ncad essay guidelines

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How to make an application to study at NCAD. For more information please see Undergraduate FAQ or go to our website  Study-at-NCAD  or just drop us a line, at  [email protected]  and we will be happy to help.

There are two parts to the undergraduate application process for NCAD, the Application and the Portfolio Submission:

1. Application All EU applications for full-time first year undergraduate study must be made through the CAO (Central Applications Office). The deadline for CAO Applications is Saturday 1st February 2025 – 5.00pm. More on www.cao.ie .

International Applicants International/Non EU Applicants for UG or PG programmes should apply directly to NCAD through the NCAD online application system.

Undergraduate applications must be submitted by the 1st of February 2025 by 5.00PM. We strongly recommend that you submit your application on time.

Information on making an application, entry requirements and tuition fees are available at www.ncad.ie .

More information on Postgraduate applications can be found here: Postgraduate at NCAD

2. Portfolio Submission A portfolio submission is required for Art & Design studio programmes at NCAD: For portfolio guidelines and FAQs LEARN MORE . Portfolio Submission Deadline:  Friday 7th February 2025

Choosing Your Fine Art or Design Discipline

NCAD offers a wide range of undergraduate degree pathways. If you know which area of Fine Art or Design you wish to study, you can select your preferred option from the list of entry pathways. If you prefer to remain open and explore the range of possibilities available to you, choose AD101 First Year Art and Design (Common Entry) .

There will be places reserved on all studio programmes for students who come in through the common entry route.

AD101 — First Year Art & Design (Common Entry) A common entry pathway leading to degree options in all areas:

Design: Graphic Design/Moving Image Design/Illustration/Interaction Design/Product Design/Jewellery & Objects/Textile & Surface Design/Fashion Design

Fine Art: Print/Media/Painting/Sculpture/ Applied Art (Textile Art & Artefact, Ceramics & Glass)

AD102 — Graphic Design/Moving Image Design Degree options in: Graphic Design, Moving Image Design

AD217 — Illustration

AD211 — Fashion Design

AD212 — Product Design

AD222 — Interaction Design

AD103 — Textiles, Jewellery & Objects Degree options in: Textile & Surface Design, Jewellery & Objects

AD202 — Education & Design or Fine Art – Second Level Teaching Degree options in: Joint Honours in Design & Education, Joint Honours in Fine Art & Education

AD104 — Fine Art and Applied Art Degree options in: Media/Painting/ Print/Sculpture/Textiles Art & Artefact/Ceramics & Glass

AD215 — Visual Culture History & Theory of Contemporary Art & Design. Portfolio not required.

EU APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Undergraduate – year 1.

All UG Studio Programmes

Application Applications through the CAO by the 1 February each year. These are restricted programmes. Late applications will not be accepted and a portfolio submission is required.

Applicants for September 2025 must submit a portfolio by Friday 7th February 2025 in accordance with the NCAD Portfolio Submission Guidelines. Further information on the portfolio guidelines and on submitting and collecting your portfolio can be found at www.ncad.ie/study-at-ncad

Offers Portfolio results and conditional offer letters are sent to applicants at the end April. Offers are made based on portfolio results to applicants who meet minimum academic entry requirements. Offers are made through the CAO in August each year.

AD215 Visual Culture

Application Applications through the CAO, the normal application deadline is 1 February. The BA in Visual Culture is not a restricted programme.

Offers Visual Culture does not require a portfolio submission; places are allocated on a competitive basis to applicants who meet the minimum academic entry requirements. Late applications will be accepted through the CAO up to 1 May, and change of mind for existing CAO applicants up to 1 July. Offers are made through the CAO in August.

Mature Students

NCAD welcomes applications from mature students to all our programmes. A mature student is any EU/EEA student who will be 23 years of age on the 1st of January of the proposed year of entry to NCAD.

Mature Applications: Studio Programmes As a mature student you should apply in the same way and at the same time as any other applicant. You will be informed of the outcome of your portfolio submission at the same time as other applicants. Mature students who do not meet the minimum academic entry requirements should include with their CAO application information on previous learning and/or any relevant work or other experience that might support your application.

Please send any supporting documentation such as transcripts or CVs to the CAO marked clearly with your CAO number. Mature students who achieve a sufficient portfolio score to warrant an offer but who do not otherwise meet minimum academic entry requirements will have an opportunity to matriculate on the basis of mature years. These applications will be reviewed based on information and documentation submitted to the CAO and you may be invited to attend for interview. Offers for Mature Students will be made in Early August.

Mature Applications: AD215 Visual Culture Mature applicants to AD215 Visual Culture should apply through the CAO by 1st February and should include on the CAO form information on previous education as well as any relevant work or other experience that might support your application. Please send any supporting documentation such as transcripts or CVs to the CAO marked clearly with your CAO number. Mature applications will be reviewed and you may be invited to attend for interview. Offers for Mature Students will be made in Early August.

Deferred Entry

The College, at its discretion, can agree to defer the offer of a place on a programme for one year. If you wish to defer your offer of a place in First Year the procedure is as follows: Do not accept your offer of a place through the CAO. Contact NCAD Admissions office in writing (email is the quickest way to do this [email protected] ) giving your CAO number, the programme you have been offered, and the reason you are seeking a deferral. The Admissions office should receive this request before the CAO closing date for accepting the offer. The Admissions office will contact you by email informing you if your deferral has been granted and outlining the procedures for taking up your place offer the following year.

NCAD Access Scheme

NCAD operates a supplementary admissions route for all applicants with a disability or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Details of the NCAD Access Scheme are sent to all applicants who successfully pass the portfolio stage, or in the case of AD215 Visual Culture, information is sent to all applicants. Applicants who feel they meet the qualifying criteria for the Access Scheme are invited to make an application. NCAD reserves 15 places in Year 1 for Access students. To receive an Access offer you must meet the minimum entry requirements and have passed the portfolio or interview stage. For further information visit  www.ncad.ie/study-at-ncad .

Advanced Entry Year 2+

NCAD considers applications from students who wish to gain Advanced Entry to the second or subsequent year of an undergraduate degree. Applications are not normally considered for the final year of a programme.

Application NCAD accepts applications for Advanced Entry to Year 2+ to a number of our undergraduate degree programmes.

Advanced Entry applications are made through the Central Applications Office www.cao.ie .

The normal closing date for Advanced Entry applications is 31 March every year.

“Advanced Entry Applicants for Studio Programmes will be required to submit a Portfolio of 10 images/videos of their work as well as 500 words accompanying their Portfolio Material; submitted in PDF.” Advanced Entry applicants who have been successful in the first round will be asked to upload their Portfolio at a set time. Portfolio submissions for Advanced Entry are made through the Portfolio Submission Platform in April/May.

Student Vetting

All successful applicants for programmes with a teaching qualification are required to undergo Student Vetting at the time of registration. These programmes include BA Education & Design or Fine Art , Professional Masters in Education (Art & Design) or other postgraduate programmes with an associated qualification to teach in the Further or Communication Education sectors.

Reference & Citation: Introduction

Introduction.

• Using Harvard Style
• History of Harvard Style
• Online Resources
• Group Study Space

Reference & Citation

Citation Guide

Useful Links

• NCAD School of Visual Culture Guidelines for Essay Preparation  
• NCAD Plagiarism Policy 
• NCAD Generative AI Use Policy 
• NCAD Student Code of Conduct

Further Examples

An extensive set of Harvard referencing examples is available here . 

What is referencing and citation?

Referencing and citation refers to the practice of crediting the sources that you have used for an assignment, research or other project. A citation must be given anytime that you use another person's work or ideas in your own writing, research and practice. You must reference  all  of the sources you have quoted, paraphrased or summarised, including information drawn from print books, magazines and journals, eBooks, online journals and magazines, films, websites and blogs, podcasts, and so on. To do this accurately and comprehensively, it is important to keep a full record of the sources you have consulted from the beginning of your work.

There are many different referencing and citation styles and conventions, created for different subject and disciplinary contexts. NCAD follows the Harvard Referencing Style for all written assignments and projects. 

Citations are used in your written text to give the source of any direct quotation, paraphrasing, or summarising of another writer's work. In Harvard style, these take the format of short, in-text citations which correspond to a long list of references, presented in a list of works cited or bibliography. 

Referencing means acknowledging in detail all of the information sources that you have drawn on: these should include the author(s) and all publication details, as well as any additional information required for a particularly type of source. 

Why is referencing important? 

There are many reasons why accurate citation and referencing are important for your work. For example, it demonstrates that you have read widely on your chosen subject, and that you have given thought to the work of others in this field; it provides evidence for your research and establishes credibility for your own ideas and arguments; and it also allows your reader to locate the original material that you have used. 

Citation of all quotations and instances of paraphrasing or summarising also helps you to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is the passing off of someone else's ideas or work as your own: for further explanation, please see the NCAD Plagiarism Policy and Procedures document.  

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NCAD Portfolio Review and Offer Process

Please find below a letter shared with us by NCAD on the upcoming Portfolio Process 2023

Dear Art Teacher 

As we approach the deadline for CAO application and portfolio submission I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the NCAD Portfolio Review process and update you on any changes. 

Portfolio Submission 

• All NCAD First Year applicants to a studio programme must first apply through the CAO and submit a digital portfolio by the advertised deadline.  This year the portfolio submission deadline is Friday 10 th  February 2023.   The portfolio submission has been 100% digital since 2021. We have a lot of resources on preparing and submitting a digital portfolio, including a step by step video guide, at the following link   https://www.ncad.ie/study-at-ncad/submitting-your-portfolio/

Portfolio Review

• Once received all portfolio submissions are reviewed and scored for each of the applicant’s CAO course choices.   This portfolio review is conducted independently by two members of the teaching staff of the area that has been applied into.   The scores from both reviewers are averaged to give the final score.  

Before the review process commences a benchmarking process is carried out where sample portfolios are reviewed and scored as guidelines to the expected standard. Following completion of the portfolio review by the panels the portfolio scores are checked for consistency of marking standards across the different marking panels for each course instance. 

The Portfolio Review process is a big undertaking for the College, last year NCAD teaching staff conducted in excess of 4,200 individual portfolio reviews.   It is particularly important for the College as the portfolio score is used to allocate First Year places on studio programmes. NCAD does not add the portfolio score to the Leaving cert CAO points, offers are made to applicants who meet the minimum academic entry requirements based on a ranking of the portfolio score. 

Portfolio Review Result 

• Following the completion of the Portfolio Review process the Admission Office will write to each applicant giving their portfolio score for each course application, we expect this email to go out in early April 2023. 

Applicants will be given their portfolio score as well as information on the cut-off points for offers last year.  They will not be given a conditional offer. Offers will be made through the CAO process in August. 

We have made this change in order to more effectively manage the place offer process.   A combination of an increase in the number of NCAD CAO entry routes (now 11) along with the increase in overall NCAD applications (+38%), NCAD preferences (+39%) and Portfolio submissions (+52%) since 2020 has made it very difficult to continue the practice of conditional offers in March/April.  Other factors such as the change to the Leaving Cert marking process arising out of Covid and NCAD joining the HEAR and DARE scheme have added further complexities to the practice of confirming conditional offers to applicants when we issue portfolio scores.  

In April applicants will have their portfolio score and information on the cut-off points for last year.  This will effectively put them in the same position as applicants to most other courses on the CAO.  

We are looking forward to receiving lots of portfolios from your students in the coming weeks and to welcoming many of them to NCAD in September. 

 Meanwhile I am always available to answer any questions you may have on the portfolio submission or the admissions process. If any of your students have questions now or at a later date they should contact the Admissions Office who are always happy to deal with any questions,  [email protected]

 Kind regards

 Cathy McCartney

Head of Student Services & Admissions / Admissions Officer

[email protected]

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