Why choose the School of Computing, Engineering and Creative Industries
We are members of the Association of Fashion and Textiles Courses (FTC) and participate in Graduate Fashion Week, enhancing your opportunities to make creative industry connections and build employability.
Our close links with the industry and leading fashion designers mean you work on real briefs and live projects, and are encouraged to enter competitions and awards.
Our graduates have completed internships with Alexander McQueen, Mary Katrantzou, Sophia Webster, Amanda Wakeley and Jimmy Choo, to name a few.
About the course
Fashion at Bedfordshire is fun! Our course asks you to think outside the box, finding creative approaches, and negotiating conceptual and wearable designs. While providing you with technical skills alongside open and creative briefs, our highly experienced academic team encourage you to experiment and play, taking you on a journey of creative discovery and suspended disbelief. There is an emphasis on digital design skills in textile and pattern cutting as well as 3D garment design using specialist software.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Spacious studios and facilities in Alexon House, the previous home of the Alexon and Eastex fashion company
- Textile and pattern-cutting facilities with cutting tables; digital pattern cutting; and industrial sewing machines
- Access to Browzwear, the fashion industry’s leading 3D apparel design software, allowing you to use 3D modelling directly on avatar
Student experience
Our teachers are industry-experienced practitioners and academics eager to develop your creativity and technical skills, preparing you for a vibrant future in fashion.
Our course incorporates both manual and digital skills so you develop to be a well-rounded fashion practitioner, ready for industry and the professional world.
Benefit from hands-on learning in a nurturing environment with ample contact time with tutors.
Participate in Graduate Fashion Week, where students can interact with potential employers and new graduates as well as showcasing their work.
Attend weekly World of Work guest talks from a wide range of creative-industry professionals, who share insights into how to get your first job in fashion and establish yourself as an independent creative.
Join national and international trips to visit trade fairs and galleries.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Studying our Fashion Design BA (Hons) course will equip you with the in-depth knowledge and skills in the areas of fashion, art and design. In core areas of art study, you will be introduced to key theories on art and design as well as its effect on culture and society in our Context and Ideas unit. With a particular focus on fashion, you will have various opportunities to express your creativity in our Fashion Design: Exploring Materials and Methods unit by exploring ways to translate your ideas into a reality through design. Here, you will discover a variety of production methods such as pattern cutting and sewing and turning 2-D designs into 3-D while developing your understanding of industrial garment production. In addition, you will explore and experiment with a range of textiles and materials while also considering the ethical and environmental concerns behind them.
You will then get to practice this knowledge in our Fashion Design: Developing Materials and Methods unit by researching, testing and experimenting with creative production methods while also learning to manage creative risk. This is closely linked to our Thinking Through Making unit that will encourage you to take creative risks and develop an aesthetic sense through using various technologies, processes and ideas. To further deepen your insight on contemporary art and design practices, our unit in Critical and Creative Contexts will allow you to explore issues and critical debates around art and design that you will use to inform your Final Major Project: Fashion Design. This research-based project is a brilliant opportunity for your development as a designer to pursue your creative and artistic interests as you will be made to produce a fashion collection and present this to the public.
Another area of project work involves our Collaborative Enterprise unit where you will work to apply your knowledge and expertise gained throughout this course into a collaborative interdisciplinary project. To help you with the research and analytical skills needed for project work, our unit in Context and Meaning will allow you to critically examine a range of texts on art, design and visual culture while placing this theory and practice into global contexts. To diversify your skill set, our Introducing Studio Practice unit will allow you to develop discipline-specific skills and experience such as independent learning, self-confidence, collaborative working and reflection, and apply them in other areas of study.
To prepare you for your career in a professional creative role, our unit in Creative Futures will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need for a professional creative role. Whether you aspire to become a freelance artist, designer, teacher or pursue further study, this unit will support you in developing a career that suits your ambitions and interests. Furthermore, this unit will encourage you to participate in live projects, competition briefs and other group work while developing your ability to professionally present yourself and your portfolio. You will be taught how to market and self-promote your work using online media tools. To add to this, our unit in Developing Professional Practice will teach you to incorporate independence and professionalism in the presentation of your work while also developing your confidence to take creative risks.
A range of appropriate assessments will enable you to grow in confidence and demonstrate your acquisition of knowledge and skills. The formative and summative assessment methods used across the course include: Coursework to include examples of Fashion Design research sketchbooks/portfolios professional portfolio research assignments garment manufacture 3-D development essays contextual writing and blogs. Assessments based on individual and group presentations. Portfolio reviews are a key means of assessing but they are also important for collating work for a professional portfolio. This instils the right attitudes towards professional work whereby you can use your portfolio to promote yourself in professional contexts. Essays and reports feature in developing writing skills helping you to express ideas in a variety of ways and styles and to develop academic writing skills that are of particular benefit in producing the final year contextual rationale for your major project. A midpoint Formal Formative Assessment to review all work in progress Key making skills are embedded in the teaching and learning of the course and will be taken into account in all assessments.
The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow you to gain skills confidence and knowledge receive feedback and develop thus allowing you to implement this knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments. At the end of the course completion of the assessments will demonstrate your ability to analyse current art and design practice - in relation to Fashion Design - and communicate this in both written and visual formats as well as demonstrate a range of transferable skills relevant to your professional employability.
Careers
Employability and professional practice skills are integrated into the course and provide you with an awareness of the real-world context of the creative industries in general and fashion design in particular. You will be helped to develop a strategy for obtaining appropriate employment at the end of your course with a work-related learning unit that will especially help you to become more focused on managing your career. You will also be supported with the preparation of a professional portfolio including a CV and learn the social-media skills needed to promote yourself in a social-mediated art and design world.
Typical graduate destinations for Fashion Design students include work within the field of contemporary fashion and textile design as a fashion designer, fashion stylist, textile developer and selector, or pattern cutter. Many graduates also choose to work in areas related to design practice such as teaching, garment technology and production.
Previous graduates have gone on to work with Alexander McQueen, Mary Katranzou, Lulu Liu, Sopie Webster, Amanda Wakeley, Zandra Rhodes, Love Magazine and Denza International. Some of our graduates have started their own label such as Aaugust who won Young Designer of the Year at Africa Fashion Week London.
Another avenue is further study at Master's level (Level 7) in areas such as advanced design studies, accessory design, fashion business and promotion.
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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