Before you apply
Step 1 - Choose your course
Browse our courses to find the right one for you and consider visiting us at one of our open days to find out more.
If you’re an international student, you should contact a UAL representative in your country to receive personalised advice and support with your application and to hear about upcoming UAL events in your country, including portfolio workshops. Our in-country representatives can provide you with information and specialist advice about all the courses we offer, guidance on portfolio preparation, application process and interviews.
Step 2 - Check the entry requirements
- Read the entry requirements on the ‘How to apply’ section on your chosen course page carefully before applying.
- We accept a range of qualifications including but not limited to A-Levels, T-Levels, BTEC Extended Diplomas, UAL Extended Diploma and equivalent international qualifications.
- Many practice-based courses ask for a portfolio of work as part of your application process, as well as a personal statement and academic references.
- If English isn’t your native language, you’ll usually need to meet an English language requirement.
- Many undergraduate students previously completed a pre-degree course to help prepare them for undergraduate study.
Step 3 - Think about funding
You can get an idea of how much your studies may cost you in your first year and what funding may be available to you by using our Fees and Funding Calculator.
You’ll also find plenty of advice about funding your studies and living as a student in London.
Apply (step 4)
Home applicants
If you’re a Home applicant, you need to apply through UCAS (the University and Colleges Admission Service). The UCAS deadline for 2024/25 entry is 31 January 2024 6pm (UK time).
If you miss the UCAS deadline, you may still be able to apply for some of our courses, so make sure you check the course pages for more information. You may also be able to apply for some of our courses through Clearing and Adjustment. Visit our website in June/July to find out more.
International applicants
If you’re an International applicant, you can apply in 2 different ways:
- Apply through UCAS with support from a UAL representative in your country. This is our recommended way to apply to make sure you are fully supported and guided throughout the application process.
- Through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service)
By applying through a UAL representative, you’ll have access to benefits including personalised support throughout the application, interview and enrolment process. Our in-country representatives can provide you with information and specialist advice about all the courses we offer, guidance on portfolio preparation, application process and interviews, visas and immigration, accommodation and much more. Read our application guidance for international students.
The UCAS deadline for 2024/25 entry is 31 January 2024 6pm (UK time). If you miss the UCAS equal consideration deadline, you may still be able to apply for some of our courses, so make sure you check the course pages for more information.
Any students living in Iran, Crimea region, Cuba, North Korea, or Syria will not be able to make their application via UCAS due to a restriction imposed by one of UCAS's technology suppliers based in the US. Please contact our admissions team at admissions@arts.ac.uk for further instructions on how to apply.
After you apply
Step 5 - Wait for a decision
After you’ve applied, you’ll receive a confirmation email with your login details for the UAL Portal. We’ll contact you by email to ask you to upload any additional information to the UAL Portal, including inviting you to upload documents or book an interview, so make sure you check your email regularly, including your spam folders.
Once we’ve reviewed and assessed your application, we’ll contact you via UCAS Track or the UAL Portal to let you know whether your application has been successful.
We receive a great number of applications from talented students from the UK and across the world and it’s very important for us to ensure that each one gets the consideration it deserves. The amount of time it takes to reach a decision depends on many factors, including volume of applications, level of competition and whether your application is portfolio-based.
In some cases, you may receive an offer from a different course or College from the one you applied to. This happens when your application has not been successful for your chosen course but our admissions tutors have found another course that they believe would be a strong match for your skills and interests.
Step 6 - Receive your response
The outcome of your application determines what you need to do next. Find out what happens on the next stage of your journey...
More on applying through UCAS
UCAS stands for the 'Universities and Colleges Admissions Service'. They are the organisation responsible for managing applications to higher education courses in the UK.
When you apply through UCAS you are allowed up to 5 course choices across the UK.
All applicants
If you are applying through UCAS, regardless of your fee status you should ensure that your application reaches UCAS by the deadline of 31 January 2024 6pm (UK time) in order to receive equal consideration. Equal consideration means that your application will be considered alongside other applicants who have also met the deadline.
- If you apply after 31 January 2024 after the 6pm deadline, you will be considered as a late applicant.
- Please note that you may only change your course choice within 14 days of submitting your application.
- Any course changes will not be permitted after this time. It should also be noted that any changes made to your application after 31 January 2024 will result in the application being marked as late.
- Once submitted, you can then follow the progress of your applications through UCAS Track. Your application is automatically sent to the institutions to which you have applied, so you do not need to check with them.
We will make decisions on all on-time applications made through UCAS as soon as possible, but no later than 16 May 2024. If you apply after 6pm on 31 January 2024, your application will not be reviewed until after those that met the 31 January deadline. The final deadline to submit an application via UCAS for a course that is still open is 30 June 2024.
Personal statements
We operate a fair and transparent admissions process and as such would want to ensure that all information provided to us is honest and accurate.
UCAS submits all personal statements to their similarity detection software in order to ensure that an applicant's work does not contain the same or similar text to websites, another applicant's personal statement, or other documents. More information regarding the similarity detection process can be found on the UCAS website.
If you have submitted an application to us and you have been notified that UCAS has detected similarity in your personal statement, you can contact us directly to explain the similarity by emailing ucas.enquiries@arts.ac.uk.
If you are applying through UCAS and need help preparing your personal statement, visit the UCAS website.
UCAS Extra
UCAS Extra lets you make an additional course choice from 28 February 2024 onwards, but only if you have used all 5 choices and you are not holding any offers. If you are eligible for UCAS Extra, UCAS will automatically send you information regarding this process.
Clearing
Clearing is the final opportunity for applicants not holding a place to apply for a course. Not all courses will have vacancies and those that do will be advertised on our website and on the UCAS website from June 2024. You can only receive an offer through Clearing if you already have your results.
Further information on applying through UCAS, including costs, deadlines and application stages, may be found on the UCAS website.