Two models wearing black and white dresses standing in front of an orange background.

BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles (with Foundation Year)

Entry year
2025/26
Course code
W23F
Application
UCAS
Level
Undergraduate
School
School of Arts
Tariff points
72
Campus
City Campus
Duration
Four years
Delivery
Full-time
Programme leader
Mary Murphy

This course is open for applications

Introduction

Learn how to design and manufacture fabrics, garments and fashion related products and specialise in fashion design, textile design or fashion futures.

Why study fashion textiles?

Fashion textiles is the largest of the UK creative industries; designers and creatives in this field are globally recognised for their skills and innovation. Today's fashion and textile designers are agile creatives exploring new ideas and solutions across all areas of contemporary culture.

Why UWE Bristol?

BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles teaches you about all areas of fashion textiles, from the design and production of textiles through to the design and manufacture of fashion product. You'll develop projects through fashion design, textile design or fashion textile futures outcomes.

You'll engage in studio, technical and digital skills development, as well as a core pattern cutting curriculum to support the translation of your ideas from 2D to 3D.

Develop skills and creative approaches to enable you to explore and re-think the role and impact of fashion textiles on the world around us.

You'll be supported to develop your professional and entrepreneurial skills through our Professional Practice modules. You'll also work with industry experts on live studio briefs and gain hands-on experience by undertaking an optional year in industry.

You'll study at City Campus; our creative powerhouse spanning Bristol, where you'll have access to dedicated studio spaces, specialist workshop facilities, and extensive library resources. It consists of Bower Ashton and renowned contemporary arts centres Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.

Showcase your work at high profile national and international events such as London Fashion Week, Graduate Fashion Week and The British Fashion Council's Graduate Preview Day.

Where can it take me?

Many of our graduates go on to secure successful careers with high profile designers and companies like Craig Green, Matthew Williamson, Cos and Victoria Beckham.

Choose from a wide range of roles such as fashion designer, textile designer, product developer, pattern cutter, studio manager or fashion buyer. Some graduates set up their own businesses or go onto postgraduate study and research. Developing professional, research and enterprise skills, you can shape the course in the direction you want to go in. Whatever you choose to do, our team of subject experts and careers Service are there to support you.

Follow UWE Fashion on Instagram.

Amy and Michalis are changing the future of fashion.

Read how one of our former students won the prestigious Venture Ready Award after setting up her sustainable fashion business, AKN JEANS.

Have a look at some of our students' latest work in our 2021 yearbook, 2022 yearbook, 2023 yearbook and 2024 yearbook.

The image above shows the fantastic work from one of our students (Alice Davis, 2023 Fashion Textiles graduate).

Watch: Welcome to the School of Arts at UWE Bristol

Structure

Content

The optional modules listed are those that are most likely to be available, but they may be subject to change.

Year zero (foundation year)

You'll study:

  • Academic Skills
  • Developmental Projects: Building a Creative Identity
  • Foundation Project
  • Observation and Making.

You normally need to pass your foundation year before going into year one.

Year one

Focuses on creativity and gives you the creative tools to generate, test and explore your ideas. Projects are designed to encourage experimentation with ideas, processes and materials. You’ll work across all areas of Fashion Textiles, including textile print, knit, computer aided design (CAD), pattern cutting, garment construction –and the translation of your ideas from 2D – 3D. 

Year two

Builds on the skills developed in year one. You'll further develop your understanding of industry standard protocols and approaches. This includes making skills, 2D – 3D skills, advanced garment analysis, computer aided design (CAD), market research and skills to support students holistic development.

Placement year (if applicable)

If you study on the four year (sandwich) course, you'll spend a year away from the University on a work placement after year two. See the Placements and Fees sections for more information.

Final year

You'll apply, build on and synthesise your previous learning and skills to develop an ambitious extended body of design and 2D or 3D work. You're encouraged to explore expanded and interdisciplinary approaches to the production of fashion and textiles. Your work will be guided by professional practice support.

This structure is for full-time students only. Part-time students study the same modules but the delivery pattern will be different.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.

Learning and Teaching

This practice-based course offers learning in design studios and technical resource centres. You’ll engage in individual projects and collaborative briefs, with on-campus studio sessions averaging two days a week.

Teaching methods include studio teaching, Design tasks, technical workshops, lectures, seminars, and tutorials. You’ll produce a range of outcomes, such as 2D Design Work, 3D garments, textile collections, technical sampling, sketchbooks, essays, reports, presentations, and CAD work.

After induction into technical workshops, you’ll be able to access resources independently and work on set briefs, creative tasks and projects.

You’ll explore graduate opportunities, develop enterprise skills, and participate in live projects, industry briefs, competitions, and placements. In the final year, you’ll develop a body of work tailored to your creative and professional interests.

Guest lecturers and industry experts provide professional input. You’ll get to showcase your work at high-profile events like our annual Degree Show, Graduate Fashion Week and London Fashion Week Digital.

See our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

Study time

In a typical week in your first year, you could expect to be timetabled with academic staff for an average of 12 hours, with the expectation that you'll also work on practice and assessment tasks through independent self-study for an additional 12 -18 hours. 

Assessment

There are no exams on this course and you'll be assessed through design-based course work, presentations, written assignments and research projects.

Learn more about assessments.

Features

Placements

Professional practice is key to this course and you'll have an opportunity to do a work placement at every level to develop your professional skills. You'll also build your network as you progress through the course and learn how to promote and position yourself, and how build a compelling portfolio to take to employers.

If you choose the four year (sandwich) course, you'll spend a year away from the University on a work placement after year two. Past students have completed Internships with fashion labels such as JW Anderson, Iris Van Herpen, Erdem, Vivienne Westwood and Helen Kirkham.

Get help to find your placement and support throughout from staff within the School and our award-winning careers service.

Study exchange

Broaden your perspective by taking part in our international or European exchange programme, spending a semester at one of our partner universities. Partner universities abroad.

Increase your confidence, intercultural communication skills and boost your employability.

Explore our study abroad pages to find out more.

Fieldwork

Go on regular trips to London and other major cities so you can source new materials and conduct research in galleries, museums and archives.

Visit Trade Shows, Archives and undertake In-Store visits to broaden your knowledge and inspire your creative development. 

Study facilities

Learn at our City Campus, with access to some of the best technical and creative resources in the country.

Construct garments in our industry standard sample and sewing room and develop technical skills in knit and digital embroidery. Access printed textiles rooms with facilities for screen print, dyeing, fabric manipulation, embellishment and decoration, plus digital, photo and heat transfer printing.

Experiment with materials, alternative forms and wearables in our physical making studios. Bring 2D ideas to life in our print centre, using the latest equipment for screen printing, etching, digital printing and lithography.

A mix of traditional and hands-on learning environments helps you quickly take on essential knowledge and skills, standing you in good stead for your professional career.

Learn more about UWE Bristol's facilities and resources.

Take a personalised virtual tour of the Fashion facilities and experience what a typical day could look like here for you.

Jade Jackson: Student Showcase

Hear from BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles graduate, Jade Jackson, about their Extended Study Project.

Life

Accommodation

An excellent range of options for all of the Bristol campuses and the city centre.

Bristol

A stunning city for student living with all the qualities to make you want to stay.

Sports, societies and activities

There is more to your experience here than study. Choose to make the most of it and try new things.

Health and Wellbeing

We provide support in the way you need it.

Campus and facilities

Discover our campuses and the wealth of facilities provided for our students.

Careers

Careers / Further study

You'll benefit from regular professional input from guest lecturers. Past speakers include Phoebe English, Eric Bremner, Creative Director at MaxMara; Iain Ewing, Head of Design Womenswear and Accessories at John Lewis; Jenny Postle-Cope, Womenswear Designer at Missoni; Richard Malone, Bethany Williams, Rottingdean Bazaar, Fashion East; and Frances Walker, Creative Design Consultant of Menswear at French Connection.

As well as making sure that the course reflects industry, experts come in to present and deliver live briefs. Recent collaborative partners include Phoebe English, Henri Lloyd, Cos, Shield 360 Workwear, Topshop, Mulberry and Next Sourcing.

Showcase your work at some of the UK’s highest profile Graduate Events such as Graduate Fashion Week, British Fashion Council Graduate Preview Day and London Fashion Week Digital. Our degree show showcases our most exciting graduate work in art, design, filmmaking and media. We also encourage you to show work on and off-line throughout the course and will help you develop the skills to do this. See our showcase of student work from the BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles course at UWE Bristol.

Our graduates progress into three main professional contexts; industry, enterprise development or research and postgraduate study.

You could build a career with a high-profile company like Craig Green, Erdem, Superdry, H&M and Levi's in roles such as fashion designer, textile designer, garment technologist, product developer, pattern cutter or fashion buyer. Or you might choose to set up your own businesses or go onto postgraduate study and research to develop your practice.

The course is structured to enable you to realise your ambitions and shape the course in the direction you want to go in. Whatever you choose to do, our team of subject experts and careers service are there to support you.

Get inspired

Our award-winning careers service will develop your employment potential through career coaching and help find you graduate jobs, placements and global opportunities.

We can also help find local volunteering and community opportunities, provide support for entrepreneurial activity and get you access to employer events.

Visit our Graduate destinations pages to learn more about careers, employers and what our students are doing six months after graduating.

Fees*

There is currently no published fee data for this course.

Supplementary fee information

*The UK Government recently proposed that tuition fees for Home students will increase by 3.1% to £9,535 from 1st August 2025. This increase is subject to Parliamentary approval and the vote is expected to take place later this year.

Any tuition fee which is impacted by this change will be updated following approval.

Please see GOV.UK for further information.

Your overall entitlement to funding is based on how long the course is that you're registered on. Standard funding is allocated based on the standard number of years that your course lasts, plus one additional year.

You'll apply for funding each year that you study and Student Finance will take into account how long the course is in each year that you apply. So if you register for the five year course and then transfer to the four year course, the number of years you can apply for funding will change. Student Finance will reassess your funding based on how many years you have been in study, not just those years for which you received student finance.

Always seek advice before taking any action that may have implications for your funding.

Learn more about funding.

Additional costs

Additional costs are for items you could need during your studies that aren't covered by the standard tuition fee. These could be materials, textbooks, travel, clothing, software or printing.

Learn more about costs.

Entry

Typical offers

  • Tariff points: 72
  • Contextual tariff: See our contextual offers page.
  • GCSE: Grade C/4 in English, or equivalent.
  • English Language Requirement:

    International and EU applicants are requirement to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 5.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*).

    *The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Please visit our English language requirements page.

  • A-level subjects: No specific subjects required.
  • Relevant subjects: Art and Design; Fashion; Textiles.
  • EDEXCEL (BTEC) Diploma: No specific subjects required.

    For information on required Guided Learning Hours please see our minimum entry requirements page.

  • Access: No specific subjects required.
  • Baccalaureate IB: No specific subjects required.
  • Irish Highers: No specific subjects required.
  • Welsh Baccalaureate: We accept tariff points achieved from the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales in conjunction with other Level 3 qualifications.
  • Cambridge Technical: No specific subjects required.
  • T Levels: No specific subjects required.

Selection process

Applicants studying a relevant subject from the list above, at A Level (or an accepted equivalent) may not be required to submit a portfolio. 

Those applicants required to submit a portfolio for review, will be notified and given three weeks to produce a digital portfolio. 

Applicants may be invited for an online interview if we have any further questions about your portfolio. 

For more details on the process, please visit our selection page.

Entry requirements

If you exceed the entry requirements you may be eligible for BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles.

International applicants

For country specific entry requirements please find your country on the country information pages.

Read more about entry requirements.

How to apply

Read more about undergraduate applications.

Read more about international applications and key international deadline dates.

For further information

Unistats

UWE Main Campus

Full Time

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