Creative Extended Diploma students at Arts University Plymouth celebrate results day

Extended Diploma students from Arts University Plymouth’s Palace Court campus for Pre-Degree study are celebrating today as they receive the results of their qualifications.

36% of Plymouth College of Art UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma students obtained a Distinction, which is equivalent to 3 A*s at A-level or 168 UCAS points. This is significantly higher than the national benchmark of 16%.

Palace Court – Arts University Plymouth’s Pre-Degree campus

UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art & Design students performed particularly well, with 49% achieving a Distinction, closely followed by Fashion & Textiles and Film, Animation & Media Production students, with 43% of students on both courses achieving Distinctions.

Lloyd Field, from Plymouth, who achieved a Distinction in Photography and hopes to study BA (Hons) Commercial Photography at Arts University Plymouth, said, “I was overwhelmed and overjoyed to find that I got a Distinction. Studying at the Pre-Degree campus has been such a great experience. The course is amazing and allows you to be creatively independent and you’re treated like an adult. I’m also an SEN student and the support and the staff at AUP have been incredible.”

Kaspa Clarke, from Crediton, South Devon, who studied Graphics, Illustration and Game Arts and won the Board of Governors Pre-Degree award at this year’s Summer Show, achieved a Distinction. Kaspa said, “I feel really good about my result. I had some worries because the news was saying that grades were going to be low this year, but I got Distinctions in all my modules so I was feeling confident. I have an unconditional offer to study BA (Hons) Illustration at Arts University Plymouth and as soon as I got the offer, I accepted. The staff on my current course are really good and I’ve had such a positive experience, I had to stay at AUP.”

Erin Williams, a Photography student from Torpoint, Cornwall, said: “I’m very pleased that I got a Distinction! I was hoping to do well but this is better than I’d expected and I’m proud that my work has paid off. I struggled learning in a conventional school, I didn’t do well in classrooms or in exams, so I don’t think staying in that setting for A-Levels would have suited me at all. The environment and working styles for Pre-Degree study at Arts University Plymouth appealed to me much more.”

“I’ve really enjoyed the freedom that was given to us in our projects and appreciated the support that my teachers here have given me. The course team supported and prompted me but were never patronising. With my Distinction I can now go to Bristol to study a degree in Fashion Communication. It was my teachers at Arts University Plymouth who helped me to look at the kinds of work that I enjoy and helped me to decide what to do next.”

Sophie Cattell, a Fashion & Textiles student from Ivybridge, said, “I’m proud of myself for what I’ve achieved. I got a Distinction which is pretty cool! I’m currently working in an embroidery job and planning to become a wardrobe assistant. I’m really going to miss studying at Arts University Plymouth.”

The specialist Creative Practice Level 3 Extended Diplomas delivered by Arts University Plymouth are designed and awarded by the UAL Awarding Body, which is part of the University of the Arts London (UAL). Designed in collaboration with industry and education partners, the qualifications, which are equivalent to A-Levels for 16 to 19-year-olds, are recognised by UCAS, Arts University Plymouth and other universities throughout the UK, and by employers in the creative industries.

Former Extended Diploma student Florence Given, best selling author of ‘Women Don’t Owe You Pretty’, recently released her fiction debut, ‘Girlcrush’ which reached number one on The Sunday Times bestseller list.

Last month, Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Practice: Art & Design student, Coco Powell, from Torquay, exhibited her work at Origins Creatives exhibition in London’s Truman Brewery. 19-year-old Coco’s submission, titled ‘The Dartington Stick Chair’, was selected by UAL Awarding Body’s curator Matt Williams from nearly 500 national submissions.

Earlier this summer, Pre-Degree Photography students from Arts University Plymouth championed ‘Local Green Heroes’ from the region as part of a live brief in collaboration with Green Minds Plymouth, photographing people from the region who act as heroes for wildlife. The final images were publicly exhibited in the city centre at 107 Cornwall Street, as part of Plymouth Culture and Plymouth City Council’s Meanwhile Use initiative to fill vacant spaces with cultural projects. Around the same time, as part of an intergenerational project Keyham Green Places Community Centre sprang to life as part of a collaboration between craft group Keyham Krafties, Extended Diploma Fashion and Textiles students, Arts University Plymouth Student Union’s Knitting Society and numerous balls of yarn.

Earlier this year, 18-year-old Oliver Brooks from Aveton Gifford secured an internship with Pentagram, the world’s largest independent design agency, after having achieved a Distinction for his Pre-Degree studies at Arts University Plymouth.

Former Arts University Pre-Degree student Adan Currey is now Lead Lighting Artist at Playground Games and part of the team that won the Best British Game BAFTA for their work developing Forza Horizon 4.