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BA (Hons) Textile Design

Experiment and explore the broad context and future of textile design as you develop your professional skills and personal style.

Textile Design at Norwich is for the curious, creative student who wants to explore surface, pattern, material, digital and traditional textile processes for interiors and fashion.

As textile designers you are the muse of the fashion industry driving sustainable and ethical agendas and solutions. You will design for environments, body and artefact and be agents of change in how we think about consumption, inclusivity and how we interact with the textiles that we wear and live around every day.

On our BA (Hons) Textile Design degree course you will be unconstrained by specialism, and you can explore a range of disciplines:

  • Print 
  • Knit, weave and stitch 
  • Dyeing
  • Fabric manipulation 
  • Surface embellishment 
  • Digital design and making with industry-standard equipment.

You will be encouraged to develop your own unique design language through concept, make and resolution. Taking your personal ways of seeing you will design for different contexts ensuring you are Industry ready, Trend interpretation, design development and professional presentation are key elements of the curriculum. 

Career inspiration for textile designers 

This freedom in creative practice and emphasis on visual storytelling and narrative has enabled students to win a series of awards including New Designers, Bradford Textile Society and the Angela Houston Constructed Textile Award. 

You will develop your commercial and industry understanding through lectures and workshops with textile and fashion industry guests such as Sarah Angold, Sally Ann Wood (Cath Kidston), Lis Cooke, Deborah Bowness, Karen Nicol and Margo Selby. 

The breadth of design experiences throughout the course means that Norwich is a source of talent ready for a variety of industries and careers, including:

  • Fashion 
  • Interiors
  • Theatre
  • Conservation
  • Education
  • Manufacturing

Your work will gain a wider audience through opportunities for exposure at national and international showcases, competitions and events. 

Many of our graduates establish their own businesses or have secured diverse roles in textile-related positions and beyond, including education roles in school and post-16 providers, manufacturing companies, design studios, textile conservation work and costume.

Success in awards 

Our graduates are award-winners in the UK and beyond, including the international awards hosted by the Society of Dyers and Colourists, i-Dott wallpaper awards, Bradford Textile Society Awards and The Batsford Prize.

Course information

All courses run as a blend of on-campus and digital teaching and learning, and follow current UK government safety advice. Applicants and students will be notified directly if any changes need to be made.

Typical career paths include:

  • Textile Designer
  • Designer Maker
  • Pattern Designer
  • Product Designer
  • Buyer
  • Stylist Materials Producer
  • Interior Designer
  • Researcher
  • Stationery Designer
  • Branding Executive
  • Conservator
  • Trend Forecaster

You’ll also get specialist creative careers advice from our Business and Employability Team to help support you as you plan your career.

Course Information

Institution Code: N39
Course 3 Year UCAS code: W231
Course 4 Year UCAS code: W235
Course length: 3 or 4 year options
Sandwich courses: Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 diploma), or Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 diploma), available between years 2 & 3

Marie Lorenzo

Typical UK offers

A / AS Levels – GCE
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BBB. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, Norwich University of the Arts will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.

BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject

T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade Merit or above

UAL Extended Diploma
Merit

UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit

UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit

Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass

International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 27 points

Norwich welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.

If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.

If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.

International applications

We accept qualifications from all over the world. To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.

Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).

We also accept some alternative English qualifications. Learn more about our English entry requirements.

You can email us on international@norwichuni.ac.uk if you’d like to discuss your application individually.

BA (Hons) Textile Design degree portfolio guidance

We are calling the traditional portfolio a ‘development portfolio’. This is to emphasise that what we would like to see is where you are now in your creative journey. You don’t need to spend a long time making the perfect work, as we can assess your potential from your work in progress. Your development is the most important part of your learning.

Your development portfolio should be relevant to this course, but you can include a wide range of work that shows your creativity, technical competence and understanding of innovative design.

You may wish to include some of the following:

  • Projects that demonstrate working through a design process (outcomes may be for; textile designs, wallpaper, fashion garments or accessories, costume designs, installations, set interior designs, product or graphic design, jewellery or shoe design)
  • Examples of experimental uses of materials (stitch and print, knit and crochet, colour and surface manipulation, shape, collage, repeat pattern and mixed media)
  • Drawings, paintings and/or illustrations (design concepts, technical skill, observation, imagination)
  • Mood boards (concept/ design boards)
  • Photography both as visual research and documentation of outcomes
  • Work created using Adobe Creative Suite or other appropriate design software package

Further portfolio advice and tips

Get more advice on presentation formats, layouts and when to submit your development portfolio in the application process.

2023/24 University fees for new entrants

Norwich University of the Arts will assess students’ tuition fee status using the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs

Students from the UK or Ireland and EU students with ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status will be charged ‘Home’ fees if they meet the relevant residency requirements.  They will usually be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK government, meaning that they won’t have to pay Norwich’s tuition fees upfront.

Students who do not meet the necessary residency requirements will usually be charged ‘Overseas’ fees and will not be eligible for the UK government tuition fee loan. Since 2021/22, this includes new entrants from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who do not have ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status, because the UK has now formally left the EU.

Fee status Course Annual fee
Home Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) £9,250
Overseas Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) £18,000

For Home undergraduate students starting in 2023, inflation may be applied to your fees in later years, if the UK government were to increase the fee cap beyond the current limit of £9,250 per year. If such an increase were to apply, we would confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we would limit the increase to the maximum allowed by the Office for Students.

For Overseas undergraduate students starting in 2023, inflation will be applied to your fees in later years. We will confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we will limit the increase to no more than the Office for Students’ recommended inflationary measure, which is RPI-X. RPI-X is calculated by the Office for Budget Responsibility. In setting fees for the following year, we will use the Office for Budget Responsibility’s RPI-X forecast for quarter 3 of the relevant year.

See our Fees and Funding page for further information which is also available in a downloadable format.

Financial support for UK students in 2023

Tuition fee loans and loans for living costs are usually available to UK and some EU students, as well as non-repayable Norwich University of the Arts bursaries based on family income. Find out more about applying for funding.

Four year degree – BA (Hons) Textile Design

Four year degrees offer students a chance to build on their experience within their undergraduate course of choice.

Year 0 will help to build confidence and develop subject specific practical, creative and conceptual skills – making full use of University studios and workshops.

Typical UK offers and entry requirements for Year 0 entry

GCE A/AS Levels
2 A-level qualifications at grades CC or higher. 

BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject

BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit in an art, design or media related subject

T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)

UAL Extended Diploma
An overall Pass

UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
An overall Pass

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design 
Pass

Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass

International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 24 points

Norwich welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.

If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.

Find out more

Lecturers

Hannah Auerbach George
Caroline George
Clare Sams
John Macaulay
Laura McPherson
Lizzie Kimbley
William Crisp

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