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Fashion Design with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

C-B

Successfully completed Access Diploma course

32 - 48 UCAS Tariff Points

UCAS Tariff

32-48

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

Present a portfolio

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Fashion design

If you’re looking to explore your creativity, establish your own unique style and take contemporary fashion design by storm, our course has the dedicated facilities and equipment, track record and industry links to get your designs on the domestic and international catwalks. Both our course and highly experienced academic team encourage you to experiment with designs, materials and garment-making while giving you the practical tools and wider experience you need to develop your individual creative approach.

Based at Alexon House, previously home to one of the UK's leading fashion houses, the course offers industry-standard manufacturing facilities and the latest textile processes with access to high-spec technology including digital textile printing and pattern cutting; computer-aided design; and 3D printing. As part of our industry speaker series, you meet designers, artist, editors, curators and recruiters on a weekly basis while also getting the opportunity to join international trips to visit trade fairs and galleries.

You graduate ready for industry with a professional portfolio, following in the footsteps of previous graduates, who 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.

**Foundation Year**
In the Foundation year you will study three days per week. The focus will be on academic writing skills and numeracy, plus subject-specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree. The course has been designed to develop your skills and to prepare you for entry onto the first year of your chosen course. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the range of wider skills required for undergraduate study. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will be required to pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your BA (Hons) degree. This course is ideal for those who do not meet our standard entry requirements or those with a non-standard educational background. It will allow you to graduate with a full undergraduate degree in your chosen subject in four years.

**Why choose this course?**
- You learn the specialised design and craft skills you need to make your mark in the domestic and international fashion industry

- You study in a dedicated, stimulating and lively studio environment with a sewing machine for every student

- Our close links with the industry and leading fashion designers mean you work on real briefs and live projects; you’re also encouraged to enter competitions and awards

- Your personal creative development is underpinned by a sound knowledge the history of fashion design; contemporary debates in fashion; multicultural and international contexts; and understanding of the wider visual world

- At Alexon House, you are part of a community spanning the art, design and creative industries, and can explore related disciplines such as digital photography, screen-printing and illustration

- You can challenge established designers when you prepare a garment collection and showcase your work on the runway at our Graduate Fashion Show

Modules

Areas of study include:
- Context and Ideas
- Fashion Design: Exploring Materials and Methods
- Introducing Studio Practice
- Thinking Through Making
- Collaborative Enterprise
- Context and Meaning
- Developing Professional Practice
- Fashion Design: Developing Materials and Methods
- Creative Futures
- Critical and Creative Contexts
- Final Major Project: Fashion Design

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Luton Campus

Department:

School of Art and Design

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

74%
Fashion design

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Design studies

Teaching and learning

89%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
68%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

47%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
74%
Course specific equipment and facilities
47%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

71%
UK students
29%
International students
4%
Male students
96%
Female students
76%
2:1 or above
28%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
E

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Design studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£15,600
low
Average annual salary
80%
low
Employed or in further education
57%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

26%
Design occupations
14%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Design studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£12k

£12k

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of East London | Newham
Fashion Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112
Same University
University of Bedfordshire | Luton
Fashion Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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