Online Graphic Design Course | Foundation Diploma

This course introduces students to the role of a professional graphic designer or illustrator. The course materials focus on developing your creative and technical skills across a range of fields in graphic design, including branding, advertising, web design, traditional media, and more.

Throughout this graphic design course, you’ll get the chance to and apply your skills to real-life project briefs, as well as through graphic design coursework where you’ll develop your portfolio of work. Fully accredited by SEG ABC Awards and regulated by OFQUAL, you’ll gain an officially recognised qualification upon successful completion of this programme.

Our Online Foundation Diploma Graphic Design course is taught by industry experts with extensive industry experience and networks in graphic design. You will receive unlimited one-to-one online tuition, empowering you to excel and produce a highly original portfolio of designs that will attract the attention of top universities and employers.

Why study graphic design?

Graphic design is a highly lucrative career with near-unlimited potential. As a creative and diverse field, graphic design is used by organisations across every industry to portray visuals and communicate ideas - all across the globe.

It covers a wide variety of areas, from web design and publication, to packaging, advertising and marketing. As a graphic designer, you’ll never be short of opportunities. And in the modern world, graphic design is only becoming a more in demand skill.

At the Online College of Art and Design, our foundation diploma course in graphic design gives you the opportunity to experience these fields and develop your skills to excel as a professional graphic designer. Enquire today.

How you’ll be taught

Students who study our online graphic design foundation diploma will learn through a range of teaching methods, including:

One-to-one tuition
Lectures
Seminars
Digital portfolio creation
Video resources and step-by-step guides

We’re passionate about creating an online learning environment that works for you. If you have any questions about the course, please get in touch to see how we can help.

Entry requirements

Students must meet the following entry requirements in order to be eligible for a place on our online graphic design foundation diploma programme:

16 years or over, 5 GCSEs / IGCSEs including Maths, English and an Art or Photography-related subject linked to an appropriate portfolio (or equivalent international qualifications). Mature students require no exam qualifications, but some ability to draw and paint and a desire to succeed are required. Send an example of your work if unsure of your level.

As an online programme, you must have a computer with internet connection and basic graphic design materials in order to join the course. If you are unsure of what you might need, please contact us.

Study options

Our graphic design foundation diploma can be studied full or part-time:

Part-time (2 years): available all year around – enrolling now.
Full-time (1 year): start December to January and September to October. Exceptions may apply.

Accreditations and UCAS points

Accreditation: SEG ABC Awards
OFQUAL Regulated: Yes (Ofqual number 500/8476/8)
UCAS Tariff: up to 112 points – equivalent to two A-Levels at A* grade – university entry requires 80 -100 UCAS points
UCAS application supported: Yes

Additional course information

Digital portfolio support: Yes
Tuition: Face to face, one to one – unlimited

Level 3 or Level 4?

The qualification that students will receive is a Level 3 Diploma. Level 3 qualifications are FE (further education) and prepare for University. LEAs fund students up to this level and the qualification carries UCAS points for entry into HE (higher education).

There is a final graded unit which is actually a Level 4 unit, which helps students prepare for HE, as it gives experience at this slightly higher level. This unit shows on your transcript for the qualification (the sheet that breaks down all units, credits and grade) as a Level 4 unit. However, the qualification is awarded as a Level 3 qualification overall.

The exam board do offer a Level 4 foundation diploma, but it does not carry any UCAS points whatsoever, so it is unlikely to be useful to any of our students. (This is because Level 4 is seen as HE and not FE.) If students want to go for a Level 4 version of the course, they can, but this is to be discussed once enrolled, as it will mean no UCAS points! The degree that students go on to study will be level 4+, so there is no need to gain a Level 4 qualification at this stage.

Our Graphic Design Foundation Diploma is entirely online based. At the Online College of Art and Design, we specialise in fully online learning, passionate about helping students develop their creative skills in a way that suits them, from anywhere in the world.

Our online courses take a tailored approach to learning, bringing the classroom to the digital space. Our graphic design diploma is taught from the UK through unlimited one-to-one online tuition, giving students the time and resources to learn from experienced professionals in the field.

Online studio: by studying our online graphic design foundation diploma, you’ll gain access to your own online studio, where you can work through the course modules. As well as one-to-one tuition, you’ll have access to unit details, video tutorials, step-by step guides and assignment details - all in one online learning environment.

Digital portfolio: throughout the course, you’ll upload your work to your online college portfolio for assessment. Our tutors provide constructive and friendly written feedback to help you progress your skills and drive your creativity.

Dedicated support: students are welcomed to discuss their work with our online tutors to receive some friendly feedback, encouragement and guidance. We also encourage our graphic design diploma students to feedback with fellow online students through comments on each others’ graphic design pieces if they wish.

The course is structured across three main stages; the exploratory, pathway and confirmatory stage. For full-time students, each stage lasts 12 weeks, and for part-time students, 24 weeks. These can be extended if required.

1. The exploratory stage

The first stage of the graphic design foundation diploma is the exploratory stage. During this initial stage of the course, you’ll get the opportunity to learn about the core principles of graphic design and develop a deeper understanding of this field. You’ll also get to experience working in a number of different art and graphic design disciplines, which you’ll later narrow down to a selected pathway of study.

Within each discipline you will use a range of materials and processes and learn the value of graphic design, as well as other areas including illustration, drawing and photography.

You are offered 5 projects, from which you study 3:

Graphic Design and Illustration (mandatory)
Photography
Fine Art
3D (Architecture, 3d Design, Sculpture)
Fashion and Textiles

2. The pathway stage

The pathway stage is the second part of the graphic design diploma course. During this stage, you’ll get the chance to choose which pathway you wish to explore further and in greater depth throughout the course. This offers students full freedom to develop their skills in an area that interests them and suits their career or study goals.

Your tutors will work with you from the exploratory stage, reviewing your progress and providing constructive feedback to help inform your decision. The final decision is of course yours.

3. The confirmatory stage

The confirmatory stage is the final stage of the foundation diploma. This is the phase that decides your final grade, and you complete your final project in.

You’ll be asked to write a statement of intent that outlines your plan for your major project - your tutor will help support you with this.

The final major project is practical. This can be in any form of graphic design or illustration you choose; a digital design, a print design, motion graphics, packaging design, marketing or advertising, and more.