University of Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton. BL3 5AB
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Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
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Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
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University of Bolton, why we are the right choice
Location - Bolton, Greater Manchester
Our BA (Hons) Fashion (Top-up) course responds to contemporary practice in the fashion industry and is ideal if you’ve already completed a related foundation degree or HND. If you wish to pursue a career within the wider scope of fashion, our course offers you honours-level skills and knowledge. Individual self-expression is balanced with the need to understand commercial design and manufacturing processes, and an awareness of key critical issues affecting the industry.
Award:
BA (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Part-time
Duration:
2 years
Location:
University of Bolton
Start date:
To be confirmed
We’ll support you to enhance your existing foundation degree or HND-level knowledge and skills, ready to achieve the status of BA (Hons) Fashion (Top-up) graduate. You can study key aspects of fashion and boost your employability.
At honours-level, we’ll focus on supporting the development of your personal studio-based practice, and helping you gain critical inquiry and research skills to inspire your work and enhance its quality and relevance. We’ll encourage you to explore the cultural, historical, theoretical and conceptual elements of fashion to enrich your knowledge and understanding of forecasted trends, fashion design history, commercial design and manufacturing processes, and material understanding.
Our experienced and dedicated staff will support you as you work to demonstrate your skills in pattern cutting, garment manufacture, fashion illustration and visualisation techniques, and the application of surface design and embellishment by creating a portfolio and sample garments to impress potential employers. We’ll encourage you to balance your individual creative expression with industry awareness for the production of innovative fashion outcomes.
We’ll also focus on helping you develop your visual display, promotion and fashion communication skills, to help give you the edge when giving professional pitches and succeed at interviews.
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.
If you're excited at the thought of a career in fashion, one which shows off your creative flair and drive for contemporary design, this course could be the perfect stepping stone for you. As a BA (Hons) Fashion (Top-up) degree graduate, you’ll possess a range of practical and transferable skills such as technical drawing, pattern cutting, tailoring, sewing and the use of digital technology, as well as communication skills, self-promotion, creativity, commercial awareness and teamwork.
During your studies, you’ll be expected to spend time following and observing the latest fashion trends, consumer behaviour regarding buying fashion, brand awareness and ethical issues facing the industry. You’ll also be encouraged to develop a portfolio that will be crucial when you apply for employment.
Completing your honours-level studies should prove valuable in helping you achieve your career goals.
There are many opportunities in the fashion industry in the UK and overseas. These range from top designers in well-established studios to high street retailers and manufacturing and supply companies. Employment opportunities vary and some of the typical roles you might consider include: fashion designer, CAD designer, pattern cutter, garment technologist, colourist and trend forecaster.
You could also study for a master’s qualification. Popular options at the University of Bolton include our MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice, MA Arts Management, MA Applied and Community Arts and MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and postgraduate study may be required. These careers include:
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2023-2024 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 details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
We use a blended approach to teaching and learning. You’ll have face-to-face sessions and workshops and take part in online learning. Studio and computer suite-based activities are important features of the course, alongside lectures, seminars and practical-based workshops. We'll encourage you to participate in visits to locations such as factories, galleries and museums, go on garment research trips and attend presentations by our visiting speakers. You’ll also be expected to 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 creative areas within the Bolton School of the Arts. The sharing of ideas and practices across disciplines helps you to gain a broader understanding of the position of fashion in the wider creative and global creative 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, samples or practical outcomes, along with supporting design work 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 93%, Practical exams 7% |
Level | Learning activity |
---|---|
Level one | 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.
L.Banks@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903299
E.Fazackerley@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903545
enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903903