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Interior Design and Decoration

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C

Typical offer of grades BBC (112 UCAS points), one of which must be from a relevant subject.

Access to Higher Education Diploma in a relevant design subject is acceptable for entry. You will need 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3. QAA accredited course required.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

28

A minimum of 15 points at the higher level and a minimum of 4 points in English.

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

DMM

DMM with portfolio interview

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,D,D

A minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of four passes at Higher level at grade C or above.

UCAS Tariff

112

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

Present a portfolio

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

6 years | Part-time | 2024

Subject

Interior design and architecture

**Why study this course?**

The course enables you to embrace material exploration for decorative interior environments. It will draw upon the wide range of contexts within the interiors industry, covering domestic, retail, exhibition, hotel, leisure and public spaces.

**More about this course**

The Interior Design and Decoration BA course enables you to embrace material exploration for decorative interior environments. It draws upon the wide range of contexts within the interiors industry, covering domestic settings, retail, exhibition, hotel, leisure and public spaces.

Through the design projects of Year 1 and the studios of Years 2 and 3 you will investigate private, community, commercial and sustainable interior environments, you will consider the spatial and material relationships within a building envelope of surface, furniture, artefacts and textiles. You will develop both graphic and applied decorative making skills to enable the testing, sampling and representation of your ideas.

Using our School of Art, Architecture and Design's workshop facilities and expertise, you will work with different materials (hard and soft) and mark-making approaches to experiment and collaborate with students and experts across a range of related disciplines, including furniture, upholstery, textiles and metals. You'll utilise a breadth of material techniques with traditional and digital workshop processes.

Historically, decorative designers have expressed through their work the latest advances in fashion and technology, in step with vogues and trends that colour our material culture and vernacular history.

Important archives are kept with institutions such as the V&A, Geffrye Museum and Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) which allow us to research sources, methods and approaches for contemporary practice.

You will have the opportunity to explore and develop ideas for historic and modern contexts, acquiring knowledge of graphic skills and composition, fabrication techniques, manufacturing processes, mark-making, material exploration and practice for the intimate and private, or public scales of interior decoration. As developing designers you will use this knowledge to develop sensory and aesthetically sophisticated decorative environments that communicate emotionally, culturally, socially and physically with your audience.

Throughout the course you will be asked to consider and position yourself, your skills and your interests in relation to the industry to develop a portfolio that expresses your individual practice. The course operates within a programme of related interior design undergraduate awards, bringing together best practice from related fields. Three cognate BA awards (Interior Architecture and Design, Interior Design, Interior Design and Decoration) enables students to explore the fundamental aspects of design for interiors, through the lens of the built environment, the client, and/or decoration and detailing.

**What our students say**

"An engaging course and projects that are highly competitive. Great links to people in the industry up-to-date information about the architecture and design world, and great projects led by real clients."

"Flexible, independent and intellectually stimulating."

"...tutors always help with any difficulties you might have... you have the opportunity to meet wonderful people, a friendly environment and much more..."

"Teachers are very helpful and always there for you, you feel very welcome and there's a very friendly atmosphere."

"The course was excellent."

National Student Survey

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through formative, summative, diagnostic, peer and self-assessment methods to studio based work, workshops, and CAD and digital projects and exercises.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£19,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£19,250
per year
International
£19,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£19,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Aldgate

Department:

School of Art, Architecture and Design

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.

81%
Interior design and architecture

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

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
86%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
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

71%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
66%
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?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
10%
Male students
90%
Female students
89%
2:1 or above
14%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
C

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
93%
med
Employed or in further education
55%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

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.

£13k

£13k

£19k

£19k

£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 is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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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Course location and department:

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):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the 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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here