**Our intensive and practical Costume Production course will transform you into an outstanding costumier, ready for a wide range of careers in the performing arts – including television, film, theatre, ballet, opera and heritage industries.**
From illustrating ideas and researching silhouettes to recreating historic garments and writing narratives - on this course you will develop your practical rigour and understanding of key design principles for costume.
Using our state-of-the-art workshops you will develop costumes, wearable props and prosthetics, using textiles, plastics, wood, metals, digital fabrication, and 3D making. You’ll also benefit from masterclasses led by experts in specialist areas such as millinery and make-up artistry.
You’ll gain experience working on live commissions, developing essential organisational and communication skills, alongside entering international competitions, such as New Zealand’s World of Wearable Art, and Costume Society’s Patterns of Fashion, in which our students have reached the finals two years in a row.
Your learning will be supported by a dedicated team of professionals who have worked for theatre companies including the Royal Exchange Manchester, Royal Shakespeare Company, and West End productions by Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber. You’ll also gain real-world insights from visiting professionals like Cathy Tate, Amanda Barrow and Jane Stuart Brown.
In TV and film, our students have contributed to BBC’s ‘Poldark’, ‘Frontier’ by Take the Shot Productions, Canada, and BAFTA-winning director Robert Young’s film ‘Curse of the Phoenix’, which won the Platinum Award at Houston WorldFest. As well as working behind the scenes of smash-hit stage productions such as ‘Wicked’, ‘The Book of Mormon’, ‘Wind in the Willows’ and touring shows from the Actors Wheel, including ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘King Lear’.
Our students also create costumes for exhibition purposes, gaining commission from the National Trust, showcasing their skill at major events such as TheatreCraft and Destinations, London, and attending immersive theatre to view large-scale costume in action (such as Puy Du Fou historical theme park and Les Machines de L’ile).
Students from this course have been awarded internships at prestigious institutions, including Glyndebourne, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet and National Theatre.
Graduates can become:
- Costume makers
- Prop makers
- Designers
- Stylists
- Buyers
- Wardrobe managers
- Theatrical milliners
- Heritage professionals
Course Details - Modules
You’ll learn how to cut and make costumes to industry standard. You’ll develop design and illustration skills to communicate your ideas, and achieve a practical understanding of the rigour involved in making costumes for a range of performance types. You’ll also have the opportunity to work on incoming commissions.
You’ll work collaboratively alongside students in film and other creative productions, and have access to professional new workshop facilities, including digital printing, textile technology and 3D making.
Students have been finalists in various prestigious competitions such as the World of Wearable Art International Design Competition and The Costume Society’s Patterns of Fashion Award.
Course Details – Assessment Method
Assessment Methods are not listed for this Course.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
PW34
Institution code:
P65
Campus Name:
Main Site
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
Although many of our students do come in with top grades and high UCAS points, these aren’t necessarily essential for entry. We typically ask for a minimum of 112 UCAS points, but we understand that talented artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant strengths and skills beyond formal qualifications. We’re just as interested in exploring your portfolio and discussing your creative experiences as we are in seeing your grades.
Your application will tell us about your qualifications and previous experience, but studying the arts is about more than can be captured on forms. We need to find out about your creative potential, your abilities and idiosyncrasies, so we will invite you to talk about your work with a member of our HE academic team. You can tell us about your aspirations, and why you want to study at the college. It is also a good moment to find out what we can offer you.
We encourage you to visit the college, so that you can see our facilities, meet our teaching and technical staff, and discuss any other queries you may have; however we appreciate this may not be possible, and are happy to talk to you via an online platform (such as Google Meet or similar).
We accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
