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Textiles BA/BSc(Hons)

2023-24 (also available for 2024-25)

Places available in clearing. Find out more.
Places available in clearing. Find out more.

Start date

18 September 2023

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. Based in a state of the art £30m building, you'll become skilled at using digital technology and specialist hand techniques to develop knowledge of print & dye, knit, weave and embroidery.
  2. The course is accredited by the Textile Institute, who recognise its quality, excellence and partnerships with industry.
  3. Prepare for a successful career in textiles and develop your professional skills by undertaking a work placement or setting up your own business through our unique Enterprise Placement Year.

Textiles is broad industry that thrives on innovation and ideas. A BA/BSc in Textiles will support your development towards a career as a Textile Designer, Surface Designer or Textile Craft Practitioner, allowing you to connect your creative potential to the wide-ranging possibilities that this diverse subject area has to offer.

Why study Textile Design?

  • Explore and ultimately specialise in print, knit, weave or embroidery. Our academic and technical staff will help you gain practical hands-on skills, using hand techniques and digital technology, that can lead to the creation of materials and products used in the worlds of fashion, interiors or craft.
  • Discover the type of textile practitioner that you are. Our modules, which may be partnered with industry collaborators, will help you develop trend, sustainability and market awareness alongside the drawing, making, visualising and styling skills that can support a creative portfolio.
  • Investigate how textile design can emerge through creative play. Explore the process of drawing for textiles, research and develop from concept to creation and find resourceful and inventive ways to illustrate design and craft outcomes.
  • Advance your creative, professional and intellectual abilities that will prepare you for a future career in textiles, via industry experience opportunities such as sponsored projects, competitions, placements, guest lectures or freelance business development support.

As a Textiles student, you will have the chance to develop your artistic skills and experiment with a wide variety of techniques in our high-end facilities, workshops and flexible studio spaces. Sessions working with the materials and processes that shape textiles such as print, knit, weave, embroidery and digital design will help you discover the type of textile practitioner that you are. Understanding this could provide you with the skills needed for a career in one of the many of industries that employ textile graduates each year.

Textiles has an 80% student satisfaction rating (NSS 2021)

Course detail

Core modules:

Introduction to Professional Practice

This module provides a foundation which aims to introduce you to the range of professional practice routes that you will be able to study through the Intermediate and Honours levels of the course. You will be able to creatively explore the routes of Textile Design, Surface Design and Textile Craft. Working on a range of industry focused, self-written or independent projects you will begin to establish an understanding of material process, colour theory, technical, analytical, expressive and applied research skills to produce a portfolio of work.

Introduction to Materials and Process

This module introduces you to the fundamental processes that enable the creation of textiles and surface materials through a series of practical workshop activities. You will be encouraged to develop an understanding and working knowledge of materials using the print and dye, digital, knit, weave and embroidery workshops. You will be able to explore new technologies alongside traditional hand processes to produce a portfolio of creative samples and technical knowledge inspired by your visual research.

Visual Research

Visual research and its relationship to your practice will be introduced in this module. You will be asked to produce a portfolio of drawings from both primary and secondary research with an emphasis on developing your own personal vocabulary. A diverse range of drawing, mixed-media, colour theory, 3-D and digital techniques will be explored to encourage an experimental and analytical approach to drawing thereby enabling an aesthetic understanding to complement your material and textile sampling.

Introduction to Theory and Context

The vital discourses and debates surrounding the influences, production and critical reception of contemporary textiles, surface design and illustration and textile craft will be explored in this module. You will be supported in developing a grounded understanding of the context of theory and its relationship to practice and business. You will address key concepts, encouraging you to expand your understanding of how the subject relates to other disciplines (film, media, popular culture, business and marketing). You will be asked to produce a contextual portfolio of written outcomes, comprising project proposals, critical reviews, creative writing and market reports.

Entry requirements

To find out if you’re eligible to start this course in September 2023 and get more information on how to apply, please see our Clearing pages or call our Clearing Helpline on 0333 987 900001484 472777.

If you’re interested in studying this course in September 2024, please view the 2024-25 course information.

In addition to the academic entry requirements, you will also need:

As a centre of creative excellence, we look forward to hearing about your own creative experiments and ambitions through a discussion of your portfolio at interview.

Read our guidance on developing your portfolio and what to expect from your interview.

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 studying Textile courses have previously taken up placement opportunities with companies including: Joules – Leicestershire; Dash and Miller – Bristol; Marks and Spencer - London; Mamas & Papas - Huddersfield; Katrien Van Hecke – Belgium; Souraya – Australia; Wooltex – Huddersfield, Heritage Cashmere – Halifax; Max Mara – London; Aleksandra Gaca – Delft, Netherlands; Botany Weaving – Dublin; Knit and Crochet Guild – Slaithwaite; Margo Selby – Whitstable; Oxfam Online – Batley; Pattern Textiles – London; Calder Screenprint Ltd. – Sowerby Bridge; Visage Textiles Ltd – Manchester; Bay and Brown – London; The Craft Cotton Co – Manchester; Wallace and Sewell – Colne; Rare Threads – London; Hand and Lock – London and Sage Automotive Interiors – Bury.

Alternatively, if you are a student from within the UK, you could consider starting your own small business by applying for the Enterprise Placement Year in conjunction with the University’s Enterprise Team. You’ll have the opportunity to benefit from business advice, mentoring and networking sessions. You can find out more information on the Enterprise Placement Year here.

You can find out more information on placements here.

I’m a Creative Assistant at Skopos Fabrics. So far, I've been involved in trend and colour research, design processes, AVA, fabric printing, scientific testing, and marketing. I chose this placement as I knew it would be great experience and an opportunity to improve my skills on AVA.

Image of placement student Melissa, at Skopos Fabric

Melissa Haram, Textile current student

Student Work

A gallery of work by our Textiles students and graduates. Click on each image to find out more.

Your career


This course aims to help you to develop the skills needed for roles such as product developer, designer, fabric technologist, buyer, merchandiser, stylist and trend forecaster for a range of retailers and manufacturing companies.

Graduates from our textiles courses are now working in roles at companies including Marks and Spencer, Burberry, Michael Kors and Primark, as well as Jaguar Land Rover and Crafty Praxis.**

Previous placements have included companies such as Anthropologie, Mary Katrantzou, Bag it Don’t Bin it, Hand & Lock, The Hepworth Art Gallery, IKEA, The Knit and Crochet guild, Philip Treacy and John Lewis. The course is accredited by the Textile Institute, a worldwide organisation for textiles, clothing and footwear

*Percentage of our undergraduate students from this course go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

Source: **GEMS and LinkedIn

 

95% Graduates employed*

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

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

Equal opportunities

The University of Huddersfield is an equal opportunities institution. We aim to create conditions where staff and students are treated solely on the basis of their merits, abilities and potential, regardless of gender, age, race, caste, class, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, family responsibility, trade union activity, political or religious belief, or age. Please visit our website to see our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy

Data protection

The University holds personal data on all enquirers, applicants and enrolled students. All such data is kept and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation. The University’s Data Protection Policy and Privacy Notices are available on the University website.

Students’ Union membership

Under the 1994 Education Act, students at all UK universities have the right to join, or not to join, the Students’ Union. There is no membership fee. If you choose not to join you have the right not to be disadvantaged; however, you are not entitled to vote, take part in elections, or hold any office. The following arrangements apply in order that non-Union members are not disadvantaged: Non-members are welcome to take part in the activities of Affiliated Clubs and Societies on payment of the appropriate subscription. However, they may not vote or hold office in the society or club. Union members may be offered a discounted subscription. Non-members are free to use Union facilities on the same basis as members. Welfare, catering and shops are available to non-members as well as members. Union members may be offered a discounted price.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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