How to apply: Undergraduate degree

Once we have received your application, you will be invited to submit a portfolio of recent work or an audition piece. You can choose to do this digitally or in person -  and we will send through guidance to help you prepare for this over email.

For artist blacksmithing applicants, all our reviews will be conducted via interview.

Once we have reviewed your portfolio or audition piece, one of the course team will give you some feedback on your work and let you know the outcome. 

We want this process to feel like a conversation. At any stage in the process, the academic team would be delighted to meet you to help you learn more about the course, or to discuss any aspect of your application. 

You can find a PDF with some great tips on creating your portfolio here below. After you apply, you will also get some subject-specific advice from our course teams on what to include.

Top-Ups are a way of students upgrading existing UK Level 5 achievements such as a Foundation Degree (FdA) or a Higher National Diploma (HND) to a full BA (Hons) Degree by joining a cohort of our existing students on their final year (level 6) of study. 

We would expect your Level 5 studies to closely relate to your chosen Top Up course. 

All applicants to our Top Up courses will need to apply via a Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning (RPCL) procedure and provide evidence of their Level 5 achievements. This includes a copy of the certificate & transcript (or notification of performance) plus a handbook from the level 5 course detailing the learning outcomes of the modules studied. 

HCA also welcomes transfers from other institutions directly onto Level 5 (year 2) of our BA (Hons) Degree courses. As with the Top Up applications, the applicant will need to provide evidence of their previous study.  

Offers will be made in the normal way and students applying for RPCL will be offered a conditional place subject to the Awarding Body, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) approving their application for Recognition of Prior Certified Learning.  

Students should also contact the Finance Department at HCA to discuss any financial implications. 

HCA will contact Student Finance to obtain the customer reference number and complete a transfer form. 

Transfer dates/tuition fees as per the Student Loan’s Company guidelines: 

If a student transfers after the start of term one, the new Higher Education Provider will only receive 75% of the tuition fee loan. 

If a student transfers after the start of term two, the new Higher Education Provider will only receive 50% of the tuition fee loan. 

If a student transfers after the start of term three, the new Higher Education Provider will not receive any further tuition fee loan payment until the start of the following Academic Year. 

If you have any further queries about Top Up applications or transferring to HCA please contact registry@hca.ac.uk  

The January deadline for UCAS is actually called the Equal Consideration deadline. It guarantees all applicants full and equal consideration by HCA.

It is a deadline that many colleges work towards in supporting students to prepare applications - however you can start and submit your application at any point after 3 September.

You can also apply after the deadline, as long as courses have space to take on extra students.

We have noticed that more and more students are applying after the deadline to give themselves extra time to consider what they want to do. We will always work with students to try and accept them after the deadline because we know that not everyone's timeline as a person, and as an artist, lines up with UCAS. 

Our teams have a wealth of experience in supporting you through the application process, whenever you apply.

However the sooner you apply and secure your offer, the sooner you can consider student housing, student finance and some of the other things like part-time work opportunities that you may need to think about before starting your course.

For universities, 'mature students' are any students aged 21 or older when they begin the course. 

The application process is not necessarily any different. You are still advised to apply through UCAS.

For mature students, relevant creative practice can also be considered as part of the application. Whilst qualifications are important, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We may make offers based on other evidence of talent and suitability for the course. 

While younger students often receive advice from teaching staff on their portfolio and personal statement, most of the time mature students will not. If you have any questions, we are here to support. Just email outreach@hca.ac.uk and they will help, or pass your questions direct to course leads to assist. 

We believe in making higher education and careers in the arts more accessible to more people.

We look for your passion and your potential, as well as looking at your past grades. We have to assess every applicant's potential to succeed on their chosen course - but we do that in different ways, with portfolios, auditions and interviews all potetnial parts of the process that allow you to showcase yourself in a different way to an application form.

We will consider all applications in a fair, transparent and consistent way, and we have a procedure in place to allow applicants to make an appeal against a decision.

Optional pre-application chat: 

To help support students through the process, we offer prospective students a pre-application advisory meeting, on an informal basis. 

You can also attend Open Days, or contact our teams via email - but if it would help to speak to the team in person before you apply you can contact Dawn or Leon in our Admissions Team on 01432 273359, or e-mail them at registry@hca.ac.uk for more details. 

Applications to study a degree part-time should be made direct to the college. 

You can apply using our HCA Direct form below. Once completed, email it to registry@hca.ac.uk, or drop it into our Folly Lane campus. 

The application process for international students is slightly different, but our admissions team can guide you through the steps required.

To get started, or for some initial advice, note down the course or courses you are interested in studying and contact registry@hca.ac.uk.

Higher Education undergraduate students wishing to transfer to HCA from another Higher Education provider, should contact the Registry Department at HCA in the first instance either by emailing Dawn and Leon at registry@hca.ac.uk or telephoning 01432 273359.  Students will normally be asked to apply using the HCA Higher Education application form.

Students will normally be invited in for an interview and asked to bring their portfolio of work or prepare for an audition. Students will receive interview guidance notes explaining how to prepare for the interview.

Students wishing to transfer directly in to Level 5 or 6 will also need to provide evidence of previous study by providing a copy of their course documents, including module descriptors and learning outcomes, together with a copy of their transcript. Students will also need to complete the Recognition of Prior Certified Learning (RPCL) form (HCA Registry will email a copy of this form to students).

Offers will be made in the normal way and students applying for Recognition of Prior Certified Learning will be offered a conditional place subject to the Awarding Body, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) approving their application for Recognition of Prior Certified Learning.

Students should contact the Finance Department at HCA to discuss any financial implications.

HCA will contact Student Finance to obtain the customer reference number and complete a transfer form.

Transfer dates/tuition fees as per the Student Loan’s Company guidelines:

If a student transfers after the start of term one, the new Higher Education Provider will only receive 75% of the tuition fee loan.

If a student transfers after the start of term two, the new Higher Education Provider will only receive 50% of the tuition fee loan.

If a student transfers after the start of term three, the new Higher Education Provider will not receive any further tuition fee loan payment until the start of the following Academic Year.

Students wishing to transfer to another Higher Education course within HCA, should discuss their options with the Course Leader in the first instance. In addition, students should discuss any financial implications with the HCA Finance Department.

If the student still wishes to transfer, they will normally be interviewed by the new Course Leader. If the student is suitable for the new course and the Course Leader wishes to offer them a place, the Course Leader should complete a course amendment form, which is signed by the student and Course Leader. The course amendment form will also need to be reviewed and countersigned by the Vice Principal Higher Education. The course amendment form will detail the modules the student should be withdrawn from, the module grades that should be retained and the modules the student should be enrolled on.

HCA will inform Student Finance about the change of course.

The student should also notify Student Finance that they are transferring to a different course.

HCA will complete a programme change form and send it to the Awarding Body, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) for approval.