TOP 20 in the UK for Fashion and Textiles

 on the Guardian University Guide 2025

Key facts

Entry requirements

112 or DMM

Additional entry requirements apply to this course Full entry requirements

UCAS code

WWF7

Institution code

D26

Duration

3 yrs full-time

Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees

2025/26 UK tuition fees:
£9,535*

2025/26 international tuition:
£16,250

Additional costs

Entry requirements

112 or DMM

Additional entry requirements apply to this course Full entry requirements

UCAS code

WWF7

Institution code

D26

Duration

3 yrs full-time

Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees

2025/26 UK tuition fees:
£9,535*

2025/26 international tuition:
£16,250

Additional costs

Footwear design is a skilful and creatively unique discipline that is highly sought after within the fashion industry. DMU is currently the only UK university offering a single honours course in this area, also enabling you to specialise in men’s, women’s, children’s or performance footwear.

In our industry-standard facilities, you will develop technical and modern shoemaking skills and be empowered to turn your imaginative 2D ideas into physical, 3D functional pieces. Our goal is to produce confident, career-ready graduates, and wider-employability skills are embedded throughout the curriculum. We will coach you on illustration and drawing skills, and you’ll learn how to present and communicate your ideas and concepts to a professional standard.

With over 100 years of heritage in footwear design, our impressive links with industry present opportunities to work with iconic footwear brands and help you to build an impressive address book of connections - students have recently worked with Adidas, Hermes and Kurt Geiger to name a few. We also host regular guest visits and lectures, so you can learn the tricks of the trade and gain valuable insights into new products and technologies.

  • You don’t need to have a background in footwear to join us. The majority of our students have no previous experience but leave DMU as skilled experts and go onto achieve impressive things.
  • We enter our students into annual competitions and have an impressive track-record of winners. These opportunities help to bolster your CV and get your work in front of global fashion houses.
Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments – rather than lots of exams at the end of the year – and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging. Read more about block teaching.

A Top 30 University

Our students’ votes placed us as the 27th best university overall in the WhatUni Student Choice Awards

Find out what makes us special

What you will study

Block 1: Design Fundamentals

This module will introduce numerous visual styles and techniques to inform the design and development process.

The module will look at product illustration, mood board creation, schematic drawings, presentation techniques, material sourcing, design development process, fashion markets and range building. All of these areas will be taught and explored in a practical order so that each new skill will benefit from prior learning of previous skills.

Assessment: 70% research & development and 30% practical package

Block 2: Design Exploration

This module introduces pattern cutting for footwear design and the development of a variety of basic shoe styles into pattern form, using 2D and 3D translation techniques. The participation and completion of this module will enable you to acquire a comprehensive overview of footwear from initial design concept to finished product.

Practical techniques and skills will be developed, and work compiled into an in-depth technical reference file, providing both theoretical and practical underpinning of the design and manufacturing process.

In addition to the practical skills, you will explore critical studies through lectures, seminars, and tutorials, looking at research and resource method and introducing key designers of the fashion area.

Assessment: 60% technical enquiry and 30% practical application.

Block 3: Design Development

This module introduces the techniques, processes, and methods necessary to enable you to develop knowledge and skills in footwear manufacture. Further extending the skill acquisition for transition from design to prototype including pattern development, material selection and construction techniques.

Assessment:  60% design file and 40% practical resolution

Block 4: Design Communication

This module consolidates the learning from level 4, allowing you to use a range of design research and development skills in the creation of a design package. You are encouraged to use digital and traditional technologies to produce concepts and conclusions for relevant independently defined contexts. You will be introduced to a broader range of visual and technical communication approaches.

The practical content is further underpinned by theoretical content delivered by the Design Cultures department to contextualise current practice within an historical framework. Students will consider origins and influences - how traditions develop and evolve in response to social and political - as well as research methods, visual literacy, and the skills for academic writing.

Assessment: 50% concept package and 50% other coursework

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Structure

The focus of your first year will be to ‘Investigate’ through a grounding in research, concept development, 2D illustration, basic technical skills and design development. The second year aims to ‘Develop’ your skills and knowledge, building on the foundation gained in the first year. Your third year will ‘Consolidate’ your learning by bringing together all the skills you have learnt into a final product that reflects your chosen area of focus and individual design aesthetic.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical studio sessions, tutorials, workshops and self-directed study. The assessments are designed to build on each other as you progress in your studies and you will have opportunities to receive feedback on your work throughout your learning journey.

You are encouraged to enter national and international competitions including the Moda competition, the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Footwear awards, the Worshipful Company of Patternmakers Orthopaedic awards and the CIONE biomechanical award. Our students have had numerous competition successes with recent prizes at Graduate Fashion Week, Fashanne and the Drapers Footwear Awards.

Contact hours

In your first year you will normally attend around 15 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 24 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

Our next Open Day is on
Saturday 29 March

Join us in 33 days and 20 hours.

Student ambassador waiting to welcome guests with a sign that reads here to help.

Footwear Design in the spotlight

Student work

More from our students

Open Days at DMU
Join us on-campus, find your new home at DMU at our Open Day 29 March
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Our facilities

We offer specialised resources tailored to the needs of our footwear design students. Our well-equipped, open-plan studio provides an inspirational teaching space for footwear design skills and illustration, and a study area for creativity that is bathed in natural light. We have specialist cutting tables, and a range of specialist tools for pattern making, as well as access to digital design software and 3D printing tools that will help you create and develop your digital portfolio.

Footwear Workshops

From 3D Printing to post-machines, we have a range of facilities to support you.

Footwear Workshops

Vijay Patel Building

It is a major landmark on the De Montfort University campus and provides students and staff with the space and resources they need to thrive.

Explore the Vijay Patel

Our expertise

Profile picture for Nanette Westberg-Brown

Nanette Westberg-Brown

Senior Lecturer in Footwear Design

Nanette brings a wealth of experience and technical knowledge in women's footwear and a strong commitment to education. She is dedicated to preparing students for their future careers and nurturing valuable industry connections.

Profile picture for Jonathan Morss

Jonathan Morss

Programme Leader

Jonathan is recognised for his expertise in Footwear Design and successful entrepreneurial ventures. His career includes designing at Nike and Adidas.

Profile picture for Phil Stewart

Phil Stewart

Senior Lecturer in Footwear Design

Phil is a highly accomplished lecturer with expertise in pattern cutting, and manufacturing. He is honoured as one of the ‘Footwear50’ by the prestigious British Footwear Association.

Profile picture for Michaela Wilson-George

Michaela Wilson-George

Technical Instructor in Footwear Design

Experienced Technical Instructor shaping future footwear designers with industry insights and technical expertise.

Profile picture for Dr Elizabeth Lambourn

Dr Elizabeth Lambourn

Professor of Material Histories

A broad background in Design History teaching. Her own research focuses on interactions between the Middle East and South Asia.

Awards, memberships and links

Ranked as one of the best fashion schools in the world for 2022 and 2023 (CEOWORLD, 2023) and in the top 10 in the UK for 'career after 15 months' (The Guardian University Guide 2022), our innovative and widely-respected courses help prepare students for fulfilling futures in this fast-paced industry.

We are also ranked among the Top 20 UK Universities for Fashion and Textiles in the Guardian University League Tables 2025, showcasing our commitment to excellence in teaching, innovation, and student satisfaction.

UK Fashion and Textiles Association logo

UK Fashion and Textiles Association

We are members of the UK Fashion and Textiles Association which ensures our teaching stays up to date with the latest developments in the sector and provides valuable industry links that enhance our courses.

Logos for The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers

Cordwainers and Pattenmakers

The Footwear Design course at De Montfort University has a prolific history spanning many decades, producing hugely talented and successful graduates, and maintaining exceptional links within the industry with various individuals, brands and organisations. The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers both provide vital support to the course through their generous monetary funding, enabling us to recognise and honour student achievements within their studies with us.

Each year, The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers sponsor our Classic Bespoke Footwear Award, whilst the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers sponsor our Bespoke Orthopaedic Footwear Award. Both awards are part of our specialist Bespoke Principles module of study, which is one of the oldest forms of manufactured footwear, providing students with unique skills and hands-on training in the shoemaking techniques involved in producing Bespoke, Orthopaedic, and Biomechanical Performance footwear.

The continuing support of The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers for the Footwear Design Programme at De Montfort University is central to its success in preparing students for their future roles in industry. Their support provides encouragement and confidence as well as much needed opportunities to extend their study and skill.

BFA (British Footwear Association)

British Footwear Association (BFA)

The BFA is a not-for-profit organisation working on behalf of the footwear industry with the objective to support and grow British footwear companies.

What makes us special

3 students looking at a laptop in a soft study space.

Block learning

With block teaching, you’ll learn in a focused format, where you study one subject at a time instead of several at once. As a result, you will receive faster feedback through more regular assessment, have a more simplified timetable, and have a better study-life balance. That means more time to engage with your DMU community and other rewarding aspects of university life.

dmu-global-img-01

DMU Global

DMU Global is the award-winning international experience programme for DMU students, aiming to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons.

Students on this course have been on DMU Global trips to shoe factories, tanneries and exhibitions in Italy, France and Spain. They have also visited to Copenhagen to explore sustainability in the fashion and textiles industry and travelled further afield to New York.

Where we could take you

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Placements

Our impressive industry connections support students in obtaining placements with sector-leading brands, including Puma, Clarks, Lacoste and Adidas.

Recent graduate Jenny Oh spent 12 months at Bemont (Nine West & Vince Camuto) in South Korea, which helped him to build experience and industry knowledge for his current role at Jimmy Choo, where he works as a a Junior Footwear Designer.

You will also benefit from support from our Careers Team. This award-winning service can help to hone your professional skills with mock interviews and practice aptitude tests, and an assigned personal tutor will support you throughout your placement.

SAM LILLEY - with Cordwainers Footwear Award

Graduate careers

As the only single honours footwear course currently running in the UK, we work closely with the sector to produce and elevate leading designers, and have an impressive alumni list.

Our graduates have forged successful careers in roles in design, technical product development, buying and marketing and work for big brands internationally such as Givenchy, Jimmy Choo, Sophia Webster, New Balance, Adidas, Nike, Lacoste, Kickers, Dr. Martens, Irregular Choice, Kurt Geiger, Dune, Office, Next and Foot Soldiers to name but a few.

Graduate, Cobey Cooper, joined Alexander McQueen over five years ago as an Assistant Designer, has been awarded two promotions and is now a Footwear designer for this luxury brand.

Other graduates have gone onto forge their own path in this exciting industry. Graduate Ann Williams founded her own footwear design consultancy, Schwilliamz Creative Consultants, and has since enjoyed an inspiring career working all over the world.

Course specifications

Course title

Footwear Design

Award

BA (Hons)

UCAS code

WWF7

Institution code

D26

Study level

Undergraduate

Study mode

Full-time

Part-time

Start date

September

Duration

Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees

2025/26 UK tuition fees:
£9,535*

2025/26 international tuition:
£16,250

*subject to the government, as is expected, passing legislation to formalise the increase.

Additional costs

Entry requirements

Typical entry requirements

We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds.

  • Art and Design Foundation or
  • 112 points from at least 2 A levels
  • BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 26+ Points or
  • T Levels Merit

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 Level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above

We will normally require students to have had a break from full time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Interview and portfolio

Interview required: No

Portfolio required: Yes

Please see our portfolio advice page for full details.

Additional costs

Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs, which for this programme could include the following:

  • Art and design materials: £155 in your first year, rising to £200 in your second year and £275 in your third year to include your final major project. These costs may vary depending on what materials you choose to work in.
  • Specialist equipment: £100 in your first year to purchase footwear making tools
  • Specialist printing: £50 in your first year, rising to £100 in your second year and £150 in your third year.

There will also be a range of optional showcasing activities that will be available to you, the costs of which will vary depending on the opportunities you choose.