BA (Hons) Fashion Image & Styling

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

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has an Integrated International Foundation Year to bring students from around the world to one hub of creativity. 

This year of preparatory study 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 the English speaking and writing skills you’ll need to succeed.

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 International Foundation Year

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.

Fashion Image Making
It is vital for you, as future fashion image makers, to have a knowledge of a wide range of influential and innovative image makers and image making techniques, from a wide range of inspirational sources. Visual communication is key to the fashion industry in promoting its message to the client. You’ll investigate influences and inspirations, and use what you find to produce a series of fashion images designed for a specified brand, trend or product.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
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.

Showcase
This short project focuses on the importance of decision-making, fast reflexes and concise communication in the curation, exhibition and promotion of a fashion image. You’ll work individually, and as a group, and have the opportunity to liaise with professionals. You’ll select your best fashion image from the previous unit, rework and redesign for print and digital, and finally promote, exhibit and evaluate – all in a four-week period.

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.

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.

Fashion Styling and Creative Direction
You’ll extend your knowledge of creative fashion styling, fashioned identity and image creation from both a theoretical and practical, industry-relevant perspective. You’ll research and analyse a diverse range of sources and techniques and interpret your findings within an industry-relevant range of creative outcomes. You’ll learn how stylists and creative directors use ‘style’ in order to define and represent an identity through media – as music artists, as style icons, and as influencers or models.

You are required to generate styled images for a specified publication to explore the idea of ‘identity’ through your styling and art direction.

Portfolio and Personal Development
As we approach the end of your first academic year, you will learn how to curate and build a Year 1 digital portfolio. The portfolio will allow you to reflect, review, update and present all your unit outcomes in one place to demonstrate your knowledge/understanding, technical and professional skills as a fashion image and styling practitioner. This is your first step in placing your own practice in an industry context.

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.

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.

Fashion in Motion
You’ll apply your understanding of, and creative responses to, the requirements of the fashion industry in moving image, whether it’s a film, animation or capturing a performance. After defining and analysing a client of your choice, you’ll create a short creative film for that client, bearing in mind style, narrative and technique and ensuring the highest of industry standards.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity 2
Across four bite-sized projects, you’ll analyse, contextualise and reflect on a specific fashion market (for example; size, wealth bracket, age, gender, race, dis/ability, culture, sub-culture) to produce communication documents as if commissioned by a brand of your choice. Using your research, you’ll unpick the marketplace needs through lenses of historical context (time), global culture (place), marketplace trends, expectations and needs, and tone and message.

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. This can take the form of still, VR, AR &/or moving model shots, detail shots, life-style shots &/or cut-out product shots. All need planning, styling and recording.

This short-sharp portfolio-enhancing unit focuses on the employable practicalities of styling for e-commerce with a focus on clarity, planning and documentation to give you a strong skill and knowledge base in this competitive and exciting facet of the industry.

Elective – Bespoke Styling for Celebrity
In the constant whirl of celebrity appearances, relationships between stylists and celebrities is based on networks, trust and clarity of purpose. You’ll research a celebrity of your choice, contextualise their audience and ‘message’, and propose an innovative, bespoke wardrobe for a series of specified appearances in conjunction with relevant designers and makers.

Depending on your own personal focus, you will submit a proposal which includes research of potential collaborators (designers, hair and make-up artists), imagery (moodboards, sketches, collage and/or mock-up shoots) and a budget sheet.

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.

Digital Content Creation
You’ll build on contextualising your own practice in industry. Your research, analysis and deep understanding of your own practice and current industry needs will inform your exploration and experimentation in applying your skills in communication and storytelling.

You will investigate, propose and create a multifaceted digital content campaign that will promote a brand, product or service across a number of media platforms with a consistent message and tone appropriate to your ‘client’. You’ll complete a digital media campaign, and put together an academic proposal, which will inform and enhance your final year projects.

Portfolio and Personal Development
As we approach the end of your second academic year, you will curate and build a Year 2 digital portfolio. The portfolio will allow you to reflect, review, update and present all your unit outcomes in one place to demonstrate your knowledge/understanding, technical and professional skills as a fashion image and styling practitioner. This is your next step in placing your own practice in an industry context.

Placement
You will undertake and reflect upon work-based learning while on placement (and/or through self-managed ‘freelance’ or competition projects), lasting a minimum of three weeks. This will enable you to observe and understand the workings of a range of industry practices, gaining a valuable insight into your chosen field through your own experiences, your studies, and by learning from the experiences of your peers.

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.

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

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 fine tune it before you start actively working on it as part of your last year at university.

Innovation for industry
How we communicate and present our concepts for innovation in fashion imagery is crucial to successful visual communication and, ultimately, relevance and longevity for both ourselves and our clients. In this unit, we will introduce you to a client who will set a research question that is relevant to current industry practice. Using the research question as a starting point, you will take a broader view of what you determine to be the definition of ‘innovation’ in response to the client brief and also to your own developing portfolio, specialist skills and practice. You will need to identify and present new and innovative concepts, and propose an original idea to support a launch, a product, a reinvention of a product, or perhaps a narrative within a specific media arena.

Critical Thinking for Publication
Following on from your Academic Proposal (completed at the end of Year 2) and your summer project, you’ll define your angle or argument, and communicate this through creative content for a specified platform or publication. The creative outcome will be supported by a research document in which you reflect on your learning journey. You will evidence the growth of the argument and contextualise the topic within the global fashion industry.

Graduate Career Fair
The Graduate Career Fair taking 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.

Creative Direction for Fashion
The development of a creative business narrative, within the world of Fashion Image and Styling and at all levels of the industry, is among the most complex, yet most rewarding tasks within the marketplace. There are three components to this final unit, which showcases the skills and insight you’ve gained over the course of the degree:

• Specialist Outcome & Presentation – you’ll create a substantial project that focuses on your area of professional interest and showcases your specialist skills. This work could be a body of editorial work, a series of films, photography or even a retail or installation project.
• Research Document & Personal Development Planning Career Document – you’ll extend your research skills and complete your own career document. You will be expected to demonstrate and identify innovative forms of communication, and then use your creative skills to plan how you will realise and communicate your fashion concepts. Your planning career document is to support you in your professional practice after graduation.
• Graduate Portfolio & Promotional Showcase - An online Graduate Portfolio and an emailable Promotional Showcase is the perfect place to promote your personal signature brand, which clearly expresses your individual strengths and skillsets. The projects selected to display in your portfolio must articulate imaginative and professional methods of communication and should be related to a career direction.

This course offers the opportunity to study abroad for part of your second year. To find out more about studying abroad as part of your course please see the Study Abroad section:

• Study abroad information

Tuition fees - 2024/25 entry

UK students:

• Integrated Foundation Year - £9,250
• BA course - £9,250

EU students:

• Integrated International Foundation Year - £9,250 (see fee discount information)
• BA course - £9,250 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Foundation Year - £16,950
• BA course - £17,500

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, for 2024 you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee of £1,850 (UK students) and £3,390 (International students). 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. 

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

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.

You'll find everything you need to know for your level of study on our scholarships page.

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 your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.

Live projects

You’ll have the opportunity to take part in live industry projects collaborating with fashion giants including:

• Harvey Nichols
• Shaftesbury PLC
• Covent Garden
• Carnaby Street
• Camden Town
• Zandra Rhodes

Student placements

Student placements are mandatory in the second year. Past students have undertaken placements at:

• Gucci
• Vogue
• Preen
• London Fashion Week
• Wonderland Magazine

Our graduates work in areas as diverse as:

• Styling
• Public relations
• Marketing
• Digital marketing
• Copywriting.

Recent graduates’ positions demonstrate a dazzling array of career opportunities, such as:

• Social media manager
• PR coordinator
• Digital account executive
• Digital marketing assistant
• Marketing assistant
• Junior account executive
• Communications coordinator
• Communications assistant
• Marketing communications manager
• Fashion assistant
• Online coordinator.

In addition, a number of graduates have created their own career and business opportunities through freelance editorial styling, journalism, and boutique PR and marketing.

You may also like to consider further study at postgraduate level.

BA (Hons) course
BA (Hons) course with Professional Practice Year

The standard entry requirements* for these courses are one of the following:

• 112 UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
• Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
• Distinction, Merit, Merit at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
• Merit at UAL Extended Diploma
• 112 UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
• 27-30 total points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma with at least 15 IB points at Higher level, see more information about IB entry requirements.

And four GCSE passes at grade 9-4/A*-C including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).

Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply.  

Portfolio requirements

For these courses, we’ll need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

More portfolio advice

BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year

The standard entry requirements* for these courses are one of the following:

• 32 UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
• Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
• Pass, Pass, Pass at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
• Pass at UAL Extended Diploma
• 32 UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
• 24 points from the International Baccalaureate, see more information about IB entry requirements.

And four GCSE passes at grade 9-4/A*-C including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).

Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply. 

Portfolio requirements

For these courses, we’ll need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

*We occasionally make offers which are lower than the standard entry criteria, to students who have faced difficulties that have affected their performance and who were expected to achieve higher results. We consider the strength of our applicants’ portfolios, as well as their grades -  in these cases, a strong portfolio is especially important.

BA (Hons) course
BA (Hons) course with Professional Practice Year

The standard entry requirements* for these courses are one of the following:

• 112 new UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
• Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
• Distinction, Merit, Merit at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
• Merit at UAL Extended Diploma
• 112 new UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
• 27-30 total points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma with at least 15 IB points at Higher level, see more information about IB entry requirements.

And four GCSE passes at grade 9-4/A*-C including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).

Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply.  

Portfolio requirements

For these courses, we’ll need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

More portfolio advice

BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year

The standard entry requirements* for these courses are one of the following:

• 64 new UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
• Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
• Merit, Pass, Pass at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
• Pass at UAL Extended Diploma
• 64 new UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
• 24 points from the International Baccalaureate, see more information about IB entry requirements.

And four GCSE passes at grade 9-4/A*-C including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).

Other relevant and equivalent Level 3 UK and international qualifications are considered on an individual basis, and we encourage students from diverse educational backgrounds to apply. 

Portfolio requirements

These courses don't require a portfolio. If you receive an offer, you’ll be invited to attend an Applicant Day where you can meet the course team and learn more about the course. 

*We occasionally make offers which are lower than the standard entry criteria, to students who have faced difficulties that have affected their performance and who were expected to achieve higher results. We consider the strength of our applicants’ portfolios, as well as their grades -  in these cases, a strong portfolio is especially important.

BA (Hons) course
BA (Hons) course with Professional Practice Year

The entry requirements for these courses will depend on the country your qualifications are from, please check the equivalent qualifications for your country:

• Non-UK equivalent qualifications

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For these courses, we will need to see your portfolio for review. We will invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. If you are unable to attend an Applicant Day you can upload a portfolio digitally, there is also the option to submit it online via your UCA Applicant Portal. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year
BA (Hons) course with Integrated International Foundation Year and Professional Practice Year

For these courses you need to have completed 12 years of schooling (with good grades) and show strong evidence of your ability to successfully complete the programme and progress onto your chosen degree.

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

These courses don't require a portfolio. If you receive an offer, you’ll be invited to attend an Applicant Day where you can meet the course team and learn more about the course. 

English language requirements

To study at UCA, you'll need to have a certain level of English language skill. And so, to make sure you meet the requirements of your course, we ask for evidence of your English language ability, please chcek the level of English language required:

• English language requirements