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Postgraduate

Graduate Diploma Fashion

A person wearing a hat facing another person. Both are wearing garments made from a checked material.
Image courtesy of UAL, Francesca Lake, Graduate Diploma in Fashion Photo: Ruby Pluhar
College
Central Saint Martins
Start date
September 2024
Course length
One year full-time (30 weeks)

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion prepares designers for the next stage of their careers.

Applying for more than 1 course

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3. Find out more in the Apply Now section.

Specialising in Womenswear or Menswear, you will leave the course with a portfolio and realised design work to support future study or entry into employment. This course is part of the Fashion programme.

Why choose this course at Central Saint Martins

  • Postgraduate progression: In the most recent graduating year, 85% of students applying for a postgraduate course were offered a place at leading providers including Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion, IFM, the Royal College of Art and Parsons.
  • Industry projects: You will take part in staff-directed and industry projects to help you identify and develop your strengths and address areas for improvement. Previously, projects have been set by Alexander McQueen and NET-A-PORTER.
  • Communication support: You will have access to free in-sessional English language support classes taught in the context of art, design and communications.
  • Employability: Many of our graduates go on to work in high-profile fashion companies throughout the world.

Open days

There are currently no open days scheduled for this course, please check back at a later date.

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

CSM Fashion Fund

Find out how to support fashion's global future at CSM [PDF 2mb]

Course overview

The Postgraduate Diploma in Fashion supports you to develop your creative identity in response to the changing landscape of the fashion industry. The course challenges you to demonstrate deep consideration and resourcefulness and push past traditional boundaries, to create your own distinct design narrative for a global market. We recruit graduates from Fashion and related disciplines, helping you to refine your work, primarily to progress to further study or directly to employment.  

  • We guide students to become thoughtful practitioners, whose work is positioned within an ethical framework that considers social, racial and climate justice.  
  • You will be encouraged to enhance your ideas by working across disciplines and through collaboration, as part of a supportive community.  
  • You will design and produce practical or digital final outcomes, with opportunities to explore other specialist areas such as Knit or Print.  
  • You will be guided by industry practitioners to develop your creativity and communicate rigour in your process and thought. Through this experience, you will benefit from the learning and teaching methods that have produced some of the world’s leading fashion designers.   
  • Our graduates go on to work in a wide range of careers in fashion. Many complete Masters degrees in the UK and overseas: in Fashion and Fashion Communication at Central Saint Martins, at London College of Fashion, Royal College of Art, Parsons New York and IFM in Paris.   

In the Central Saint Martins Fashion Programme, we work to be at the heart of debate about the future of fashion. Our students are designers, communicators and academics. Teaching is our core purpose and our research, industry and external relationships enrich our approach. We are committed to reflecting and influencing the sustainable transformation of the industry.  Social, racial and climate justice are our core values and we believe in a fairer world for all. Our outlook is international, inclusive and diverse, reflecting the global nature of our community. We believe we must constantly challenge ourselves to shape fair and ethical opportunities in fashion. We believe in the power of cooperation, collaboration and partnerships through both analogue and digital experiences. 

Important note concerning academic progression through your course: If you are required to retake a unit you will need to cease further study on the course until you have passed the unit concerned. Once you have successfully passed this unit, you will be able to proceed onto the next unit. Retaking a unit might require you to take time out of study, which could affect other things such as student loans or the visa status for international students. 

Mode of study  

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion is offered in full-time mode which runs for 30 weeks over one academic year.   

We are committed to developing ethical fashion practices. To achieve this, we are working to embed UAL's Principles for Climate, Social and Racial Justice into the course.

Course units

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion consists of two units of study. We recognise that our students come to the course with different types and levels of prior learning and experience.  The curriculum builds on an integrated mode of learning where the knowledge acquired in the first unit provides the foundation for the learning in the second unit. It begins with projects that support you in identifying your design strengths. You will develop your work in consultation with staff on an ongoing basis.  

  

Unit 1 contains projects that diagnose individual strengths and needs. As you progress throughout the course, projects will be negotiated with course staff and become increasingly self-directed, allowing you to demonstrate independent learning in the context of your final projects.  

Unit 1: Diagnostic: Research and Creative Development   

Unit 1 has a diagnostic function, introducing you to the course team and the Fashion programme. You will be expected to create work and present your ideas to the tutors and your peers for discussion and critique. You will work on a number of projects, allowing your tutors to assess your practice and support your development. You will also be introduced to fashion within a global context and consider sustainability and social, racial, and climate justice in design.   

The unit culminates in a project which enhances and consolidates your skills in working creatively to a design brief.   
 

Unit 2: Final Project and Portfolio: Development and Resolution   

In this unit, you will define the rationale for your final design project. You will use the skills and knowledge developed in Unit 1 to realise design work that resolves a self-directed design challenge. The major part of this period is given over to the completion of a final project that effectively communicates what you have gained from the course. This unit comprises completed creative work, together with a portfolio of design work. This unit concludes with final assessment.  
 

Credit and award requirements   

The course is credit-rated at 120 credits at HE Level 6. All units must be passed in order to achieve the Graduate Diploma and there is a single exit point.   

Learning and teaching methods

We use the following teaching and learning methods to support the achievement of the course outcomes, delivered in a combination of onsite and online formats:  

  • Briefing documents and meetings  
  • Learning through research  
  • Technical support: Digital skills (2D and 3D), pattern cutting, garment construction and realisation 
  • Practical demonstrations 
  • Studio practice 
  • Critiques   
  • Presentations  
  • Peer learning  
  • Independent study  
  • Self-evaluation and reflection 

(see full list in Unit teaching and learning methods) 

Student Perspectives: Graduate Diploma in Fashion

Student Renata Estefan talks about the course

Graduate Showcase

Explore work by our recent students on the UAL Showcase

  • WE
    WE, Yves Zhao, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • WHAT IF I COULD FLY?
    WHAT IF I COULD FLY?, Nozomi Yamanami, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • SQUEEZE ♡ ME
    SQUEEZE ♡ ME, Jake Zhang, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Heritage with Posterity
    Heritage with Posterity, Eva Clarkson, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • hyacinth zine issue ii - on calling for love
    hyacinth zine issue ii - on calling for love, Jacek Gleba Puig, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • Be Hairy, it's Pretty
    Be Hairy, it's Pretty, Manon Dufau, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL
  • AURA OF LOVE
    AURA OF LOVE, YUE LU, 2023 Graduate Diploma Fashion, Central Saint Martins, UAL

Student work

  • Julio-Barga.jpg
    Julio Barga
  • Tasha-Seed-.jpg
    Tasha Seed
  • Sanghwa-Yim.jpg
    Sanghwa Yim
  • Renata-Brenha-Ribeiro.jpg
    Renata Brenha Ribeiro
  • Olivia-Alves-Suguri.jpg
    Olivia Alves Suguri
  • Miro-Bijelich.jpg
    Miro Bijelich
  • Chengxi-Kang.jpg
    Chengxi Kang

Graduate Diploma in Fashion stories

  • Mariana Malta, 2018

    Take Five: Mariana Malta

    With Degree Show Two: Design now open, we take a closer look at their final projects and the inspirations behind them. Graduate Diploma in Fashion student Mariana Malta’s final project […]

  • 2016: The Year Ahead

    With 2015 receding in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to look at the road ahead for the next 12 months at Central Saint Martins. Here are a few choice dates for […]

  • Michael Halpern & Pamela Anderson (Photographer: Getty)

    CSM at the British Fashion Council Awards

    Last night the British Fashion Council hosted their annual Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall with 4,000 guests from across the globe. A total of twelve CSM Fashion alumni […]

  • Central Saint Martins 2016 Degree Show Two

    Gallery: Show Two Private View

    Last night’s Private View for Show Two saw the Design Programmes take to the stage to unveil a wide array of final work. After months of preparations, and four weeks on from Show One, […]

Facilities

Staff

Course Leader: David Kappo
Design Tutor: Aimee McWilliams
Fabric and Fibre: Veronica Shattuck
Designer/Cutter: Kaori Homma
Course Technical Co-ordinator: Becky Edwards
Course Lead Administrator: David Mansfield
Home/EU Student Administrator: Richie Kaboh
Overseas Student Administrator: Colin Tebb

Fees and funding

Home fee

£13,330

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 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.

Home fees are currently charged to UK nationals and UK residents who meet the rules. However, the rules are complex. Find out more about our tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£28,570

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 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.

Scholarship search

Entry requirements

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

  • An honours degree in a relevant discipline such as fashion, fashion textiles, accessory design, or jewellery design
  • An equivalent EU/international qualification.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. 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

OR a combination of these factors.

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

English language requirements

IELTS score of 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our main English language requirements webpage).

Selection criteria

We select applicants according to potential and current ability in the following areas:

Evidence of research skills:

  • You should provide evidence of your creative exploration of research (research sketchbooks, examples of materials/images that you collect for inspiration)
  • Ability to develop ideas in visual form
  • Please evidence your ability to produce design solutions which make an imaginative use of imagery, colour, materials and technical skills shown in sketchbooks, illustrations etc.

3D sense:

  • Please provide examples of your ability to translate two-dimensional design into three-dimensions (actual garments are not required – photographs or digital images will be accepted).

Sensitivity to fabric and colour (including digital images of fabric samples where appropriate):

  • Evidence of use of fabrics and colour application e.g. swatches either attached to design drawings or on a separate sheet.

Technical skills:

  • Specification drawings to show in detail your understanding of garment construction e.g. seam placements, darts etc. and design details e.g. collar, cuff details.

In addition to the skills demonstrated in the portfolio, you should demonstrate by means of your personal statement in the application, your:

  • Reason for choosing the course
  • Motivation and commitment
  • Awareness of contemporary fashion design
  • Capacity for self-reflection
  • Communication skills.

What we are looking for

We are seeking students who are dedicated, motivated, ambitious, hardworking and serious about progressing their fashion careers by using the course as a stepping stone to the College's MA Fashion or other postgraduate courses or to gaining employment in the fashion industry. Students are expected and encouraged to take full advantage of all that London offers as a fashion, social and cultural capital.

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio and video task deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio and video task deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply to UAL

Start your application
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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.

Find your representative

How to apply

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.

CV 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 would 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

  • Please choose 1 project from your portfolio and describe your role and how it exemplifies your interest in fashion.
  • Explain how this experience inspired you to apply to the Graduate Diploma in Fashion at Central Saint Martins.

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.

It should:

  • be maximum 25 pages long, including your video task
  • consist of work from a minimum of 3 projects
  • ideally include fashion design projects from your first degree and your final major project
  • feature photos of sketchbooks and swatch books, as well as illustrations
  • be organised by project, including work in progress and research as well as final outcomes.

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

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3 courses. 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. UAL doesn't accept repeat applications to the same course in the same academic year.

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

For postgraduate courses at UAL there are 2 equal consideration deadlines to ensure fairness for all our applicants. If you apply ahead of either of these deadlines, your application will be considered on an equal basis with all other applications in that round. If there are places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Careers

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion is one of a number of related courses in the Fashion programme.

During their studies students are guided by some of the most eminent and experienced current practitioners in the field of fashion enabling them to benefit from the teaching and learning methods which have produced some of the world's leading fashion design professionals.

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion has been created to produce mature and sophisticated designers equipped to work in and design for the international market. You will leave the course with a portfolio and realised design work that will effectively support entry into employment in the fashion industry and access to postgraduate study.

Graduates of the course progress to postgraduate study on a wide range of well established courses in London, the UK and elsewhere in Europe including: Central Saint Martins' MA Fashion (Womenswear and Menswear) and MA Textiles Futures courses; MA Fashion at the Royal College of Art; MA Fashion at Arnhem; MA Fashion Design and Technology (Womenswear and Menswear), MA Digital Fashion, MA Fashion Marketing and MA Footwear Design (all at London College of Fashion); MA Design and Environment at Goldsmiths and MA Fashion at Westminster University, or go on to establish design careers in London, the UK and Europe as well as their home countries.

Student perspectives

Adam Andrascik, USA: MA Womenswear CSM

Looking back on my time on the Graduate Diploma in Fashion course, of all the things I gained, I feel that the most important was a sense of self-confidence in my work. Through various self-guided projects, I became more comfortable with making decisions about the direction I wanted my work to progress, along with identifying any faults along the way. It also helped me to look at the way I design in a more objective sense, where my aesthetic fit in amongst other labels, and how I could differentiate myself in that landscape.

For me, the course was not only about gaining self-confidence, but a better understanding of fashion on an international scale. Along with various projects, I had the opportunity to acclimatize myself to London through work experience with such labels Richard Nicoll and Jonathan Saunders, along with taking part in both London and Paris fashion week. I was also encouraged to integrate myself into the fashion and design culture of London, in an effort to open myself up to the idea that inspiration doesn’t always need to come from an obscure art book or magazine. Needless to say, most of the friends I have today I met within the first few months of that experience.

At the end of the course, I felt I had the right tools needed to create and construct a professional collection, which was new and directional, along with the confidence to build a personal design aesthetic. Soon afterwards, I was accepted on to MA Womenswear at Central St. Martins, graduated and debuted my collection during LFW 2010, and have since completed my first solo presentation for Spring Summer 2011. I’ve been featured in Dazed Digital, POP Magazine, Style.com, Fashion 156, and an upcoming book shot by Rankin.

Sol Ahn, China: MA Menswear RCA

Personally, I think Graduate Diploma was the perfect course for me to take a quick peek at what  London’s (and of course, one of the world’s) most famous fashion school is like. More specifically, it helped me to grasp better ideas of London fashion, like an A to Z guidebook of London fashion.  I could learn where to buy fabrics from, how to revamp my portfolio, and the first project (the London Project) even taught me where to hang out to see all the fashionable people.   Moreover, it was just such a great place to get to know people from all the different continents around the world.  Even just by being in the school, I could see the most fashionable people passing by in the hallways.   I was really surprised to realise how fabulous they look but also how hard all of them were working.  Saint Martin’s whole ambiance was very creative, the energy from people was amazing, but obviously, it was a really tough course and the amount of work was demanding. It was almost like an intensive boot camp to completely reshape me to be a better fashion designer.  The course surely pushed me really hard

Plus, for me, it helped me deciding my future plans, so that I am doing my MA now.  Overall, I am really satisfied that I did the course, that I did actually recommended it to the people I know who are actually thinking about doing their MA (or further studies) in London, but don’t know where to start.

Katya Ford, Russia: MA Menswear CSM

I was happy to take the Graduate Diploma course last year. It gave me a great experience and a great opportunity to apply for an MA course this year. In spite of the fact that the course seems to be quite a long one, as it lasts the whole year, it is still a very hard one. We had many projects going one by one and sometimes we had to do two projects at the same time which was quite tough but this type of working process prepares you for the work in fashion industry or for the study on MA. I am so grateful for my tutors David Kappo and Tristan Webber who helped me during the course and I am happy to know them. A good thing about the course was to have different artists and designers coming to work with us. For example, we had Katie Eary for our London project and Richard Gray for our Muse project and that it was a pleasure to work with them!

Yulia Kondranina, Russia: MA Womenswear CSM

I had a great experience since my arrival at Central Saint Martins.  I enjoyed my time at this course and have met a lot of interesting people.

I have also benefitted hugely from this course which helped me to open my mind and understand the fashion industry better from the inside.  The various tasks and projects I have done have taught me varied ways of designing garments, sourcing inspiration and ideas, and consequently I now feel that I can design a collection confidently and be able to work independently.

Yejon Park, Korea: MA Menswear RCA

I finished a BA course in Korea, and worked as a womenswear designer.  Through this course I learned a great deal about how to manage my time according to the schedule that MA courses go through, and the importance of expressing my illustration ideas through to realisation as actual garments.

I feel that it was a very important diagnostic phase to prepare myself for further development in finding out what my strengths and weaknesses are. My tutor was very passionate in helping me realise what to do to enhance my abilities in the most productive way, and I was able to see a clearer way forward after each tutorial.

MA studies are tough, and I think I would have had trouble adjusting without what I've learned in Graduate Diploma.  I am relieved I took the course.

Megha Garg, India

I have launched my own label and have been selected to showcase my collection in Lakme Fashion Week (one of the biggest fashion weeks in India).
The collection that I had sent to be selected for was my final collection at CSM. This collection was developed under the guidance and supervision of the course tutors, who I learnt a lot from and owe my success to as their time and patience with me helped me grow as a designer.