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Fashion Management BA (Hons)
- Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
- UCAS Code(s): 4J38; JW42
- Start Date(s): September 2023
- Duration: Three years full-time or four years with a placement
- Study Mode(s): Full-time / Sandwich
- Campus: City Campus
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Entry Requirements:
More information
Introduction:
Combine your interest in fashion with business management skills. This course focuses on the management of the entire fashion chain with our unique emphasis on fashion product – from design development and sourcing, to buying and merchandising, sales and marketing, and promotion to the consumer.
With links to an impressive network of international fashion and textile organisations, you’ll learn about all the processes and elements of the fashion industry needed to inform and shape your future career in fashion management.
You will gain a sound understanding of fibres, yarns, fabrics, product construction, planning, manufacturing and distribution of a consumer-focused range, with an understanding of commercial strategies.
This course attracts students from around the world, offering you a dynamic experience reflective of the working environment.
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Complete an optional year-long work placement, in the UK or abroad, gaining a certificate or diploma in professional practice. -
Work on live projects with brands such as John Lewis, Next, Boden and ASOS and attend guest lectures with professionals from brands such as Boohoo, River Island, Urban Outfitters and #brillthings. -
Opportunity to apply for a European or international exchange to places like the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Amsterdam Fashion Institute and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. You can also go on optional study trips to places such as Tokyo, New York, Première Vision in Paris and Pitti Filati in Florence. -
You will have the opportunity to take part in Graduate Fashion Week and the ASBCI National Dissertation and Innovation Awards.
What you’ll study
You have the option of a year-long work placement in your Third Year, allowing you to gain invaluable industry experience and confidence.
This course will provide you with the skills required for making business decisions combined with effective communication skills to prepare you for a diverse range of career opportunities within the global fashion industry.
You will learn how to use software such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Excel.
Global Fashion Business
(40 credit points, full year)
Learn about global fashion business practices, including design influences, trend concepts and consumer requirements, through to job roles and business structures. Explore fashion trends and forecasting, and begin to examine marketing principles, consumer behaviour, management and organisational theories relating to the global fashion industry.
Product Development
(60 credit points, full year)
Study the processes by which products are manufactured and the materials from which they are made, alongside an understanding of how and where in the world fashion products are sourced. Explore new technologies and innovations that are changing the global fashion industry, and sustainable and ethical working practices that are key to fashion business success.
Marketing Brand Me
(20 credit points, full year)
In this employability-focused module you will learn how to position yourself competitively in the market, recognising your strengths, skills and competencies, and identifying your career aspirations and future employment opportunities. You will also develop techniques that will aid you in application and assessment processes.
Buying, Merchandising and Product Management
(40 credit points, first half of the year)
Apply the principles of buying, merchandising and product development within the global fashion environment. You will establish the tools and techniques required for successful product planning and range building through different learning opportunities. You will apply your data analytics and trend prediction skills to tailor a commercial range for the fashion consumer.
Global Sourcing and Sustainability
(40 credit points, second half of the year)
Consider the complex issue of sustainability within the global fashion industry, exploring current sustainability and sourcing practices, design approaches, business strategies, and what influences consumer purchasing decisions. In preparation for your major project in your final year, you will choose a specialist area of this topic and develop your research skills, providing innovative solutions.
CoLab: Research, Exploration and Risk-taking
(20 credit points, second half of the year)
Through active participation with team-based problem solving, you will work together in mixed teams on a project where you will use your creative ideas to generate solutions to the challenge or brief. Your project will allow you to explore how creativity can make an impact in society, as you choose a theme of sustainability, social justice, enterprise and innovation or community. This collaborative learning experience will expose you to a range of new processes and approaches that will develop your creative thinking.
Optional module
You will also choose one 20-credit module from:
- Trend Forecasting
- Fashion Product Marketing
- Ethical Design
- Storyboarding
- Responding to the Visual World
- Creative Entrepreneurship
- Introduction to 3D virtual clothing & product design
- Creative Live Event Production
Professional Development
(20 credit points, full year)
Building on the skills you developed in the Brand Me module, you will continue to identify your strengths and competencies and realise a strategy for your future career ambitions. Using the tools and support within the module, you will learn how to competitively position and promote yourself within the fashion industry after graduation.
Fashion Business and Entrepreneurship
(100 credit points, full year)
You will cover the management processes and practices of the global fashion industry at a strategic level, identifying and evaluating trends and innovations, developing your knowledge of strategic management theory and entrepreneurship. This will inform your own investigative study of a self-selected specialist subject relating to the industry.
Video Gallery
How you’re taught
You will be taught through a variety of teaching and learning experiences which will include:
- lectures and briefings
- seminars
- tutorials
- practical fashion and textiles workshops
- live projects
- verbal and visual presentations
- teamwork
- study trips, conferences, trade fairs and events
- creative IT skills workshops
- personal development planning.
Collaboration across courses
Our collaboration module gives you the opportunity to work collaboratively with your contemporaries from a range of different art and design subjects and beyond. You’ll be working alongside artists, designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, and filmmakers on daring and creative projects that prepare you for a rewarding career in your chosen industry. Your project will allow you to explore how creativity can make an impact in society, as you choose a theme of sustainability, social justice, enterprise and innovation or community.
Assessment
Assessment is predominantly through coursework. Assessment methods include reports, audio and visual presentations, final major projects, as well as group and team-working activities.
20% of your final degree mark will be based on your work in Year 2, and 80% from your work in your final year.
Exchange opportunities
If you’re thinking about studying part of your degree abroad, the course has exchange agreements with a number of institutions around the world.
Exchanges take place in Year Two of the course. You’ll receive guidance from the University about where you can study, and help in completing your application and arranging your exchange.
Showcase
You will be given the opportunity to exhibit your work during your time at NTU to members of the creative industries. You may also be selected to showcase at Graduate Fashion Week in London – where many of our previous students have won awards.
Visit our ‘We Are Creatives’ showcase to take a look at the work of this year's graduating students’.
Contact hours
- Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (23%), independent study (77%).
- Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%), independent study (80%).
- Year 3 optional placement year (100%).
- Year 4 lectures/seminars/workshops (18%), independent study (82%).
Further information
NTU is in the UK’s Top 15 for Art & Design in the Complete University Guide 2023 (Ranked 15th).
How you’re assessed
- Year 1 coursework (75%), practical Assessments (25%).
- Year 2 coursework (93%), practical Assessments (7%).
- Year 3 optional placement year.
- Year 4 coursework (92%), practical assessment (8%).
Careers and employability
Graduates from this course go into a range of fields, such as buying and merchandising, marketing and PR, e-commerce and supply chain management, global sourcing, product development, garment and fabric technology roles.
Recent graduate destinations and roles include:
- ASOS, buyer’s administrative assistant, merchandiser, garment technologist assistant
- Burberry, product developer
- Boots, category assistant, buying administrative assistant
- Cotton On, global fashion buyer
- Dr. Martens, category assistant
- Dunelm, commercial leadership graduate
- F&F Clothing, assistant merchandiser
- Hunters Boots Ltd, product development coordinator
- Cath Kidston, buyer’s administrative assistant
- Joules, buyer’s assistant
- Mulberry, digital marketing executive
- Marks & Spencer, buying graduate
- Primark, trainee technologist
- River Island, assistant buyer
- Style Council, fashion editor and community manager
- Superdry, sourcing coordinator
- Ted Baker, marketing executive
Work placement and internship opportunities
You can choose to take a year-long work placement during your studies, with the chance to gain an additional Diploma or Certificate in Professional Practice, dependent on duration. A placement year will give you the opportunity to gain real, hands-on experience and valuable skills for the future. Course tutors and our Employability team are on hand to support you in applying for placement and professional practice opportunities.
Placement students have been offered graduate level jobs before they return for their final year.
Recent placements include:
- ASOS
- Coast
- George
- Kipling (Belgium)
- Li & Fung (New York)
- River Island
- Timberland
- The Walt Disney Company
- Wrangler (Belgium)
- Whistles
- Stella McCartney
- Calvin Klein
- Tommy Hilfiger.
If you decide not to take a year-long work placement, you will be encouraged to undertake short periods of work experience alongside your studies. Our Employability team is on hand to support you – through workshops, drop-in sessions and other activities – in applying for placement and professional practice opportunities.
You’ll receive support from our Employability team, who will put you in touch with companies looking for students, help you to develop your CV, and give you advice for interviews.
This includes:
- putting you in touch with companies looking for students
- help preparing your CV
- helping you prepare for interviews
- inviting you to placement fairs and seminars featuring employers and former students.
YouFirst – working with our Employability team
Studying a creative degree in a large university has many benefits, none more so than having access to a large employability team.
Our friendly, experienced careers consultants will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice you won't find in a book or on the internet. You can benefit from this at any time during your studies and up to three years after completing your course.
Connecting with industry
Benefit from working on live projects with a range of companies. Our students have recently worked on live projects with John Lewis, Wrangler, and Next. The project with Next resulted in one of our final year students being offered a place on the Next Graduate Training Programme.
You’ll have the opportunity to listen to guest speakers from industry. Guests have visited from companies such as ASOS, Boohoo and Disney. Former editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman also visited NTU’s School of Art & Design to talk to students about her 25-year career at the magazine.
The course also has links to:
- the Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry (ASBCI)
- the Textile Distributors Association (TDA)
- the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
Creative Industries Federation
We are members of the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), which means students in the School of Art & Design have the opportunity to sign up to free student membership. Creative Industries Federation are an organisation that represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries and membership grants students exclusive access to their selection of resources and events to help advance your career and connect with industry.
What our students are doing now
Fashion Management students host International Women's Day Event
To celebrate International Women’s Day, our Final Year Fashion Management students hosted a community event with inspirational industry experts.
Fashion students attend design brief workshop with iconic Nottingham designer
NTU alumnae becomes first UK winner of Cannes Young PR Lions competition
Campus and facilities
You will be based in the Barnes Wallis building at the heart of the City Campus, with its modern teaching rooms, collaborative working spaces and Mac suite. View our Nottingham School of Art & Design Facilities Hub here.
Entry requirements
Looking for a place in Clearing? We are accepting applications and would love to hear from you.
To discuss our entry requirements and see what we can offer you, call us now on +44 (0)115 848 6000 or apply online.
What are we looking for?
- We accept UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications.
- GCSE English and Maths grade C / 4.
To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.
Other qualifications and experience
We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form.
Looking for a place in Clearing? We are accepting applications and would love to hear from you.
To discuss our entry requirements and see what we can offer you, call us now on +44 (0)115 848 6000 or apply online.
International qualifications
We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:
Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)
If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:
English language entry requirements
You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:
Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3)
You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
Fees and funding
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494
What's included in the course fees?
The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.
In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Degree Showcase, including course catalogue and exhibition set-up costs. If you’re selected to showcase your work at Graduate Fashion Week in London, the School will cover the cost of transporting your work and the exhibition stand.
Additional costs
Print and copy costs
The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.
Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a minimum of £100 - £200 in each year to cover printing costs.
Stationery and reading materials
Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.
A good supply of these essential textbooks are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access directly whilst studying in the library. You should budget £110 in Year One and £220 in Year Two for stationery and reading materials. In Final Year, you should budget around £500, to include dissertation printing and binding.
Other module costs, you’ll need to budget £100 - £200 (minimum) in Year One (to include essential books, and 2nd hand garments), £130 (minimum) in Year Two, and £150 (minimum) in Final Year.
Field trips
All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.
If you choose to join optional study trips, you’ll need to budget:
- £300 – optional European trip
- £1,200 – optional New York trip
- £400 – optional European trip
- £200 – self-funded research trips
- £1,600 - optional Asian trip
- £150 – optional field trips
Placements
You will have the opportunity to gain an extra qualification – a Certificate in Professional Practice on the Full-Time route. Or you may decide to switch to the Sandwich route, which includes a one-year Placement. Whether pursuing the Full Time or the Sandwich route you will need to budget for accommodation, travel and living costs whilst on Placement.
Costs will vary depending on whether the Placement is paid or unpaid, local or global. If you are working overseas, you will need to factor in the cost of setting up a bank account and visa applications; some companies pay for the visa as part of the Placement offer.
You should also budget £500 for interview/assessment centres in preparation for your Placement year.
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
You might be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those international students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion, and dedication to their studies.
Please take a look at our International students page for information about fees, scholarships for international students, visas and much more.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494
What's included in the course fees?
The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.
In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Degree Showcase, inc
luding course catalogue and exhibition set-up costs. If you’re selected to showcase your work at Graduate Fashion Week in London, the School will cover the cost of transporting your work and the exhibition stand.
Additional costs
Print and copy costs
The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.
Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a minimum of £100 - £200 in each year to cover printing costs.
Stationery and reading materials
Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.
A good supply of these essential textbooks are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access directly whilst studying in the library. You should budget £110 in Year One and £220 in Year Two for stationery and reading materials. In Final Year, you should budget around £500, to include dissertation printing and binding.
Other module costs, you’ll need to budget £100 - £200 (minimum) in Year One (to include essential books, and 2nd hand garments), £130 (minimum) in Year Two, and £150 (minimum) in Final Year.
Field trips
All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.
If you choose to join optional study trips, you’ll need to budget:
- £300 – optional European trip
- £1,200 – optional New York trip
- £400 – optional European trip
- £200 – self-funded research trips
- £1,600 - optional Asian trip
- £150 – optional field trips
Placements
You will have the opportunity to gain an extra qualification – a Certificate in Professional Practice on the Full-Time route. Or you may decide to switch to the Sandwich route, which includes a one-year Placement. Whether pursuing the Full Time or the Sandwich route you will need to budget for accommodation, travel and living costs whilst on Placement.
Costs will vary depending on whether the Placement is paid or unpaid, local or global. If you are working overseas, you will need to factor in the cost of setting up a bank account and visa applications; some companies pay for the visa as part of the Placement offer.
You should also budget £500 for interview/assessment centres in preparation for your Placement year.
How to apply
Apply through UCAS.
Getting in touch
If you need any more help or information, please email our Admissions Team or call +44 (0)115 848 4200.
You can apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal.
Application advice
Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example. After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
Writing your personal statement
Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
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