Your interview, portfolio and showreel

Many of our courses include an interview as part of the assessment process. Please refer to the course page for your chosen course to see if an interview is required or not. If your course does not require an interview, your offer will be based purely on academic entry criteria. We will contact you directly if we require additional information to decide on your application.

Pre-interview

Once you have applied, the timeframe to find out the outcome of your application varies. It depends on you, your application and how many other applications we have to review. We will work through all applications and respond to you as quickly as possible.

We receive many thousands of applications per year and are committed to giving equal consideration to all applications that reach us by the UCAS deadline. We consider your full profile and your potential as an individual – not just your actual or predicted grades. We aim to respond to those who have submitted their application ahead of the UCAS deadline by the end of March. 

Your initial application will be reviewed by one of our Admissions Officers. If your course requires an interview and portfolio submission then you will be invited to book an interview slot, at a time and date that suits you. Most of our courses interview online, however, for some, there is an in-person option so you can choose to come and explore our campus too.

The interview

The interview format varies according to the course. Often the interview will be with the course leader for your chosen course.

Most interviews are around 15-20 minutes long and take place one-to-one with the academic. However, some courses do in-person interviews, which last longer as they may include extra activities such as a building tour, course taster, and more. You will receive more information about the format of the interview in your invitation, and once you have booked a slot.

It's important to make the most of the interview to obtain further information about your course, including teaching methods and Ravensbourne. You need to determine whether it's suitable for you, so don't forget to prepare some questions for us too!

Also, the interview is an opportunity for you to tell us important information about yourself and your work, so be prepared to talk about your portfolio and the information you have included on your application form.

Post-interview

Once your interview is done, and as long as we have all the information required to decide on your application, we aim to update your application with your interview outcome within two working days following your interview. Please note this may be longer during busy periods.

Firstly, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

We encourage you to show your research, development and examples of work in progress, so we can assess both your thought process and craft in the absence of a finished article. 

These will provide valuable insight into your abilities and potential to succeed at Ravensbourne.

With all this in mind, please don't hesitate to submit your portfolio even if it's not quite perfect at this stage.

As most of our interviews are conducted online, we require the submission of a digital portfolio. This may include photos of your projects and not just work created digitally. We generally recommend providing around 15–20 images of your work, or a showreel if you're applying for a Film course or similar.

Where to publish your portfolio and showreel

The platform you choose may depend on the type of work you want to show. 

Some example formats and platforms:

• Flickr
• Vimeo
• YouTube
• Soundcloud
• Powerpoint
• PDF
• Google drive
• Your own website

Important note: 

• Set permissions - please make sure your work can be accessed by our academics by setting the right permissions
• Not password protected – your work should be accessible from a web browser without the need to enter a password.
• Flexibility - At Ravensbourne, we understand that access to your work may be difficult when schools are closed, so we don't expect that everyone will be able to provide a complete portfolio at this time.
• Full process - We encourage you to show your research, development and examples of work in progress, as we want to discuss your thought process and craft as well as the finished article. These will provide valuable insight into your abilities and potential to succeed at Ravensbourne. 

We run a number of UCAS workshops to help prepare students for interview, including mock interview workshops, personal statement workshops and portfolio or showreel surgeries.

If you'd like to sign up to any of these sessions, please email [email protected].