Submitting a Portfolio

Your Portfolio

For entry in 2025, all portfolios must be submitted digitally, via an online platform, by the deadline of 11:59pm / 23:59 (UK time) on Thursday 7 November 2024.  

The online platform is called SlideRoom: the Ruskin submission site will go live the day after the UCAS deadline of 6pm / 18:00GMT on 15 October.   Once applications have been processed through UCAS and the University of Oxford’s admissions system to reach the Ruskin, we will email candidates with a link to SlideRoom - we aim to do so no later than 6pm on 17 October.

Please note, you will need your UCAS number to complete your portfolio submission.

No portfolio can be considered or will be acknowledged if a UCAS application has not been completed first, and/or if a valid UCAS number is not provided with the portfolio submission via SlideRoom.

Candidates can change and edit their portfolio on SlideRoom as many times as they like up until they press 'Submit'.

There is no submission fee or any charge for uploading your portfolio to SlideRoom. 

Your Portfolio

Applicants are expected to be selective about the work they wish to present and can upload a maximum of 20 files (ie we suggest a single file per work you want to include).

Candidates may submit images of works in any medium, from sketchbooks to three-dimensional or site-specific work, and durational pieces.  Combining photographs of a sketchbook or development boards, or an installation etc, in one single pdf, will count as one piece. 

SlideRoom will accept the following uploads: 

• Images (up to 10MB each) - .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .tga

  Videos (up to 500MB each) - .m4v, .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .flv, .asf, .mpeg, .mpg, .mkv

  Audio (60MB each) - .mp3, .wma, .ogg, .flac

  Documents (20MB each) - .pdf

If you are including film or video work, it should be a maximum duration time of 2-3 minutes per film, no larger than 250MB, to a total maximum of 8 minutes.

To include larger files of durational work in your portfolio, you can provide a URL link to Vimeo, Youtube or SoundCloud in your portfolio submission, but the maximum of 8 minutes remains.

Applicants are not expected to provide additional details or textual explanation of their work.  A title, very brief description or explanation can be included, if you think it necessary. 

Portfolio Review 

During the process of reviewing portfolios, tutors look for work that goes beyond the mere fulfilment of school curricula.  We search for highly motivated activity, and for a breadth of engagement, a sense of purpose and a strength of opinion in the way the portfolio is edited. A high degree of competence in the use of specific media is expected, but it is not in itself sufficient. The portfolios of candidates called for interview will also exhibit initiative, experimentation and creativity beyond the expectations of the A-level or equivalent, and a curiosity about contemporary art and its concerns. It is important for us is to be able to discover a sense of the temperament underlying the work, and to sense the deeper interests that inform the portfolio.  We are not interested in finding a particular formula or a specific style, but in signs of energy, ambition, critical reflection and creativity. Your portfolio should show that you have:

An independent and creative mind

An ability to go beyond the requirements of the school curriculum

Visual inquisitiveness and imagination

A curiosity about contemporary art

Approximately 50 applicants are invited for interview on the strength of their portfolio.

Please ensure that if you wish to discuss a particular work at your interview that you include it in your portfolio submission via SlideRoom, and make reference to this in the commentary box as you submit the work online.

Terms of Portfolio Submission

There is one portfolio submission deadline for all applicants: 23:59pm on Thursday 2 November 2023. 

The Ruskin will only accept one portfolio per applicant. 

In the event of an additional, or multiple, portfolio submissions being received from a single applicant, only the first submitted portfolio will be retained in the specified digital formats, and via SlideRoom. All other submissions will be deleted.

Applicants are required to meet the stated deadline and submit work in the format specified on this webpage.  Late portfolio submissions and physical portfolios will not be accepted or acknowledged. 

The Ruskin will retain applicant submissions in accordance with the University’s policy on data retention. 

These terms are relevant for all applicants, national and international. 

Due to the large number of applications received, the Ruskin cannot retract or amend any portfolio submissions. 

Privacy Policy

SlideRoom is the external platform that The Ruskin School of Art requires you to use for uploading your portfolio as part of the application process.  It is based in the USA and uses IT infrastructure located there. 

In order to use SlideRoom you must be over 18, or have the permission from a parent or legal guardian to use it.  In submitting your application, you authorise SlideRoom and The Ruskin School of Art to store your portfolio for the sole purpose of processing your application.  The terms of use for SlideRoom are available at www.slideroom.com/applicant_terms and the personal information that you provide when registering with SlideRoom will be dealt with in accordance with their privacy policy: www.slideroom.com/privacy

The Ruskin School of Art remains responsible for all other personal information you provide to us in your application.