BA Textiles offers a rich exploration of materials in their broadest sense for a wide range of contexts and outcomes. 

We encourage you to take an experimental approach towards materials and processes to produce innovative, contemporary and questioning design work.

We advocate for you to find your own personal and individual approach to textiles. We will help you to identify alternative options and propositions for design and making, with considered approaches and sustainability at their heart. 

This may include textiles: 

• for fashions, interiors or products
• as communication or for alternative contexts

What you will cover 

You will explore combinations and compositions of: 

• imagery
• drawing
• materials
• texture
• colour
• pattern

You will look at textiles in two and three dimensions. We support a wide-ranging approach to drawing and personal research and encourage you to: 

• embrace new technology
• develop new ways of working
• find your individual approach to textiles
• study traditional and foundational textile techniques in print and mixed media
• consider sustainability and develop your material awareness
• create vibrant and unexpected responses to textile challenges, propositions and design problems

Your technical proficiency will be focused on textile print processes with a further layer of:

• mixed media
• embroidery
• construction
• innovative biomaterial and regenerative material exploration

Our graduates work in a range of roles across textiles, design and the creative industries, including: 

• designers
• designer-makers
• colour, materials and finish (CMF) specialists
• colourists
• illustrators
• trend-predictors
• stylists
• buyers
• design consultants
• educators
• researchers

Skills in demand 

Our textiles graduates are highly sought-after for their: 

• understanding and application of drawing, colour, materials, print, finish and surface
• ability to adapt to changing demands and address ongoing concerns within textiles, including sustainability and material and manufacture traceability
• creative approaches to design, innovation in design thinking and their abilities to respond to novel spaces and places for textile use

They work in different contexts, including: 

• fashion and interiors
• architecture
• automotive design
• design studios
• materials and colour-led research
• sustainability
• education

Employers have included: 

• Alexander McQueen
• Laura Ashley
• Innocent
• Liberty
• de Gournay
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Burberry
• Ralph and Russo
• Mini Boden
• White Stuff
• Adidas
• Voyage Maison
• Timorous Beasties
• Joules
• Stella McCartney
• Stead & McAlpin
• Christopher Farr

Our graduates 

Our graduates are known for their: 

• excellent drawing skills and visual exploration and application
• clear understanding of the requirements of the changing industry and textile landscape
• innovative and current professional approaches to the discipline with a strong sustainability and ethical understanding at their core

Awards 

Our graduates have won a range of awards, including: 

• Creative Conscience Award for Sustainability
• Hallmark Connection Award
• Adobe Digital Edge Award 1st Prize
• New Designer of the Year 2022
• Romo Award for Print and Innovation
• The Liberty Fabrics Studio Award,
• New Designers Epson Textile Visionary Award
• The Clothworker's Company Associate Prize
• i-dott Cole and Son Ltd Wallpaper 1st Prize
• Hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery 1st Prize Student Fashion Category
• RSA Student Design Award (sponsored by GSK)
• Worshipful Company of Dyers Colour Bursary
• Worshipful Company of Bonnetmakers Prize
• Marks and Spencer Texprint Fashion Textile Award

Other examples include: 

• Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholarship
• Craft Scotland Graduate Award
• Society of Dyers and Colourists Prize (Scotland)
• Edinburgh St James Creative Commerce Award for Textiles

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals.

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies.

With the Careers Service, you can:

• access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
• try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
• get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
• attend careers events and practice interviews
• get information and advice to help you make informed decisions

Visit the Careers Service website

Further study

After you complete your programme, you may want to go onto further study at Edinburgh or a different university. You could progress to:

• a masters degree
• a postgraduate diploma or certificate
• a PhD
• a second undergraduate degree

Find out about options for further study 

Postgraduate degrees you might be interested in could include:

• Design for Change
• Design
• Craft

If you'd like to study on an undergraduate programme at Edinburgh College of Art, you must apply through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. You can find out how to do this on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder, where you'll also be able to

• see the structure of the programme and what you will study each year
• see detailed entrance requirements for each programme on the Degree Finder
• get information on what to expect after you apply
• find out about fees
• find out where to go for further advice and guidance.

If you have any questions about the application process, your qualifications or deadlines, our Undergraduate Admissions Office will be happy to help you.

Email the Undergraduate Admissions Office: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk

You need to submit a digital portfolio to show your artistic skill and potential. 

The portfolio guidance for 2026 entry will be released in August 2025.