Surface Pattern and Textile Design BA (Hons)

UCAS code W740

Duration

3 Years

Location

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Do you see yourself working in an industry design team? Perhaps, you see yourself as an entrepreneur running your own creative business? Our Surface Pattern and Textile Design degree lets you realise your creative potential combining practical print processes with digital and technical skills. This course will encourage your ambition, build your design confidence and you will graduate industry ready.

For 25/26 entry. 

Ideal for anyone with a passion for creating repeat patterns and print for fashion and interiors, this course covers everything from initial research and drawing, through design awareness, development and final print design collections.

We have fully equipped workshops and studios containing industry standard facilities, such as digital wallpaper printing, ceramic decoration facilities, a rug making room, screen-printing, dyeing and transfer printing, and a digital fabric printer. There is also a dedicated CAD suite and Smart Zone with laser cutters and 3D printers.

Our academics are well qualified in their specialist areas, and continually develop their skills and knowledge to ensure that we are at the forefront of design and the requirements of industry. Every year, specialist visiting lecturers and successful alumni return to share their knowledge and industry insights.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Surface Pattern and Textile Design

Work placements

Opportunities to work with our industry partners on work experience placements

Our students have undertaken placements companies such as Johnson Tiles, M&S, Next, Hallmark and Designers Guild.

Course content

This Surface Pattern and Textile Design course is designed for students wishing to specialise as designers and creators, with a desire to enhance surfaces for fashion or interiors with innovative designs.

Our teaching programme includes hands-on practical workshops and demonstrations by tutors and specialist technicians. Individual and group tutorials take place in the studio, where self-assessment, critical analysis and reflective practice are encouraged.

We have strong links with industry, providing exciting opportunities for work placements, ‘live’ industry projects, competitions and freelance work – and they often lead to offers of sponsorship, study visits and employment. 

In your final year, you’ll present your work to peers and employers at our Degree Show and Gradex. You will also exhibit at New Designers in London, where many of our past students have enjoyed great success – securing commissions, press coverage and work placements.

Academic year

The course operates on a modular basis that provides flexibility and choice. Typically the majority of modules are 40 academic credits with a smaller number of 20 credit modules. Each credit taken equates to a total study time of around 10 hours. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity. Full-time students take modules worth 60 credits per semester, with part-time students taking proportionately fewer credits per semester. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 360 credits for the degree as a whole. Your overall grade for the course and your degree classification are based on the marks obtained for modules taken at levels 5 and 6.  The full-time course has one start point in September.

Professional body accreditation

Accreditation is the approval of a programme, giving holders of the programme's award exemption from the academic requirements for a Textile Institute professional qualification.

The Textile Institute logo depicting the name and a crest with two birds and a shield.

Upon the recommendation of the Professional Qualifications Committee the Governing Council of The Textile Institute agree to accredit this programme as fulfilling the academic requirements for the Associateship of the Textile Institute.

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Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module where available.

Year 1 compulsory modules
Colour In Design 20 credits
Course Introduction 40 credits
Material Innovation 1 20 credits
Producing Research 20 credits
Visual Studies 20 credits
Year 2 compulsory modules
Industry Practice 40 credits
Material Innovation 2 20 credits
Personal Investigation 20 credits
Printed Textiles 40 credits
Year 3 compulsory modules
Advanced Study 40 credits
Design Futures 20 credits
Individual Program Of Study 40 credits
Research, Analysis And Communication Assignment 20 credits

Progression routes to masters

Entry requirements

112-120 UCAS Tariff points

  • GCE A Levels - grades BBC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • Access to HE Diploma - Pass Access with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points. Applicants to Staffs who are taking the Access to HE Diploma receive a reduced tariff point offer as part of our access and participation plan activity
  • UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma - grade of Merit overall
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma - grade DMM
  • T Levels - Eligible T Level applications will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of P (A*-C) or Higher Pass as a condition of offer

All applicants are individually assessed via a portfolio review

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country.

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Facilities

Smart Zone

A bustling centre of invention, innovation and creation with two floors of dedicated workshop and collaboration spaces for engineering and creative students. Read more

The Smart Zone fuses state-of-the-art fabrication spaces with augmented and blended reality facilities, allowing you to bring your ideas to life using the latest digital and immersive technologies. Find out more about our Smart Zone.
Watch video View virtual tour

Dedicated Studio Space

Many of our art and design courses offer students their own personal workspace, conveniently located within an open-plan studio, to use throughout their course.

Watch video View virtual tour

Fabric Printing and Pattern Design

We have so much to offer including screen-printing, dyeing and transfer printing. We also have a digital fabric printer, as well as laser cutters, ceramic decoration facilities and a rug-making room. Read more

Find out more about our surface decoration workshops
View virtual tour

Careers

Many of our Surface Pattern and Textile Design graduates now work as designers for companies such as H&M, Next, M&S, Boden, Accessorize, Hallmark and Mothercare, creating products such as textiles, gift cards, ceramics, wallpaper and children’s clothing. Some have set up in business as freelancers, while other graduates have become stylists, buyers, trend forecasters, studio designers, lecturers and teachers.

All students have access to Career Connect, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

The teaching on this course is predominantly studio practice. You'll develop your skills across a wide range of project-based activities, which take place within a studio setting appropriate to the subject. Sometimes you will work in whole groups, sometimes you will working in teams, with presentations of your work to your peer group and the academic staff. At other times during your study, you will be working on individual self-initiated projects. During projects, there will be tutorial sessions with academic staff where you explore your practice in more detail.

In addition, you take part in lecture and seminar activities which allow you to explore the contextual and professional background to the projects you are undertaking. These are led by your lecturers and also guest tutors from industry who bring their specialist insight into the sessions. You also participate in technical skills instruction sessions with Technician Instructors enabling you to enhance your making and digital skills across a wide range of techniques and approaches.

Assessment

You are assessed in this course by a range of different types of coursework and practical activities. The assessment task for each module will vary dependent upon its content but may include:

  • A body of completed artwork, professionally presented in the format required by the assignment, project or brief.
  • Workbooks, sketchbooks etc., documenting the process of generating, developing and resolving thoughts/ideas, and demonstrating the influence of research on practical work.
  • Research books, folders, dossiers, etc. documenting the gathering, sorting and presentation of research material.
  • Technical Exercises demonstrating your skills and competencies using particular equipment and/or techniques.
  • Written essays or reports, in which you are exploring the contextual or professional background to a specific project.
  • An individual or group seminar demonstration of you creative design process and solution.

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include:

  • study skills such as reading, note-taking and presentation skills
  • written English, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy
  • academic writing and how to reference
  • research skills
  • critical thinking and understanding arguments
  • revision, assessment and examination skills
  • time management

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Feedback

Throughout the modules you take on your course you are provided with formative, developmental assessment opportunities, which are carried out in tutorial and critique situations. Feedback is usually provided to you orally, with a written record kept either by the tutor or by you. This is sometimes produced as the result of peer or self-assessment exercises.

All modules also included formal or “summative” assessment tasks and the grades from the formal assessments count towards your module mark. You will normally receive feedback on coursework assessments within 20 working days following the date of submission.

Your study time will consist of class contact hours, self-directed learning, assessment and placements where appropriate. Your actual contact hours will depend on the subject area, on the option modules you select and professional body requirements. 

Year 1

29% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
72% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Year 2

30% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
70% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Year 3

28% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
72% of time in independent study
0% of time in work based learning

Independent learning

When not attending lectures, seminars, technical workshops or other timetabled sessions, you'll be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve utilising a range of digital resources including our virtual learning environment; reading journals, articles and books; working on individual and group projects; undertaking research in the library; preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for assessment. Your independent learning will be supported by a range of excellent facilities. These include the library, open access computer facilities, informal learning zones and a range of specialist workshops.

Year 1

0% practical assessments
100% coursework
0% written exams

Year 2

0% practical assessments
100% coursework
0% written exams

Year 3

0% practical assessments
100% coursework
0% written exams

Staff

You will be taught by an expert teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience. Postgraduate research students who have undertaken teaching training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader.

Tracy Flounders

Senior Lecturer

I am the Course Leader for BA Surface Pattern and Textile Design with a background in designing print and patterns for industry, and digital textile design.

Tracy's profile

Fiona Wilson

Senior Lecturer

Whichever course you choose, you'll learn from highly experienced lecturers and perfect your craft in our fully equipped workshops and studios, all to ensure that when you graduate, you'll be well prepared for employment.

Fiona's profile

Dawn Critchley

Lecturer

Dawn has a master's degree in surface pattern design, specialising in combining traditional art techniques with creative digital design processes for a range of commercial applications.

Dawn's profile

Lisa Wolfe

Lecturer

Claire Edwards

P/T Lecturer (Hrly) - Surface Pattern

Fees

For the course starting on 22 September 2025 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands International
Full-time £9,250 per year of study £16,750 per year of study

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

Included in the fees:

Travel, and accommodation costs incurred by compulsory trips and visits away from the University that are directly linked to the learning requirements of a specific module.

The use of all workshops, studios and specialist technical facilities and hire of equipment relating to the course of study.
Not included in the fees:

The estimated cost of text books over the duration of the course. All essential text books are available from the library, but some students chose to purchase their own copies.

Travel, subsistence, entrance fees etc. incurred by optional trips and visits away from the University related to the course.

The cost of materials for the development of a student’s individual practice and work. Additional costs vary dependent upon student’s own choice of materials and approach to their practice.

Optional personal insurance when borrowing equipment such as cameras, lighting equipment etc. for extended period of use off campus [Approx £50-£100]. It may be possible to add some items to home contents insurance.
Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by reading our additional funding web pages, or visiting www.gov.uk.

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus BA (Hons) Full-time 22 September 2025 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at University of Staffordshire, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of University of Staffordshire enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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