Fashion Design at UCA

Become a fashion designer with a brand identity, a full collection and a commercial business strategy - plus all the tools to promote yourself in the international market - on our MA Fashion Design course.

Focusing on a collection you’ve already created, or starting a new one from scratch – you’ll develop your signature style and transform your fashion line to match. You’ll gain business insight and explore ways to externalise your practice, all within a creative and supportive environment.

As you study, you'll work in course-specific fashion studios, sewing and textile print workshops, as well as making use of campus-wide facilities such as digital printing and photography studios.

You’ll also benefit from our close connections within the fashion industry, with opportunities to hear from exciting guest lecturers and access individual help and guidance from professional mentors.

Your studies will culminate in the creation and launch of your brand – the springboard to your career in the fashion industry.

Key information

Campus
UCA Epsom
Start date(s)
September 2026
Duration
1 year full-time
Jump to...
Entry requirements
Tuition fees

Upcoming webinars

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


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

Two minute stories


Discover the stories of our Fashion students
What you'll study

What you'll study

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

Launch
Launch week is a cross-school event bringing together postgraduate students across all disciplines within the School of Fashion and Textiles to get to know each other and form an international, cross-functional, dynamic postgraduate community.

Brand Evolution and Development
You’ll identify a clear direction for your studies and personal development, through analysis and reflection of your most recent fashion collection, (e.g. your undergraduate collection) or creative portfolio, in order to create a unique brand identity and innovative design proposal. This will incorporate an introduction to business planning including brand positioning, consumer segmentation and competitor analysis.

Critical thinking for Creative Practice
Within this unit you will be introduced to historical and contemporary debates that underpin your creative practice. You will be given the opportunity to expand your historical and contextual knowledge, examine ethical frameworks, and be introduced to social and cultural approaches to fashion and textiles.

Opportunity Week
Opportunity Week is cross-school event bringing together all postgraduate students across all disciplines within fashion and textiles to formally present their work in progress and major project proposal to their postgraduate community. Students will be encouraged to give formative feedback and identify shared interest and potential collaboration opportunities.

Collection Development and Consolidation
You’ll progress with garment production, utilising an external manufacturing resource to produce a statement outfit, or create a virtual collection using 3D fashion design software and Gerber pattern technology. Both options require you to create the technical specifications and patterns to support physical or digital outcomes.

Research and Professional Context
It is key for designers and for a designer fashion business to develop an understanding of creating products that deliver and recognise the importance of a business strategy and the role that costs, pricing, planning and marketing play in supporting product development.

In this unit you’ll be required to develop the second stage of your business plan, which includes a detailed analysis of their collection, range planning and financial analysis including startup costs, manufacturing, sales forecasts and cash flow.

Final Project Resolution and Collection Launch
The final unit is a culmination of the your studies and work completed in the previous units. You’ll realise and launch your brand through the introduction of a marketing strategy, outsourced product manufacture or a digital catwalk collection, which demonstrates key skills in product realisation, business planning and digital marketing.

  • Independent study: 70.6%
  • Scheduled teaching: 29.4% 
  • Online delivery: 0%
  • Placement: 0%

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 - Sept 2026

  • MA course: £10,800

Tuition fees - Sept 2026

  • MA course: £10,800

We offer a fee reduction to the equivalent of UK student fee for duration of the course. This is available to all applicants who are a national of an EU country and a resident in the EU or UK. The scholarship will be automatically awarded if you meet all the eligibility criteria. You do not need to complete an application form, see fee discount information.

Tuition fees - Sept 2026

  • MA course: £18,540

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 financial support information available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

Current UCA students and alumni may be eligible for a tuition fee discount.

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 scholarships and fee discounts.

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 Document for more details of the costs you may incur.

Find out what's included in your tuition fees.

Career opportunities

Taught by lecturers and sessional staff with direct experience in the fashion industry, our course has a number of high profile industry links, including:

  • Avery Dennison RBIS (UK): Global Retail Branding and Information Services
  • Twine-s (Israel): Technology company offering a revolutionary digital on-demand thread dyeing system and a digital dye-to-match colour application
  • Tasker Apparel (UK): Leading ethical garment manufacturer supplying independent fashion designers and brands
  • Fashion Scout: the UK's largest independent showcase for emerging and established design talent during London Fashion Week. Fashion Scout is renowned for championing, nurturing and showcasing creative design talent from around the globe

Our fashion design MA will prepare students, with a fantastic support system from our industry staff, for clear and exciting career options upon graduating:

  • Fashion designer
  • Fashion buyer
  • Tailor
  • Fashion brand up-start
  • Colourist
  • Fashion illustrator
  • Fashion predictor
  • Fashion stylist
  • Pattern cutter/grader

Learn more about what careers you can do with a fashion degree

You may want to undertake further study or research to specialise even further.

What our Fashion Design students say

"I find that my tutors are extremely helpful and supportive. Being part of a creative university, there is a lot great work that is exchanged on campus and this keeps me up-to-date with what is happening in all the different areas, which is really important to me."
Riddhi Masrani, MA Fashion Design

Chat directly to UCA students

Entry & portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. You can either submit a digital portfolio or request an in-person portfolio review with the course team.

Please check out our postgraduate degree portfolio guide and read our advice on creating a strong fashion portfolio.

Select your country to find the equivalent requirements

Apply now

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