BA(Hons) Textile Design

• In your journey through the HCA Textile Design course, you’ll thrive in small, close-knit groups where you are valued as an individual and can make a real impact. Weekly one-to-one tutorials with your tutors will give you tailored support and in-depth guidance, helping you shape your unique design path. 
• Dive into a vibrant mix of workshops, activities, and trips that offer a hands-on, immersive learning experience. Embrace a mixed media approach by combining various textile techniques and incorporating skills from ceramics, metalwork, and photography. 
• Collaborate with students from the School of Material and Design to broaden your design horizons and seize unique opportunities for creative partnerships. Benefit from industry collaborations, work experience opportunities, and portfolio preparation that ensure you’re industry-ready upon graduation. 
• We’ll encourage you to be brave, creative, and independent, equipping you with the resilience to forge your own path and design the life you aspire to lead. 

• One to one weekly tutorials 
• Professional Practice modules 1 and 2 with Professional Practice Conferences, careers fairs and real-wrold industry briefs
• Unlike many Textiles courses where you are required to specialise, at HCA we encourage you to mix techniques across print, knit, weave, embroidery and mixed media and give you the space and time to Explore lesser-known techniques. 
• Support crafting a unique portfolio. The individuality of your profile to make you stand out when you graduate.
• Our ethos as an institution is about preparing you to be industry-ready but putting the focus on creativity.  
• Small group teaching enables staff to provide tailored, high quality feedback and shape sessions around the group
• We encourage students to absorb themselves in as much culture and creativity as possible. We challenge you to find your own inspiration, and bring it into the building - not to rely on a house style. 

Rurally located, but deeply connected to the global design world; you’ll immerse yourself in a dynamic learning environment that blends local tradition with international trends. You’ll gain experience showcasing your work, both online and in major exhibitions like New Designers in London, the Cheltenham Crafts Festival, and the London Design Festival. 

You’ll learn how to leverage social media to boost your design practice and build your digital presence. Engage with leading textile practitioners from across the globe, including experts from France, Switzerland and Belgium. Recent talks have featured notable figures like goldwork specialist Hannah Mansfield, nettle fibres expert Nyrees Titchener, and 3D weave innovator Sophie Zajicek. 

You’ll work on live briefs with prestigious companies such as Dash + Miller, Sage Automotive Interiors, and local luxury brand Roger Oates. Additionally, you’ll go on international trips to Paris and Copenhagen, and explore UK cities like Oxford, Bristol, and Birmingham; all designed to expand your creative vision and professional network. 

A robust and resilient creative practice is founded on the application of critical thinking skills, from idea development in the studio to process execution in the workshop.

During the course, your critical thinking will be honed through lectures, seminars and studio discussions. You will learn to enrich and contextualise your emerging practice through reflection on themes and processes in historical and contemporary making, and gain knowledge about cultural and critical theory. Through this, you will become equipped with skills in research, analysis and evaluation. The aim is for you to learn to express your ideas within your profession and in a way that is specifically relevant to you realising your authentic creative voice.

By graduation you will have identified your place in contemporary art practice and be able to articulate your position with clarity and confidence.

• A comprehensive array of hand and digital looms 
• Advanced digital, screen, and sublimation printing facilities 
• Diverse knitting equipment, including domestic machines, chunky gauges, double beds, linkers, and ribbers 
• Extensive hand and machine stitching and embroidery resources, featuring sewing machines, overlockers, embellishers, pleaters, embroidery frames, and tambour hooks 
• A dedicated dye lab for both natural and synthetic dyeing 
• Yarn-making, carding, and spinning equipment 
• Needle punch and tufting guns 
• Cutting-edge laser and vinyl cutting machinery 
• State-of-the-art 3D printers and scanners 
• Full access to 3D workshops for metalwork, woodwork, ceramics, vacuum forming, jesmonite, and casting 
• Access to professional-grade photography equipment, studios, and darkroom facilities 
• Access to Fine Art printing resources, including lino-cut, etching, and risograph printing 
• New £1m digital PC and MAC suites equipped with Adobe Creative Suite and additional specialist software 

• Minimum age 18.

• UCAS Points: For anyone applying for September 2025 entry and beyond, we are looking for applicants who have achieved at or beyond 96 – 112 UCAS Tariff Points. 

  However, whilst qualifications are important, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We may make offers based on other evidence of talent and suitability for the course –  for more details about UCAS Tariffs please see tariff explanation and advice on the UCAS website. 

• Mature students: Applications from mature students with relevant experience will also be considered.
• Recognition of Prior Learning Opportunities: the college welcomes applications from students with prior learning and/or previous experience. Further details on eligibility can be found on page 15 of our Admissions Policy.
• Applicants whose first language is not English – proof of IELTS overall score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all sections (reading, writing, listening & speaking) is required.

If you are unsure or have any questions, please contact us at registry@hca.ac.uk and we can offer further advice on HCA and the UWTSD awarding body requirements.

You can apply to HCA by making us one of your options on your UCAS application. In some cases, such as with current students and student transfers, we also accept direct applications. 

We receive a high number of application all our subject areas so we recommend that you make your application as early as possible.

You can find out out everything you need about the application process using the link below. If you have any questions, just email registry@hca.ac.uk. 

As soon as you apply, our Registry team will be in touch to let you know they have received your application. At this point they will also send out information on portfolios or auditions.

Portfolios and auditions are a chance for you to showcase yourself in a different way. They give us an idea of what excites you about the subject, and what you might want to explore further on the course. 

We will send out guidance on how to submit your portfolio, or book and audition date, and if you have any questions you will always be able to reach out to us for assistance or clarification.

After submitting your portfolio online, your work will be reviewed by a course lead, and you will receive personal feedback alongside your offer.

Studying is an investment in yourself, and in your future. It’s important to understand the financial support that is available to you, and to be clear about any fees or funding associated with the course you want to study.

Follow the link below to visit our Fees and Funding pages. These pages are designed to help you plan for your future, so you can start your course with confidence in your financial situation.

Everyone’s personal circumstances are different. If you can’t find the information you need, our Student Finance team can offer additional advice.

Top-ups are when you start a degree somewhere else, but transfer to HCA to start either your second or third year.

There are a number of reason why students transfer to HCA, but often it is because their experience didn't live up to what they expected at other universities.

We get a high number of students transferring to HCA, and can almost always accommodate students providing they meet our standard entry requirements.

You may also be asked to provide your transcript from your previous university. 

If you have questions about applying to join as a top-up student, you can find more information at the bottom of this page, or you can email any specific questions to registry@hca.ac.uk.

All undergraduate degrees at HCA are validated by University of Wales Trinity St David.

You can view a detailed breakdown of the course content in the Key Information Document.

This can be downloaded below.