The Student Room Group

Graphic Design

Hi! At the end of this year I am about to apply for BA in graphic design in the UK (I am an international student). I have found out that Kingston, Portsmouth and Loughborough offer great education in this field, according to the Guardian ranking 2020 for Design and crafts. I was wondering whether UAL is also a good opportunity for this kind of bachelor course.
Can somebody share ideas about other universities or share personal experience about the aforementioned ones or just give me more info about them?
I would be very happy if you could also give me insights and tips about the portfolio :smile:
Original post by Tsveta13
Hi! At the end of this year I am about to apply for BA in graphic design in the UK (I am an international student). I have found out that Kingston, Portsmouth and Loughborough offer great education in this field, according to the Guardian ranking 2020 for Design and crafts. I was wondering whether UAL is also a good opportunity for this kind of bachelor course.
Can somebody share ideas about other universities or share personal experience about the aforementioned ones or just give me more info about them?
I would be very happy if you could also give me insights and tips about the portfolio :smile:

Hi @Tsveta13!

I'm currently doing Digital Marketing at Portsmouth and I have to say Portsmouth is really great for design and digital subjects. There is great facilities (search Eldon Building on the Uni website and have a look) and the lecturers really do teach you skills and set assignments which you could bring to a job interview and you can say you have experience in. I really feel like Portsmouth has given me experience and skills that set me apart from other students when applying to jobs.

I hope this helps!

Erin - Official Student Rep :smile:
It's worth saying that rankings group courses together, so it's quite possible for an average course to have a high ranking (if other courses in the institution are doing really well) and for amazing courses to have poor rankings. Once people know how the data is gathered and compiled, they don't tend to believe rankings quite so much.

Having said that, the courses you mention are all good. Kingston is fairly experimental in nature (in a good way!) and explores the boundaries of the subject much more than the other two, which might appeal to you or might not. Loughborough is a bit more academic in structure, from what i've seen. Portsmouth is a bit more traditional, with lots of students producing high-quality typography.

All three should give advice what they want in a portfolio. If not, just email the course leader.
Reply 3
Original post by University of Portsmouth Student Rep
Hi @Tsveta13!

I'm currently doing Digital Marketing at Portsmouth and I have to say Portsmouth is really great for design and digital subjects. There is great facilities (search Eldon Building on the Uni website and have a look) and the lecturers really do teach you skills and set assignments which you could bring to a job interview and you can say you have experience in. I really feel like Portsmouth has given me experience and skills that set me apart from other students when applying to jobs.

I hope this helps!

Erin - Official Student Rep :smile:

Thank you so much for the useful information!
Reply 4
Original post by insidedesigner
It's worth saying that rankings group courses together, so it's quite possible for an average course to have a high ranking (if other courses in the institution are doing really well) and for amazing courses to have poor rankings. Once people know how the data is gathered and compiled, they don't tend to believe rankings quite so much.

Having said that, the courses you mention are all good. Kingston is fairly experimental in nature (in a good way!) and explores the boundaries of the subject much more than the other two, which might appeal to you or might not. Loughborough is a bit more academic in structure, from what i've seen. Portsmouth is a bit more traditional, with lots of students producing high-quality typography.

All three should give advice what they want in a portfolio. If not, just email the course leader.

I am so glad for that answer! Thank you!
Original post by Tsveta13
Hi! At the end of this year I am about to apply for BA in graphic design in the UK (I am an international student). I have found out that Kingston, Portsmouth and Loughborough offer great education in this field, according to the Guardian ranking 2020 for Design and crafts. I was wondering whether UAL is also a good opportunity for this kind of bachelor course.
Can somebody share ideas about other universities or share personal experience about the aforementioned ones or just give me more info about them?
I would be very happy if you could also give me insights and tips about the portfolio :smile:

Hi @Tsveta13

Great to hear you're considering Loughborough as one of your choices :biggrin:
All the unis are different and have their different strengths.
You'll need to do your research so compare all your courses and see which offers you what you want to achieve from your degree.
Have a look at where you'll be living and the costs. Lboro is a single-site campus, so you wouldn't have travel costs as accommodation is on site.
Have a look at the extra-curricular opportunities that are available both within the uni and the students' union (see https://lsu.co.uk/ for the Lboro students' union). Also check out the careers support and opportunities, employability and everything else that is important to you.

You might also find it useful to look at the international webpages of each uni for what's available for international students (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/)

If you have any specific questions, have a look at the Lboro forum here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=125 or just ask - we're always happy to help :smile:

Hope this helps
Vicky
Reply 6
Original post by Loughborough University
Hi @Tsveta13

Great to hear you're considering Loughborough as one of your choices :biggrin:
All the unis are different and have their different strengths.
You'll need to do your research so compare all your courses and see which offers you what you want to achieve from your degree.
Have a look at where you'll be living and the costs. Lboro is a single-site campus, so you wouldn't have travel costs as accommodation is on site.
Have a look at the extra-curricular opportunities that are available both within the uni and the students' union (see https://lsu.co.uk/ for the Lboro students' union). Also check out the careers support and opportunities, employability and everything else that is important to you.

You might also find it useful to look at the international webpages of each uni for what's available for international students (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/)

If you have any specific questions, have a look at the Lboro forum here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=125 or just ask - we're always happy to help :smile:

Hope this helps
Vicky

Thank you very much! :smile:
Original post by Tsveta13
Thank you very much! :smile:

No problem :smile:
Original post by Tsveta13
Hi! At the end of this year I am about to apply for BA in graphic design in the UK (I am an international student). I have found out that Kingston, Portsmouth and Loughborough offer great education in this field, according to the Guardian ranking 2020 for Design and crafts. I was wondering whether UAL is also a good opportunity for this kind of bachelor course.
Can somebody share ideas about other universities or share personal experience about the aforementioned ones or just give me more info about them?
I would be very happy if you could also give me insights and tips about the portfolio :smile:

Hello @Tsveta13

UAL is actually named Top 2 in the world for Art and Design by QS World Rankings 2020. You can find the full list here https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2020/art-design

For Graphic Design in particular we are very well known for - in fact we have 13 undergraduate degrees within Communication and Graphic Design:
https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/communication-and-graphic-design

If you have any questions please let me know :smile: We have a lot of useful portfolio videos and guides you can use.

All the best,
Mike

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