Clarendon Sixth Form College

Course content & format

This course aims to provide you with the vital skills and techniques required to progress on to specialist fashion and textiles related courses in higher education and towards a career in fashion and textiles industries. Throughout the course you will cover specialist skills in fashion, such as design, pattern cutting, and garment construction and manufacture as well as textiles skills, such as printed and embroidered textiles, fabric manipulation, decorative surfaces and wearable design. All of this will follow contemporary and historical research, analysis and ideas generation, allowing you to build on your creativity whilst also developing your critical analysis and thinking skills. You will develop a range of design skills through the completion of various design and production projects which will include the construction of different garments such as skirts, trousers, tops and dresses. Competitions and live briefs are often used to give you a genuine working experience of professional design and production practice.

Outside of your lessons there are opportunities to continue to achieve and succeed by taking advantage of the creative facilities at the college. We have a large library with a huge selection of books ranging from art and design, fashion history, fashion illustration, pattern cutting to an exciting range of fashion magazines as used by the industry. The opportunity for collaborative work with students from other art and design courses is a feature of the course to enable portfolio development.

Your unique experience

You will be working within a professional design studio atmosphere with access to industrial and domestic machinery. You will be supported by highly experienced, subject specialist teaching staff with industry experience who will encourage you to develop all-round skills to fulfil your own creative potential. Opportunities to define and work towards personal development and progression goals are key for us to help learners develop as creative individuals, ready for their next steps.

Entry Qualifications

5 GCSE’s grade 4 or above (including English and/or Maths).

A previous art and design GCSE at grade 4 or above (or similar and/or a passion and interest in the subject).

Successful interview with an art tutor (bring a portfolio of your art and design work).

Good verbal and written communication skills.

Good drawing skills are a bonus.

How is this course assessed?

The course covers a mixture of mandatory and specialist units: covering topics like visual recording, materials techniques and processes, ideas and concepts and visual communication in art and design, garment construction and production methods.

Following successful completion of this 2 year course you will receive a National Extended Certificate in Fashion and Textiles. This is equivalent to 1 full A-Level and carries between 16-56 UCAS points. The course is also recognised by employers and apprenticeship schemes.

Progression is delivered through a unit of assessed work on the course and as a result of this trips, visits and external lectures form a valuable tool for learners to inform their future decisions. Our tutorial programme also feeds into this learning and decision making process.

What can I do next?

After completing this course students go on to;

  ●  Higher education within Fashion and Fashion related subjects

  ●  Apprenticeships or higher level apprenticeships

  ●  Following on from this, students’ enter a range of employment opportunities such as garment design and manufacture, costume design, fashion retailing and styling, and fashion journalism to name just a few.