B.A (Hons) - Textile Design: Fibre Art with a Foundation Year

Our BA (Hons) Textile Design degree courses nurture fresh thinking and industry-ready creatives through a dynamic and carefully structured four-year program.

Our Fibre Arts option typically appeals to students who enjoy the process of making and are interested in producing work that transcends commercial design in the form of textile art or installations aimed at gallery exhibitions. Students who take this route often enjoy working with mixed media and will choose to engage with traditional techniques such as weaving, dyeing, macramé, felting, paper-making, and many more unconventional approaches. The focus on the course is exploring and developing a clear personal identity to creative work and an understanding of where it sits within the artistic field. Alongside, you will develop the skills and confidence to apply for funding, residency and exhibition opportunities with which to build a career.

Studying with us will provide you with the skills, insights, and experiences required to succeed in a broad scope of professional textile related roles. Students secure placements with arts organizations, styling companies, galleries and within education.

By the end of your degree, you will have a clear vision of where you fit in the industry and a tailored professional portfolio to take with you. Our BA (Hons) Textile Design: Fibre Art students go on to find employment as Textile Artists, Creative Facilitators, Arts Coordinators, Designer Makers, and Curators. They also take up other roles where their material sensitivity, creativity and problem-solving are valued.

Our brand new hub for the arts in the thriving Eastside of the city has been purpose-built to stimulate creative minds within an open-access, contemporary studio environment. You will become a part of our lively and close-knit student community and be guided by an experienced and passionate team of staff who value the importance of getting to know you as an individual.

About foundation courses

This four-year program has been specifically designed to allow students who do not initially meet the entry requirements for a three-year degree, to undertake an additional level 3 study designed to ensure they are successful in their chosen degree program.

After successful completion of your foundation year, you will have the flexibility to switch (should you wish to change direction) onto a number of related undergraduate degree programs within the School of Fashion and Textiles.

What's covered in the course?

The program reflects the diversity of contemporary textile practice. We pride ourselves not only on the quality of our graduates but also the diversity of their work. We want you to be you!

Find your direction
With creativity at the heart of learning, you will develop core design and technical skills while gaining vital professional and industry awareness. The course is brimming with choice points to help you focus your experience as you clarify your personal interests.

You will be introduced to wide-ranging textile processes within the core technical areas of print, weave, knit and embroidery and embrace both digital technologies and traditional craft skills. The exciting potential of cross-disciplinary practice is supported and encouraged, giving you the option to either specialize or combine disciplines to take forward as your means of expression.

Career-focused teaching is designed to support you in identifying professional aspirations from the breadth of opportunity within a textile design and help you to further tailor your learning and portfolio towards them.

Having developed a distinctive and career-focused portfolio through the course, our unique Next Step module at the end of the final year bridges the gap between study and industry, allowing you time to put relevant strategies in place to help you achieve your ambitions with the support of the university network.