Case Study - Foundation Degrees at the City College of Manchester
This Foundation Degree in New Media Design is delivered by a consortium of three colleges: City College Manchester, Hopwood Hall and Tameside College and validated by Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the local new media industry.
Many practitioners in this area are sole traders, SMEs or micro businesses. Employers tend to be busy, having to respond quickly to fluctuating demand and to meet tight deadlines. This creates challenges in maintaining employer involvement and in providing consistent and reliable work experience for students. 12 employers were involved in the development of the curriculum and many maintain contact with the course by delivering lectures and workshops.
To meet the challenge of providing students with a meaningful work experience, live briefs are incorporated into the curriculum through The Virtual Company. This ESF-funded project was set up by City College Manchester to manage and deliver a range of training and work experience opportunities.
The Virtual Company has employed a number of SMEs and freelance designers to manage student live briefs. Design professionals and briefs are attracted by placing advertisements in the Manchester Evening News. This project has been highly successful in offering work experience which is not work placement but which accurately reflects the industry students will enter.
For more information visit The Virtual Company
The first cohort of students graduated in June 2003. Two-thirds applied for and were offered places on honours degrees locally; of these five students went on to gain a first and four gained upper second-class awards. Some students chose to take up offers of work, including employment in prestigious companies such as Code, and Saatchi and Saatchi.