Preparing and sharing your portfolio

Which undergraduate courses include portfolio review?

We will ask you to share a digital format portfolio with us if you apply for one of the following courses. Specific requirements for each course can be found on our portfolio request page.

• 3D Design and Craft BA(Hons)
• Animation BA(Hons)
• Architecture BA(Hons)
• Electronic Music and Sound BA(Hons)
• Fashion Communication with Business Studies BA(Hons)
• Fashion Design with Business Studies BA(Hons)
• Fine Art BA(Hons)
• Fine Art Painting BA(Hons)
• Fine Art Printmaking BA(Hons)
• Games Art and Design BA(Hons)
• Graphic Design BA(Hons)
• Illustration BA(Hons)
• Interior Architecture BA(Hons)
• Interior Design BA(Hons) from 2026
• Product Design BSc(Hons)
• Photography BA(Hons)

What steps do I need to follow?

The admissions process has the following steps.

1. Apply through UCAS.
2. Receive an initial conditional offer from us – this will be based on your predicted grades or academic achievements.
3. Respond to our request to share your digital portfolio.
   This is really important. We can’t move forward with your application until you share your portfolio with us.
   
4. Your portfolio will be assessed by the course team.
5. Following the portfolio review, we will either:
   • confirm your offer of a place on the course you’ve applied for, or
   • make you an offer of a place on an alternative course.
6. Respond to our offer – make Brighton your firm choice through UCAS.

How should I present my portfolio?

What to include in your portfolio varies by course – you’ll find specific information on our portfolio request page. We’ll also send you advice when we invite you to share your portfolio. For all courses, we want you to demonstrate your creative process, your development and how you research, solve problems, explore techniques and media, experiment and develop your ideas.

• Your portfolio is a selection of your work presented in a digital format that we can look at online.
• It should be accessible from a single link and should be published on one platform, such as a Google Drive, PDF, WordPress, Wix, YouTube or SoundCloud. The platform you choose may depend on the type of work you want to show.
• We should be able to access your portfolio via a web browser such as Safari, Chrome or Firefox without having to enter a username or password.
• Make sure you include images of your work with clear captions, or a show-reel if you’re applying to a course such as music or animation. For some courses you may also be asked to provide a supporting written statement.
• Take time to plan and prepare what you include – this can really help communicate the story of your creative development.

What kind of work should I include?

Your portfolio should be relevant to the course you’ve applied for and showcase your talents, interests and development. We are excited to see your work so far and your potential, so don’t wait to send your portfolio because you think it isn’t ‘finished.’ We expect you to be trying things out and experimenting. We’re very happy to see work produced during A-levels, foundation courses, work experience and from outside your education. You don’t need to create work specially for your portfolio, but we do recommend you start thinking about what to include and how to organise and present it before we invite you to share it.

For all courses

You should include anything that demonstrates:

• your motivations, influences and interests as an artist
• your ability to develop a concept into a finished piece of work
• your potential to experiment, imagine and explore ideas and techniques.

Depending on the course, this could include:

• work that shows your understanding of drawing, composition, form, proportion and colour
• images from working sketchbooks which show your working process
• images of 3D objects you’ve made
• images of paintings, prints, fashion and textile designs, photography, typography, illustrations or the application of a creative process such as weave or CAD work.
• images or recordings of performance, video pieces or sound composition
• written statements or essays.

How should I prepare images for my online portfolio

All images should be in JPEG (.jpg) format at 72 dpi resolution. Ideally, images should be flattened and optimised for screen viewing, with maximum dimensions of 800 pixels on the longest side. You can do this using Photoshop.

How do I share my portfolio with you?

1. Activate your University of Brighton username and password. After you apply, we will tell you how to activate your University of Brighton username and password. This will enable you to access Student View where you can share a link to your portfolio and message us about your application.
2. Log on to Student View. Read our advice on what to include in your portfolio and when you need to share it with us.
3. Share a link to your portfolio. When your portfolio is ready, log on to Student View and share a link to it with us.