We asked some questions to Michaela Clements, Level 4 Programme Manager at Fashion Retail Academy about the importance of our Fashion Business and Retail qualifications and why they enjoy delivering them. Find out more in the Q&A below.
What do you enjoy about delivering UAL Fashion Business and Retail qualifications?
I enjoy delivering the qualification because it allows me to deliver industry relevant content that is aligned to industry requirements, enabling the cohort to acquire the professional behaviours and skills they will need for current retail positions.
The qualifications are very closely linked to industry and the aim for the Level 4 diplomas is to enable the student to be successful in their chosen career when they leave us.
We design and constantly enhance the curriculum, whilst innovating and maintaining retail currency. This is supported by Masterclasses, Industry Projects, Head office and Factory visits to make sure the theory comes to life.
The suite of Level 4 Fashion Business and Retail qualifications includes Buying and Range Planning, Garment Technology, Merchandising and Fashion Retail, which aligns to current Head office structure.
UAL Awarding Body qualifications are flexible, in what ways does this benefit students?
The UAL qualifications are flexible, which allows us to teach the subject matter holistically across units and projects.
This flexibility allows us to build the curriculum across units and projects, so that the students get an all-round picture of their chosen discipline and then learning builds throughout their 5 formative units.
Throughout our projects, we have many formatives 1:1s and academic tutorials to make sure the cohort have the required knowledge to deliver the project and engage in lifelong learning. By the time they get to their INRP, having explored various topics, they are then well equipped to work in more depth towards a pathway that they are passionate about.
As a teacher of UAL’s Fashion Business and Retail qualifications, what sets them apart from other similar qualifications?
The UAL qualifications enable analytical and creative thinking, allowing students to be conceptual and encouraging independent learning and ownership towards their chosen pathway.
As an educator, the qualifications give us, as the delivery centre, the autonomy to utilise industry experts to guide and support the students. We utilise current research from both external sources and focus groups alongside the student voice to constantly enhance our projects.
In what ways can our Fashion Business and Retail qualifications help students work towards creating a more sustainable, inclusive, and innovative industry?
The Fashion Business and Retail qualifications give us a broad platform to engage students in current issues from the outset of their course. All our Level 4 courses commence with unit 1 contextual studies, which immediately encourages the learners to research and engage with current topics such as fast versus slow fashion, sustainability, globalisation, gender, equality and diversity, prevalent in our global community.
Throughout our units, we link this research in preparation to further embed sustainability and social factors through the learning journey.
Our students are very passionate about sustainability and will use their acquired research knowledge to embed this within their INRP.
We have been able to get both our Buying and Range Planning and Garment Technology courses to work directly with industry on live sustainability projects, allowing them to link globalisation, supply chain and E&D with the retailer’s strategies both currently and moving forward.
This has been invaluable for their learning and understanding, particularly when receiving feedback directly from our industry partners. It has enabled our students to present innovative and forward-thinking solutions and ideas which are then recognised by industry. This means that our students are driving real life change that will impact the future of the industry.
What types of careers do students studying this qualification go on to have?
The majority of our students go directly into industry and here are some examples of the retailers: ASOS, Urban Outfitters, M&S, Harrods, Net a Porter, Anthropology and River Island.
Examples of Roles secured include: Garment Technology Assistant, Fabric Technologist, Technical Assistant, Supply Chain Assistant, Sustainability Assistant, VM store level, Communications Coordinator, Creative Assistant, Online Stylist, Prop Maker, Graphic Designer, Online VM, BAA, MAA, Trend Research Assistant, E-commerce Assistant, Marketing Assistant, PR Assistant, In-store Retail Management, HR Assistant, Store VM.