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Grace Mcgee, MA Fashion Business & Management, UCA Epsom

Fashion Business & Management MA/MSc

Fashion Business & Management MA/MSc

Epsom 1 year full-time

Course overview

If you are seeking a high-level career in management in the fashion industry, then our dynamic MA/MSc Fashion Business & Management course at UCA Epsom is an ideal way to get there.

This globally-focused and innovative course brings creative thinking and innovation to the forefront of fashion management and is based at our Business School for the Creative Industries. Here, you will build a portfolio of skills and knowledge that will give you a strong grounding in both fashion business practices, and the application of innovative thinking in a commercial context.

This course builds on the success of UCA's undergraduate business courses and provides a learning environment in which you can develop both creative and strategic skills in fashion business, management and marketing.

You will be supported to reach a deeper understanding of how the fashion industry operates, and engage with global fashion brands as you plan and produce a major project that is unique to you.

As well as conducting important individual research, you will be taught the core principles of fashion business and management through a range of lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops, and will undertake both formative and summative assessment, keeping reflective personal blogs and journals to chart your progress.

Our Postgraduate programmes share a dedicated MA base room and ample workshop spaces. The course also offers both a nurturing learning environment and a strong business-facing culture – enriched by our close connections with the fashion industry – equipping you with the skills to work at a high level in fashion business and management when you graduate.

A one-year course of advanced study for furthering your research skills and specialising within your discipline.

A year-long preparatory course of study to ready you for your Master’s, developing your specialist skills, research acumen and confidence in working autonomously.

A year-long preparatory course of study to ready you for your Master’s in the UK, developing your English speaking and writing together with your specialist skills, research acumen and confidence in working autonomously.

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Course details

Course details

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

Get ready for your chosen postgraduate course with this preparatory year of specialist study. With a mix of online and face-to-face learning, UCA’s Integrated Pre-Masters is designed to give you insight into the study skills required to complete a Master’s, within the context of your creative subject. You’ll build skills in autonomous learning, forming your own targets and goals, honing your research skills, time management and professional practice.

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has launched an Integrated International Pre-Masters year.

On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Master’s, and you’ll also improve your English for academic study.

Postgraduate Bootcamp 1: Creativity & Orientation 
Bootcamp 1: Creativity is designed to introduce you to the Business School for the Creative Industries’ learning community and professional global network orientation. Through a series of exciting and engaging fast paced workshops, tasks and peer sessions you will access resources, build relationships and develop a vision of the function of business for the creative industries.  

Fashion: Theories & Histories 
Fashion is a global, multi trillion-pound industry employing billions of people around the world, but it has not always been this way; this unit explores some of the ways and whys fashion developed as it did. You will learn the historic development of fashion as an industry as well as a form of social, cultural, and artistic expression. You will hear, read and discuss a whole range of ideas, theories and writing about fashion, from the historical and sociological to the feminist and the economic.  

Creative People & Organisations 
The creative industries are highly important to the UK and the global economy. As people are a principal resource for any organisation, the strategic management of creative people is an essential skill to ensure that the creative enterprise flourishes at times of rapid technological and organisational change and global competition. This module is designed to provide an insight into the complex theories and contemporary management practice within the creative industries both in the UK and globally. 

Fashion Buying & Merchandising 
This unit aims to provide critical insight into roles of buying and merchandising in an ever-changing fashion landscape. You will explore a variety of fashion typologies and the differentiated approaches to fashion buying and merchandising to gain understanding of what their role is, and the processes involved and how they are managed to achieve business success. You will explore in detail the management of processes, such as market and trend analysis, product creativity and innovation, as well as range planning, sourcing, logistics and distribution. 

Marketing, Design and Communications 
If we can understand branding as strategic, we can understand marketing as the tactical force employed to achieve specific business objectives sent from the brand. This unit is about how to understand branding in this way, so you can improve your own marketing, design and communication skills and investigate solutions to current issues within this industry sector. 

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures 
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends. 

Creative Industries: Leadership 
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format.  

Postgraduate Bootcamp 2: Forecasting & Predictive Analysis 
Through examples from empirical research, you will have an overview of main concepts, statistical models, methods, tools and underlying principles used to improve business decision-making. You will learn fundamentals of exploratory data analysis and how to aggregate and visualize datasets. 

Human-centred Innovation & Design 
Human-centred design (HCD) is a creative way to solve problems. It is a process of designing for people that begins with the people for whom you are developing ideas and ends with individual solutions to meet their needs. You will learn how to design and develop systems by applying HCD and innovation principles and techniques through various relevant activities in planning and management to satisfy user needs and requirements in business, social and global contexts.

Global Fashion Industry and Business 
This unit will give you comprehensive knowledge of current theories and practices for managing Fashion business and process in a global context. There is a strong focus on contemporary business and marketing concepts enabling you to position yourself and your practice within this constantly changing and demanding landscape.  

Masters Project 
The Masters Project is the culmination of your studies and is divided into two parts – a research proposal, and your final project. Both parts represent an in-depth investigation and requires you to approach a real problem or opportunity in your specialist area, analyse it, and then develop a tangible strategy and implementation plan, while applying contemporary concepts and frameworks from your studied programme.  

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures 
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends. 

Creative Industries: Leadership 
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format.  

MA students choose one unit from:

Creative Business Start-Up 
With the world ever-changing, the traditional rules of business no longer apply.  The drive for innovation, creativity and agility are taking precedence. This unit explores the concept of developing creative businesses and the new paths for start-ups. You will analyse the evolution of business structures and explore the new market opportunities and challenges arising from geo-politics, trade relations and the global pandemic. And you will use research to scope out new concepts designed to fulfil rising market trends such as inclusivity, diversity, and cultural differences to create and capture value.  

Investment in the Creative Industries  
This unit covers the various means of investment in the creative industries. You will explore availability and access of funds through loans, grants, scholarships from government and council schemes to industry organisations and trade bodies, as well as from private equity investors. You will also explore and challenge business/financial models and future landscapes. 

Retail Experience Design 
Retail experience is a rapidly evolving and innovative landscape – you will take a look at the histories and evolution of the sector and explore future trends with the aim to be visionaries and leaders in the space. You will explore environmental, communications, products, people and services using insights into human behaviour and eco-systems (supply chain & critical path).  

Circular Economy in Fashion 
You will explore the fundamental objectives and differences between a linear economy and a circular economy and, through the lens of the global fashion industry, you will explore and assess the opportunities and complexities of this transformation with particular focus on business models, resources, and solutions relevant to future strategy and processes.  

MSc students choose one unit from:

Investment in the Creative Industries  
This unit covers the various means of investment in the creative industries. You will explore availability and access of funds through loans, grants, scholarships from government and council schemes to industry organisations and trade bodies, as well as from private equity investors. You will also explore and challenge business/financial models and future landscapes. 

Digital Marketing Analytics 
This unit explores the evolution of digital marketing and technologies, theories and practice of marketing, and the digital consumer. You will analyse trends and digital communications to innovate, explore and create digital marketing/media strategies and plans to reach various audiences from stakeholders and clients to consumers.  

 

Postgraduate Bootcamp 3: Competitive Intelligence & Research 
Bootcamp 3: Competitive Intelligence Research is designed to familiarise you with the gathering and analysis of competitors, customers, distributors, technologies, and other relevant stakeholders and features in the environment for proactive decision making in the face of threats and opportunities.  

Masters Project 
The Masters Project is the culmination of your studies and is divided into two parts – a research proposal, and your final project. Both parts represent an in-depth investigation and requires you to approach a real problem or opportunity in your specialist area, analyse it, and then develop a tangible strategy and implementation plan, while applying contemporary concepts and frameworks from your studied programme.  

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures 
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends. 

Creative Industries: Leadership 
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format. 

MA students choose one unit from:

Behavioural Studies and Consumption 
In this unit, you will overview main behaviour theories from marketing, sociology and psychology, and their recent trends, to analyse and get acquainted with the decision-making processes of consumers, and their main factors, with a particular application to cultural and creative goods. 

Trends & Forecasting
This unit will require you to engage in both perceptive and analytical approaches to trends research. You will be introduced to the key theories of prediction and forecasting alongside the fundamental framework of trend research (recognise, analyse, and translate).

Fashion Branding 
Branding across creative disciplines has grown in importance in contemporary society. This unit gives you a theoretical framework and critical knowledge of fashion branding and strategic brand management. It will enable you to position your own creative business practice using your critical knowledge of how brands create value for the consumer through the marketing mix, developing new brand concepts and strategies. 

MSc students choose one unit from:

Managerial Accounting & Finance 
You will examine the perspectives and techniques in accounting and financial control and consider how they are used by modern enterprises to effectively manage  competitive business environments.  

Trends & Forecasting
This unit will require you to engage in both perceptive and analytical approaches to trends research. You will be introduced to the key theories of prediction and forecasting alongside the fundamental framework of trend research (recognise, analyse, and translate).

Behavioural Studies and Consumption 
In this unit, you will overview main behaviour theories from marketing, sociology and psychology, and their recent trends, to analyse and get acquainted with the decision-making processes of consumers, and their main factors, with a particular application to cultural and creative goods. 

Business Analytics  
You will explore how to acquire, process, analyse and interpret data to provide meaningful value for creative organisations, and look at how data is used in the creative industries, how AI and machine learning are advancing this area, and what the future may look like for the creative industries. 

Tuition fees - 2023 entry

UK students:

  • Integrated Pre-Masters course - £10,500
  • MA/MSc course - £10,500

EU students:

  • Integrated International Pre-Masters course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)
  • MA/MSc course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)

International students:

  • Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
  • Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
  • MA/MSc course - £17,500

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.

Further information
For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.

The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. Costs may increase each year during a student’s period of continued registration on course in line with inflation (subject to any maximum regulated tuition fee limit). Any adjustment for continuing students will be at or below the RPI-X forecast rate.

To support our students and alumni to progress to the next level of study, we have developed a new range of fee discounts across a range of courses.

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.

Facilities

The MA courses at UCA Epsom share a baseroom with networked computer facilities and you also have access to our extensive range of campus facilities, including: print studios with extensive screen printing facilities, photography studios, 3D workshops, media store for borrowing film and photography equipment.The bookable photographic studios have darkrooms and digital processing equipment, and the print studios have extensive screen printing facilities.

Business School Lecture, UCA Epsom

Lecture theatre, UCA Epsom

UCA Epsom

UCA Epsom

Business School Studios, UCA Epsom

Business School, UCA Epsom

Business School Studios, UCA Epsom

Business School studios, UCA Epsom

Career opportunities

Career opportunities

Graduates will be able to work at a high level within:

  • Fashion brand management
  • Operations management
  • Fashion business entrepreneurs

You may also like to consider continuing your studies at MPhil or PhD level with us at UCA

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

MA/MSc course

  • An honours degree or equivalent qualification in the subject or a related discipline

and/or

  • Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

 

MA/MSc course with Integrated Pre-Masters course

A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

Check the equivalent qualifications for your country and the English language requirements:


  • Non-UK equivalent qualifications
  • English language requirements

    • MA/MSc course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course
    A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

    Don't meet the international entry requirements or English language requirements?
    You may be able to enter the course through the following entry pathways:

    MA/MSc course
    MA/MSc course with Integrated Pre-Masters course
    MA/MSc course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

    These courses don’t require a portfolio.

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