Graduate Diploma Creative Practice
Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
Graduate Diploma
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 21,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international | £11,900: Home. Additional fees may apply
Key Summary
About: The Graduate Diploma Creative Practice at Kingston University is an intensive one-year programme with pathways in Fashion, Graphic Design, Illustration Animation and Interior & Product Design. You’ll develop practice through studio projects, experimentation, critical discussion and industry-informed assignments, and build a professional portfolio to progress to practice-based postgraduate study.
Career Outcomes: You’ll be ready to progress to a practice-based masters or start roles across design offices, publishing houses, interactive media, film and television, fashion houses. Potential roles include designer, illustrator, animator, interior or product designer, art director and multimedia producer. Career opportunities span creative industries, media and commercial design.
Accelerate your creativity
Specialise in Fashion, Graphic Design, Interior & Product Design or Illustration Animation.
On this intensive one-year course, you can find your creative direction and the confidence to progress to postgraduate study. Focusing on experimentation, reflection and professional portfolio-building, you’ll develop your creative practice through studio projects, critical discussion and industry-informed assignments designed to reflect contemporary art and design processes.
Bespoke delivery
You'll be able to choose from one of four bespoke pathways:
- Fashion
- Graphic Design
- Illustration Animation
- Interior & Product Design
Creative destination
Whatever pathway you choose, you'll be able to learn alongside Kingston’s vibrant postgraduate community. You can then progress to a practice-based masters course or graduate ready for roles in design, publishing, media, film, fashion, advertising and more.
Located in Kingston upon Thames, our riverside campus offers a calm, green environment for creative focus, just 30 minutes from central London’s museums, studios and galleries. It’s an ideal balance of safety, space and cultural access.
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked among the Top 10 in the UK for Art & Design (The Complete University Guide 2026), but we are also rated Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework – one of just 26 universities in the UK to have achieved Gold in all three categories.
- A direct route to postgraduate study: The vast majority of Creative Practice students progress to a Master’s degree at Kingston School of Art.
- Build a professional creative portfolio: Explore conceptual, technical and reflective skills through a range of studio and self-initiated projects that prepare you for advanced creative study.
- A supportive global community: Learn in small groups with dedicated tutor guidance and a welcoming international cohort — including many students from across East and Southeast Asia — all sharing ideas and creative cultures.
- Calm to create, London to explore: Enjoy the green, riverside setting of Kingston upon Thames, with affordable living and quick access to central London’s creative scene.
- Celebrated by students: The course consistently receives excellent feedback for its supportive teaching, friendly atmosphere and the confidence it builds in creative thinking — reflected in student satisfaction surveys and social media.
- Future Skills for the design world: Strengthen creativity, collaboration and adaptability — the professional qualities most valued by global employers.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and labs are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
The curriculum for this course is tailored to your discipline-specific area of interest which you define upon application. You can choose pathways focusing on Fashion, Graphic Design, Illustration Animation or Interior & Product Design.
You will work within your subject-specific course peer group and alongside other Creative Practice students, building a strong portfolio of relevant project work that clearly demonstrates your creative strengths. Our projects are designed to help you develop creative and flexible thinking, sound technical skills, utilising diverse approaches.
You'll be expected to complete two 30-credit modules and one 60-credit module, totalling 120 credits. These modules run sequentially in teaching blocks 1 and 2 and are underpinned by a learning agreement specific to your course subject area.
Modules
Core modules
- Global Context
- Discipline and Autonomy
- Creative Practice 2
The university achieved strong results in the latest rankings published in August and September 2026, with some notable improvements and subject-level achievements:
- The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027: Ranked 78th out of 130 institutions, climbing 16 places from 94th last year.
- Top 10 nationally for Land and Property Management (4th) and Art and Design (10th).
- Top three in London across five subjects: Land and Property Management (1st), Social Work (2nd), Architecture (3rd), Art and Design (3rd) and Nursing (3rd).
- Post-1992 universities: Ranked 4th highest.
- The Guardian University Guide 2027: Ranked 62nd out of 123 nationally.
- The Complete University Guide 2027: Ranked 88th out of 130 nationally.
- The Daily Mail University Guide 2027: Ranked 85th out of 128 nationally.
Being awarded a scholarship is a great achievement
A scholarship not only provides financial support. It also offers a rich student experience unlike any other.
At Kingston, you'll become part of our international scholars community, giving you the opportunity to:
- attend our annual scholars' event alongside senior staff and academics
- boost your career prospects through valuable networking opportunities
- meet other scholars from around the world
- enhance your CV and impress future employees with your award
- work as a TAP ambassador for Kingston University, with opportunities to contribute to marketing material and in-country activities.
You’ll complete this course having gained the creative skills you need to progress to a practice-based masters course. Previous graduates have also gone on to work for design offices, publishing houses, interactive media, film and television companies, fashion houses and advertising agencies worldwide.
Teaching and assessment
Guided independent study (self-managed time)
When not attending timetabled sessions, you are expected to continue learning independently through self-directed study. This includes reading and analysing key texts, documenting projects, preparing coursework assignments and completing reflective development records.
Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent resources including online materials, the library and CANVAS, the University’s virtual learning environment.
This approach fosters critical thinking and adaptability — key “Future Skills” that prepare you for postgraduate study and professional life.
Support for postgraduate students
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
Feedback summary
On the Graduate Diploma in Creative Practice, we use both formative and summative feedback. Formative feedback is an ongoing process throughout a module that helps you improve your work before it is graded. Summative feedback is the formal, graded assessment that contributes to your final mark. Both are designed to provide clear, constructive guidance to help you progress and refine your creative practice.
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.