Start date
22 September 2025
Duration
3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year
Places available (subject to change)
55
About the course
Reasons to study
- You will develop your creative and design thinking skills, discovering how to transform interior spaces and reimagine the future of retail, leisure and workspaces and all interior environments beyond the domestic.
- You can opt to undertake a work placement in a professional design practice, to gain hands-on experience and build your portfolio.
- An impressive 90% of graduates from this course are in work and/or further study 15 months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 21/22â¯data, UK domiciled graduates).
Enrol onto our Interior Design BA(Hons) course and we’ll help you develop the skills you need to become a professional interior designer. Through a supportive learning journey, you’ll be encouraged to imagine what is possible and develop your own designs. With an emphasis on creativity, you can explore current design thinking, using this to push design boundaries and to focus on new ways of transforming environments.
On this course, you can focus on the practical elements of Interior Design, and you’ll have the chance to get involved in a range of projects across several typologies, building your own unique portfolio as you move through the course.
We’ll aim to give you a thorough grounding in all the technical demands of detailing and specification alongside the creative aspects.
An Interior Design degree can lead you to a host of post-University opportunities, too; you may decide to pursue a career in Interior Design itself, or branch out into art, graphic design, illustration and more.
Plus, an impressive 90% of graduates from this course are in work and/or further study 15 months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 21/22).
Why study Interior Design BA(Hons)
You’ll learn in the £30-million Barbara Hepworth Building, which provides facilities such as 3D printers for rapid prototyping; laser cutters, special software, studios and more.
You can opt to undertake a work placement in a professional design practice, giving you the chance to gain hands-on experience and build your portfolio to boost your employment prospects.
You’ll be encouraged to take part in workshops, live briefs, and international design competitions, as well. If design studies interest you, this Interior Design course will certainly satisfy your passion for interiors, creative design, art and creative architecture.
Course detail
Core modules:
Design Process and Communication
This module introduces and develops your awareness and understanding of 2D and 3D visual language relating to research, analysis, evaluation and synthesis through exploration of the creative process of design. The module comprises three components: visual enquiry, design interpretation and communicative processes. Your knowledge and understanding of these principles will be demonstrated through a portfolio containing visual exploration and development, 2D/3D proposals and design experimentation.
Design Theory Fundamentals
Design Exploration
Core modules:
Design in Context
In this module you will be asked to consider and investigate spatial, visual and cultural contexts through the exploration of design at a variety of scales – to progressively focus in on a design project to reveal the contextual aspects which effect the design and representation of the spatial and built environment, and to consider varying approaches towards design concept manipulation and expression. Collaborative research enquiry will lead to an individually selected design project for an identified interior design topic area in which you will be expected to develop expertise in design evaluation, exploration and digital communication, and demonstrate the development of an integrated and cohesive approach to the design process.
Design Identities
Design Realisation
Arts and Humanities Placement
The placement year is your chance to gain hands-on experience and build on the skills you’ve developed in your first two years of study. You’ll spend up to 48 weeks (minimum 36 weeks) in a graduate-level role, sharpening your professional skills, exploring career options, and boosting your future job prospects. During your placement, you'll reflect on your performance, develop real-world skills, and learn to approach your role with a critical eye. Your placement will be monitored, and you’ll be assessed on your achievements, setting you up for success in your final year and beyond.
Core modules:
Research Proposal
This module will establish and inform your major project. Within it you will identify a theme/subject/issue relevant to your practice. The module will re-emphasise the importance of in-depth research, within which you will demonstrate originality, pro-activity and innovation. The context and parameters of this module will be defined by you through negotiation and ongoing dialogue with your tutors.
Professional Practice
Major Project - Interior Design
On average, 25.4%* of the study time on this course in spent in lectures, seminars, demonstrations and tutorials etc.
*based on 23/24 programme specifications.
You'll have the opportunity to learn through participation in studio-based design projects, workshop demonstrations, lectures, seminars, group and individual tutorials. Your progress will be monitored by presentation of a portfolio of design work, written assignments, and oral presentations, both individually and in groups.
We will support your career aspirations through a series of specialised projects throughout the course supported by industry led design briefs which give you real world experience of the creative design industry.
Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.
Feedback (usually written) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.
Further information
The teaching year normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Timetables are normally available one month before registration.
Your course is made up of modules and each module is worth a number of credits. Each year you study modules to the value of 120 credits, adding up to 360 credits in total for a bachelor’s qualification. These credits can come from a combination of core, compulsory and optional modules but please note that optional modules may not run if we do not have enough students interested.
If you achieve 120 credits for the current stage you are at, you may progress to the next stage of your course, subject to any professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.
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The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.
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Further proof of teaching excellence: our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2024). So, you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.
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We are joint first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 23 since 2008 (2024 data).
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We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).
Read more about academic staff at the University of Huddersfield
At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.
Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.
*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.
Entry requirements
BBB-BCCat A Level or equivalent |
120-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications |
Merit at T Level. |
DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma |
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Offers will be subject to a digital portfolio review, after which you will be invited to attend an Applicant Visit Day, at which you will have the opportunity to discuss and be given feedback on your portfolio. Read more about the portfolio review process on our Interviews, auditions and portfolio pages.
If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.
Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.
Placements
The course offers an optional one-year (36 weeks minimum) work placement after the second year, in the UK or abroad. This will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects. Our Placement Unit and academic staff have excellent industry links and can support you in applying for and finding your placement(s), as well as during your placement year.
Students on the course have previously taken up placement opportunities with companies including: Edge - London; Spatialized - Wakefield; Keane Brands - Birmingham; Concrete - Amsterdam; Fitch - London; PDS Design and Build – Wakefield; Concept IDL – Sheffield and Green Room Interiors – Leeds.
My placement was at Green Room Interior Design, a luxury residential design studio. From this, I gained knowledge that not only helped me during final year but also gave me skills to take forward on to work life. I recommend a placement, as you learn practical, hands on skills.
Georgia Clarke, Interior Design BA(Hons) graduate
Facilities
Student Work
A gallery of work by our Interior Design students and graduates. Click on each image to find out more.
Follow Us
Keep up to date with Interior Design work, news and events by following @i_d_hud on Instagram.
Laura Clarke
Wabi Sabi is a space for upcycling workshops and retail, highlighting the current backlash to a throw-away society, and adopting the growing trend towards crafting and making. The concept for the design is WABI SABI, an unspoken intrinsic concept in Japanese culture that values imperfections and craftsmanship, and celebrates change over time. The concept has strong roots in the Japanese tea ceremony - inspiration was taken from tea houses and tea gardens, with a lot of references to shoji screens and the flexibility that they bring to Japanese architecture. The design took inspiration from many more traditional Japanese craft techniques such as kumiko, shou sugi ban and kintsugi, informing the sheer curtain partitions, the material use, and the wayfinding graphics.
Natalia Ledger
With Natalia's brief originally stemming from her Dadâs love of motorbikes. With the concept of Balance and the Sheffield Steel Site History driving the project forward, Stainless Speed was born! A one-stop place for bikers (and non-bikers) to visit. Here customers are able to book long-haul trips, insure, health check, service and showcase their bikes, pick up online orders, shop retail, grab a coffee at the outdoor local food trucks on the first floor and most importantly socialise with fellow bikers.
Olivia Zach
The brief of The Eco-Lifestyle Store was for new and existing customers to engage with sustainable product alternatives for everyday home routine ranging from furniture, to skincare. Its aims was to promote an environmental and human well-being whilst creating a strong sense of unity on tackling humanâs environmental footprint. The design responded to it by identifying two objectives: sustainable consumption and sustainable behaviour which allowed the store to respond to the changing customer behaviour with its particular attention to its Gen Z audience â the largest growing consumer group. The unification of tackling the environmental impact can be clearly seen through the composition of the ground floor and basement representing the contrast and yet the tie between the benefits of the eco-lifestyle and the consequences of a non-sustainable lifestyle, which as a result also has an educational factor along its tech learning methods including interactive mirrors and digital screen projectors.
Sarah Holdsworth
'Natural Connections' explores new possibilities surrounding workplace design. The implications of Nature Deficit Disorder (behavioural changes that occur because of being disconnected from nature) drives the project as our working environments are becoming increasingly urban. By reflecting on possibilities that workplaces can be tailored to suit modern working solutions, Natural Connections offers an innovative approach. The concept of the project is based on topography and local landscapes which informs the interior spaces to promote productivity, wellbeing, and a connected experience.
Student support
At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.
Important information
Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons