University of Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton. BL3 5AB
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Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.”
Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
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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.
Award:
BA (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Part-time
Duration:
4.5 years
Location:
University of Bolton
UCAS points:
96
UCAS code:
W231
Start date:
25/09/2023
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 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.
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.
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.
Our BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design 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.
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.
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:
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £6,000 for the academic year 2023/24.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 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.
For 2022-2023 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 2022-2023 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton BA(Hons) Textiles and Surface Design - 25 September 2023
As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.
We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.
For valued members of the University of Bolton Group and progressing students, we try to make our application process as simple and as fast as possible.
By selecting the link for your chosen course from the list shown below, you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this, and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your personal statement when you apply.
When you are asked to add a contact email address, please ensure you add your college/university email account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact address, we will be unable to identify you as a partner and offer you the benefits of being part of our group.
If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.
Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.
If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select the correct application link from the list below.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including email addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton BA(Hons) Textiles and Surface Design - 25 September 2023
We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!
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.
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.
Level | Assesment method |
---|---|
Level one | Coursework 100% |
Level two | Coursework 100% |
Level three | Coursework 100% |
Level | Learning activity |
---|---|
Level one | Guided independent study 53%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 47% |
Level two | Guided independent study 68%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 32% |
Level three | Guided independent study 68%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 32% |
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.
The academic staff detailed above teach across a range of courses in this subject area and may not teach on this course specifically.
D.Claypool@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903370
enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903903
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton