Foundation Preparation Summer School

Short course

Kickstart your creative journey with Kingston University’s two-week summer school. Perfect for building confidence, skills and an amazing portfolio.

Broaden your creative horizons

Develop your visual, practical and technical skills

This hands-on 10-day summer school helps you explore your creativity, develop practical skills and build a varied collection of work to add to your portfolio. It's perfect for students preparing for Art & Design Foundation courses, looking to broaden their creative horizons, or putting together a portfolio for applications.

Through a series of structured workshops and short projects, this course will support you to become more confident in the fundamental skills and practices relevant across the four foundation specialisms (3D Design, Fashion & Fabrication, Fine Art and Visual Communication). These include drawing, idea generation, visual research, thinking through making, and collective discussion.

Working through a range of conceptual, research-driven and materials-focused activities, you'll learn how to articulate your ideas, document them, and present them clearly and concisely.

Course content

Over the two weeks, tutors will introduce new approaches for creative thinking and making, including both conceptual and practical skills such as drawing, making, idea generation and visual research. You’ll work both independently and collaboratively, and begin to build confidence in group discussions. You’ll experiment with a wide range of materials and methods, working at different scales to explore foundational fundamentals applicable to all four specialism areas.

The course wraps up with a group showcase of the work you’ve created in our studio spaces, as well as advice and guidance on how to include the work made across the course in your portfolio.

Course information

Course tutors

You’ll be taught by Kingston School of Art Foundation lecturers, all practising professionals with years of experience in their fields.

What to bring

A basic list of items will be sent to you before the course. Everything else is provided by us, so you can focus on creating.

Booking information

Dates: 27 July 2026 – 7 August 2026
Time: 10:30 – 16:00
Fee: £775
Booking: Book your place here
Location: The course is held at Penrhyn Road Campus, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE.

To ensure everyone’s safety, we follow all government health and safety guidelines. For full terms and conditions, view our short course booking policy.