Program Overview

Our Textiles (including foundation year) BA (Hons) degree has a built-in foundation year that will give you the chance to explore broader art subjects alongside textiles and textile design during a preparatory foundation year. It’s an ideal choice if you can’t meet the entry criteria for a standard three-year degree in textile design.

Your foundation year will allow you to experiment with a wide range of media and approaches before going on to specialise in your subsequent years of study when you will study the same course content as students on our traditional three-year textiles course.

Our Textiles courses saw high results across the board for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2021. They received scores of 95% for the teaching, 93% for learning opportunities, 93% for assessment and feedback, 97% for academic support and 90% for organisation and management.

You’ll begin your foundation year with small-scale studio and workshop projects that combine visual imagery and practical making before undertaking projects that focus more specifically on textiles later in the year.

You’ll have the chance to explore woven, constructed and printed textiles alongside other textiles and fashion related processes such as fashion drawing, pattern designing and cutting, and photography.

You’ll also attend a series of lectures and seminars that explore creative practice within historical, contemporary, conceptual and cultural contexts.

As a creative practitioner, it is important to have regular opportunities to reflect on your work and gain feedback from others, so throughout your course you will present your work to fellow students and lecturers who will help you on your creative journey and provide vital artistic direction.

There will also be opportunities to expose your work to the public during our annual summer exhibition at the end of year.

By the end of your foundation year you’ll have produced a substantial portfolio of work and be well-equipped to study textiles at undergraduate level.

Following your foundation year (year 0), you will study the same modules and content as students on our Textiles BA (Hons) degree.

Should you decide during your foundation year that you’d rather specialise in a different area of art or design, we will provide you with the flexibility to do this.