Admissions process
Application forms are available from the Academic Office, or via the website. Interviews can be conducted throughout the year. An admissions panel, including a programme tutor, will consider your application. If you have the necessary experience and qualifications, you will be invited to West Dean College for an interview and practical test. Alternative arrangements can sometimes be made for overseas applicants. You will be expected to provide a portfolio of work that reflects a substantial commitment to your chosen practice. The selection, admission and induction process will ensure equitable consideration of all applicants. Students with disabilities should contact the Diploma Admissions Office and visit the College to discuss whether their needs can be met satisfactorily.
Practical tests & interviews
If a student fulfils the entry requirements, we ask them to visit West Dean for an interview with the programme tutor and another senior member of academic staff. Depending on the programme applied for, students also undertake a practical test to assess the standard of hand skills. For example, students applying for the furniture programme will be required to demonstrate their woodworking experience by completing a number of exercises including making joints. Visual arts students will be asked to present and discuss their portfolio. In cases where it is impossible for the applicant to attend an interview at West Dean, we can sometimes arrange for a distance test to be supervised by a professional colleague at an institution in the applicant's own country, and an interview will be conducted over the telephone. We strongly recommend that students visit West Dean, experience the environment, explore the facilities and meet staff and other students.
Accommodation
West Dean College is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South East England. For the duration of your programme you will have the opportunity to live in residential accommodation on campus. The secluded purpose-built or converted buildings are equipped to a very high standard and all rooms have en suite showers. For students with physical disabilities there is one specially adapted room with full wheelchair access in the recently completed Peachey House. The College has 24-hour security cover. Accommodation fees include all meals, as well as tea and coffee. Students choosing to live off-campus pay a non-residential rate that includes all weekday lunches, as well as tea and coffee. A resident Warden is on hand to offer help and advice to all full-time students. Assistance is also provided to overseas students who require help with written or spoken English.
Leisure pursuits
The College, set within a 6,000-acre estate, is an integral part of the local community. You will have free membership of the West Dean College Social Club, including access to the Steward's Bar - the social hub of the College. All students benefit from our unique setting: the award-winning West Dean Gardens with its beautifully restored kitchen garden, ornamental gardens, landscaped parkland and the College itself, an Edwardian country house at the foot of the South Downs. There is a small swimming pool within the grounds, open from May to September, and a larger public one in Chichester. Students also have access to tennis courts, a games room, croquet and volleyball. There are weekly classes in yoga and a regular fixture of cricket and football matches in West Dean and the surrounding villages. If you prefer activities of a more artistic nature, nearby Chichester is home to the Festival and Minerva Theatres, an excellent film club and Pallant House Gallery. Next to the College is the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, with its designated collection of local vernacular buildings, and not far away is The Cass Sculpture Foundation. London is only sixty-five miles away, with convenient rail and road links. The close proximity of Gatwick airport, cross-channel ports and the Channel Tunnel, means that the attractions of other European cities are a few hours away.