textiles post graduate personal statement

MA Textile Design

MA Textile Design at Chelsea College of Arts is underpinned by sustainable and responsible approaches to design.

Course summary

Subject to re-approval.

This course is undergoing re-approval. This is the process by which we ensure the course continues to provide a high-quality academic experience. During re-approval there may be some changes to the course content displayed on this page. Please contact us if you have any questions about the course.

Applying for more than 1 course

From October 2024, you can only apply for a maximum of 3 postgraduate courses each year at UAL (excluding online or low-residency courses and Graduate Diplomas). Find out more in the Apply Now section .

Course overview

MA Textile Design encourages transformative, multi-disciplinary and collaborative approaches to design. Socially responsible, culturally inclusive design thinking and sustainable creative exploration are core values that underpin the course.

The course encourages you to take a conceptual and speculative approach. You’ll build on your existing creative practice and skills redefining these within the context of your future career ambitions.

You’ll be encouraged to explore current fields of research and situate your practice in relation to them, for example:

Material and product lifecycles including circular design systems
Climate justice and the environmental impacts of materials and sourcing
Production and use of materials and products
Material and production innovations
Patterns of consumption and behavioural change
Social and racial justice, including ethical labour and associated societal effects
Community engagement and environmental issues
The designer as activist.

The course aims to equip you with skills to develop your design identity and become a proactive designer who can influence, navigate and creatively contribute to textile design futures in the complex global contexts of our time.

What to expect

Combining research and practice: A research-led and practice-based course, underpinned by critical design thinking, where the textile studio is a forum for discussion, study and collaboration.
Teaching and learning environment: Your studies will be focused around a combination of taught sessions and workshops, seminars, tutorials and peer learning activities and self-directed learning.
Emphasis on a self-directed design project: Based on your personal research and design interests, you’ll write your own design project brief in Unit 1 and continue to develop this in depth throughout the course.
An ethical focus: We have a responsibility to contribute towards a better and more sustainable world. Throughout your course, you'll explore climate, social and racial justice and learn how to embed these principles into your creative practice.

Industry experience and opportunities

Recent MA Textile Design live and collaborative projects, both live and collaborative, developed with external partners and organisations include:

Waste Age x Ananas Anam
Bio-inspired textiles x Dr Veronica Kapsali - AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funded research project
HEREWEAR - enabling local, circular and bio-based textiles
Khadi London fabrics
Dazzle Collective - visual art and performance via Virtual Reality and live motion capture
Blackhorse Lane Atelier denim
Zara Kidswear x Sustainable Design

Students are also supported to take part in national and international competitions including:

Woolmark Performance Challenge
Bradford Textile Society design competition
Royal Society of Arts (RSA) student design award
Artsthread: Global Design Graduate Show

Mode of study

MA Textile Design is offered in full-time mode and runs for 45 weeks over 15 months. You will be expected to commit an average of 40 hours per week to your course, including teaching hours and independent study.

Course units

Unit 1 - exploring and understanding research-led textile design practice .

This unit is an introduction to your course, the College and the University. You’ll look at research and practical methodologies for developing an integrated approach to theory and practice. You’ll also explore key aspects of socially responsible and sustainable design, including issues relating to climate, social and racial juctice, to help you define the direction of your creative practice and develop a considered and relevant design project proposal.

Unit 2 - Contextualising research-led textile design practice

This unit is about situating your work relative to contemporary and innovative design contexts. You will further develop your knowledge of responsible, socially-just design and you’ll refine and further develop your design project proposal and write a research paper. Towards the end of the unit, you will take part in a work in progress show.

Unit 3 - Realisation of research-led textile design practice

The final unit of the course will focus on the realisation of your design project. You’ll demonstrate how you have developed your practice as a model for exploring and reflecting on relevant contextual and theoretical perspectives. You’ll submit a design outcome with supporting developmental work and a written research paper. You’ll also participate in the Design School Postgraduate Event towards the end of this unit.

Programme specification

Learning and teaching methods.

Independent research
Individual and group tutorials
Peer presentations and other peer learning activities
Research methodology and other academic workshops
Talks and lectures
Technical inductions

Assessment methods

Holistic unit assessment at the end of each 15-week unit
Peer evaluation
Student self-evaluation
Tutorials, including written and verbal feedback

Student work

Chelsea-College-of-Arts-MA-Textile-Design-EMMA-MCGINN-2.jpg

Jane Murrow - Course Leader
Dr Sian Weston - Senior Lecturer
Dr Bridget Harvey - Associate Lecturer
Bine Roth - Associate Lecturer
Sophie Gorton - Associate Lecturer

How to apply

Opportunities for all.

We welcome applications from people with disabilities. If you have a disability (e.g. mobility difficulties, sensory impairments, medical or mental health conditions or Asperger’s syndrome) we strongly encourage you to contact us on [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7514 6156 so that we can plan the right support for you. All enquiries are treated confidentially. To find out more, visit our Disability & Dyslexia webpages.

Information for disabled applicants

Dyslexia or another Specific Learning Difference
A sensory impairment
A physical impairment
A long-term health or mental health condition
Another long-term condition which has an impact on your day-to-day life

Fees and funding

£14,000

This fee is correct for 2025/26 entry and is subject to change for 2026/27 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£29,990

Additional costs

You may need to cover additional costs which are not included in your tuition fees, such as materials and equipment specific to your course. Typical approximate costs for this course include:

Sketchbooks: £5-£20 each
Notebooks and files: £5-£50 each
Tools and materials (drawing and painting): £50-£200
Tools and materials (for your specialism): £100-£500
Dye and colouring materials: £50-£500
Laptop or desktop computer

For a list of general digital equipment you may need (and how you can borrow equipment), visit our Study costs page .

Accommodation

Find out about accommodation options and how much they will cost, and other living expenses you’ll need to consider.

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

If you’ve completed a qualifying course at UAL, you may be eligible for a tuition fee discount on this course. Find out more about our Progression discount .

You can also find out more about the Postgraduate Masters Loan (Home students only) and scholarships , including £7,000 scholarships for Home and International students. Discover more about student funding .

If you’re based in the UK and plan to visit UAL for an Open Event , check if you’re eligible for our UAL Travel Bursary . This covers the costs of mainland train or airline travel to visit UAL.

Find out how you can pay your tuition fees .

Scholarship search

Or view all

Entry requirements

The standard minimum entry requirements for this course are:

BA (Hons) degree or equivalent academic qualifications
Alternative qualifications and experience will also be taken into consideration
Personal statement
Portfolio of work

Entry to this course will also be determined by the quality of your application, looking primarily at your portfolio of work and personal statement.

APEL - Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

Related academic or work experience
The quality of the personal statement
A strong academic or other professional reference
A combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

All classes are taught in English. If English isn't your first language you must provide evidence at enrolment of the following:

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our English language requirements )

Selection criteria

We look for:

The necessary textile-specific skills to enable you to work independently on a research project
The ability to creatively formulate design development concepts and to clearly organise and present ideas
Evidence of engagement with the critical debate surrounding contemporary textile design practice and issues relating to sustainability

UAL is committed to achieving inclusion and equality for disabled students. This includes students who have:

Our Disability Service arranges adjustments and support for disabled applicants and students.

Read our Disability and dyslexia: applying for a course and joining UAL information.

Application deadline

10 December 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

26 March 2025 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

8 January 2025 at 1pm (UK time)

9 April 2025 at 1pm (UK time)

Decision outcome

21 March 2025

20 June 2025

We have 2 rounds of deadlines for postgraduate courses: one in December and one in March. If there are still places available after 26 March, this course will remain open to applications until all places have been filled.

Apply to UAL

Apply with a ual representative.

Based across the world, our local UAL representatives can support you with your application from your home country. Check to see if there is a representative available in your country currently.

Follow this step-by-step guide to apply for this course

Step 1: Initial application

You will need to submit an initial application including your personal statement and CV.

Personal statement advice

Your personal statement should be maximum 500 words and include:

your reasons for choosing the course
your current creative practice and how this course will help you achieve your future plans
any relevant education and experience, especially if you do not have any formal academic qualifications.

Visit our personal statement page for more advice.

Please provide a CV detailing your education, qualifications and any relevant work or voluntary experience. If you have any web projects or other media that you would like to share, please include links in your CV. If English is not your first language, please also include your most recent English language test score.

Step 2: Video task and digital portfolio

We will review your initial application. If you have met the standard entry requirements, we will ask you to submit a video task and digital portfolio.

You’ll need to submit these via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool. Please submit your video task on the first page followed by your portfolio.

Video task advice

We’d like you to submit a 2-3 minute video to help us learn more about you. When recording your task, please face the camera and speak in English.

What to include in your video task

Describe your practice and explain how your work will challenge the field of textile design.

Read our guidance for how to submit your video task and which file types we accept.

Digital portfolio advice

Your portfolio should consist of recent work that reflects your creative strengths.

be maximum 30 pages, including your video task
include a range of work that demonstrates your technical skills
include work in progress as well as final outcomes to show your full design development process
feature any examples of professional or industry experience if appropriate
illustrate your understanding of material qualities and sustainability
include any supporting research

For more support, see our Portfolio advice and PebblePad advice .

Step 3: Interview

You may be invited to an interview following our review of your application. All interviews are held online and last 15 to 20 minutes.

For top tips, see our Interview advice.

You also need to know

Communicating with you.

Once you have submitted your initial application, we will email you with your login details for our Applicant portal .

Requests for supplementary documents like qualifications and English language tests will be made through the applicant portal. You can also use it to ask questions regarding your application. Visit our After you apply page for more information.

Applying to more than 1 course

From October 2024, you can only apply for a maximum of 3 postgraduate courses each year at UAL. This excludes online or low-residency courses and Graduate Diplomas, which you can apply to in addition to 3 other postgraduate courses.

If you apply for more than 3 postgraduate courses between October 2024 and August 2025, we won’t accept the 4th application. It’s not possible to withdraw an application to replace it with another.

You need to tailor your application, supporting documents and portfolio to each course, so applying for many different courses could risk the overall quality of your application. If you receive offers for multiple courses, you'll only be able to accept 1 offer.

Visas and immigration history check

All non-UK nationals must complete an immigration history check. Your application may be considered by our course teams before this check takes place. This means that we may request your portfolio and/or video task before we identify any issues arising from your immigration history check. Sometimes your history may mean that we are not able to continue considering your application. Visit our Immigration and visas advice page for more information.

External student transfer policy

UAL accepts transfers from other institutions on a case-by-case basis. Read our Student transfer policy for more information.

Alternative offers

If your application is really strong, but we believe your strengths and skillset are better suited to a different course, we may make you an alternative offer . This means you will be offered a place on a different course or at a different UAL College.

Deferring your place

We do not accept any deferral requests for our postgraduate courses. This means that you must apply in the year that you plan to start your course and you will not be able to defer your place to start at a later date.

Application deadlines

Most of our postgraduate courses have 2 rounds of deadlines: one in December and one in March.

As long as you apply ahead of each deadline we will consider your application alongside all the other applications in that round. We always make sure to hold enough places back for round 2 to make sure we can consider your application fairly, no matter which round you apply in.

If there are still places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until all places have been filled.

MA Textile Design graduates have gone on to careers as textiles practitioners and designer-makers either working with, or establishing their own, major and independent fashion labels.

Graduates have gone on to designing prints for Ralph Lauren in New York, working on sustainable craft design projects in India as well as in-house designer for Heritage Cashmere.

Other course alumni have gone on to freelance design work, interior product design or other industry related careers, while some go on to undertake further research.

Katie Jones Irving - Senior Print Designer, Abercrombie & Fitch
Print, Tuft and Fold - Zoe Beck, Claire Alderdice and Kim Bassett
Ichiro Suzuki - Menswear Designer

Find out how careers and employability helps our students and graduates start their careers.

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I am currently studying a UAL Foundation Diploma Art & Design specializing in Fashion. Fashion and Textiles is a major focus throughout my education, and this has been reinforced through my participation in a series of exhibitions and competitions to gain exposure for my work. This has included exhibiting my fashion design at Alexandra Palace, the Business Design Centre, the Apex Gallery, and Babylon Gallery. I was also shortlisted for the National Fashion and Textiles award at the Business Design Centre where I was required to exhibit my garment as part of a fashion show. The key aspects in defining my garment designs have gained a clear understanding of pattern cutting and construction which has provided a foundation on which to build my surface embellishment. I always want to show a high level of attention to detail when making a piece of clothing. Fitting my designs to a specific model has extended my learning from my original investigation of using a mannequin to my ultimate wearable designs.

I completed in an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) which was a project where I looked deeper into Chinese fashion and how it has developed for the dynasties to the modern day and have produced two garments. One is from the Ming Dynasty and the other is my own concept, idea of the 21st century and some historical influence. (designer)From this project I learned how to manage my time and be more independent as well as making decisions on my own about what would look good when making the garment. Further, I was also involved in many amateur plays helping with the hair, makeup and costumes including Peter Pan play, Medea, and The Musical.

I always like my work to be an adventure when exploring unique designs which I am able to get inspiration from anything and places that i go to. What I would like to learn is to become more experimental by using equipment like a laser cutter or embroidery machines on fabrics. I am also eager to learn about different types of texture, pattern, and form to create something new. Through my design process in my sketchbook, it helped me express and understand myself on my strength and how to evolve designs either as a garment or an accessory. I hope to show and communicate to people through my own unique and personal perspective of my own collection to show and understand the meaning of it.

I am currently doing a foundation year. In this year I have learnt new skills in the workshop which includes 3D designs such as draping on a mannequin using both cloth and paper. I also learned digital printing which allowed me to express my drawings into prints. In one of my projects called Accessories 'Everyday objects', we had to think about sustainable materials. We had to bring in everyday objects and make an accessory for the muse that we have chosen. Through this project it helped me reflect on my designs to what worked and what i could do better like what materials to use.

In the future, I would like to study BA level as it would be able to give me the opportunities to be able to expand my knowledge in the fashion world like making diverse types of forms with fabrics by using and learning new techniques through professionals to make my own successful collections.

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