Design (Textiles)

Program Overview

MA Design (Textiles)

Overview

This is a practical postgraduate course in Textiles, grounded in professional development and research. You’ll produce Textiles projects in a collaborative and creative environment, working with and alongside students of Visual Communication, Graphics and Illustration, as well as Photography and other Fine Art specialisms.

What You'll Learn

• Achieve your creative potential through innovative and exciting textiles projects of a professional standard.
• Learn from accomplished design professionals and receive excellent academic and technical support.
• Work in your own studio and benefit from excellent workshop and fabrication facilities.

Course Structure

Our Master's in Textiles Design runs over one year and is divided into three trimesters.

Trimester One

• From the start of the programme we encourage playfulness and risk-taking.
• You’ll begin by making work that responds to a range of instructions in ways that will help you to interrogate your practical approach, and to learn from lecturers and other students as you progress.
• You'll develop primary and secondary research that will feed directly into your practical work and assessments, and the project that you produce will form the basis of your developing practice.

Trimester Two

• Maintaining an experimental approach, you'll consolidate what you are learning and begin to narrow your focus within your chosen pathway or subject area.
• Academic staff will help you evaluate your development and refine your approach to support your project outcome.
• You’ll be encouraged to scrutinise the way in which your project functions and engages its audience.
• With help from our excellent subject specialists, technical demonstrators and technicians, you will hone the conceptual, technical aesthetic and contextual components of your project.

Trimester Three

• In the final trimester, you will work exclusively on your Masters Project.
• This is a self-directed, double weighted practice module in which you’ll be focusing your attention on your final Degree Show.
• By this stage you will have established a line of enquiry for your practice and will be working to a proposal for the show that you have developed.
• You’ll work in the studio with increasing independence to produce a body of work that demonstrates your advanced knowledge and understanding of your professional practice.
• The final MA Show exhibition will take place at the Locksbrook campus and will be open to the public.

Course Modules

This course includes or offers the following modules:

• Research Methods
• Theory and Professional Context
• Practice 1 (Design)
• Research Practice
• Theory and Professional Practices
• Practice 2 (Design)
• Master's Project

Assessment

Your progress is evaluated by formative assessment (throughout the duration of the course) and summative assessment (at the end of each trimester), through a mixture of exhibitions, verbal/visual presentations, research folders/blogs and written assignments.

Teaching and Learning

You’ll learn through lectures, seminars, workshops, talks, individual and group tutorials, studio critiques and self-directed study.

Throughout the year visiting lecturers and professionals, designers and artists, visit the campus and give talks and seminars. You will have the opportunity to attend many of these. They will help you determine where your current practice sits within industry.

Our collaborative structure also means that you’ll learn from each other – for instance, Illustration, Photography, Textiles or Painting students might engage in debates with a range of other Art and Design students.

Technical Demonstrators, who manage our workshop facilities, provide teaching and support across a wide range of subject specialisms. Your learning is also supported by specialist librarians.

Facilities and Resources

You’ll benefit from access to comprehensive digital workshops and specialist art and design facilities, including:

• Our student service point at Locksbrook where you can purchase subsidised art and design materials, hire out equipment for free and collect Library resources
• Access to our well-stocked Library at Newton Park
• Specialist technical workshops across all of art and design
• Access to studio space where you can work on projects and refine your practice

Fees

2025 entry

• UK full time: £9,950
• UK part time: £4,975
• International full time: £18,560

Additional Course Costs

You may need to pay additional course costs over and above your tuition fees, for example, for specialist equipment or trips and visits. Please check the course Programme Document for details of any additional costs.

Funding Opportunities

Please visit our Funding pages for an overview of the funding options that may be available, including scholarships and bursaries.

Entry Requirements

We're looking for energetic and self-motivated individuals who can work on their own but also see the value in working in collaboration with others. They should enjoy asking questions and solving creative problems.

Typical offers and subject-specific requirement

You’ll need a good undergraduate degree in a design, visual communication or art specialism, or its equivalent in terms of learning or experience, and a good working knowledge of design, visual communication or art contexts.

Fundamentally, you’ll be selected on your ability to thrive on this course, as demonstrated by your portfolio and interview.

How to Apply

Ready to apply? Click the "apply now" button.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply webpages.

Interview and portfolio guidance

Interviews can be conducted onsite or online with a digital portfolio.

When to Apply

Many of our postgraduate courses have a limited number of student spaces. To avoid the disappointment of the course being full, we recommend that you apply now.

Late applications (generally those made after 31 July) will only be considered if places remain on the course.

Need more information or still have questions? Contact us to discuss your situation.

Contact Us

Admissions:

• +44 (0)

Course Leader: Andrew Southall

Email:

Related Courses

• MA Design
• MA Design (Illustration)
• MA Design (Graphics)
• MA Design (Visual Communication)

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This is a practical Master’s in textile design, grounded in professional development and research. The program encourages students to work independently and collaboratively, with and alongside students of illustration, photography, curation and other Design and Fine Art specialisms. Students will build a strong professional context for their practice, and receive excellent academic and technical support from specialist practitioners, technical demonstrators, designers, researchers, theorists, professors and lecturers. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have increased confidence and abilities, evident in their developed portfolios. They will be ready to move into industry, perhaps as a freelancer or an entrepreneur.

Outline:

The Master's in Textiles Design runs over one year and is divided into three trimesters.

Trimester one:

• Encourages playfulness and risk-taking, asking students to respond to a range of instructions in ways that will allow them to interrogate how they work.
• Students begin to gather primary and secondary research that will feed into their assessments.
• Introduces a range of key issues in design and communication practice and allows students to explore how their specialist approach relates to the wider field.
• Students begin to develop their professional practice skills such as marketing, social media, IT, collaborative working and exhibition installation.

Trimester two:

• Students maintain an experimental approach and begin to narrow their focus.
• Academic staff help students evaluate their development and refine their work to support the project outcome.
• Students are encouraged to pay greater attention to the way in which their project functions and engages its audience.
• Technical staff support students to bring their project to a level appropriate for the assessment submission.

Trimester three:

• A self-directed, double practice module leads to the final Degree Show.
• Students establish a line of enquiry, working to a proposal of their devising, which positions their work within their specialist discipline.
• Students work in the studio with increasing independence to produce a body of work that demonstrates their now advanced knowledge and understanding of their professional practice.

Course modules:

• Research Methods
• Theory and Professional Context
• Practice 1 (Design)
• Research Practice
• Theory and Professional Practices
• Practice 2 (Design)
• Master's Project

Assessment:

Students' progress is evaluated by formative assessment (throughout the duration of the course) and summative assessment (at the end of each trimester), through a mixture of exhibitions, verbal/visual presentations, research folders/blogs and written assignments.

Teaching:

Students learn through lectures, talks, taught sessions, individual and group tutorials, and studio critiques and seminars. Visiting lecturers, and seminars with external professionals and internationally renowned designers and artists, help students determine where their current practice sits within the industry. The collaborative structure also means that students learn from each other. Technical Demonstrators, who manage the workshop facilities, provide teaching and support across a wide range of subject specialisms. Students' learning is also supported by specialist librarians.

Careers:

The program aims to equip students with the professional skills necessary to succeed in their chosen specialism. Students will be ready to move into industry, perhaps as a freelancer or an entrepreneur.

Other:

• The program offers fieldwork opportunities throughout the academic year.
• Bath Spa University is one of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, providing all students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite.
• Students have access to comprehensive digital workshops and specialist art and design facilities, including:
• Specialist technical workshops across all of art and design.
• Access to studio space where they can work on projects and refine their practice.
• Locksbrook Campus is a Grade II listed building designed by Nicholas Grimshaw in 1976.
It has been transformed into an innovative, open plan space, redesigned to meet 21st century environmental standards, with technical workshops surrounded by flexible studio spaces and large social areas.
• Locksbrook has received both a RIBA South West Award 2021 and RIBA National Award 2021, recognizing and celebrating what an amazingly inspirational space it is to come together to design, make, do, create and learn in.

2024 entry Student Annual tuition fee UK full time £9,520 UK part time £4,760 International full time £17,760