Portfolio Oomph Reviews

AJ Titley 2025.12.28

     

This review is long overdue, I have to share that this is one of the best things I have ever done for myself! Julie was fantastic in supporting me with process and portfolio development. I learnt so much from her. It turly helped me with refining my creative interests, strengthening my skills, improving my processes. Her knowledge and teaching ability is second to none, and isn't something that you unfortunately don't get during education. It's luck if you do! Working with Julie was a worthwhile investment which I still use to this day! It's now been 2 years since I completed the course with Julie. I got into all of my university choices, and I'm now in my second year at Central Saint Martins and loving every second of it. Thank you so much Julie! You are so skilled, talented, and an absolute joy to have worked with! I can't thank you enough. 💛

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph

So good to hear from you AJ - and super that you're loving your Product Design studies at Central St. Martins, I had no doubt that you would! Thank you so much for taking the time to write, it's most appreciated. Please keep in touch as I'd love to visit your degree show, I know it's a while yet but do please remind me when it's time. Best of luck with the rest of your studies.

Yael Hickmore 2025.06.20

     

Having not been to Uni myself, and having a daughter determined to get into Edinburgh College of Art I knew we needed a bit of help to maximise her chances. Julie was an absolute god-send - Friendly, outgoing, and fabulous at gently prodding an easily distracted teen, she set a series of projects going that absolutely transformed J's work, and they built a portfolio that got her an unconditional offer for Fine Art at ECA. Thank you so much Julie, and if anyone is hovering over the 'contact me' button - just do it!

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2025.06.23

Many thanks Yael - and for the beautiful flowers over the weekend. It was a pleasure working with J and great to see it all come together and getting the results that she wanted. Many thanks for putting your trust in my services and wishing you both well for the start of term, come September.

Julieta Ledezma 2025.05.15

     

My daughter had the depth of thought and talent to get to a University in Europe, what she lacked was the methodology on how to build her portfolio. Thanks to Julie, who was patient, proactive and knowledgeable, my daughter got a spot on the University of her dreams. We were lucky to find Portfolio Oomph and to be able to work with Julie.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2025.05.23

Thank you so much for your review Julieta. It was a pleasure and truly very exciting working with Camila over the months. Applying from Panama to Europe was a courageous plan, that she put full effort into achieving. I'm delighted to hear that she's thoroughly enjoying herself and going full steam ahead with her ideas for performance, installation, video art and anywhere else her creativity beckons.

Keren Brynes MacLean 2025.04.28

recommends

Portfolio Oomph opens your eyes and your creative potential. For us as a family it was a great success. Molly got her place in art school (ECA Fine Art) and as parents we got to see our daughter achieve her dream of reading fine art. What she gained from Portfolio Oomph was more than a successful application. It unshackled the restrictions of secondary school art...passing exams and helped to liberate Molly so she could confidently express herself through her art. I would highly recommend Julie and Porfolio Oomph.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2025.05.08

Many thanks Keren, it's been a beautiful journey watching how Molly has stepped into her creativity and not looked back. I thoroughly enjoyed working together and please do keep in touch with her progress.

Keren Brynes MacLean 2025.04.28

     

My daughter is now heading towards the end of 2nd year reading Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art. She has been blossoming since working with Julie to create her portfolio a couple of years ago. Not only did she create a portfolio that gained her entry to ECA, I would say that Julie facilitated the true unlocking of Molly's creative potential. Portfolio Oomph illuminated a path forward and provided a toolkit that enabled a creative process to evolve. To express. To think. To explore. And not be frightened of not being perfect on paper. The course has been a positive catalyst and worth the financial investment to see our daughter flourish and thrive in a creative degree. I would highly recommend Portfolio Oomph to anyone looking to submit a stand out portfolio that shows who they are and not just what they can do.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2025.05.08

Many thanks Keren, it's been a beautiful journey watching how Molly has stepped into her creativity and not looked back. I thoroughly enjoyed working together and please do keep in touch with her progress.

Jane Crewe 2024.08.30

     

My daughter left school with glittering Art results and was at College doing a Foundation Diploma. We visited all the Universities, asked all the questions, applying to Art School should be easy shouldn't it? Oh how little we knew! By Christmas, with no portfolio and very little information about applications we were advised to contact Julie. on a very tight schedule, Julie listened to what my daughter wanted, gave us excellent advice and put together a programme that would quickly lead to a portfolio worthy of offers. My daughter was offered a place at her first choice institution. I can guarantee that would not have happened without Julie guiding us through the process. Julie is an investment in your future.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2024.09.01

Many thanks Jane, it's been a wonderfully inspiring experience working together and seeing the transformation. Thank you for the opportunity and your trust in my services, a superb result 👌

Jane Crewe 2024.06.04

recommends

My daughter left school with glittering Art results and was at College doing a Foundation Diploma. We visited all the Universities, asked all the questions, applying to Art School should be easy shouldn't it? Oh how little we knew! By Christmas, with no portfolio and very little information about applications we were advised to contact Julie. on a very tight schedule, Julie listened to what my daughter wanted, gave us excellent advice and put together a programme that would quickly lead to a portfolio worthy of offers. My daughter was offered a place at her first choice institution. I can guarantee that would not have happened without Julie guiding us through the process. Julie is an investment in your future.

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Carole Racionzer 2024.05.08

recommends

We were looking for support for my child who had finished school a few years ago, so wouldn't benefit from portfolio support via school and Julie's tutoring was exactly what was needed. Julie was patient, knowledgable and methodical in her approach. She was easy to communicate with, particularly when there was a need to work together with us to ensure work was on track. Going through the process of creating the portfolio helped to solidify that my young person was on the right path for their career. She has now accepted a place to study Costume at her preferred University. Thanks so much to Julie for supporting them to make that happen. We are absolutely delighted!

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2024.05.10

Many thanks for your review Carole, it was a pleasure working together and I am delighted that offer is what your young person is so happy with. Best wishes for her future, I'm sure she'll love every minute of it. Julie

Carole Racionzer 2024.05.08

     

We were looking for support for my child who had finished school a few years ago, so wouldn't benefit from portfolio support via school and Julie's tutoring was exactly what was needed. Julie was patient, knowledgable and methodical in her approach. She was easy to communicate with, particularly when there was a need to work together with us to ensure work was on track. Going through the process of creating the portfolio helped to solidify that my young person was on the right path for their career. They have now accepted a place to study Costume at her preferred University. Thanks so much to Julie for supporting them to make that happen. We are absolutely delighted!

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2024.05.10

Many thanks for your review Carole, it was a pleasure working together and I am delighted that offer is what your young person is so happy with. Best wishes for her future, I'm sure she'll love every minute of it. Julie

David Russell-Douglas 2023.07.10

     

I cannot express enough gratitude for the remarkable services provided by Julie from Portfolio Oomph. From the outset, Julie demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the application process and her personalised approach tailored specifically to my daughter's aspirations and strengths made all the difference. What truly sets Julie apart is her genuine care and support. Throughout the entire process, she was approachable, responsive, and always willing to provide timely advice and reassurance. Her unwavering belief in my daughter's abilities instilled confidence and kept her motivated even during the most challenging moments. Julie's nurturing and encouraging demeanour created a nurturing environment that allowed my daughter's creativity to flourish. The transformation that Julie facilitated in my daughter's portfolio, skills, and overall approach to the application process has been truly remarkable. My daughter heads off to study her dream course in September and I wholeheartedly recommend Julie from Portfolio Oomph to any aspiring student seeking guidance and support in their pursuit of a creative career.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2023.07.11

Thank you so much for your review David. I was delighted to be able to assist and to witness your daughter's outstanding work ethic, attitude and passion for her goals. Really, it was incredible. It makes my role very rewarding to see young people flourish in their creativity and rise to meet what are great challenges in the creative world when it is so competitive with so few places. I wish her all the best with her studies and will be keeping an eye out for her name in the future! Best wishes.

Julie Spence 2023.07.10

     

Working with Julie was a pleasure. She very quickly understood our needs and the skills of our daughter. The support given was exceptional and nothing was ever a problem. As well as ending up with a terrific portfolio, our daughter has also gained a whole new set of skills and definitely grown in confidence. She achieved three unconditional offers as a result of this work. Thank you Julie, we would highly recommend you to anyone in the future.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2023.07.11

Thank you so much for your review Julie. Working together was an exciting journey and I am thrilled that Victoria had offers from both her preferred choice and others. Seeing that she's well equipped to make excellent future progress is very satisfying as a tutor and I could see her confidence grow by the day. Wishing her all the best with her future studies. I also thank you for putting your trust in my services.

The Studio 2023.04.27

     

Finding Julie was one of the best thing that happened this year. Trying to support our daughter with her Portfolio felt a little overwhelming. I am not a creative and she knew exactly what she wanted but time pressures, dyslexia and other pressures were making the process stressful. Julie listened, understood and helped her produce a portfolio that reflected the concepts, design ideas and prototypes that won her offers. She heads to Glasgow School of Art in September. We can't recommend Julie enough.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2023.04.27

Many thanks for your review - it's been an absolute pleasure working together.

I think with your daughter having a very clear journey of creation with her product designs, along with her ability to communicate her work so well, this really helped our relationship. This in turn assisted in the process to get the job done to a very high standard. Wishing her all the best at Glasgow School of Art - very well deserved. Best wishes, Julie

N Faulkner 2022.07.03

     

This is a fantastic portfolio course! After taking the course I got 2 offers from my first choice for a BA in Painting at Edinburgh as well as from DJCAD. Julie is very organised and supportive through the whole process, you can tell she cares a lot about her students. She was very helpful in explaining different parts of the projects, I really liked how each project was broken down into check lists and the zoom calls we had throughout each part of the process were beyond beneficial in keeping us productive. Julie has a lot of knowledge about what art schools are looking for and how to make your portfolio meet their expectations and requirements. She helps with personal statements and portfolio statements too. I did this course remotely which is always hard as you have to be self directed but Julie keeps in contact with you frequently and helps in organising deadlines, the way her course is structured makes things so much clearer and easier for you to plan out. As stressful as applying to art school is Julie made the creative process so enjoyable for me, I've honestly learned a lot for my own art practice through this course as well and still use some of the techniques taught in this course whenever I'm working on a personal project! Thank you so much Julie, I couldn't have done it without you!!

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2022.07.04

It's been a pleasure working with you Natasha and seeing your creativity and confidence grow.

Thank you so much for the lovely review, most appreciated.

Wishing you both HUGE congratulations on all that you've achieved this year and the very best of luck starting at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA - University of Edinburgh) in September.

Jules McKay 2022.05.17

recommends

Julie was brilliant, not only with advising my daughter, but with calming my parental nerves! She explained all the options available and the best course of action. Nothing was too much trouble and she really went out of her way to help us. Now my daughter is going to Grays School of Art in September and we can't thank Julie enough for all her support and advice. She's a lovely person and genuinely cares.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2022.05.18

Thank you so much Julie, it was an absolute pleasure to help you both navigate a tricky time. Young folk have so many options these days and that can sometime be difficult manage. I'm so pleased it's all worked out well and you and her are happy with the outcome - the best news 😀

Anna Cummins 2021.05.13

recommends

Before Portfolio Oomph I had no idea how to go about creating a portfolio but thanks to Julie’s guidance I was able to get a place at DJCAD which was my first choice! Julie was so helpful and friendly and was always there if I needed support. She really helped me understand the creative process and improve my skills as well as increasing my confidence in my work.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2021.05.19

Thank you so much Anna, it was a pleasure to support you to win your place at DJCAD! Keep in touch....best wishes, Julie x

Anna Cummins 2021.05.13

     

Before Portfolio Oomph I had no idea how to go about creating a portfolio but thanks to Julie’s guidance I was able to get a place at DJCAD which was my first choice! Julie was so helpful and friendly and was always there if I needed support. She really helped me understand the creative process and improve my skills as well as increasing my confidence in my work.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2021.05.19

Thank you for your review Anna, I'm so pleased to be able to help you get your first choice Uni. You worked so hard and totally deserve every success. Keep in touch, I'd love to see how your work develops on course at DJCAD. Best wishes, Julie

Kirsty Murray 2021.05.07

     

I really enjoyed working with Julie and the course that I took with Portfolio Oomph. Having someone who is experienced with art school applications from the university side definitely helped to make a portfolio that got me into Djcad on my 4th try. I'm very glad I contacted Julie, without her I wouldn't be preparing to go to uni this year!

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2021.05.10

Thank you so much Kirsty, I'm so pleased I was able to help you crack this one! The hard work and extreme focus really paid off and I'm thrilled for you, really, it's exciting times and I wish you all the best with your new adventure at DJCAD :-)

Sophie Lee 2020.12.23

     

The course provided by Portfolio Oomph was everything I needed, as it taught me to be to be more experimental and open to new ideas. I applied to one course (Fine Art at Newcastle University) and was offered a place, which I never would have managed to receive without Julie's guidance.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2020.12.24

Thank you Sophie, amazing results and amazing work and attitude, you did a great job. Wishing you well for your studies, best wishes, Julie

K M 2020.06.25

     

Julie at Portfolio Oomph helped take so much of the stress out of applying for University. She was always generous with her time and ready to listen. I don't know how we would have managed without her. My kid got unconditional offers from their top two universities and we feel Portfolio Oomph played a big part in that achievement.

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2020.07.13

Thank you so much - it was an absolute pleasure working together and being a part of what an astounding result! HUGE congrats for a persistent and prolonged effort. Best wishes, Julie

Zuzanna Sitko 2020.05.23

     

It was a really great experience working with Julie. Definitely worth it! I think without Portfolio Oomph I would not get to the universities that I got into so I am very thankful for that. Also it was so great to have some support through the whole application process when stress levels are the highest. Highly recommend!! :)

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Reply from Portfolio Oomph 2020.05.23

Thank you so much Zuzanna, it was a joy to work with you in achieving such fabulous results. Please do keep in touch, Julie.