The Art and Design Admissions Registry (ADAR) was a British administrative body concerned with admissions to
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
courses in art and design outside universities. It was founded in 1966 and functioned for thirty years before being absorbed into the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in 1996. ADAR was based in the city of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...
.
Following the introduction of Art Foundation courses from 1963 onwards, interest among potential students increased in the range of higher education courses available nationally. Like the
Central Register and Clearing House the ADAR scheme operated on a sequential rather than simultaneous basis, so that once a particular applicant had been accepted by their first choice their form did not circulate to further institutions.
In 1996, the scheme had 15,200 applications which led to 9,082 acceptances, compared to 6,900 acceptances in 1991.
Most major branches of
British higher education merged their
admissions systems in the new UCAS scheme in 1992, but Art and Design admissions presented particular problems since they worked to a later timetable as a result of the important role Art Foundation courses had in developing as fully as possible a student's proposed specialism (painting, sculpture, graphic design and so on). Work was furthermore generally submitted before a decision was made on whether to interview. A means of absorbing ADAR was found by 1996 although fears were expressed that students might be tempted to try to bypass the Foundation course preparatory route.
The merger with UCAS allowed that for a period there would be two routes of admission, one generally conforming to the UCAS timetable, and one running later to allow for the special circumstances of many Foundation applicants. A study in 2002 aimed to test whether the merged scheme had been as beneficial as its proponents had claimed,
[Porch, Lisa and Barclay, Martin, "Unifying Higher Education Admissions in Art and Design", Journal of Further and Higher Education, Vol 26, No. 3, August 2002, pp. 241-250]
References
1966 establishments in the United Kingdom
1996 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Art schools in the United Kingdom
Arts in the United Kingdom
Design institutions
Education in Hereford
Educational institutions established in 1966
Educational institutions disestablished in 1996
Hereford
Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Herefordshire
UCAS
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