Program Overview

BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology

Overview

The BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology course brings together creative fashion design with advanced manufacturing skills and new digital technologies. Students will have the option to specialise in menswear, womenswear, or sportswear, or work across specialisms, while tailoring their work to suit their interests in areas such as luxury fashion, outerwear, tailoring, denim, or performance wear.

Course Information

This course has a global reputation for producing professional fashion graduates who are employed for their in-depth knowledge of contemporary fashion design practice and advanced technical product development skills. When responding to project briefs, students will be supported to develop their own personal design philosophy and identity through creative research, experimentation, and the design development process.

Features and Benefits

• The best of both – Develop in-depth technical know-how and commercial business skills alongside your own personal design aesthetic.
• Manchester and beyond – Enhance your learning by taking study trips. Previous trips have been to trade fairs and manufacturing bases in Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, and Porto, and to India and China to explore sustainable practices.
• First-hand experience – Benefit from excellent placement opportunities in the UK and abroad, with a dedicated placement team helping to source placements at companies such as Acne, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Margaret Howell, Old Navy, Speedo, and Adidas.
• Industry-standard facilities – You’ll have access to industry-standard equipment, including more than 150 specialised sewing and joining machines and equipment, 3D bodyscanner, sew-free bonding equipment, automated and laser cutting equipment, 3D printing, and the latest digital pattern-cutting software.
• Hone a specialism – Take the opportunity to develop your skills in womenswear, menswear, or sportswear. With access to specialist staff, tailored projects, and industry competitions to develop a deep knowledge and enhance your employability.

Accreditations, Awards, and Endorsements

• The Textile Institute – This programme is accredited by The Textile Institute, the leading professional body for promoting professionalism in the textile industries.
• Teaching Excellence Framework – We have received an overall gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), meaning we're rated as an outstanding university for our student experience.
• UK Fashion and Textile Association – We are currently a UK Fashion and Textile Association Education Partner, facilitating greater connectivity between education and industry to support an infrastructure that is responsive to current and future industry requirements.
• Association of Fashion and Textiles Courses – We are currently members of the Association of Fashion and Textiles Courses, to promote and develop fashion and textiles through academic debate, education, and research.
• British Fashion Council (BFC) Colleges Council – We are currently members of the British Fashion Council (BFC) Colleges Council, representing the leading fashion departments in universities across the UK.

Year 1

In your first year, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles and techniques required to creatively explore fashion design and the associated technologies. You will begin to develop your own personal design aesthetic whilst gaining an understanding into the processes of research, design, development, and manufacturing, reflecting and evaluating at each stage.

Core Modules

• Fashion Design and Technology Fundamentals – This module introduces you to the fundamental principles and techniques required for the creative exploration of fashion/sportswear design and the associated material and manufacturing technologies.
• Fashion Process – This module enables you to develop your working practices and professional processes applicable to the research, design, and development of fashion/sportswear garments using industry-appropriate technologies.
• Fashion Production – This module synthesises newly acquired techniques and industry processes to enable the research, design, and production of fashion/sportswear ranges for a defined consumer or customer.
• Fashion Cultures – This module introduces a wide range of key cultural theories, concepts, and significant contemporary challenges and issues affecting global society.

Year 2

In year 2, you will take an explorative approach to design and development through innovative materials, details, and techniques, whilst working to industry briefs with an emphasis on products at a defined market level. You will evaluate how emerging technologies impact sustainable fashion practices and further develop your critical skills and research interests in line with your personal practice.

Core Modules

• Fashion Cultures in Context – This module builds upon the Fashion Cultures module in the first year, developing your knowledge of key cultural theories, concepts, and significant contemporary challenges and issues affecting global society.
• Fashion Product – This module enables the exploration and professional communication of innovative design concepts and techniques, applicable to defined product categories and markets.
• Fashion X – This module provides a space for collaborative projects with external and/or internal partners.
• Range Building – This module enables the development of a personal design philosophy, identifying areas of expertise within a specialism, advancing individual practice through design research and specialist material and construction technologies.

Year 3

This course offers a placement year option which can be taken in Year 3. Where a placement is not undertaken, you will study the following final year units.

Core Modules

• Fashion Futures – This module asks you to draw upon key ideas, theories, and methods encountered in their Fashion Cultures and Fashion Cultures in Context modules, as well as other aspects of your programme teaching and individual research.
• Fashion Design and Technology Innovation – This module requires rigorous design research and development and the application of innovative manufacturing and finishing techniques through investigation, sampling, and prototyping.
• Major Project – This module is an opportunity to cement a personal design identity and produce an exit portfolio.

Study and Assessment

• Year 1: 40% lectures, seminars, or similar; 60% independent study
• Year 2: 35% lectures, seminars, or similar; 65% independent study
• Year 3: 100% placement (optional)
• Year 4: 25% lectures, seminars, or similar; 75% independent study
• Assessment: 100% coursework in Years 1, 2, and 4; 100% placement in Year 3

Placements

Employability is at the heart of our teaching. All of our undergraduate courses offer an optional sandwich year route that gives you the opportunity to apply for an industry placement between your second and final year. Or to combine study abroad with one of our partner institutions and a placement.

Entry Requirements

• Typical Offer: 104-112 UCAS tariff points
• IELTS Score: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5
• Portfolio: We will ask for a portfolio of your work as part of your application
• UK Students:
  • Level 3 qualifications: 104-112 UCAS tariff points
  • GCE A levels: grades BCC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma: grade DMM
  • Access to HE Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum 106 UCAS Tariff points
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma: grade of Merit overall
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: grade DMM
  • T level: We welcome applications from students undertaking T level qualifications. Eligible applicants will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of Merit as a condition of offer
  • IB Diploma: Pass overall with a minimum overall score of 26 or minimum 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects
• International Students:
  • IB Diploma: with minimum 26 points overall or 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects
  • IELTS: 6.0 overall with no individual element below 5.5

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are still being finalised for all courses.

Careers Support and Prospects

• Employed or in Further Study: 88.7% of our UK-domiciled, full-time, first-degree graduates are employed or in further study 15 months after graduation.
• Graduate Outcomes Survey: 2021/22 leavers, HESA data.
• Engagement with employers is an integral part of the course. You'll have the opportunity to engage with employers through placements, study visits, industry-led live briefs, and guest lectures. The course also offers the opportunity for you to promote your work through live events, showcases, and simulated real-world scenarios such as mock interviews or pitches. This interaction with industry employers means that many of our students secure full-time employment before they graduate.