If you'd like to study on an undergraduate programme at Edinburgh College of Art, you must apply through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. You can find out how to do this on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder, where you'll also be able to
- see the structure of the programme and what you will study each year
- see detailed entrance requirements for each programme on the Degree Finder
- get information on what to expect after you apply
- find out about fees
- find out where to go for further advice and guidance
Take me to the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder
If you have any questions about the application process, your qualifications or deadlines, our Undergraduate Admissions Office will be happy to help you.
Email the Undergraduate Admissions Office: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
Portfolio guidance
As part of your application, you are required to submit a portfolio as evidence of your artistic ability and potential. You should begin to plan your portfolio as soon as you decide to apply.
Assessors are not necessarily expecting a showcase of final work, but rather an indication of work in progress showing how you approach an idea or subject and develop the work from initial thought, through experimentation and enquiry, to resolved work.
Assessment
Portfolios are assessed by a team of academic staff who are particularly interested in how you research and develop ideas in a visual way and how you engage with your chosen discipline. This is broken down into four main areas of assessment, briefly summarised as follows:
- Visual Research and Enquiry shows the level of your engagement in intelligent, structured visual enquiry and how well you communicate this.
- Idea Development shows your ability to appropriately explore and develop ideas, and your level of skills in the use of materials or techniques.
- Selection and Resolution shows how well you judge which ideas have the most appropriate potential and your ability to bring them to a level of completion appropriate to your intended outcome.
- Contextual Awareness shows the extent of your knowledge of the subject you have applied for and how your work relates to it.
How the content of a portfolio provides evidence for the above categories will vary enormously depending on the person and the subject being applied to, and no two portfolios will be the same.
The portfolio is made up of written answers to three questions (below) and a short film. The film should consist of a dramatic, documentary or experimental work. The film should be no more than five minutes long and ideally be a complete work, or else a strong excerpt that shows your ability to express a story or concept through audio-visual material. If your film is not in English it should include English subtitles. All submitted portfolio clips must be uploaded via one digital video file (or URL link to it) and be readily accessible (e.g. are not password protected) and must not contain copyrighted material.
We are looking for a clear understanding of what it means to employ film/video as a mean of artistic expression and as such portfolios consisting of showreels, music videos, travel reports or storyboards are unlikely to meet our criteria.
- What element of filmmaking do you feel most passionate about and why? (Maximum 250 words)
- What attributes do you feel you would bring to the course and what have you done so far that evidences this? (Maximum 250 words)
- Which scene or sequence in a film has made a real impression on you and why? We are not looking for a description of the scene or sequence, but how you have been inspired by this. (Maximum 250 words)
If you have any questions about the application process, your qualifications or deadlines, our Undergraduate Admissions Office will be happy to help you.
Email the Undergraduate Admissions Office: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
What happens next?
We will contact you with our decision by mid-May. If you are made an offer, you will be invited to attend an Offer Holder Day.
Offer Holder Days typically take place in April and are opportunities for successful applicants to learn more about their subject areas and life as a student at Edinburgh College of Art and the University of Edinburgh. Whether you visit us in person or attend a virtual Offer Holder Day, you will have the opportunity to meet with academic staff and current students from your programme, tour the studios and other facilities and attend general information sessions.
