Selection processes – the knowledge you need 

As part of the selection process, applicants will be invited to an online interview day designed to assess professional suitability for a career in teaching. The selection process will include a small group interview and a micro-teach session.

On the interview day applicants will be given a literacy and numeracy task to identify any support needs in these areas prior to entry.

Further details will be provided to applicants in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fine Art, we will be looking for:

• a range of self-initiated and project work
• images from notebooks, sketch books and research material
• a recent essay or short piece of writing.

Applicants will also be asked to complete a portfolio task. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application. 

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fine Art, we will be looking for:

• a range of self-initiated and project work
• images from notebooks, sketch books and research material
• a recent school or college essay.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Illustration, we will be looking for:

• an innovative approach to image making
• a good representation of sketchbook pages to show your visual thinking and problem solving
• a good level of drawing skills eg life drawing/observational drawing.
• evidence of visual thinking and engagement with concepts
• experimentation with digital and analogue (handmade) processes
• an individualistic and curious approach to image making.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful. 

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Illustration, we will be looking for:

• an innovative approach to image making
• a good representation of sketchbook pages to show your visual thinking and problem solving
• a good level of drawing skills eg life drawing/observational drawing
• evidence of visual thinking and engagement with concepts
• experimentation with digital and analogue (handmade) processes
• an individualistic and curious approach to image making.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Graphic Design, we will be looking for:

• portfolio work: a range of art and design projects that you have completed recently. We are keen to see your drawing and creative work across a range of disciplines and media
• supporting work: sketchbook images, rough work and developmental work
• written work: a contextual or theoretical essay or report.

Applicants will also be asked to include their response to a project brief. Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Graphic Design, we will be looking for:

• portfolio work: a range of art and design projects that you have completed recently. We are keen to see your drawing and creative work across a range of disciplines and media.
• supporting work: sketchbook images, rough work and developmental work.
• written work: a recent essay or other piece of writing.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. 

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Interior Design, we will be looking for:

• a range of recent work that includes both 2D and 3D works such as drawings, collage, photography and experimentation with ideas, surfaces and materials.
• experimentation with digital and analogue (handmade) processes
• research and idea development (by this we mean a good representation of sketchbook pages/images to show your visual thinking and problem solving)
• a contextual or theoretical essay or other piece of writing that you have done on your current or previous course.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Interior Design, we will be looking for:

• a range of recent work that includes both 2D and 3D work such as drawing, collage, photography and experimentation with ideas, surfaces and materials
• experimentation with digital and analogue (handmade) processes
• research and idea development (by this we mean a good representation of sketchbook pages/images to show your visual thinking and problem solving)
• a contextual or theoretical essay or other piece of writing that you have done on your current or previous course.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.  

Advice on submitting a portfolio

Applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements may be asked to provide a 10-20 page online portfolio of their design work. Once we have received the links (URLs) to your portfolio, Product Design lecturers will review your application and portfolio.

We may also ask applicants for a telephone interview, to discuss their applications and portfolios in more detail.

What to include in your portfolio

Your portfolio should be a selection of your artwork, drawings, sketchbook pages, photographs, models, design work, etc that reflect the range of your abilities, your creative process, and your interest in the course that you have applied for. Your portfolio should include finished work, and also work in progress to show your working process, such as sketchbook work or development sheets. It should include an introduction or cover page. Then the first project should be your best or most recent work. It should definitely include hand drawing; both observational and ideation sketching. You can include you course work, sketchbooks, photographs, drawings, paintings, models, prototypes, sculptures, digital artwork, websites, links to videos anything that supports your application.

Your portfolio is likely to be made up predominately of the Art or Product Design projects you have undertaken on your current or most recent course of study. We are also very interested in seeing projects, interests and passions outside of your school work. It should visually communicate who you are, show what excites and interests you, what you consider to be good design, and why. Staff are interested to see how your ideas and development work, these show how you think, much more than just the finished design. If you feel you need some extra content, you could set yourself a one-hour design challenge.

In general a portfolio is about visual communication rather than written communication. Try to minimise writing; where necessary add a title, and a few sentences for each image, explaining the project to a viewer. Presentation is very important, a portfolio should be well organised, clear and well presented. It should showcase approximately 10-15 projects spread over 15-20 pages (equivalent to A3 or larger pages).

Your portfolio should show a high level of commitment to your studies and evidence of fundamental design skills. We are looking for enthusiasm for your chosen subject, strong visual communication skills, evidence of problem-solving, clear working procedures showing the development of your ideas, experience in a range of different media and materials - 2D and 3D, and an awareness of contemporary designers and the history of design. For more advice and examples, ask your current teacher or lecturer for assistance and web search keywords such as 'Product Design portfolios' 'Industrial Design portfolios' or 'how to make a product design portfolio'. Please don't feel intimidated by the high levels of skill and design ability shown in professional portfolios online, we don't expect applicants to match professionals as that's what you come to university to learn. It takes a lot of time to prepare a good design portfolio and making one is a great learning opportunity; it showcases your ability and is very rewarding.

Advice on submitting a portfolio

Applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements may be asked to provide a 10-20 page online portfolio of their design work. Once we have received the links (URLs) to your portfolio, Product Design lecturers will review your application and portfolio.

We may also ask applicants for a telephone interview, to discuss their applications and portfolios in more detail.

What to include in your portfolio

Your portfolio should be a selection of your artwork, drawings, sketchbook pages, photographs, models, design work, etc. that reflect the range of your abilities, your creative process, and your interest in the course that you have applied for. Your portfolio should include finished work, and also work in progress to show your working process, such as sketchbook work or development sheets. It should include an introduction or cover page. Then the first project should be your best or most recent work. It should definitely include hand drawing; both observational and ideation sketching. You can include you course work, sketchbooks, photographs, drawings, paintings, models, prototypes, sculptures, digital artwork, websites, links to videos anything that supports your application.

Your portfolio is likely to be made up predominately of the Art or Product Design projects you have undertaken on your current or most recent course of study. We are also very interested in seeing projects, interests and passions outside of your school work. It should visually communicate who you are, show what excites and interests you, what you consider to be good design, and why. Staff are interested to see how your ideas and development work, these show how you think, much more than just the finished design. If you feel you need some extra content, you could set yourself a one-hour design challenge.

In general a portfolio is about visual communication rather than written communication. Try to minimise writing; where necessary add a title, and a few sentences for each image, explaining the project to a viewer. Presentation is very important, a portfolio should be well organised, clear and well presented. It should showcase approximately 10-15 projects spread over 15-20 pages (equivalent to A3 or larger pages).

Your portfolio should show a high level of commitment to your studies and evidence of fundamental design skills. We are looking for enthusiasm for your chosen subject, strong visual communication skills, evidence of problem-solving, clear working procedures showing the development of your ideas, experience in a range of different media and materials - 2D and 3D, and an awareness of contemporary designers and the history of design. For more advice and examples, ask your current teacher or lecturer for assistance and web search keywords such as 'Product Design portfolios' 'Industrial Design portfolios' or 'how to make a product design portfolio'. Please don't feel intimidated by the high levels of skill and design ability shown in professional portfolios online, we don't expect applicants to match professionals as that's what you come to university to learn. It takes a lot of time to prepare a good design portfolio and making one is a great learning opportunity; it showcases your ability and is very rewarding.

If you are invited for interview, you will be invited to a session at Bower Ashton, part of UWE Bristol’s City Campus.

On the day you will have an individual, in-person interview and take part in a group performance workshop in our theatre.

Further information will be provided in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be invited to an interview via Microsoft Teams.

The interview will be with a member of the teaching team and will last about 15 minutes. It will consist of the following activities that are designed to enable you to show us your capabilities:

• Discussion around a piece of work you have submitted prior to the interview – this can be anything related to audio and music technology, and should demonstrate what you are most interested in, and be your best work. Suggested examples include a short composition, a short recording you’ve made, a short video in which you have contributed sound or music, a short video of a performance, a short essay on a relevant subject, or a short video demonstrating something technical, like a piece of audio hardware you’ve made or some software you’ve written. We’re looking for a small piece of work that best represents you as an aspiring student of Audio and Music Technology, which we can watch, read or listen to in five minutes or less.
• A short listening exercise – this is for us to get a sense of how you listen, and how you verbally communicate what you hear
• Course discussion – the course content will be discussed with you, giving you the opportunity to talk about your interest in the course and your understanding of audio and music technology. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions, should you have any.

Further details will be sent to you in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be invited to an audition via Microsoft Teams.

The audition will be with the Programme Leader and will last about 20 minutes. It will consist of the following activities that are designed to enable you to show us your capabilities:

• Either a short performance or a discussion around a portfolio of two contrasting compositions (submitted before the interview) – for the performance, we ask that you play (or sing) a piece of music that you've prepared in advance and for the portfolio, you should submit a link to an online folder that contains two contrasting examples of your best compositional work.
• A short listening exercise – this is for us to get a sense of how you listen to music, and how you verbally communicate what you hear.
• A short exercise involving a notated score – the conversation around this exercise will help us gauge your experience and, if appropriate, allow us to suggest some exercises to do before you start the course, as this will help you in some parts of the curriculum.
• Course discussion – the Programme Leader will then discuss the course with you, giving you the opportunity to talk about your interest in the course and your understanding of creative music technology. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions, should you have any.

Further details will be sent to you in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fashion Communication, we will be looking for:

• portfolio work: A range of recent completed works/outcomes that may include drawing, photography, styling, graphic design, visual experimentation and/or collage
• supporting/developmental work: By this we mean sketchbook/research file work – communicating how you research into subjects (and designers, artists and brands) that interest you and develop your ideas
• written work: a contextual or theoretical essay or report.  

Applicants will also be asked to complete a portfolio task. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application.

Further information will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fashion Communication, we will be looking for:

• portfolio work: A range of recent completed works/outcomes that may include drawing, photography, styling, graphic design, visual experimentation and/or collage
• supporting/developmental work: By this we mean sketchbook/research file work – communicating how you research into subjects (and designers, artists and brands) that interest you and develop your ideas
• written work: a contextual or theoretical essay or report.  

Applicants will also be asked to complete a portfolio task. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.  

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fashion Textiles, we will be looking for:

• a range of recent work that includes drawing, collage, photography and experimentation with ideas, surfaces and materials
• written work: a contextual or theoretical essay or other piece of writing.

Applicants will also be asked to complete a portfolio task. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application. 

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. We may invite applicants for an interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Fashion Textiles, we will be looking for:

• a range of recent work that includes drawing, collage, photography and experimentation with ideas, surfaces and materials.
• written work: a contextual or theoretical essay or other piece of writing.

Further information will be provided on receipt of your application. 

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Animation, we will be looking for a collection of work that is lively, colourful, original, and represents you and your artistic development, including:

• animation
• drawing from imagination
• drawing from life
• scanned sketchbook pages
• evidence of design for screen
• model making
• support material

Applicants will also be asked to complete a portfolio task. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an online interview where you will have the opportunity to discuss your creative work and demonstrate a good practical ability in and understanding of your chosen field. Further information will be provided in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Animation, we will be looking for:

• animation
• drawing from imagination
• drawing from life
• scanned sketchbook pages
• evidence of design for screen
• model making
• support material.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Filmmaking, we will be looking for:

• examples of films, creative writing, recorded sound, photographs, scripts, web design work, graphic design work, artwork etc
• evidence of your creative process: examples of scripts, research ideas, edit notes, sketchbooks, storyboards etc
• audio-visual work: for each piece of audio-visual work, a short statement telling us about the piece
• an example of academic writing: an essay or a critical evaluation of your process and/or completed work.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. Successful applicants are generally those with the strongest portfolios. We may invite applicants for an online interview if we have questions about your portfolio or think further discussion may be useful.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Photography, we will be looking for:

• a portfolio of imagery: A sample of images that you believe represents your best work and best supporting work (sketchbook work, developmental work). 
• an example of academic writing, an essay or a critical evaluation of your process and/or completed work.

Applicants will also be asked to include their response to a project brief. Further information will be provided on receipt of your application. 

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio. 

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an online interview where you will have the opportunity to discuss your creative work and demonstrate a good practical ability in and understanding of your chosen field. Further information will be provided in advance of the interview.

Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio for review. Your portfolio should be a selection of your work that reflects the range of your abilities, your creative process (including your developmental work), and your interest in the course.

For guidance on what to include in your portfolio, watch our digital portfolio advice video. For Photography with Foundation Year, we will be looking for:

• a portfolio of imagery: A sample of images that you believe represents your best work and best supporting work (sketchbook work, developmental work). 
• an example of academic writing: an essay or a critical evaluation of your process and/or completed work.

Further details will be provided on receipt of your application.

Application outcomes will be decided primarily on the basis of the work and the ideas that you present in your portfolio.