Please select how you would like to attend your Fashion course:
Qualifications available:
Are you ready to take your first steps towards an exciting career in the fashion and textiles industry?
Do you have a keen interest in design and a passion for learning how to create? If so, this course could be the perfect fit for you. You’ll develop a wide range of skills to prepare you for a career as a fashion or textiles practitioner.
You’ll gain hands-on experience in pattern cutting and drafting, garment construction, surface and print design, constructed textiles, fashion illustration, drawing, digital fashion (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) and fashion photography.
During your studies, you’ll work in our specialist facilities, including industrial sewing machine and pattern cutting studios, dedicated textiles and print areas, and our Mac suite. These industry-standard spaces will help you develop the technical and creative skills you need for a successful career in the fashion and textiles industry.
You will also learn how to present your work in professional formats and develop both digital and creative portfolios to support your progression to university, employment or an apprenticeship after your course.
Modules include:
Work experience
Gaining real industry experience is an important part of the course. We’ll support you in finding work placements and our tutors have excellent links with employers. We also invite professionals and organisations to set live briefs, deliver masterclasses, and share insights into the career paths you might take.
Our students have gained experience with design organisations, local trade and fashion shows, and independent designers. They’ve modelled in fashion shows, created design collections, collaborated with pattern cutting teams, and completed live briefs resulting in a wide range of creative outcomes.
You’ll be continuously assessed throughout the course to measure what you’ve learned from each module and assignment.
To prepare you for a successful career in the fashion and textiles industry, many assessments reflect real industry standards. You may be asked to pitch ideas, present professional planning documents, create products for specific target audiences, or collaborate with an employer on a live brief to deliver a final outcome.
For each project, you’ll produce a portfolio of evidence, formally assessed by your tutors at key points during the year. One-to-one tutorials will review your progress, set stretching targets, and help you continually improve.
Your final grade will be based on your Final Major Project, where you’ll bring together the skills and techniques you’ve learned to design and create a piece of your choice. This project will be assessed by your tutors, moderated externally, and exhibited for peers and staff to see.
Our Level 2 Fashion and Textiles course is designed as a pathway onto our Level 3 course. After completing Level 3, you can progress to university, an apprenticeship, or full-time employment.
Possible career routes include: children’s wear design, contour design, costume design, fashion buyer, fashion design, fashion forecasting, fashion marketing and merchandising, fashion photography, fine art textiles, garment technologist, knitwear design, pattern cutting, print design, stylists, surface pattern design, textiles design, and weave design.
Many students choose to continue their studies at higher education level, progressing to courses such as fashion design, textiles in practice, costume design, contour design, surface pattern design, and fashion business and merchandising.
Previous students have secured places at leading universities and specialist institutions including: Arts University Bournemouth, Birmingham City University, Leeds College of Art, Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, London College of Fashion, University of Huddersfield, and University of Westminster.
Entry Level Courses:
Skills for Life & Work/Preparing for Adulthood
No formal qualifications are required for this course.
These courses are specifically designed for learners with a Special Educational Need (SEND).
Pre Level 1
No formal qualifications are required for this course.
Full Time ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
No formal qualifications are required for this course.
Full Time GCSE Re-sit Study Course Science
GCSE Grade 3 (C) in Maths or English. Below GCSE Grade 3 (C) in BIO,CHM,PHY subjects or not sat GCSE Sciences in the past.
Full Time GCSE Re-Sit Maths and English
GCSE Grade 2 or 3 in Maths and English.
Full Time Level 1 Course
2 GCSE's at grade 2 unless you want to study the courses listed below:
Electrical & Plumbing: Min GCSE grade 3 in maths or Functional Skills 1 in maths
Motor Vehicle: Min GCSE grade 2 in maths
Full Time Level 2 Course
4 GCSE grade 3 including English or maths or a level 1 in Functional Skills English or Maths unless you want to study the courses below:
Motor Vehicle : GCSE grade 3 in maths or Functional Skills Level 1 in maths & Level 1 in Motor Vehicle.
Min GCSE grade 4 or Functional Skills Level 2 in Maths and English Required for:
Accounting, Plumbing & Electrical
Full time Level 3 Course
4 GCSEs at Grade 4-9 including English AND Maths (Functional Skills Level 2 English AND Maths will be accepted).
NOTE: If you want to study Applied Science you must have 4 and above in GCSE Biology, Chemistry & Physics.
Vocational Level 2 in the subject area you wish to study plus Grade 4-9 GCSE English or Maths (Functional Skills Level 2 English or Maths will be accepted).
*A Vocational Level 2 is required for the following courses:
Accounting
All Construction Subjects
Hair & Beauty Subjects
Applied Science
T Level Foundation (Level 2)
4 GCSE Grade 3 including English and Math's (or Functional Skills Level 1 in English and Math's)
T Levels
5 GCSEs at Grade 4-9 including English and Maths (Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Maths will be accepted).
*Health & Healthcare Science T Level requires GCSE Grade 4 in BIO, CHEM, PHY OR if double all 4's required.
You can apply for this programme via the Apply Now button, at the top.
If this course area is available as an apprenticeship, this will show under 'Study Option' on the right-hand side, just below the Apply Now button. You can view all of our apprenticeship vacanices and subjects by clicking the 'Apprenticeships' in the top menu.
If you are aged between 16 and 18 when you start your course and are taking a course leading to a qualification, the tuition and exam fees are free. However, there may be some additional costs for optional trips, recommended text books and professional start up kits. We have a bursary scheme to assist with these costs.
It is important that you come along and speak to one of our staff about your choice/s.
Once we receive your application, you will be invited in to speak to a tutor or a member of the Apprenticeship team to discuss your application.
This will provide you with the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the course/Apprenticeship and to see our facilities.
