really relevant only if you were working in industry already or something) and quite a different format.

Although it's a moot point for that now, I'd point out fine art and illustration courses will be looking for very different things from portfolios. If you have a strong portfolio for one it's likely to be weaker for the other, although perhaps not necessarily...I know my sister (who originally applied for fine art courses, more as a default than out of any real desire to pursue that compared to other areas of art/design) was rejected from a few with the feedback that her portfolio was unsuitable - and one of the admissions people specifically told her to apply for their illustration programme because she was applying to a fine art course with an illustration portfolio.

That is something a FAD will help you with (somewhat - in fairness, my sister was actually a FAD student applying who still kinda went the wrong direction initially with her applications) in exploring the different disciplines formally, particularly for many of the design disciplines where you'll have had very limited opportunity to pursue it in 6th form. Bear in mind design courses (including illustration) will involve responding to briefs to produce work in a way analogous to commercial work. Fine art courses tend to be much more open in scope and down to the student to determine the direction of their work (as I understand anyway).