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Fashion Buying with Design

Entry requirements


112 UCAS points from at least two A-levels or equivalent OR Pass Foundation in Art and Design

Access to HE Diploma

M:30

Pass QAA Access to Higher Education course with at least 30 level 3 credits at Merit. We will normally require students have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

26

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Fashion

Fashion design

Fashion buying requires both strong commercial understanding as well as theoretical knowledge. This course will prepare you for a diverse range of roles within the global fashion industry by developing in-depth design and buying expertise, and by gaining knowledge of the product lifecycle and critical path, current trends, selection, costing and promotion.

Learn about garment design, pattern cutting, prototyping, construction, and computer-aided design (CAD), while investigating materials, embellishments and technical approaches. We will nurture your professional practice through personal development planning, as well as guided research and critical reasoning.

The shift in fashion retailing from high street to online is driving exciting innovations, and you will develop the resilience and skills to respond to new directions in consumer demand. Our experienced academic team work alongside industry professionals to put your learning into context, ensuring that you are ready to take on the challenges of our rapidly changing industry.

**Key features:**

* We are recognised as one of the country’s most sustainable fashion and textiles schools (Green Gown Awards, 2021) and one of the best fashion schools in the world for 2022 (CEOWORLD, 2022).

* Meet and learn from successful practitioners in the fashion industry. Produce innovative designs for them and discuss your ideas.

* Gain industry-specific knowledge of the design process, from market analysis and trend prediction to pattern cutting, manufacture, assessing fit, and garment success.

* Take part in our one-year UK or global placement schemes. Fashion Buying with Design students have gained experience at Tommy Hilfiger, O'Neill, Marks & Spencer, Next, George, Joules, G-Star, River Island, The Global Brands Group, and at supply bases. Many of our graduates have gone on to work for these international brands and suppliers.

* Learn how to innovate in the design process and work towards a more sustainable future for the industry. Recent graduate Abi Harris designed a kidswear collection to educate children about plastic pollution in the ocean.

* Take advantage of international opportunities through our DMU Global programme. Students have visited Hong Kong, New York, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Porto.

* Study in the award-winning Vijay Patel Building, where our well-equipped design workshops and photography studios enable you to explore your design potential while making and testing products.

**If you are interested in advanced entry into Year 3 of this course, please visit the DMU website for the course details:** https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/pre-edu-2030/fashion-buying-with-design-ba-degree/fashion-buying-with-design-ba-degree.aspx

Modules

**First year**
Block 1: Fashion Consumer and Marketplace
Block 2: Design and Development
Block 3: Fashion Lifecycle
Block 4: Sustainable Futures

**Second year**
Block 1: Buying and Professional Practice
Block 2: Design Innovation and Sustainable Futures
Block 3: Introduction to Global Sourcing Skills
Block 4: Fashion Design Practice

**Third year**
Block 1 and 2: Sustainable Sourcing and Supply Management and Collaboration with Industry
Block 3 and 4: Major Design Project OR Major Research Project

Assessment methods

We want to ensure you have the best learning experience possible and a supportive and nurturing learning community. That’s why we’re introducing a new block model for delivering the majority of our courses, known as Education 2030. This means a more simplified timetable where you will study one subject at a time instead of several at once. You will have more time to engage with your learning and get to know the teaching team and course mates. You will receive faster feedback through more regular assessment, and have a better study-life balance to enjoy other important aspects of university life.

**Structure**
This includes design studio practice, formal lectures, group seminars, tutorials, lab work and practical workshops. There are regular tutorials and reviews which allow you to reflect and develop your work ready for your final presentation at the end of the year.

**Contact hours**
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, phase-tests, essays and reports) Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 15 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

Tuition fees

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

England
£9,250
per year
International
£15,750
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Leicester Campus

Department:

Arts, Design and Humanities

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.

77%
Fashion
77%
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

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
86%
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

79%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
85%
Course specific equipment and facilities
64%
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?

71%
UK students
29%
International students
12%
Male students
88%
Female students
59%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
D
B

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
60%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

44%
Design occupations
17%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
10%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£16k

£16k

£20k

£20k

£22k

£22k

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 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.

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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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