Art university application help!

I'm 17 and moving to Scotland in August 2025. I want to apply to art school but heard some scholarships want applications as early as September 2024 or January 2025. I only have my IGCSE grades and I'm not sure how higher work but I don't think I'll have predicted grades to send. My main confusion is what I send to the university. Do I just send my IGCSE grades and no higher alongside my art portfolio? I also want to apply for a scholarship because even though I'll be living in the UK for a year before entering university I'll still be considered an international student and have to pay crazy fees. Somebody please help! I'm so confused.

Reply 1

mds0306

Hey, do you plan on starting art school in september 2025 or september 2026? Are you taking your final exams this year or next year?

I live in the UK and we use UCAS to apply to universities, I’m assuming you would also need to apply through UCAS. If you are moving to Scotland in August 2025 and plan on starting in september 2025 then you need to apply from around november 2024 until the end of january 2025. That’s roughly the application window every year, if you don’t get any offers you can then apply through ucas extra and also clearing once you get your final exam results - but I don’t think you should worry about that - yet anyway. If you apply in this time period, you would attend art school in september 2025 - just after you arrive. And if you apply in the next application window (november 2025 - january 2026), then you’re expecting to attend school in september 2026, a year after your arrival.

When we apply here in the UK, we apply with predicted grades because we don’t have our official final exam grades (a-level). I assume you would do the same, write out your subjects and the grades you are currently working at. (You’ll also need to include you IGCSE grades.) As well as including references from your teachers and a personal statement (why you would like to do that course and why you’re passionate about it, etc - you can read more online just search “art school personal statement”) - however I’m not sure how it works when applying as an international student. Maybe there are different things they ask you to fill out. It’s worth going on ucas and making an account, filling out all the personal information they ask for, etc. Perhaps getting in touch with an advisor in your school would help (if you have one), so they can help you with the application, etc.

Let me know if you need me to clear up anything else, I just applied in the september 2023 - january 2024 application window so I’m pretty familiar with the process - but again it is from the ‘home’ student perspective, even though I am from an eastern european country (just lived in the UK for a while now.)

Good luck with your application!

Reply 2

ElizabethCD

Hi! I'm planning on going to art school in September 2025, and moving in August 2024 or December 2024. Also, I'm not at a school currently so I'm not writing any exams.

Reply 3

mds0306

Original post by ElizabethCD

Hi! I'm planning on going to art school in September 2025, and moving in August 2024 or December 2024. Also, I'm not at a school currently so I'm not writing any exams.

Hey! Considering you’re not attending school currently, am I right to assume you have your high school diploma (for your country)? As in you are around ±18, and have already sat your finals but are currently taking a gap year… or perhaps you’ll sit them next year? So you would be in your second to last year of high school education —> going into your last year. In both cases, because you want to enter art school in September 2025, you would need to apply in this year’s application window - November 2024 - January 2025.

You would need predicted grades or final examination grades, and what I said above. I assume you would nee to look into translating your grades into the UK grading system - Scottish specifically as there’s a slight difference (you can have a look on the ucas website and see the entry requirements of your desired course at the uni you want to attend). There are different courses, I’m assuming you haven’t got a diploma / degree from a university, so make sure you look at undergraduate courses not postgraduate. If you do have a degree then have a look at the postgraduate courses.

Feel free to ask if anything else needs clearing up, hopefully I’ve explained it well. Good luck!