The King’s Foundation Diploma Year

Overview

The Diploma Year

The King’s Foundation Diploma year is a dynamic skills-based course with five days of teaching per week. The small cohort’s size of up to 60 students allows for targeted one-to-one teaching in a supportive and creative environment. Located at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the programme benefits from its creative and inspiring neighbours in its Thames-side location.

The programme is unique in its focus on the interplay between traditional skills, innovation and creativity – all essential requirements for successful progression to Higher Education and careers in the creative industries.

The structure of the programme’s interdisciplinary curriculum develops from taught workshops to increasingly self-directed study. Throughout the programme, life drawing remains central to problem solving and the development of observation skills. Students investigate a broad variety of Fine Art and Applied Art processes and concepts. Students are encouraged to engage with studio critiques and discussions, informed by contextual studies and weekly accompanied gallery visits.

The broad curriculum is especially suited to progression onto Visual Arts courses such as Fine Art and Applied Arts, Animation and Illustration, Architecture, Textiles and Fashion, Photography and Film, Theatre and Set Design, Sculpture, Furniture Making and Design, Carving, Crafts and many more.

Highlights

• High tutor-to-student ratio
• Small group sizes
• Delivered five days per week for 36 weeks
• Focused skills-based teaching
• Weekly life drawing
• Disciplines: Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Printmaking, Animation, Photography, Textile Construction, Carving
• Facilities include purpose-built drawing studio, photography dark room, print room, textiles studio, carving studio, sculpture and casting studio, reference libraries, individual studio spaces for students spanning three floors, computer suite with editing software, painting studios, access to facilities at The King’s Foundation’s Charlotte Road site in Shoreditch.
• Contextual Studies lectures, accompanied gallery and museum visits each week
• Guidance and advice with UCAS application and portfolio preparation
• Opportunities to select additional workshops in traditional arts, heritage skills and architecture.
• Residency at Dumfries House and access to a wider residency programme
• Accredited Level 3/4 Diploma with UCAS tariff points
• End-of-year exhibitions
• Inspiring London riverside location in a dynamic and creative community at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Docklands

Course Structure

The course is comprised of three stages over one academic year. Students investigate approaches to observation and experimentation in preparation for the development of personal ideas in Fine and Applied Arts.

The course is full-time, with five days’ teaching per week over 36 weeks. Students have weekly life drawing sessions in the studio where they draw from the unclothed and clothed model. The Contextual Studies component runs weekly, and students are awarded a Level 3 or 4 Diploma on graduation, depending on their requirements for progression.

Teaching and Learning

The Teaching and Learning culture fostered by the programme has the student’s experience firmly at the centre of its pedagogical philosophy.

We believe that students need a nurturing environment in which their confidence and skill-base can flourish. The programme’s curriculum is taught by experienced artists, craftspersons, designers, architects and makers.

The cohort is capped at 60 students, ensuring one-to-one tuition. Studio spaces for each student and regular weekly tutorials add to the transformative educational experience. The Diploma Year is directed by Daniel McAuliffe and the teaching is delivered by a team of Senior Core Tutors with extensive teaching experience. Many of the tutors are Faculty from our sister charity the Royal Drawing School.

Teaching and Learning is conducted in three ways. The first is group teaching, whereby the tutor is assigned a group of students to deliver a set project, workshop or lecture. The second is one-to-one teaching, where students are assigned a personal tutor at the start of term 1. Personal Tutors will meet with students regularly to discuss and guide the development of their personal practice throughout the year. The third is the collective experience of peer-on-peer learning, whereby cohort members champion each other’s progression and ideas, based on a supportive and studious work ethic.

Progression to University, Apprenticeship or the Workplace

The course is designed to prepare students to progress on to BA degrees in creative subjects including, but not limited to, Fine Art, Applied Arts, Architecture, Design and the Crafts. Students will be prepared for the requirements, challenges and expectations of Higher Education through UCAS support, portfolio preparation, mock interviews and personal statement writing. Students will have expert advice on the most suitable Degree-level courses. Guidance is offered to those seeking to progress directly onto apprenticeships and the workplace, with particular emphasis on traditional arts and heritage skills.

Scholarships and Fees

Places on The King’s Foundation Diploma Year are offered to students who are keen to explore their creative practice through the development of skills, craftsmanship and artistic endeavour.

Applicants will need to demonstrate potential and an interest in progression into a related subject in Higher Education or vocationally in Fine Art, Applied Arts or Crafts.

Students will be required to have an excellent work ethic, an open-minded attitude and a readiness to explore and experiment with different processes and materials in an interdisciplinary manner.

Scholarships

• The King’s Foundation offers scholarships and fee reductions so that the programme is available to the widest range of students, regardless of their financial circumstances. Up to 50% of the student cohort is awarded a full scholarship or fee reduction each year.
• Those students awarded a full scholarship pay no course fee and receive a study support allowance for travel and materials. We accept scholarship applications from students who have attended a state school.
• Students requesting a scholarship or fee reduction should indicate this on their application form. Scholarships and fee reductions are means tested and take account of personal circumstances and artistic potential.

The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation

The King’s Foundation, in partnership with The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, offers two full scholarships to attend The King’s Foundation Diploma Year at its Trinity Buoy Wharf site in East London. This partnership is designed to assist underrepresented young people in their progression to study Architecture, Design, Fashion and Fine and Applied Arts at University. The Diploma Year has a proven track record in supporting students’ applications to some of the top Art, Design and Architecture schools in the UK, including The Bartlett UCL, London College of Fashion, Slade UCL, Goldsmiths and The Ruskin, Oxford University.

The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation scholarships include full fee waiver on tuition fees, termly study support allowance to cover travel and materials, individual guidance and support with University applications, portfolio preparation and mock interviews, weekly tutorials to nurture and support skill and creative development, residencies to Highgrove and Dumfries House, including travel and accommodation.

To register your interest in September 2025 entry, please contact diplomayear@kings-foundation.org

Fees

• The full course fees are heavily subsidised through the generosity of The King’s Foundation and its donors. This keeps the fee cost as low as possible whilst ensuring a high-level educational experience can be delivered.
• The course is fee-paying. Fees for domestic students for 2025/26 are £7,645.00. Students can apply for a reduction of between 25% to 75% off the full fee during the application process, depending on financial circumstances and potential.
• The fees cover the cost of all tuition, materials used in workshops, exhibitions, and the residency at Dumfries House, (excluding travel).
• Domestic fees will need to be paid in full within 10 days of a written offer, including a non-refundable administration fee of £500. Refunds cannot be given once the course has commenced unless extenuating circumstances are approved. A refund of 75% of the full course fee (excluding the administration fee) can be reimbursed if the applicant withdraws before the 1st August. A refund of 50% of the full course fee (excluding the administration fee) can be arranged if the applicant withdraws before the 1st September.

Student Support

The King’s Foundation Diploma Year office has an open-door policy for students to seek advice and support as and when they need it. The small cohort size fosters a supportive community of peers, faculty and staff, which is vital in this busy and transformative year.

• Termly wellness sessions
• An open-door policy
• In-house student support
• Pastoral support from the programme office
• One-to-one support from personal tutors
• Termly catch-up sessions with the Director and Programme Manager
• Individually tailored UCAS and progression support including advice on suitable courses, apprenticeships and placements and help with writing personal statements.

How to Apply

Applications

Applications for the Diploma Year 2025-26 are open.

To apply, please complete the online application form and submit a digital portfolio to diplomayear@kings-foundation.org. Applicants will be contacted by email.

Digital Portfolio Submission Information

For your digital portfolio you will need to create a PDF containing 20 high-resolution photographs of your work and email it to diplomayear@kings-foundation.org

The works should include:

• 10 drawings in dry media (e.g., graphite, charcoal, chalk, pastel, Conté, pencil).
• 10 additional works in other media (e.g., painting, photography, sculpture, animation*, print).

These works must have been created within the past three years.

Within the 20-image limit, you may include images from sketchbook pages. However, please try to limit this to 4 images.

Animators may submit 2 short video files included within their additional works via a link (that does not require a password). Please limit each video file to 2 minutes / max 8MB per video.

Each image must be labelled in the following way: Title of Work, Dimensions, Medium. i.e., Untitled, 25×25, Pencil On Paper (dimensions should be calculated in centimetres).
Please be prepared to present these works along with further sketchbooks at interview if you are shortlisted.

Shortlisted Applicants

Applicants will be shortlisted by our interview panel which includes the Director and Core Tutors. They will present a physical portfolio of their work, including the digital submission. Applicants should present sketchbooks and 3D works if appropriate.

Portfolio for Interview

The portfolio should display a sense of personal investigation through a range of drawing, painting, and mixed media. Your work should demonstrate an interest in skill and process and include examples of:

• Drawings that express a sustained interest in the world around you.
• Works that demonstrate an ability to apply ideas across a range of materials and media. You should include photographic evidence of any 3D work, sculpture, or larger pieces where applicable.
• You are encouraged to include sketchbooks in your portfolio.
• Evidence of an interest in developing skills.
• Information on the materials you have used, scale and size of the work.

If you are invited for interview, we will ask to see the work presented in your digital portfolio along with new work, sketchbooks and evidence of inspiration and research.

Tours

We encourage you to visit us at Trinity Buoy Wharf to get a first-hand look at our facilities and meet the students, tutors and staff. We are pleased to offer individual and group tours.

Click here to schedule your visit.

FAQs

Enquiries

For more information and all enquiries, please email diplomayear@kings-foundation.org or telephone +44(0)2075369688

Diploma Year Prospectus