So, you've just finished 5th year at school (here in Scotland) and you've achieved your Highers. So that means that you're possibly qualified for entry for art college in Scotland.

Each year, when I have students visit for their mentoring sessions, more often than not they are at school in the 6th year studying for their Advanced Highers. I wanted to write this blog post for those of you who aren't quite at that stage yet, maybe you're in 4th or 5th year. (more…)

We received a really insightful email recently from a parent of one of our students from last year, who is now studying on the Production Art and Design – Set and costume design course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

This was the first student that we'd worked with who had applied to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland so it was new to us as well as this student and her parents.

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A very quick overview of the Glasgow School of Art degree shows 2017 – or what we saw of them as time was limited!

As mentioned in a previous post, we were visiting for the very special occasion of our very first mentee, who was graduating. He achieved a first class honours degree in Sculpture and Environmental art and was awarded one of the RSA New Contemporaries awards – result!

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How easy do you find it not to be sure about something you do?

We've had another REALLY inspiring mentoring session this afternoon with a student who's exploring portraiture in the widest sense. The journey that is being undertaken is huge and it's so good to see when a student is trusting in the creative process. This really energizes ME and that should be how YOU feel when you're really into your work! (more…)

Last week we had the very special occasion of celebrating the degree show of our very first mentee who was graduating from Glasgow School of Art. We actually can't believe that he's graduating – time has really flown by!

Lachlan graduated from Sculpture and Environmental Art with a 1st class Hons and has been awarded one of the RSA New Contemporaries awards. I didn't expect much less to be quite honest, as he was so engaged with life and art.

If you have begun to realise just how much work is involved in creating a portfolio and don’t know where or how to begin then I suggest you need to talk to Portfolio Oomph. THE place to go to speak about your art college portfolio – we can work with you one to one on our new aligned portfolio course. Read or watch more to hear how we can helped Ellie and can help you too. Find out more about our new online portfolio preparation course. (more…)

Dyslexia is a common distinction of the creative individual, with many young people attending art school falling into similar statistics as follows.

At Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design research by Dr Steffart found that three-quarters of the 360 art foundation students assessed have a form of dyslexia. Dr Steffart designed a series of six tests of verbal, written and spatial ability for the students. Their intellectual and visual spatial skills were at a superior level – but they had many problems with reading, writing and spelling. Independent

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When you’ve worked on your art college portfolio for 4 or 5 months it can be quite difficult to get some perspective and clarity to bring it all together for interview. When you know your work inside out getting a fresh pair of eyes on your work and a mock interview can really consolidate your application.

This practical, hands-on session from expert in portfolio preparation, Julie Read from Portfolio Oomph,  is designed for anyone who is applying to art college and is in the process of finalising their portfolio for interview.

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We nearly called this blog post 'time management and planning' but then we realised that no-one would probably read it; me included if I am to be honest!

However, I am compelled to write this because of 3 situations with our mentoring that have arisen in the past 4 weeks. Whether you are reading this as we've published this in January or if you're reading it in June whilst you're on your summer break, the message remains the same. START PLANNING YOUR FOLIO NOW! As soon as you know you want to apply to art college take that as the day you start planning.

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Earlier in May, we had a very different enquiry from an International student who was here in Edinburgh studying some short courses to help build a portfolio to apply to Edinburgh College of Art.

From the outset I was impressed by her resourcefulness as not only did she find Portfolio Oomph online, she arrived at our door one Monday morning ready to enroll in our institution. As you may or may not know, we are not an institution, it's just me, Julie Read, working from our home office / studio in Midlothian! (more…)