Careers

Head and shoulders shot of Olivia Welsh outside with pink-leaved trees behind her

Designers from industry came to our lessons - high-end like Antony and Alison as well as from companies like Marks and Spencer, so we learned about different ends of the design world.

Olivia Welsh,, BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduate and founder of Olivia Annabelle

Our BA (Hons) Fashion Design degree will support you to gain a range of industry experience and insight so you can pursue roles suited to your skills, talents and aspirations.

As well as getting career-ready with your own personal portfolio, you'll be able to engage with contemporary fashion issues such as sustainability and gender neutrality.

Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters . Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

What can you do with a Fashion Design degree?

What have other Fashion Design students gone on to do?

Where have other Fashion Design students found work experience?

Teaching and modules

You’ll join a dynamic fashion course that inspires creative, innovative, market driven and technical confidence, inspiring you to challenge the conventions of practice.

Wendy Moody, , Course Director

You’ll start by getting to grips with the basics: pattern-cutting and construction, drawing, fashion illustration and digital image-making.

As well as building upon these skills and developing your trademark style and portfolio throughout the rest of the course, you’ll explore fashion promoting and marketing, learn about responsibility and sustainability in fashion, and gain valuable experience, so you can graduate with a full understanding of the industry.

You’ll round off your degree with a specialist Major Project, bringing together everything you’ve learned while enhancing your employability and enterprise skills.

Alexandra Pantovich – Graduate Fashion Week
Klaudia Wypych – Graduate Fashion Week
Shaunah Ivers – Graduate Fashion Week
Sienna Slade – Graduate Fashion Week
Alyx Salmon (photo by Julia Freitas)
Amanda Navickaite (photo by Julia Freitas)
Ana Pina Sousa (photo by Julia Freitas)
Claudia Jurado van Hemelrijck (photo by Julia Freitas)
Julia Skonieczna (photo by Julia Freitas)

What will I study?

Modules are subject to change and availability, and may vary by location. If you have the choice of optional modules, these are indicated with a *.

Year 1

Cut, Form and Construction
Design: Visual and Material Practice
Visual Communication and Portfolio
Sustainable Design and Innovation Practice
Into ARU

Year 2

Design and Professional Practice
Fashion Communication, Promotion and Events
Ruskin Module (15 credits)
Critical Issues and Debates
3D Digital Fashion and Innovation
Contemporary Cut and Realisation

Year 3

Fashion Concept: Pre-Collection
Final Collection and Professional Portfolio
Research Project *
Working in the Creative Industries *

Module details

To prepare you for university study, you can take a foundation year at the start of this course. Find out more about foundation years.

Year 1

Interactive Learning Skills and Communication
Information and Communication Technology
Creative Workshops 1
Approach to Design
Critical and Contextual Studies
Creative Workshops 2
Specialist Project
Composition and Style

Module details

You can choose to take an optional placement year as part of this course. Placements typically happen in Year 3, and your course will take four years overall. Find out more about placement years.

Placement year

Work Placement - Cambridge School of Art

Module details

What happens on a foundation year?

What happens on a placement year?

How is Fashion Design assessed?

What equipment will I need?

Who teaches Fashion Design at ARU?

Read profiles of teaching and research staff on this course.

Dr Wendy Moody
Senior Lecturer
Mark Hart
Senior Lecturer
Sarah Graham
Lecturer

Facilities

All our Fashion Design students benefit from a full range of facilities including:

dedicated fashion workshops and studios
specialist machines including Jersey cover sewing machine; Bias binder machine; overlocker machines; buttonhole and bar tack machines; walking foot machine for heavy duty fabrics including leather; heat presses for textile work; Saori looms; knitting machines and ribber; embroidery machines with Wilcom software; seam-sealing machine; long arm quilter; Monti Antonio heat press; Gerber system
Mac and PC suites with the latest industry-standard software
photography and media facilities and studios
professional equipment loans.

Entry requirements

UK students

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

Other equivalent qualifications may be accepted for entry to this course; please email [email protected] for further information. Applicants to undergraduate courses can also check our information about undergraduate entry qualifications.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

We don't accept AS level qualifications on their own for entry to our undergraduate degree courses. However for some degree courses a small number of tariff points from AS levels are accepted as long as they're combined with tariff points from A levels or other equivalent level 3 qualifications in other subjects.

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

Important additional notes

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

You'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course.

International students

English language requirements

Portfolio review

Making you an offer

Fees and funding

UK students

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

If you start a course on or after 1 August 2023, you won't repay anything until you earn more than £25,000. This is called repayment Plan 5. At this point, you'll repay 9% on everything you earn over £25,000. After 40 years (from the April after graduation), all remaining debt is wiped.

If you started a course on or before 31 July 2023, you won't repay anything until you earn more than £27,295. This is called repayment Plan 2. At this point, you'll repay 9% on everything you earn over £27,295. After 30 years (from the April after graduation), all remaining debt is wiped.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£9,535 UK students starting 2025/26 (full-time, per year)

If you're a UK student, you don't need the money to pay for university now.

If you accept an offer to study at university, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your course fees.

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan. Part-time students should be studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

You'll start repaying the loan in the April after you graduate.

For example for students who are on repayment Plan 5:

If you earn £25,500, you'll repay £45 a year or £3.75 a month
That's because £25,500 is £500 above the threshold, and 9% of £500 is £45.

What you repay depends on how much you earn after university. The more you earn, the more you pay back.

For more information about student loans, see our undergraduate student finance page.

This information also applies to:

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from citizens’ rights under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.

£1,400 Placement year (2024-25)

International students

Placement year fee

Additional course costs

Living costs

Bursaries, sponsorship and working

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Fashion Design

BA (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Careers

Teaching and modules

Student work

BA (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Facilities

Entry requirements

BA (Hons)

Important additional notes

With foundation year

Important additional notes

With placement

Important additional notes

International students

English language requirements

Fees and funding

BA (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

BA (Hons)

With foundation year

With placement

Apply for Fashion Design

Clearing places available

UK students

01245 686868

UK students

International students

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