BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design

• 96 UCAS points. Please see our guide to the UCAS Tariff for examples of how to achieve these points.
• Your Level 3 subjects must include textiles or a related subject; for instance, A-level Textiles or BTEC Extended Diploma in Fashion and Textiles.
• You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent) including English Language.
• You'll be required to attend for interview and to provide a portfolio of appropriate work.
• Special consideration will be given to applicants with alternative qualifications who have a strong portfolio.
• If English isn’t your first language you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.

Want some reassurance or advice? Speak to one of our advisors. Email us at admissions@bolton.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1204 903 394.

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.

This course 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, product design, 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 to extend personal expertise into related areas. The job market is competitive so you may find that taking a one-year Master’s or professional short course, for example in computer-aided design (CAD), helps give you the edge, particularly when combined with relevant work experience, and enables you to further develop your portfolio.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use the qualification to enter a range of other careers, and for some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. They include:

• Training and education
• Industrial product design
• Museum/gallery conservation and education
• Printmaking
• Retail buying
• Journalism
• Theatre set/costume production
• Fabric technology
• Research and development

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.

The university is currently awaiting government guidelines as to EU fee charges for students commencing study in 2021-2022.

For 2021-2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year. The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021-2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Bursaries

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

We use a blended approach to teaching and learning – you’ll have face-to-face sessions and take part 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 locations such as galleries and museums, to attend presentations by our visiting speakers, and to 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 to gain a broader understanding of the position 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.

• Material Practices 1
• Material Practices 2
• Design Studies 1
• Surface Pattern: Principles and Processes
• Employability and Enterprise
• The Surface Designer: Digital Textile Design and Print
• The Surface Designer: Studio and Freelance Practice for 2D and 3D
• The Designer Maker: Research and Ideas Development
• The Designer Maker: Making for Exhibition or Sale
• Past Present and Futures: Theory into Context
• Research in Context
• Advanced Textile and Studio Practice
• Advanced Techniques and Processes
• Professional Practice and Self-Promotion
• Major Project

Assessment methods

Learning activities

Disclaimer

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.