UNIT 10

I went on a campus and accommodation tour at Southampton because I didn't get time to at the open day in October last year and I wanted to refresh my memory. I looked at Hamwic and Deanery which are the two main ensuite residences. I then applied for accommodation putting Deanery as my first choice. I am now waiting on a response from the accommodation team who will let me know which residence I have been allocated.

I found out how and when to apply for student finance via The Student Room forums which are really helpful. I have currently applied for student finance and am waiting for my parents to confirm their household income before I can find out how much maintenance loan I am eligible for.  I also need to set up a student bank account. I have researched student accounts at different banks and I think Santander have the best offer for me in comparison to the Barclays account. The additional 4 year 16-25 railcard will save me a lot of money visiting family/friends.

I withdrew my applications to CSM, Salford and Middlesex which meant that I didn't submit my portfolio to CSM and I didn't attend the other interviews. I did this because I knew I wanted to go to Southampton and seeing as my offer to Southampton was unconditional I decided to accept it.  Because I accepted Southampton as my firm choice I am also eligible for a scolarship depending on my grades.

I received an unconditional offer from Southampton:

I received an email from CSM requesting a digital portfolio: Dear Blaise,  Thank you for your application to  BA (Hons) Fashion Communication: Fashion Communication and Promotion  at Central Saint Martins . What to include in your Mini-Portfolio Your mini portfolio should consist of 20 images and contain artwork (still or moving) to demonstrate your individual interest in FCP. You should consider research, ideas development and your final artworks. It may include: ·           Drawings ·           Photographs ·           Illustrations ·           Graphics ·           Film / animation Full instructions and guidance about is available when you log into Pebblepad. We wish you the best of luck with your application. Y...

I received an email from LCF saying I was unsuccessful: Thank you for your application to join University of the Arts London ( UAL ). Unfortunately, we have been unable to offer you a place on BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production. However, the course team believe that your application is suitable to be put forward for consideration by other courses. This means you may be offered a place on an alternative course at  UAL , not the course to which you originally applied. The alternative course they offered me was Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Arts but I wasn't interested.

I created a portfolio on PebblePad for LCF made up of 20 images with short explanations - these were all taken from my Flickr portfolio for Southampton. The requirements were also the same as Southampton regarding what the content could include but a written piece of work wasn't necessary.

Flickr was recommended to me by a friend to set up my portfolio (specifically for Southampton). The requirements said to include 15 pages consisting of life drawing, illustration, photography, 3D and developmental work. A piece of written work was also needed. I collated all my work, scanned the sketchbook pages that I needed, chose a few pieces and uploaded them. There weren't many final pieces I wanted to show so it's mainly development work. I then emailed the l ink  to my page to Southampton Solent.

I decided to  set up an account with Cargo Collective to create an online portfolio. I applied for a page and received this email a few days later: Hi Blaise,  Your site was created successfully and is located at  http:// cargocollective .com/ blaisehendry Good luck!  The  Cargo  Team  I attempted to start uploading images of my work but I couldn't get to grips with the formatting so I decided to find a different website to use, however I might go back to cargo collective for other projects because it has a professional look.

A few days after my UCAS application I received an email from Salford requesting an interview: Dear Blaise,    Thank you for your application. We are pleased to confirm that you have been selected for interview. Your interview details are confirmed below:   BA Fashion Style and Image Making W227   22 Feb 2017 01:30 PM GMT   New Adelphi University of  Salford Peel Park Campus Salford Greater Manchester M5 4RB   Please see our website  here  for information on how to find the University of  Salford .   You can find information about how to prepare for your interview on our website  here . It is  essential  that you read these instructions carefully and prepare appropriately. If you are unable to attend your interview, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss this. In some circumstances we may be able to offer an alternative date however we cannot guarantee this.   Please...

A few days after my UCAS application I received an email from LCF requesting a digital portfolio: Dear  Blaise Thank you for your application to the University of the Arts London (UAL) for: Course:  BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production College:  London College of Fashion To assess your suitability for this course, you are required to create and submit additional work to support your application. University of the Arts London uses an Online Submission Tool called PebblePad as part of the selection process. Your username is your Unique UAL Student ID: Username:  HEN16506623 The deadline to submit your work for  BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production  is  1 February 2017 . Your submission will be assessed and if you are shortlisted for the next stage of the application process you may be invited to attend an interview. An invitation to attend an interview would be communicated to you via email/UCAS (if applicable). If we are unabl...

A few days after my UCAS application I received an email from Southampton requesting a digital portfolio: Dear Blaise Thank you for applying to study BA (Hons) Fashion Styling at  Southampton   Solent  University. Following receipt of your application, we would like to invite you to submit an electronic portfolio. We will need to receive your work by 31st January. You can find your portfolio brief here: http://www. solent .ac.uk/ course-interviews/resources/ interview-requirement-brief- fashion-styling.pdf We will put this date through UCAS as a reminder of your deadline – please do not attend the University on this date, it is just the date by which you should have submitted your electronic portfolio by. We look forward to hearing from you shortly and wish you good luck in your application. Kind regards Admissions and Enrolment Team

A few days after my UCAS application I received an email from Middlesex inviting me for an interview: Hello Blaise, Thank you for your application - we like what we see.  But we'd also like to learn more about you by meeting face-to-face.  The Admissions Tutor would like to invite you for an interview.  Please book a time and date by clicking on the  'Register Now '  button.  Places book up fast, so secure yours now What will happen at the interview? It's the usual Q&A format  - we pose some relevant questions and you get the opportunity to showcase your talent.  In particular, we'd like to understand your individual aspirations and interests; and explore why you want to study here. Please don't forg et your portfolio  -  Without a compilation of your best art & design work it’s hard for us to visua lise your talent and creative potential. Of course, it's not just about us questioning you! We'd welcome an...

After filling out all of my personal details on the form and attaching my personal statement I filled in my choices. They were: 1. Southampton Solent University Fashion Styling and Creative Direction 2. London College of Fashion Fashion Styling and Production 3. Central Saint Martins Fashion Communication and Promotion 4. The University of Salford Fashion Image Making and Styling 5. Middlesex University Fashion Communication and Styling The last two choices I added as back up so I could keep my options open even though I wasn't keen on either. If I didn't get into my first choice  which was   Southampton   I would probably pursue an alternative path such as an apprenticeship, foundation or take a gap year. I sent my application off and the careers team sent me feedback about the changes I needed to make to my details and  this document   with the changes for my personal statement. After I had made the changes I sent off the application agai...

Link to final draft I showed my personal statement to teachers and my parents and they helped give me ideas of what I should put in it and take out which led to my final draft.

We had a careers evening where a representative from Ravensbourne came to talk to us about the fashion foundation they offer. I found it interesting that I would be able to do more of what I wanted in the second year in terms of fashion promotion rather than fashion design or textiles. This made me consider a foundation at Ravensbourne.  We also had a portfolio discussion from an ex-student who explained that he didn't get into the university of his choice and had to spend a year working in retail before being accepted to LCF.  This made me panic about whether I would get into university at all and if so what my other options would be.  However, I decided that the fashion foundation at Ravensbourne was definitely not for me as I wasn't interested in studying fashion illustration or textiles further.

After seeing the Fashion Styling course at Southampton Solent I booked an open day. They sent me a lot of information via email prior to my visit which was really helpful. The Open Day The drive down to Southampton didn't take very long - which was good because I was worrying that Southampton was ages away from home. When we arrived the student ambassadors were welcoming and the main building was bright and spacious and had a good atmosphere.  After the welcome presentation I went to a presentation about the fashion photography course. The course tutor was helpful and answered a lot of questions about portfolios and applications. I went to a presentation on Fashion Promotion and Communication but I wasn't interested in the course as it was based mainly on PR and marketing. The last presentation was on Fashion Styling. The course leader was really nice and helpful and the course structure was exactly what I was looking for. Initially I didn't want to move away...

Link  to draft For the first draft of my personal statement I wasn't entirely sure what to write so I made a rough list of what I thought should be included in note form so I could change and perfect it later.

I booked an open day at LCF and went to course presentations on Fashion Photography as well as Fashion Styling and Production. The open day took place at the Lime Grove campus in Shepherd's Bush where the Insights course I took part in was also held. This is where the photography, makeup and styling studios are so the courses I was interested in would be based there. The first presentation was on fashion photography. I liked the work shown but the course leader didn't give a good presentation. The next presentation I went to was on Fashion Styling and Production which was the course I was more interested in at a glance. I found out more about what a fashion stylist does and their roles within the industry which I found helpful. Overall I liked the space and the facilities but I didn't feel that either of the courses were quite right for me and from the presentations given I didn't feel that the course teams were really selling it. I was disappointed considering ...

We had a talk at school about creative apprenticeships which sparked my interest so I did some further research. I went to  www.notgoingtouni.co.uk  and did some searches for creative apprenticeships, specifically fashion. Most apprenticeships were hair and beauty related and outside of London or to do with marketing and PR. I wouldn't mind learning about these subjects further but I wouldn't want a specific course on either. Using www.fashionworkie.com I searched for more specific apprenticeships but still couldn't find anything I was interested in.  I heard about Royal Opera House apprenticeships and saw they had a costume design vacancy which I considered applying for if I didn't get into university and didn't want to do a foundation year.

After a representative from UAL came to talk to us about the Insights opportunity I applied for the Fashion Styling and Production course.  Over 4 days we had to research the stylist Judy Blame and then create a photo shoot inspired by his work. We went to his exhibition at the ICA to learn more about punk fashion and styling in the 80s. After creating some mood boards and test shoots using each other as models we decided what makeup and clothes to use and did a photo shoot with professional models. The course helped me to understand what fashion styling involves and I knew I wanted to study the subject further. Images from the Judy Blame exhibition at the ICA Final Shoot