27 The Northern School of Art reviews

Really good, there are dye labs, print rooms, embroidery rooms, and as far as I know, my friends on other courses are pretty happy too. Just one thing is that we always seem to need photocopiers and there is never enough.

Everyone is always really willing to help. There is never any hesitation from staff.

I love our professional studies module, because we learn about the real world of design and it's just really interesting. In the studio I love getting more hands on, going into the embroidery rooms, having access to printing and there are extra workshops outside of timetabled hours.

22

In second year, there are opportunities to go on a placement, and we also have a module on our course called professional studies which is to increase our knowledge on design and to get us ready for employment. There is a lot of people who can help like careers advisers, and student services.

amazing!! they have everything I need, they just arent open long enough hours!

I think the academic side is amazing, as is the dyslexia support. I have not had counselling, but from what i hear they need more support here.

I love my tutors, their knowledge and help is amazing! they are so assailable and friendly. I found the dissertation sessions difficult because they work in a different order to how I normally would.

12

We have a gentleman who we can always have a meeting with on the topic, he is very knowledgeable, also our tutors are always helping us and pushing us to think about after our degree and what the industry will be like that. my professional practice module is all about making myself employable.

Professional facilities with traditional printmaking equiptment

Student services are supportive

Spacious design studio with individual work bays, small friendly community of students

14.5

Recentlt been on a visit to Premier Vision design trade show in Paris to sell work, network, and look at professional work in the creative industry

I mostly use my own tools but facilities are amazing. Unfortunately things like the cintiques means relying on people to keep everything organised

Academically I think the support has been good for me, personally. Tutors and feedback are fine. I went to my own therapy so i never used the university one.

Most: independence and professional views and critcism. Gets everyone involved. Least: No technical skills taught which i could have done with

8

Professional skills course, ways to network with professionals, degree show

Excellent, we have outstanding screen printing facilities, print rooms, dye labs and a sewing room fully stocked with sewing machines, brand new Mac books which are always available.

Tutors are excellent and always available when you need them. The student Union is a bit lacking but I think this is mainly because of the size of the uni and it's location. Student liason officer seems to deal mainly on Facebook instead of walking around and socialising with students in order to make himself well known and approachable. Unfortunately we had a breavement earlier on in the year, councilling sessions and groups were offered which was thoughtful and effective.

The things like I like most are that all our tutors have previously worked in the industry or are still practicing textiles so they're all very experienced and inspiring, as well as this my course only consists of around 20 people which means I get plenty of one on one time with my tutor, I have at least one tutorial every two weeks but I can request more if I need too. A downside to the way that my course is taught is that we share tutors and studio space with the surface design course which is bigger than contemporary so we can be over looked when given tasks etc.

20

Our professional studies module is very thorough and our tutors are very supportive when it comes to talking about the future. We are given regular workshops to improve our practical skills such as specialist printing and embroidery techniques, just the other week I took part in a tambour beading workshop that my technician had been down to London especially to learn so that she could come back and teach us.

The College facility’s are amazing being in the new build there is so much space, the best thing about it is the indecidual work space, you can work quietly in your bay with no distraction, you have the space to put up your work in the bay, the print room is huge allowing a lot of students to do work. Amazing opportunity to use the laser cutter to open a whole new side to the industry up. Amazing amout of computer space for both Mac and PC.

The support is really good here, I feel the way we receive our results for previous hand ins could be done better if emailed to us individually, to stop any stress of other students wanting to know marks , the way it is done at the moment is unorganised and feels like your waking to get them with an audience watching you waiting to see your face or you sheet of paper . Even if tutors walked around studios and give you sheets would be better other then that is it very public

Thing I like the most about the teaching is Tutors are so passionate about what they teach, they encourage and push you as far as they can to succeed.

23

Ccad makes amazing efforts and opportunities to bring practitioners and designers in to the College to work with, as well as taking us out of the College to trade shows and visits to get a look into the industry. Not only that they have amazing links to the industry and knowledge. They encourage you massively to do as many workplacment and take any opportunities offered to us. You gain such amazing knowledge in terms of working in the industry after Graduation telling us everything we need to know about copy right, how to go about getting employed or the different job roles, i believe Ccad has set me up so I will be ready to succeed in the textile industry

The studio spaces are great, everyone gets their own desks, the building is good and fixed when anything is wrong with it. The university PC's are great and I use them all the time. There are cyintiques available for illustration students and they work well. The Macs in the illustration building are slow and difficult to use, but the equipment in other buildings does work well. They are currently working on getting them fixed.

I receive dyslexia support from the teachers, they also were the ones who discovered I had dyslexia and paid for my diagnosis so that I could receive the appropriate help. I am able to have weekly sessions for support. I have also talked to the student services for help getting housing in the second year and they were very helpful, giving me contacting information and making contact for me when I am unable to. The counselor is great, she'll help with any issues when she can if a student requires specific help she will find the appropriate facilities and either give the student the contact information or make the contact if they are unable. Over all, students are very well supported with housing, learning difficulties and mental health issues, as well as allowing applications for emergancy funding when it is required by a student.

The amount of contact time with the teachers is great, they have professional experience and give great advice. The teaching style is a mix of seminars and studio time, these small discussions are informative and are good for students who feeling anxious. Sometimes there are issues with miss communication, and with organisation. If you are travelling into university it can be annoying to be called in for a 10 minuet meeting and then the day is over.

16

Sections of every course at CCAD are dedicated to professional studies to better understand the industry we wish to enter into as well as how we can enter into it. They also offer live briefs with opportunities to meet people in the industry and work with them for projects at level 5 and 6. We are encouraged from the start of the course to consider our professional futures and are give the opportunity to be part of illustration festivals and events for experience.