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Fashion Design with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

32-56

A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 32 - 56. Every application is considered on an individual basis. For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our General Entry Requirements pages.

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Fashion design

This fashion design course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.

**Why Study BA (Hons) Fashion Design at BNU**
**Industry-level facilities**
You will master materials, both through traditional methods and using digital software. This includes an in-house fabric and yarn store, screen printing facilities, a dye laboratory and sewing and garment production facilities.

In our professional-working studio you’ll have you own workspace which you’ll be able to turn into your own personal area, where you can bring your designs to life and surround yourself with inspiration.

We also have specialist technicians and demonstrators on site to support and share their knowledge with you.

As well as this you may also have the chance to access to our photography studios where you’ll be able to work collaboratively with photography and hair and make-up students to build your portfolio, and network like you would in the industry.

**Taught by industry**
Led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. You’ll get direct access to guest lectures, who are specialists in the sector, and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and networking opportunities.

As part of the Art, Design and Performance School at BNU, you’ll benefit from a practiced-based course, supported by contextual studies. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively across the school with other courses.

**Connections**
You could also benefit from masterclasses and industry brief opportunities, where you’ll gain an insight and feedback from current industry-leaders. For previous projects, we've collaborated with Alexander McQueen Studio, Chittleborough and Morgan, Mackintosh, Mint Velvet, New Star, British Fashion Council, UKFT and many more.

**Top-ranked**
Our fashion and textiles programmes are ranked 3rd best in the UK (The Guardian University Guide 2023) and we celebrated 95% overall student satisfaction in the 2022 National Student Survey.

Our students and graduates are also highly rated. Some of our student success includes winning a British Fashion Council scholarship, being shortlisted for Real Leather. Stay Different. International Design Competition, being a runner up for New Designers collaboration award with OPPO and being shortlisted for the Artsthread /Gucci award.

**What will I study?**
On our Fashion Design degree programme, you’ll explore the many twists and turns of fashion, as well as how to research and develop ideas to produce exciting and innovative fashion. The course cultivates new ways of making and thinking.

Creativity, innovation, holistic thinking and the development of your unique style are at the core of this fashion degree programme. The course aims to develop your knowledge and skills in fashion design on both an artistic and professional level. You will be encouraged to research, interpret and develop your own appreciation of the use of traditional techniques, new technologies, materials and innovative design solutions.

During your time with us, you’ll learn approaches that will enable you to understand the design process from concept, through design to production and product placement. You’ll delve into the core fundamentals, including 2D and 3D, advanced pattern cutting, manufacturing processes, illustration and processes and materials workshops.

Upon graduating from this fashion design degree you’ll have developed your aesthetic style, which will then lead on to the completion of a final capsule collection, and an industry ready portfolio and promotion package.

Modules

**Foundation year**
Preparing for Success: Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success: Self-development and Responsibility
Inquiry Based Learning
Introduction to Fashion, Textiles and Costume Design: Materials, Processes and Techniques

**Year one**
**Core Modules**
Design Techniques and Concepts
Materials and Process 1
Materials and Process 2
Portfolio
Contextual Studies 1

**Opportunity Modules**
2 x 10 credit year one Opportunity modules.

**Year two**
**Core Modules**
Design and Market Awareness 1
Design and Market Awareness 2
Industry brief
Professional Studies
Contextual studies 2: Research strategies

**Year three**
**Core Modules**
Research and Development
Final Major Project
Professional Practice
Creative and Professional Development
Contextual Report on Practice

Assessment methods

Majority of this degree is studio-practice based; during your time study on the fashion design course you’ll have to complete a series of modules and projects. These are designed to grow your skillset and knowledge in core areas of fashion design, such as pattern cutting and creative identity.

You’ll also be assessed though; 1:1 or small group tutorials, lectures and seminars, portfolio and presentations, written assessments, sketchbooks, group critiques and self-directed study.

By the end of your time with BNU, you’ll benefit from a full portfolio, and collection, to go to employers with.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Art, Design, and Performance

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

94%
Fashion design

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Design studies

Teaching and learning

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
98%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
88%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

61%
Library resources
76%
IT resources
70%
Course specific equipment and facilities
91%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
10%
Male students
90%
Female students
73%
2:1 or above
18%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A*
D
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Design studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£19,000
med
Average annual salary
89%
low
Employed or in further education
69%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

36%
Design occupations
12%
Media professionals
9%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Design studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

£21k

£21k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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