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BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year

BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year

Award

BA (Hons)

Start Date

To be confirmed

Duration

4 years

Mode

Full-time

Location

University of Bolton

UCAS Points

48

UCAS Code

W235

This multi-disciplinary degree explores surface design and textiles for fashion, interiors, contemporary craft and design-led products. Our students have an impressive history of success in national and international competitions. Our industry-experienced, dedicated team will nurture your skills in traditional practices and innovative digital processes, ready for a career in professional design.

Apply Now Download Prospectus Programme Specification

Course Overview

Textiles and surface design is a fast-moving global industry encompassing a wide range of commercial contexts – from fashion fabrics and accessories, through stationery products and packaging, to interior fabrics and wall coverings, as well as contemporary gallery/design-led pieces. The creative and challenging BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year degree at the University of Bolton is taught by a dedicated and passionate team with extensive professional experience in researching, designing, creating, selling and exhibiting textile/surface design work. We understand the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed as a professional designer and impress potential employers and clients in the wider textile and surface design arena.

Starting with foundation studies that offer a structured introduction to a wide range of materials, processes and techniques, we’ll support you as you develop your own line of visual enquiry, explore different areas of art and design, and develop a sound portfolio of creative work.

Throughout the course, our intensely practical approach aims to help you gain a broad portfolio of traditional and digital design skills. You’ll have space to experiment with different approaches, materials and techniques, and we’ll support and encourage you to cross the boundaries of textile disciplines and develop your own innovative approaches to designing and making. Historical and contextual studies help to underpin your practical knowledge and provide sources of inspiration.

Our professional design studios are equipped with workspaces and high-specification facilities for printed and dyed textiles, digital fabric, wallpaper and ceramic printing, laser cutting and etching, embroidery, fabric manipulation, non-woven textiles, and computer-aided design are available.

We’ll also support you to develop commercial awareness and entrepreneurial skills, including how to market, exhibit, work with design studios and set up in business, ready for success within the industry, contemporary gallery/craft environments. This degree will also enable you to look at alternative career choices within arts education or the wider creative industries.

Alternatively, on successful completion of the foundation level, you can transfer to one of our related art and design degrees, such as animation and illustration, fashion, fine art, graphic design, or photography. You can also explore transferring to another subject area offered by the University of Bolton, such as film FX or games art.

Highlights

Key Features

Entry Requirements

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

Career Opportunities

Our BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year degree is designed to develop your practical skills and equip you to be a successful designer. As a graduate of this programme, some of the key skills you will possess include your creative ability, project management skills, IT and technical skills, ability to work independently, interpretation of materials, and commercial awareness. You’ll also be able to critically evaluate and interpret materials, research designs, predict trends and communicate with clients, manufacturing staff, buyers and retailers.

The opportunity to visit galleries and museums, design studios and manufacturers, as well as fashion and textile trade fairs in the UK, Europe and USA, will broaden your understanding of commercial practice. Links with industry, including enterprise activities, professional exhibitions, live projects, national design competitions, and optional work placements, will enhance your learning experience.

What can I do with this qualification?

You can work in the textiles industry or use your creative flair and ability to generate ideas and concepts to match a brief in many other sectors. Graduates are currently using their experience to pursue careers as studio designers, in fashion retail roles, interior design, illustration, as self-employed designer-makers and entrepreneurs, and as teachers in educational establishments or art gallery environments. Others progress to self-employment, often designing and producing work for exhibitions, direct sale, or through retail craft outlets.

Postgraduate study provides the opportunity to develop and experiment with ideas and techniques and extend personal expertise into related areas. The job market is competitive, so you may find that taking a master’s degree or professional short course that enables you to develop your portfolio further, for example, our MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice, helps give you the edge, particularly when combined with relevant work experience.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. They include:

  • Training and education
  • Arts marketing and events
  • Retail buying
  • Visual merchandising
  • Museum/gallery conservation and education
  • Journalism
  • Theatre set/costume production
  • Fabric technology
  • Research assistant
Fees & Funding

Home/EU Fees

Year of study Total
Entry Year 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29
2024-25 £9,250 £9,250 £9,250 £9,250 - £37,000
2025-26 -

International Fees

Year of study Total
Entry Year 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29
2024-25 £15,950 £15,950 £15,950 £15,950 - £63,800
2025-26 -

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2024-25 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

How to apply

Home Applicants

If you wish to apply to multiple institutions or courses for September, then apply through UCAS

You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £27. Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's fee of £22.50 is applicable.

The online application form and guidance notes are available on the UCAS website.

You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:

  • Institution Code Name: BOLTN

  • Institution Code Number: B44

UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Tel: 0870 1122211
Web: www.ucas.com

International Applicants

The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world. We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.

This course is not currently accepting international online applications.

Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Partner Organisation Applicants

Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Teaching & Assessment

We use a blended approach to teaching and learning – you’ll have face-to-face sessions and participate in online learning. Studio and computer suite-based activities are important features of the programme, alongside lectures, seminars and practical-based workshops in printed, embroidered and embellished textiles. We encourage you to participate in visits to galleries and museums, attend presentations by our visiting speakers, and go on location for drawing and visual research. You’ll also engage in self-directed study, with support from a range of staff, including technicians and library/learning resources staff.

Module briefs include a wide range of activities such as commercially-based design projects, live briefs, competitions and commissions, and self-initiated projects. In addition, there are opportunities for collaborative design briefs that involve working with students from other areas of art and design. The sharing of ideas and practices across disciplines helps you gain a broader understanding of textiles and surface design in the wider creative and global art and design-based industries.

In terms of assessment, you’ll have formative assessment to help you learn and develop your knowledge and skills, and summative assessment on which you are graded. You’ll receive individual help and advice on your personal work in one-to-one tutorials. Peer reviews, where you present your work to a small group of your fellow students for their comment, also provide useful feedback.

Formal assessment is by coursework. This may involve you presenting your portfolio of drawings/design work, textile samples or practical outcomes, along with a supporting sketchbook of developmental ideas, technical note files, and a written research journal. It can also take the form of essays, reports, verbal presentations, assignments, projects and other written work.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

  • Creative Responses
  • Information and Interpretation
  • Preparation and Progression
  • Specialist Project
  • Material Practices 1
  • Material Practices 2
  • Surface Pattern: Principles and Processes
  • Design Studies 1: Critical Theory into Practice
  • Material Innovation: Concept, Practice and Process
  • Studio Practice: Concept, Design and Realisation
  • Professional Studio Practices
  • Design Studies 2: Critical Theory
  • Advanced Textiles and Surface Design Practice
  • Design Studies 3: Research in Context
  • Professional Practice and Self Promotion for Textiles and Surface Design
  • Major Project

Assessment methods

Level Assessment method
Level 0 Coursework 93%
Practical exams 7%
Level 1 Coursework 100%
Level 2 Coursework 100%
Level 3 Coursework 100%

Learning Activities

Level Activity
Level 0 Guided independent study 55%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 45%
Level 1 Guided independent study 53%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 47%
Level 2 Guided independent study 68%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 32%
Level 3 Guided independent study 68%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 32%

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.

Postgraduate Options

Programme Contacts

Help Centre

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Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant