BA Fashion Degree UK | Fashion Design Degree BA (Hons) UK | Fashion Design Course BA (Hons) UK

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Fashion Design at UCA

Turn ideas into reality, express yourself through fashion, and get invaluable access to the industry on our Fashion Design degree at UCA Epsom.

This course prides itself on its diverse student body. Regardless of where you are on your design journey, we have the space and the skilled team to help you reach your full potential.

You’ll learn a broad range of skills, from research and concept development to implementation, showcase, and branding. In your third year, you’ll create a final collection, with options for 3D or digital outputs, or a mix of the two.

And, with opportunities to undertake a second-year work placement, connect with key players in the fashion industry, and showcase your work at events such as Graduate Fashion Week, we’ll help you fashion a great career.

Course entry options

Select from the following options to find out more about the different study options available for our BA (Hons) Fashion Design degree:

Upcoming webinars

We offer a range of webinars throughout the year that Fashion Design students may be interested in.

19 Nov 2025

How to write a personal statement for a creative degree

Are you looking to write a memorable personal statement and make a strong impression? In this webinar, our expert team will talk through how to approach the three questions and what to include. Book now: How to write a personal statement for a creative degree

3 Dec 2025

Creative Careers & Life After University

If you’re interested in working in the creative industries, then this webinar is a great place to start and find out why a creative degree is the perfect first step to turn your dreams into a reality. Book now: Creative Careers & Life After University

10 Dec 2025

Supporting Students at University - Information for Parents & Guardians

Is your child thinking about applying to university? Are you unsure of how to support them through this important application? We’re here to help you and your child navigate through the UCAS application process. Book now: Supporting Students at University - Information for Parents & Guardians

14 Jan 2026

Making an Outstanding Portfolio & Applicant Day Advice

We know that creating an outstanding portfolio can be difficult when you’re not sure where to start, so we’re here to get you started with our top tips on what to include and how to submit it. Book now: Making an Outstanding Portfolio & Applicant Day Advice

28 Jan 2026

Postgraduate Opportunities – A focus on Masters & PhDs

At UCA, we offer a range of creative postgraduate opportunities that we’ll discuss during this webinar. Join us to learn more about our postgraduate courses and the application process. Book now: Postgraduate Opportunities – A focus on Masters & PhDs

18 Feb 2026

How to Apply to Accommodation

Applying for accommodation can be a confusing process when you’re unsure of what to look out for, from different room options to staying in halls or in private accommodation off-campus, there’s a lot to consider. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Book now: How to Apply to Accommodation

This includes subject talks, masterclasses, application proccess advice and student life guides. Check out our upcoming webinars and book your place today.

View our course videos

UCA at Graduate Fashion Week

UCA Epsom Grad Show 2025

View more work on the Gradshow website

Success at GFW 2025

UCA fashion design graduates were celebrated their successes at Graduate Fashion Week 2025 (GFW25).

Design by Le Wan Tan. Image by Rory James

Le Wa Tan

Awarded winner of the GFW25 UCA Epsom solo catwalk show and was also selected to show at the Best of GFW25 Catwalk, going on to win Best of GFW25 Silver Award, judged by industry experts.

Eli Ng

Received the Highly Commended Award of the GFW25 UCA Epsom solo catwalk show and was shortlisted for the GFW25 Next Trend Forecasting Award.

Célian Dewasmes

Won The Zandra Rhodes Fashion Award, the award is named in honour of globally renowned print and fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, a lifetime patron of the Graduate Fashion Foundation and UCA Chancellor Emerita.

Money Yee

Shortlisted for both the GFW25 Fashion Illustration Award and the GFW25 Pattern Cutting Award.

Temi Akinyede

Shortlisted for the GFW25 Culture & Heritage Design Award.

Prachi Dokania

Shortlisted for the GFW25 Fashion Portfolio Award.

Schenric Toh

Shortlisted for the GFW25 Sportswear & Leisurewear Award

What you'll study

The content of the course may be subject to change. Curriculum content is provided as a guide.

Integrated foundation year (if undertaken)

UCA’s Integrated Foundation Year is designed to give you the skills you’ll need to start your degree in the best possible way – with confidence, solid knowledge of creative practice, study skills and more.

You’ll explore a range of creative techniques and develop your portfolio, with your chosen subject in mind. We’ll work with you throughout the year to ensure you’re on the right track and give you the tools to achieve your highest potential on your degree.

Find out more about the Integrated Foundation Year

Year one

Guest Speakers’ Series
You’ll join students across the School of Fashion & Textiles for our Industry Guest Speakers’ Series – you’ll hear from people with diverse backgrounds, skills and career paths representing the diversity of our student community, to inspire you to kick-start your thinking about your own career journey.

Method
You’ll learn the skills and knowledge that form the foundation for the development of creative and effective design practice. A thorough understanding of all the components that contribute towards the fashion design process is essential to the fashion designer and at the heart of this unit, will be the emphasis on the research and design process to fuel 3D outcomes.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - Creative Identities
You’ll develop your awareness and understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion, and promote progressive values and attitudes in creative practice. You’ll learn how our social identities (such as, gender, race/ethnicity, class, disability, sexual orientation, and religion) contribute to the inclusion and/or exclusion of individuals in creative spaces.

Make
The importance realisation plays in the design process is explored in this unit with a focus on the designer market, allowing you to start exploring and developing your awareness of high-end fashion. You’ll explore in-depth, the work and techniques of a specific designer within the established global creative hierarchy, and build a creative technical portfolio through your examination of designer techniques and methods as well as your own technical experimentation and exploration. Methods of bias cutting and draping on the stand will be introduced to support this.

Hackathon
In your first Opportunity Week, you’ll work with others on a high-intensity project. You’ll use a new piece of software or equipment to familiarise yourself with the technology that is becoming ubiquitous in the industry. For instance, you may be asked to design a website, an Instagram filter, an avatar, a virtual garment or digital prints.

Industry
Your knowledge and understanding of fashion will be expanded by exploring the industry in detail from a specific market level. In order to create a successful design product for a particular market, it is important to thoroughly understand it. This unit will run in tandem with the Market Unit to provide a deeper understanding of product development for a particular customer base.

Market
In-depth competitor and brand analysis is a key role of the designer in order to assess and understand the market they are designing for in order to help them identify a successful approach to creating design packages appropriate to a particular market. In this unit you’ll understand more about this through a written and visual report.

Business of Fashion
You’ll be introduced to the fundamental principles of fashion business and practices through a global lens. You’ll learn about how the macro environment affects the fashion industry sector and consumer groups and how it operates, introducing you to the various market levels and sectors, as well as industry structure, supply chain, distribution, marketing and commercialisation of products and services to end-users.

ATOM Activities
ATOM activities are small pieces of individual learning that facilitate interdisciplinary exposure across UCA, and offer a flexible, impactful learning experience. They expand your creative horizon by accessing learning topics that would not otherwise be scheduled on your course specific timetable.

PLE Digital Outcomes
The PLE Digital Outcome is a purposefully edited, self-directed record of your constructive, level 4 engagement with and presence on, digital media platforms across the year.

Year two

Career Week
You’ll start the second year with an intensive, interactive career preparation week. It prepares you for your work placement, through preparing your CV and cover letters, developing personal branding on professional social networks, networking and interview preparation.

Dragon's Den
Have you ever watched Dragon’s Den on the BBC? Have you ever dreamed of being one of the contestants? Have you got a business idea? Now is your chance to become the next big fashion and textiles entrepreneur. You’ll work in multi-disciplinary teams to prepare a short business plan, a prototype and pitch their ideas to a panel of industry judges.

Tailoring
You’ll learn an in-depth knowledge of tailoring through the exploration of time-honoured craft techniques and their application to contemporary design practice, you’ll introduced to a range of specialist techniques practiced in the high-end designer market. Technical skills will be further enhanced through the exploration of traditional cutting techniques from a digital viewpoint through digital pattern technology. You’ll produce an innovative tailored product, testing the theory behind the taught technical principles and develop your visual communication skills through the development and presentation of portfolio pages.

Reflective Practitioner
You will have the opportunity to explore global perspectives and influences on creative practice, drawing upon interactions with varied identities, cultures, politics, and histories. The unit will explore how beliefs, values and attitudes drive behaviour and practices. You’ll reflect on the development of your own creative influences, perspectives, practices, and sense of belonging as developing creative professionals in global and contemporary spaces.

Design Identity and Realisation
In this unit you’ll further progress your creative, conceptual, contextual and technical understanding of design and three-dimensional garment development practices. You’ll also be encouraged to reflect on your personal viewpoints to explore global debates around societal issues such as inclusivity and sustainability and fashion’s impact on climate change, to inform research, fabric sourcing and product development processes.

Identity
You’ll be encouraged to take a more experimental and individual approach to design development, challenging perceived notions of fashion and presenting fresh perspectives on design concepts. Your final design outcomes should be presented as a portfolio design package demonstrating a coherent yet personalised design statement.

Placement
You’ll have the opportunity to undertake one of two options on this unit – a four-week minimum self-initiated work placement that’s relevant to your potential career direction or complete an industry case study which gives you the opportunity to study an aspect of the industry, that you identify as an area of interest, through the method of case study research. For both, you will record, critically analyse and evaluate your findings through a learning journal and present them in your learning journal and a professionally structured Placement or Case Study Report.

ATOM Activities and PLE Digital Outcome
These units are an extension of the Year 1 ATOM Activities and PLE Digital Outcome.

You also choose one elective unit from the list below:

Elective - Business Start-up
In this unit, you will identify, develop and present a design, product, service or mini collection using your previous unit outcomes as a starting point for your start up idea/ proof of concept. You’ll be required to research market trends, explore cultural, ethical and sustainable considerations, and look your idea’s brand identity and promotional plans. You’ll also be required to work out a specification sheet and budget plan.

Elective - Product Styling and e-Commerce
In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, product imagery and styling are a crucial tool in driving sales. In this short-sharp portfolio-enhancing unit, you’ll produce a range of e-commerce shots and accompanying documentation (style numbers, materials, etc) for a specified brand and product of your choice.

Elective - Digital Fashion
The creation of virtual worlds in fashion is becoming more and more popular. In this unit you’ll stretch your own understanding of your practical skills through the digital enhancement of images of the face through creation of avatars, from designing the skin to impressions of facial accessories.

Elective - Global Fashion Cultures
You’ll be introduced to the landscape of current academic research in Global Fashion Cultures and explore the ways in which fashion exerts behavioural, economic, environmental, political and social change in different geographical historical and contemporary contexts.

Elective - Fashion Film
Taking the technical and conceptual understanding you’ve developed, you’ll have the chance to work collaboratively on a resolved Fashion Film. A fast-paced unit, this brings together multiple skill sets in a controlled environment and perfectly reflects the commercial environment that you may be working in after graduation.

Elective - Design for Print
Many of our best-known designers have been inspired by examples of historical textiles. In this unit, we will introduce you to historical examples of prints and heritage textile objects from around the world, from our very own International Textile Study Collection, and learn about the current trends and colour forecasts in textiles/print.

Professional practice year (if undertaken)

If you opt to complete a professional practice year, this will take place in year three. You will undertake a placement within the creative industries to further develop your skills and CV.

While on your Professional Practice Year, you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee for that year. This fee will be determined using government funding regulations. Based on current regulations, we expect this to be a maximum of 20% of the tuition fee rate that you are charged for your second year of study. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during this year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this as you approach your Professional Practice Year.

Please note: If you are an international applicant, you will need to enrol onto the course ‘with Professional Practice Year’. It will not be possible to transfer onto the Professional Practice Year after enrolment

Year three

Project Pitch
Your final year begins with a project pitch week. This is your opportunity to share ideas that you will have developed over the summer about your degree project, receive feedback and finetune it before you start actively working on it as part of your last year at university.

Portfolio & Career
The Portfolio & Career unit consolidates all the design communication, presentation and professional skills learned throughout the course. The vehicle for you to showcase your design expertise and career aspirations is the final Portfolio. You will be encouraged to develop an individual approach to the development of your portfolio both to demonstrate your strengths and to allow you to focus it toward your career direction.

Pre-Collection
You’ll concentrate on market analysis, concept research and development and the design and toiling process in preparation for your final collection in this unit. As well as market and concept research, you’ll need to undertake an in-depth exploration and experimentation with silhouette, textiles, cutting, colour, design, detail, and finish are required to achieve innovative design solutions.

Graduate Career Fair
The Graduate Career Fair takes place during the first week of your second term to help your job search as you prepare for life after graduation. Companies that are actively hiring in your sector will be present to give you information about them, the kind of candidates they are looking for and their hiring process.

Collection & Portfolio
The Collection & Portfolio unit focuses on producing an innovative, resolved and accomplished design collection and an accompanying professional portfolio. For the Collection, you are required to review, evaluate, and apply the research, design and development work conducted in the Pre-Collection unit to achieve a resolved design package. For the Portfolio, you are required to review the design projects and the approach taken in term 1 to create a focused and innovative final portfolio presentation that encapsulates your individual design aesthetic

Study abroad (optional)

This course is designed to offer you (if eligible) the opportunity to study part of your degree aboard at a UCA partner university, while still earning credits towards your UCA degree.

For more information please visit the Study Abroad section

Expected learning hours

Integrated foundation year

Independent study: 60%
Scheduled teaching: 40%
Online delivery: 0%
Placement: 0%

Year one

Independent study: 46%
Scheduled teaching: 54%
Online delivery: 0%
Placement: 0%

Year two

Independent study: 55%
Scheduled teaching: 45%
Online delivery: 0%
Placement: 0%

Year three

Independent study: 65%
Scheduled teaching: 35%
Online delivery: 0%
Placement: 0%

Professional placement or International year (if undertaken)

Independent study: 0%
Scheduled teaching: 0%
Online delivery: 0%
Placement: 100%

Please note, these details are for 2025 entry and could be subject to change for other years of entry.

Course specifications

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change in line with our Student Terms and Conditions for example, as required by external professional bodies or to improve the quality of the course.

Fees & funding

Fees & financial support

Tuition fees - 2026/27

Integrated Foundation Year: £9,535
BA course: £9,535

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, for 2026 you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee of £1,900. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.

UK undergraduate tuition fees are linked to inflation and this means 2026 entry fees may increase. Details for these will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Tuition fees - 2026/27

Integrated Foundation Year: £9,535 (see fee discount information)
BA course: £9,535 (see fee discount information)

UK undergraduate tuition fees are linked to inflation and this means 2026 entry fees may increase. Details for these will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Tuition fees - 2026/27

Integrated Foundation Year: £18,000
BA course: £18,000

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, for 2026 you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee of £3,490. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.

The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only, for details of previous years please see the full fee schedules.

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources. Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of the Course Information Docu ment for more details of the costs you may incur.

Find out what's included in your tuition fees.

Facilities & equipment

At UCA Epsom there are design, pattern and production studios. There is also specialist sewing areas with technical assistance. There are also campus screen printing facilities and photographic studios with professional quality lighting rigs.