Qualification Code: AC/IPMAD/1709
1 Year FT
≥ 20
1,200
ACE Pre-Masters Diploma
120
Taught Postgraduate Courses
The International Pre-Master’s in Art & Design (IPMAD) seeks to further a student’s development in creative thinking and academic study skills before they start out in an international postgraduate course. Through this one-year course, students will be trained in independent research skills and enhance their knowledge and understanding of the English language in academic contexts. The students will get the opportunity to gain experience working autonomously and collaboratively on creative design projects. The IPMAD runs two essential learning components simultaneously: academic English classes – which emphasises the need for historical and contextual studies- and practical, studio-based art practise – foregrounding the development of independent research projects. Students who successfully complete this qualification at one of our study centres will be guaranteed a place at one of our international partner institutions to progress directly to a Master’s course.
The IPMAD programme offers four core learning components, including: English for academic purposes (EAP), historical & critical studies, research methods & study skills and studio practice. Over the course of this programme, students will develop their English language abilities alongside studio-based work in which they will undertake various art and design projects. This curriculum has been cultivated so that all contributing modules and learning components work symbiotically to provide each student with a broad and comprehensive art and design framework specifically designed for students who wish to progress to postgraduate courses internationally.
As a part of the EAP module, students on the IPMAD will participate in tutor-led discussion groups, presentations, and tutorials. The learning on this module is further supported by independent reading and study.
Historical & Critical Studies provides deeper historical and theoretical context of practice in art and design, underpinning studio learning and linkages between theory, academic English, and practice. Delivered through discussion groups and seminars, it links conceptually and practically to students’ practice in studio by means of small tutor-led discussion groups.
In Research Methods & Study Skills, students work, and progress is assessed in various forms, including written assignments, individual oral presentations, and a final essay supporting and contextualising studio practice in theory. This module addresses a specific set of requirements in relation to the needs of students from a Confucian-Heritage Culture, and wider international contexts regarding expectations in a Western educational culture. It links closely with the other modules in providing training in the gathering and accessibility of knowledge, conventions of analysis, interpretation, attribution, and quotation necessary for the effective presentation of work in written forms.
Studio Practice provides students with the opportunity to sustain and develop their existing practice, through defining an area of interest and setting a self- determined program of work, in consultation with a personal tutor. Ongoing practice is supported by tutorials, seminars, presentations, and critical feedback sessions, which frequently reference topics and discussions in Historical & Critical Studies. Studio practice is substantially supported and reinforced in terms of vocabulary, linguistic frameworks, and conceptual integration, through English for Academic Purposes.
The typical entry requirement is that you must be 20 years old and have completed an undergraduate degree and passed our IPMAD Admission Test. Proof of English language abilities have to be presented. Different countries are varied, please refer to the entry requirement from the study centre you chose.
Our students go on to study art and design at degree level and then on to careers across a wide range of disciplines. On completion of this qualification, students will be able to progress to an international 1-year Masters postgraduate course in one of our partner institutions.
