Week 1

Initial Pecha Kucha, lecture and seminars

What is a portfolio and its application

Introductory tutorials

Week 2

Interdisciplinary three day group project

Lecture and workshop focusing on interdisciplinary ethos and approaches in collaborative working and personal portfolio

Group tutorials

Week 3

Team presentations and portfolio strategies

Student presentations

Group discursive portfolio reviews and progression advice

The benefits to you include:

• identifying aims and requirements for progression at the RCA, or other institutions offering programmes in art and design, or in your professional practice
• subject-specific guidance in one of our four pathways:
  • Communication Design
  • Fashion and Textiles
  • Fine Art
  • Product, Interior and Spatial Design
• guidance on academic skills and English language support
• opportunity for collaboration and networking
• portfolio design, development and technical support.

You will learn to:

• evaluate progression aims and requirements
• discover your own personal creative practice, skills and ideas and how to situate them
• position your practice in relation to progression objectives
• develop strategies for presenting creative work in professional contexts
• design a portfolio in preparation for application to a higher education programme in art and design at the RCA or elsewhere, and to use in professional practice for career progression.

Learning will take place online with a blend of guided contact time through lectures, seminars, workshops, as well as small-group and one-to-one tutorials. Over the duration of the three-week intensive programme, each week will have a focus. Activities will include:

• positioning your portfolio for contemporary art or design practice
• models for collaborative practice across disciplines
• professional practice lectures.

The course is organised in synchronous sessions in a live virtual environment that combines various digital platforms and tools.

Zoom
Using the videoconferencing service Zoom, the RCA's esteemed academics and facilitators deliver a mix of:

• live lectures
• case studies
• guided assessments
• presentations.

Participants interact with academics and peers in breakout rooms in real time.

Miro

Participants engage in cross-functional team work with the use of visual collaboration tools.

Through the online whiteboard platform Miro, participants get to:

• interact with various formats and templates
• plan and brainstorm ideas
• create processes and workshop activities in the digital workspace.

Moodle

The College's learning platform Moodle is personalised according to the course's requirements to provide participants with a secure integrated system where they can access the course content.

Moodle hosts a range of useful resources to enable the learning experience, including comprehensive timetables, pre-reading materials, course slides, curated videos, tutorials and session recordings.

Slack

Participants stay connected and communicate via the channel-based messaging platform Slack throughout the whole duration of the course.

In this space, the academics, facilitators and delegates get to network, plan the course activities, share documents and files during the live sessions or offline.

By the end of this course, you will have:

• a clear understanding of your individual progression requirements
• increased confidence in discussing and presenting your research and practice in a visual format
• developed a tailored progression portfolio, ready for making a relevant application in higher education or for presenting in a professional context.

• Those intending to progress in higher education within an art or design discipline, such as:
  • Level 5 programmes: e.g., HND, Foundation Degree (FdA), NVQ, professional certificates and diplomas or equivalent
  • Level 6 programmes: e.g., BA or equivalent
  • Education staff advising students on progression to RCA, including those from non-traditional art and design backgrounds
• It is also appropriate for those who seek career progression and personal development in professional practice.
• Anyone with no formal training or qualification in art and design who wishes to pursue a course or career in this area.

• IELTS 5.5 minimum
• An undergraduate degree in a related art or design field, or a demonstrably creative background
• A body of current creative work in a digital format
• Familiarity with industry standard software packages (e.g., Adobe InDesign, Photoshop)