Creative Arts, Design and Communication· Intermediate level

These lanes need different evidence, so choosing early saves you months.

Making covers fine art, craft, textiles, ceramics and sculpture. The portfolio proves skill, material understanding and a point of view.

Design covers graphic, motion, product, fashion and interface design. The portfolio proves you can solve a stated problem and explain your decisions.

Media production covers film, photography, animation and sound. The portfolio proves technical control, especially sound, which beginners neglect.

Writing and journalism proves clarity, accuracy and the ability to be edited. Communications and public relations proves you can write for an organisation. Arts management and events proves you can run something to time and budget.

Pick one lane and one backup. Write what each portfolio must prove.

Schools publish what they want: how many pieces, what size or format, whether sketchbook and process work is required, whether a written statement is needed, and sometimes a set task everyone must complete.

In Ghana, look at the art and design departments at KNUST, the design, fashion and media programmes at technical universities, the national film and television school in Accra, and the public journalism and media school in Accra, which now sits within a larger media and communication university. Check the current name and requirements on the school's own page. For any private institution, confirm it is accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission before you pay anything.

In Canada, art and design universities such as OCAD University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design and NSCAD University admit largely on portfolio, and college programmes, including well-known animation and media diplomas, apply through the provincial college application service.

Put two briefs side by side and list every single requirement. Then check what you have against it.

Admissions tutors and art directors want to see how you got there. A perfect final image with nothing behind it looks either lucky or copied.

Keep the thumbnails. Keep the version you rejected and write one line on why. Keep the note from the person who criticised it and what you changed. Date everything.

If you write, keep the draft with the editor's marks. If you shoot, keep the frames that failed and say what went wrong with the light or the sound. If you design, keep the brief you were given or set yourself.

This is the cheapest thing on the list and the most often skipped.

Find two people to critique your work, and at least one of them should do this professionally rather than teach you.

Ask narrow questions. Is this composition working? Is the sound usable? Is this paragraph doing any work? Broad questions get polite answers.

Write down what they said without arguing during the session. Afterwards, decide which points you agree with and rework the piece. Then show them the rework. Showing the rework is what makes people take you seriously.

Keep sessions on the platform, keep your personal details out of them, and get guardian approval if you are under 18.

Creative programmes differ a lot in what they cost you beyond fees. Materials, printing, fabric, film stock, a laptop that can edit, and software all add up.

For two programmes, write down: fees as published by the institution, what materials or equipment students are expected to supply, whether student software licences are provided, whether there is a placement or industry project, and what the school says its graduates do.

Ask a current student or a recent graduate if you can find one. Ask what they had to buy that nobody warned them about.

Then plan the term: what you will make, what you will fix, and when you will next be reviewed.