The King's Foundation Diploma Year
THE KING’S FOUNDATION DIPLOMA YEAR. A COURSE IN FINE AND APPLIED ART
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Admissions 2025-26
Applications for the Diploma Year 2025-26 are now open.
Phase one applications close on Thursday 6th February 2025, 5pm. Interviews will take place throughout February 2025.
Phase two applications will be reviewed upon submission.
To apply, please complete the online application form and submit a digital portfolio to diplomayear@kings-foundation.org.
Open Days & Tours
We encourage you to visit us at Trinity Buoy Wharf to get a first-hand look at our facilities and meet the students, tutors and staff.
To book an individual tour of our facilities please click here to schedule your visit.
Click here to book a space on one of our Open Days.
8th November, 3.30pm
15th January, 3.30pm
The Diploma Year
The King's Foundation Diploma year is a dynamic skills-based course with five days’ teaching per week. The small cohort’s size of up to 60 students allows for targeted one-to-one teaching in a supportive and creative environment. Located at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the programme benefits from its creative and inspiring neighbours in its Thames-side location.
The programme is unique in its focus on the interplay between traditional skills, innovation and creativity – all essential requirements for successful progression to Higher Education and careers in the creative industries.
The structure of the programme’s interdisciplinary curriculum develops from taught workshops to increasingly self-directed study. Throughout the programme, life drawing will remain central to problem solving and the development of observation skills. Students are encouraged to engage with studio critiques and discussions informed by contextual studies and weekly accompanied gallery and museum visits.
The broad curriculum is especially suited to progression onto Visual Arts courses such as Fine Art and Applied Arts, Animation and Illustration, Architecture, Textiles and Fashion, Photography and Film, Theatre and Set Design, Sculpture, Furniture Making and Design, Carving, Crafts and many more.
Students investigate a broad variety of Fine Art and Applied Art processes and concepts. Drawing is integral to the programme, with its ability to express and crystallise ideas.
Highlights
- High tutor-to-student ratio
- Small group sizes
- Delivered five days per week for 36 weeks
- Focused Skills-based teaching
- Weekly life drawing
- Disciplines: Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Printmaking, Animation, Ceramics, Photography, Textile Construction, Carving
- Facilities include purpose-built drawing studio, photography dark room, print room textiles studio, carving studio, sculpture and casting studio, reference libraries, individual studio spaces for students spanning three floors, Mac suite with editing software, painting studios, access to facilities at The King’s Foundation’s Charlotte Road site in Shoreditch.
- Contextual Studies lectures, accompanied gallery and museum visits each week
- Guidance and advice with UCAS application and portfolio preparation
- Opportunities to select additional workshops in traditional arts, heritage skills and architecture.
- A minimum of 1 Residencies at Dumfries House and access to a wider residency programme
- Accredited Level 3/4 Diploma with UCAS tariff points
- End-of-year exhibitions
- Inspiring London riverside location in a dynamic and creative community at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Docklands