Creative Advertising with Integrated Foundation Year

Develop your skills by entering the creative industries on an Integrated Foundation Year degree.

If you’re interested in taking on a new subject that you’ve not had the opportunity to study in depth before, or have been out of education for a while, then our Integrated Foundation Year courses might be for you. These four-year courses include an introductory year to help you build the core skills needed for specialist degree-level study.

This is a chance for you to let your imagination run wild and explore your creativity, expand your professional skills and develop enhanced subject knowledge in the domain you want to study. We’ll help nurture your expertise in problem solving, risk-taking, designing and making as you develop your abilities through five core modules.

After your foundation year, you’ll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skill set and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Turn your ideas into powerful advertising campaigns with impact. A great advert is simplicity in itself – the commercial or campaign that stops you in your tracks, sparks curiosity, evokes emotion and drives you to act.

On this course you’ll conceive these big ideas and bring them to life, telling memorable stories that build brand loyalty. You’ll learn about audience connection and develop the skills to turn a complex topic into a clear, compelling message. And you’ll have a blast, pitching, hustling, scribbling and experimenting in vibrant studio surroundings.

You will:
Develop technical, design thinking and production skills in your chosen specialism.
Learn teamwork, leadership and project management skills through a variety of learning environments.
Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills through the development of unique and innovative projects.
Complete your chosen degree over a four-year period.
Build a portfolio of work that showcases your skills in advertising, brand strategy and marketing.
Work on real brands and pitch ideas to our industry partners and alumni, who offer paid internships, valuable advice or mentoring
Learn to use behavioural science and psychology to design creative campaigns that drive social change, with the chance to see your campaign idea selected for development.
Have the opportunity to network with advertising and marketing guest speakers, getting inspiration and feedback
Collaborate with students from other courses and hone your teamworking skills
Gain practical knowledge of how to establish a real business or go freelance

Creative Advertising BA(Hons) is accredited by the leading professional marketing body, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). This means students who successfully complete the full undergraduate degree are part-accredited for qualifications CIM offers professional marketing practitioners.

Through this career-focused Creative Advertising degree, we'll help you become an imaginative, enthusiastic and future-focused advertising professional. You’ll learn to generate and pitch innovative ideas for a range of digital platforms, including social media, digital ads, games, podcasts, radio and print. You’ll also learn how to utilise emerging technologies in the creative process, such as using AI programmes like ChatGPT and Midjourney for idea generation, pitching and creating mock-ups.

Foundation Year:
In your foundation year, you'll study five core modules: three short modules in the first study block and two in the second (one short, one long). These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of both creative practice and your chosen specialism. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

After your foundation year, you'll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Modules:
Explore
Technique
Apply
Industry
Launch

Year one:
In your first year, you’ll be introduced to the fundamentals of advertising and marketing communications. Through workshops, tutorials and studio-based activities, you’ll build skills in art direction, copywriting, planning, pitching, and creative problem solving. You’ll also have the chance to visit advertising and marketing agencies in London, gaining an insight into how creative agencies operate and the key steps involved when developing an advertising campaign.

Modules:
Copywriting
Creative Problem Solving
Design and Art Direction
Adland
Agency Life
Strategy and Planning

Year two:
This year is all about applying your skills from year one. You’ll progress beyond ad creation to multimedia, multichannel campaigns. You’ll take a deeper dive into what makes a brand and practice important marketing and research skills like data collection and analysis.

You’ll learn to use behavioural science and psychology to drive social change. Responding to a live brief set by a charitable body, you’ll have the opportunity to pitch to industry and see your campaign idea go into production.

You’ll hone your teamworking skills and deploy your visual and written skills for different media, as well as reflect on the implications and impact of new media.

Modules:
Media Lab
Brand Creation
Behaviour Change for Good
Campaigns
Global Creators

Year three:
Your final year is all about creating a career-launching portfolio. Supported by tutors, you’ll tackle real industry briefs and enter global competitions like D&AD New Blood in London. You’ll complete a final-year integrated marketing communications project accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and sharpen your professional and self-employment skills, empowering you to start your own business or freelance journey.

Modules:
Final Year Project - Development
Advanced Campaigns
Final Year Project - Showcase (CIM accredited)
Final Portfolio

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

Foundation Year assessments are 100% coursework based.
Assessment will take place at the end of each module, and you'll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio and a reflective journal. In your foundation year all assessments are pass/fail to encourage students to take risks and engage with the feedback provided.

Progressing in your specialism
Students studying on courses with an Integrated Foundation Year must successfully complete and pass all foundation modules before they can progress to the next stage of their course.

Your specialism:
100% of your assessment will be coursework.
Practice-based modules will be assessed on the presentation of visual work, including sketchbooks to show process
Theory-based modules will be assessed on a mix of written reports or illustrated essays
In the final year, you’ll be assessed on your final year project and your portfolio - culminating in an exhibition of your final-year work