Textiles MA

About the course

The Textiles MA is part of the School of Art and Humanities MA Art & Design Suite, an innovative approach to postgraduate taught education that brings together disciplines from across art and design to produce a collaborative programme of courses that foreground the shared practices, processes and values of art and design in the 21st century.

The MA in Textiles covers a broad area of contemporary textile and surface design practice. Spanning both the commercial and arts aspects of the field, the course enables exploration of a varied range of textile directions and contexts.

It offers recent graduates, and those returning to education later in their careers, opportunities to enhance their knowledge, skills, creativity and employment prospects, through imaginative enquiry into different textile and surface design concepts and processes.

The aim of this course is to enable you to:

• Develop innovative and imaginative approaches to materials, processes and methodologies in textiles, and rigorously test these ideas against trends within current practice
• Evidence advanced critical evaluation and development of traditional and innovative textile techniques in the creation of new product and concepts.
• Experiment, expand and encourage progressive thinking in the sustainable practices for textiles to meet future industry opportunities and customer demands.
• Systematically plan, negotiate, and implement a body of work underpinned by advanced practice and research in textiles and/or surface design.
• Examine the principles and practices inherent in textiles and surface design and their intersection with commercial and creative industries.

Our course aims to combine advanced creative, aesthetic and technical design skills. You will normally have a degree in a related subject (Textiles or Surface Design, Textile Crafts or Fashion), and may be seeking to develop fresh approaches to your subject. This could be towards fashion, interiors or exterior architectural surfaces, future materials, 3D textiles or surfaces, advancing your weave, embroidery, knit, and print skills, or textile art approaches, building your portfolio for future industry or freelance practice.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

• An Honours degree (2:2 or above) in a relevant subject or an equivalent professional qualification.
• Alternative qualifications and/or significant experience may be accepted, subject to approval.
• International students with qualifications in 'creative' or 'practice' subjects should submit a digital portfolio (pdf) of work with their application.
• All suitably qualified applicants are normally invited in for an informal chat with a portfolio or considered for admittance under alternative arrangements.

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.

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