Inspiring the next generation: Morley’s influential UAL Art, Design and Fashion Foundation Diplomas

Morley College London’s one year UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in art, design and fashion a comprehensive introduction to artistic techniques, creative approaches and critical-thinking skills.

A Diploma course for 18 year olds runs at the Chelsea Centre for Creative Industries, while a companion UAL Art and Design Diploma for adult learners is offered at Morley’s Waterloo Centre for Adult Education.      

A route onto leading arts and fashion degree courses  

Morley’s Foundation courses prepare students for higher education – at prestigious art, design and fashion degree courses, as well as creative careers in industry.   

Art and Design Course Leader at Chelsea Centre for Creative Industries, Lara Ritosa-Roberts explains “Our Level Four Foundation in art and design is an ideal bridge between A Levels, or any other Level Three qualification, and going to university, higher education or into the entry level jobs in the creative industries. The success rate for the course is really high for students to win places on their first-choice university.”  

In recent years, Morley Foundation students left Morley for degree places at the Glasgow School of Art, The Slade School of Fine Art, The University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art, Kingston University London, Leeds Arts University, Goldsmiths College, UAL including Central St Martins and the London College of Fashion, to name a few.      

This year, with the launch of Morley’s own BA in Creative Practice, Morley students can now stay on at Morley to complete a high-quality degree in a supportive multi-disciplinary environment.    

Bauhaus and beyond 

The year-long Art Foundation course has a century old history. “These Foundation courses were inspired by the Bauhaus methodology and pedagogy in the 1920’s – which became so influential in arts education across Europe.   Art schools in England started to offer this type of course from the 1930’s, while in Scotland the Foundation has been part of 4 year degree courses” says Lara.  

The course leads students beyond a set curriculum into a world of creative discovery.     

“Today, if our Diploma course teaches one thing above all, I think, it is independence. Teaching students to independently think, research, produce, promote and present own creative ideas and projects. This is our goal in a nutshell!”   

Lara Ritosa-Roberts,  Senior Tutor, Creative Discovery  

Christine Mhando leads the fashion and Textiles Foundation course, working in close partnership with Lara. “On the fashion course, as well as learning a range of art and design techniques, students gain a good understanding of what type of fabrics are relevant for specific types of clothing. They’ get to learn pattern-cutting skills and construction, sewing, making, and just creating – we encourage them to be as creative as possible. They also get to learn about industry and have good relationships with some fashion designers.”  

“We encourage students, teach them the skills they need to know, give them the ability and the confidence to really, to be able to put together a really strong portfolio and then eventually go out and sell themselves as creatives, young fashion creatives.”   

An incredible opportunity – the Diploma course is free for 18 year olds   

For students who are aged 18 course are fees are fully paid by the government.  This makes the Foundation Diploma an amazing opportunity for a young adult wishing to explore their passions – and kick-start a career as an artist, fashion designer or creative.     

The Waypoints Show at Morley Gallery  

Over 40 Chelsea students on the UAL Foundation Art and Design and the companion Fashion and Textiles course exhibited their latest works at Morley Gallery, Waterloo. The student projects on display responded to a creative brief set by tutors Lara, Christine and the Fashion Art and Design team.    

The Waypoints show comes towards the end of the course. For many students, the show is their first experience of displaying work in a professional gallery setting. It’s a chance to invite friends and family to see their work. The planning and creation of the show offers opportunities to develop skills in exhibit mounting, lighting and interpretation, guided by Morley Gallery’s curatorial team.   

“The ‘Waypoints’ show at Morley Gallery offered a great learning experience. Students were faced with crucial questions: How will they present their work and ideas within a gallery setting? What kind of hanging mechanisms might they require to display their pieces? If they are working with media, particularly digital media, what presentation format will be necessary?  

“Participating in an exhibition in a real gallery setting demanded a focus on practicalities that artists might not always consider during the creation process, yet these are realities they will encounter later in their creative careers. By participating in this exhibition, our students gained hands-on experience in achieving professional presentation to gallery standards” says Lara Ritosa-Roberts.  

The student experience of the Foundation Course 

As the Waypoints show was being installed, Art and Design students shared the inside story on the Foundation course and the Waypoint show and shared their future plans.    

Robert McCabe 

“My piece took the theme of newspapers and protest. So this was my final piece out of that project. I wanted to mainly use the newspaper as a material – which was something I hadn’t used before. So I rolled them up and created like little fossils. “ 

“On the course I’ve liked the different topics we cover. I studied A Level Art, which was very curriculum based, this course is a lot more like you can do what you want to a degree. We can experiment a lot with different mediums. print working, plastic, life drawing, sculpture, like 3D design as well.  I’ve enjoyed the workshops and working with different tutors. I’ve now been offered a place to study architecture at UAL.”   

Monica Jaye  

“I’m just really excited because it’s the first show in a gallery setting that I’ve done with a piece of my own work. It’s the first experience of that really.  And also I’m excited for people to come my friends and family!   

“My theme was dust. I created the pictures on a loose canvas so basically each one is meant to be dust particle, like a microscopic dust particle – but I’ve kind of like made them abstract and more pretty than what they’re like actually seen.  We were looking at how to perceive dust, how you can create things with dust – and I like I’m a big fan of space and everything in space, so I looked at space dust or micro meteorites.”   

“What I’ve learned on the courses is there are more ways to be an artist. When I was doing A  Level Art I kind of just focused on painting. But now I know how to do like a lot more things like more like text or textiles.”      

“After I finish I’m actually not going to university – I’m looking at creative apprenticeships and one of the fields I was looking at is scenic painting for theatre.”  

Dominic Boyle  

“I’m doing right now is UAL level four foundation in art and design.  My favourite bit about the course is the level of freedom that we get to explore and ideas, especially now that we’ve started our final major project. It’s really open ended, I get to do something specific that I would I’ve always wanted to do, but then also having everyone else around me, also doing something that they’re very passionate about, I think is very inspiring.” 

Saffron Junod 

“We were looking at how to how to perceive dust, how you can create things with dust.  I’m a big fan of space and everything in space, I looked at um space dust or micro meteorites. This is essentially the name of it. Before it lands on Earth and then planetary scientists find it and call it spacedust or cosmic dust.” 

“I chose Morley because I liked the size of the course, the size of the classrooms. I have been in a course before with loads and loads of students and a lot of foundation courses are quite large – and I just didn’t want the competitive nature of those kinds of environments. I don’t think that’s how I can really explore everything I wanted to.  The course is quite near to where I live as well, and the area is just really nice and the teachers too. After I leave Morley I’m probably going to go to Brighton to study illustration.”  

Thomas Langridge  

“Morley’s Art Foundation has let me experiment with varied media and use the extensive facilities to try new things with printing and sculpture. It’s changed my approach to art and design by making me consider unexpected materials – like found objects or scrap fabrics and how they can be incorporated into a piece, as well as making me more receptive to experimentation with form and narrative in my pieces.”  

“From here, I hope to go to Gobelins animation school in Paris.  I would recommend Morley’s Art Foundation course to any young artists looking for a year to experiment with varied techniques and approaches to their chosen craft.” 

 Discover the Diploma  

More of the Foundation student work will be on display across Morley Centres this summer – check Morley Gallery for details.   If you’d like to explore the Diploma courses find out more here:  
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (Fashion, Textiles and Communication)
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

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