foundation diploma in art and design UAL

i am veryyy confused about student finance.. and also if i should take a foundation

i want to do an art foundation course at UAL, which should be free as I’ll be under 19 and from the UK, however will this not allow me to receive a ‘full’ student loan when i continue to a BA at uni?

I’ve read that a foundation counts as a first degree , but it is free and I wouldn’t have to use any student loan for it-

Finally, is it actually worth doing it if you don’t want to be a designer or artist (I’m more interested fashion journalism) - is there a lot of photography involved?

If anyone can help i would really appreciate itso much thanks

Reply 1

mabelline

a foundation year is free for those that are under 19 when they start the course, and doesn't affect student finance.

a foundation year =/= a foundation degree (which is 2 (?) years and i believe it can allow 2nd year entry onto a BA course (i could be wrong lmao on this pls check this) ). a foundation year in art is like an intermediate step between a-levels/btecs and a uni degree, and can be something to do if you don't have the necessary subjects/qualifications or you think your portfolio isn't up to scratch or you just want to learn something (might only apply as a mature student)

for me the foundation year has been quite fine arts-y (too much for my own taste personally), and i think there would've been more photography involved if Covid hadn't affected access to facilities and stuff, but for what it's worth, i think it's ok.

imo, it might not be as worth if you don't want to be a designer or an artist but it's up to you in the end.

University of the Arts London

London

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Reply 2

University of the Arts London

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hi There!

Hope you are doing well,

As the person below has mentioned (thanks @mabelline!) the one year Foundation Diploma in Art and Design is a free course for eligible students 19 and under and living in the UK. This course will not change your three years of student finance in any way!

However, a Foundation Degree is a different level course, two years and is classed as Higher Education, so students would use two of their three years of student loan to fund this is most cases - leaving the course after two years usually to progress onto a one year BA top up.

With regards to the benefits of FAD, why not chat to our current students about this? Link here - https://www.ucas.com/chat-to-students?unibuddy=buddies?universityId=5ed0bf8889059a00d827b38a

I hope this helps!

Matthew
UK Student Recruitment

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

The above is mostly correct, although it should be noted you do not get "just" three years of funding from SFE. Your SFE funding entitlement is equal to the length of your course plus one year minus the number of years of prior study in higher education (HE). So if you applied for a four year long degree you would have a total of five years of funding, assuming no prior study in HE. The additional year is usually referred to by SFE as the "gift" year, and is there in case you needed to repeat a year of if you decided you didn't like your course and reapplied for first year entry to another course.

As stated correctly though, the FAD course is an FE course and so will not affect your entitlement for funding for degree level study. As it is a FAD course however you will not be eligible for any loans from SFE to undertake that course (either maintenance or tuition fee loans), although if you are 19 or under on the first day of the course it should be free. If you would be older than that you may be able to have it funded by an Advanced Learner Loan however, although this would be for tuition fees only.

@PQ has made a handy FAQ regarding FAD courses here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5017684 which might be worth exploring too!

(edited 3 years ago)