UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Graphics, Illustration & Game Arts
Course Duration
Admissions Contact
From drawing to digital modelling, find your unique voice as a visual communicator and gain the specialist skills needed by future employers and courses in the realm of graphic design, illustration and game art.
The full title of this award qualification is UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art, Design and Communication. University of the Arts London (UAL) Awarding Body supports innovative approaches to programme design and specialist delivery models within broader contexts. Therefore Pre-Degree students at Plymouth College of Art are offered the opportunity to pick from five creative pathways including; Art & Design, Fashion & Textiles, Film, Animation & Media Production, Graphics, Illustration & Game Arts, and Photography.
The UAL Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art, Design and Communication provides students with a high degree of professional flexibility that can be mapped across various progression routes including freelance careers, creative and industrial employment, business development opportunities, university and higher-level apprenticeships.
No matter whether you are a filmmaker, photographer, designer, illustrator, artist, or something else entirely, this qualification provides an in-depth introduction to the creative industries, along with a broad foundation of related knowledge, skills and attributes that are part of the creative process. This provides you with an opportunity to develop your creative practice in a professional and agile manner, and work across different subject areas. It allows opportunities to collaborate, understand the wider aspects of creative practice and gives you the opportunity to explore, test and experiment in your chosen specialism, as you start to develop the employable and industry skills that will help you build a career.
This Level 3 Extended Diploma course is a two-year equivalent to A-levels, and we are pleased to be able to offer the option for students to also study the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) alongside the Extended Diploma. This flexible route offers an in-depth understanding of the techniques and applications used in graphic design, illustration and game arts.
You’ll be taught by a dedicated course team including professional designers, illustrators and interactive specialists who will guide the development of your drawing and design skills, encouraging you to experiment with materials and techniques while teaching you how to communicate ideas in powerful and memorable ways – giving you the confidence to present and discuss your work with employers or universities.
Among the more specialist digital skills that you’ll develop are technical and creative image manipulation and 3D computer modelling, working with digital technologies such as Unity, Maya, 3D Studio Max and Adobe creative software.
You’ll develop an understanding of the context of interactivity and games design, including the evolution of mobile technology for handheld devices and apps.
Plymouth College of Art’s IBCP will incorporate our acclaimed creative UAL Level 3 Extended Diplomas into a programme that also includes two International Baccalaureate Diploma subjects.
Adding the IBCP to your Extended Diploma is optional, and best suited to students aged 16 to 18 who have completed at least four GCSEs at grade 9 - 4 (A* to C) including English and Maths, and are ready to progress onto an A-Level equivalent course specialising in one of our creative subjects, with plans to go on to a competitive university or ambitious career.
The International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) is an internationally-recognised framework of career-related education for post-16 students that seeks to develop confident, critical thinkers who are prepared for modern life and equipped with the cross-cultural skills needed to succeed in their future careers, within the UK and across the world.
As part of the IBCP, you’ll also complete two International Baccalaureate Diploma subjects, choosing from English Literature, Business Management, or Environmental Systems & Societies, and core IBCP skills, preparing you to understand other cultures, to understand how people from other cultures might view you, and how to adopt the best working practices to fit in and thrive in any working environment around the world.
Recent research has shown that IBCP students “enrol and persist in university at higher rates than the national average” and more than half go on to attend very competitive or better higher education institutions, demonstrating that the IBCP prepares you to attain some of the most selective university places in the world.
All IB Diplomas and thelevels that they are taught are subject to demand - for this reason, applicants must list IB Diplomas on their application in order of preference.
Plymouth College of Art was awarded International Baccalaureate (IB) World School status in Spring 2019, becoming the first non-private education provider in the South West to offer the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP), which will be taught in conjunction with its existing A-Level-equivalent UAL Level 3 Extended Diplomas. From September 2019, 16 to 18-year-olds in the region will have access to this world-class framework of education, combining vocational skills with academic excellence.
IB World Schools share a common philosophy—a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org.
The Skills Project is a balanced taxonomy and self assessment tool directed towards our learners reflecting and assessing on their progress throughout the duration of their Pre-Degree study programme.
Skills serve as the bridge between knowledge and performance. In the emerging performance economy, this bridge is every learner’s path to success. The Skills Project will be the mechanism by which our learners develop knowledge and creative practice effectively to improve individual and collective skill sets.
The Skills Project will prepare our learners for a future that is increasingly unpredictable. Developing a focus on skills and human capital will provide them with a strong foundation from which to build a sustainable and diverse career trajectory.
IBCP students will hone these abilities further, through the IBCP core skills, designed to create exceptionally well-rounded learners with an international perspective on the world.
The core skills include Language Development, Service Learning, Personal and Professional Skills, and a final Reflective Project. The Language Development element will help you to become an international learner, by exposing you to a language programme that helps you to communicate in more than one language and furthers your understanding of the wider world, which is more important for UK students now than ever before.
Many of our students choose to continue their studies with us on degree programmes across art, design, craft and digital media. We guarantee our Extended Diploma students a place on one of our BA (Hons) programmes if they achieve a Merit or higher in their final assessment and meet any additional entry criteria.
- Email: admissions@pca.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1752 203434
- Skype: plymouthcollegeofart
- Chat on WhatsApp: 07722 744184
