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Art, Design and Architecture Foundation Pathway Degree

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    Overview

    This programme is not available to international students. Instead, international students should apply for our international foundation programmes delivered by our International Study Centre on campus. For more information, please visit International Study Centre.

    The Art, Design and Architecture Foundation Pathway provides an exciting opportunity to develop the academic skills, confidence, and determination needed to succeed on a wide range of degree courses within the School of Arts and Humanities. Acting as a 'zero' year, this course offers a broad introduction to art and design, giving you the essential educational, personal, and study skills required to progress onto your chosen degree.

    This foundation pathway is designed to support your transition into higher education, helping you explore various routes within art, design and architecture. While it does not focus on the specific requirements of any one degree course, it equips you with key concepts, principles, and techniques that are relevant to all art and design disciplines.

    You will also be introduced to the School's specialist facilities and creative working practices.

    On successful completion of this course, you'll be able to continue onto the first year of your degree in the following art and design subject areas: 

    • Graphic Design
    • Interior Design
    • Fine Art and Illustration
    • Photography
    • Fashion and Costume
    • Filmmaking
    • Architecture
    • Architectural Technology

    Why study Art, Design and Architecture Foundation Pathway at Huddersfield?

    • Build confidence in your academic and creative abilities, preparing you for degree-level study.
    • Gain essential knowledge of creative processes, research methods, and critical thinking.
    • Experience working in industry-standard facilities and studio spaces within the School of Arts and Humanities.

    Entry requirements

    To find out if you’re eligible to start this course in September 2025 and get more information on how to apply, please see our Clearing pages or call our Clearing Helpline on 0333 987 9000.

    If you’re interested in studying this course in September 2026, please view the 2026-27 course information.

    Course Detail

    Study Skills

    This module will provide you with the opportunity to develop the academic skills required to progress in higher education and successfully complete your academic studies. You will learn about essay writing, referencing, and how to use the library and LibrarySearch for finding scholarly material. You will also learn how to evaluate sources of information and be introduced to personal development planning (PDP).

    Research Skills

    This module provides you with an opportunity to apply the skills required in higher education study. This will include finding suitable sources, using the University's LibrarySearch, and presenting your studies in an academic format. You will learn how to plan and undertake a project whilst developing skills in the effective engagement with academic literature.

    Introduction to Art and Design

    You will undertake foundational workshops in Visual and Design Arts, addressing a range of techniques and starting points for creating work. Where appropriate the nature of group and individual creativity will be addressed. You will keep logbooks and undertake contextual research and analysis.

    Development of Art and Design

    In this module you will begin to develop skills in at least one area leading towards moving onto the relevant degree programme. A series of workshops and discussions will equip you with the practical skills and analytical understandings required to develop a practical portfolio in their chosen area. You will develop the ability to analyse your work and to reflect critically on your own development.

    Foundation Project

    Dependent on your chosen specialism students work individually or in small groups, devising, managing, delivering and evaluating a final project. You will be assigned a tutor, who will support you through to the realisation of your project.

    The course has a varied subject matter and is designed to give you the opportunity to improve your knowledge and understanding of music and performing arts.

    This course has modules making up 120 credits over the 1* year, with each credit being 10 hours of study (1200 hours in total).

    *Subject to mode of study.

    Teaching

    The teaching year for most courses normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Teaching on other courses including professional courses, postgraduate taught, research, distance learning and apprenticeship may have other start dates including January and May. All start dates can be found on each course page and term dates are also available. Students on a full-time course may have to attend every day of the week. Students who choose to study a full-time course on a part-time basis will generally attend modules at the same time as our full-time students. Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

    Our courses are taught at our University campus and you can expect that your lectures and seminars will be held face to face, except in cases of emergency or if specifically stated otherwise in the module description.

    Feedback

    Feedback (usually written) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on exam performance/final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.

    Progression

    You may progress to the next stage of your course or research degree, subject to meeting University assessment criteria and professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.

    1. The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.

    2. Our teaching staff rank first in England for the proportion with higher degrees and teaching qualifications, as well as being top five for those holding doctorates (HESA 2025). So you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.

    3. We are second in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 24 since 2008 (2025 data).

    4. We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

    Visit ‘Our experts’ page where you’ll find in-depth profiles of all our academic staff

    At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.

    Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.

    *full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.

    Our Facilities

    Discover our facilities, in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield.

    Dedicated to exploration, students across the School of Arts and Humanities have the opportunity to cultivate, curate and showcase in a range innovative spaces, utilising extensive and purpose-built facilities. These include 3D printers for rapid prototyping and modelling, laser cutters, the virtual reality cave, print and dye capabilities, photography studios, digital print centre, specialist film studios including industry-standard equipment, and so much more.

    Film Studio
    Graphic Design Studio
    Print and Dye Studio
    Photography Studio
    Fashion studio
    Digital Print Room
    Create Lab
    Barbara Hepworth Building

    Discover more about the course

    Student Support

    Discover all the support available so you can thrive.

    Research Excellence

    See how our innovative research shapes what you'll learn.

    Important information

    When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

    Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons:

    Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

    If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and if you are unhappy with the change we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

    Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

    Changes to option modules

    Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

    Major changes

    We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.

    Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.

    In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

    The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.