
3 years / 6 years
£9,275 p.a. / £4,625 p.a.
W900
H18
We are makers - with a sensitivity and understanding of materials, design and context.
We support you to innovate within your practice and explore new technical skills and conceptual ideas that break new ground and make you stand out as a designer.
In the last few years, HCA students have been spotlighted in Crafts magazine and Dezeen as new talent, they have been selected as Green Grads and Creative Conscience changemakers and have scooped various awards at New Designers, the UK premier showcase for design grads.
92.05
In the 2023/2024 NSS Survey HCA students rated the teaching on their course at 92.05. This is significantly higher than the sector average and something we aim to continuously improve on.
INVESTIGATIVE, EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL
The first year focuses on providing a thorough grounding in technique together with research and exploration for interdisciplinary and mixed media design.
The programme is based around studio and workshop-based projects that encourage creative thinking, experimentation and becoming more articulate about design crafts.
Emphasis is placed upon the development of drawing, design and material skills. You will use personal visual research and learning journals to develop a reflective, analytical and evaluative approach to your practice.
ESTABLISHING PRACTICE
The second year of the programme encourages you to specialise in particular materials and processes.
You will gain greater knowledge of materials, combining traditional approaches with new technologies. Structured projects offer live and research-led projects as well as professional work experience opportunities.
RESOLUTION OF PRACTICE
This final year provides you with the intellectual and creative space to fully realise your creative ambition.
Emphasis is placed on students’ ability to evaluate and make informed choices when selecting techniques and processes, creating innovative outcomes. Your work will become increasingly self-directed, to a professional standard, as you produce a body of work for public exhibition.
The professional and entrepreneurial skills you need for a self-sustaining practice are embedded in the final year. Students participate in a series of business seminars, create a professional portfolio, and develop an online digital presence.
You will have your own individual workspace, which supports both your professional growth and a sense of community. This setup encourages conversation and collaboration, enriching your overall learning experience throughout the course.
Book an Open DayDigital Design and Making is embedded into both curriculum and your practice. Offering the ability to test possibilities, accelerate iterations and resolve outcomes efficiently. The use of digital tools allows makers to visualise, prototype and refine project work across a range of materials and processes in additive and subtractive manufacturing.
Book an Open DayIn the Queens workshop, you can explore and experiment with various materials and processes in a well-equipped space. The facilities include small metals, wood, cold casting, 3D printing, and MDF/Plywood laser cutting, as well as welders and jewellers' benches. Techniques you can learn include woodturning, steam bending, resin and Jesmonite casting, various welding processes, 3D printing, vinyl, and veneering. Skilled Technical Demonstrators support your learning, ensuring a comprehensive experience.
Book an Open DayThe Queens workshop is divided into four zones: Metals (jewellery, silversmithing, machining, welding, fabrication), Woodwork (steam bending, lamination, woodturning), Cold Casting (silicone mold making, jesmonite, resin), and Digital Fabrication (scanning, laser cutting, 3D printing).
Book an Open DayThe Small Metals workshop has fully equipped communal and individual workspaces to practice your bench skills. The workshop is equipped for a variety of specialist processes and has two larger silversmithing hearths. The walls are adorned with process samples for inspiration, and the space is overseen by highly skilled Technical Demonstrators.
Book an Open DayOur textiles workshops provide an open and accessible space to explore print, dye, weave, knit, and mixed media surface design techniques. Focusing on sustainability and innovation, you’ll combine methods from across various disciplines, pushing your creative boundaries throughout your degree. The technical support, along with academic and industry guidance, encourages you to develop an original, innovative design practice.
Book an Open DayThe Ceramics and Glass workshop offers an opportunity to explore the tactile nature of clay and the artistry of glass cutting, fusing and slumping. You can develop skills in slab building, slip casting, and throwing, either for conceptual art or commercial projects. Technical demonstrators are available to guide you through all processes.
Book an Open DayThe plaster and slip casting space facilitates the creation of plaster forms, mould making, and slip casting using earthenware and porcelain for small-scale batch production. Technical demonstrators are available to guide you through each process, ensuring you develop the necessary skills to achieve successful ceramic projects with precision and creativity.
Read moreThe glaze room lets you explore glaze alchemy, from mixing recipes to applying them with dipping and spraying. With 10 kilns, including a glass kiln for fusing and slumping, achieve stunning results in your ceramic and glass projects.
Book an Open DayThe printmaking workshop offers you a huge range of print possibilities, including lino cutting, woodblock, letterpress, dry point, collagraph, etching, lithography, and screen printing. Use our 180-year-old Albion press and vintage wooden and metal type collection.
Book an Open DayA dedicated art and design library carefully curated by knowledgeable librarians who will support you to access the materials in the collection. Includes books and magazines from a comprehensive selection of creative disciplines, critical & cultural theory and specialist journals. Plus, study spaces and IT provision. A college hub and key workshop area.
Book an Open DayOpened in 2024 our Digital Skills Centre is an alternative space to the Graphic and Media Design Studios to craft your designs. Kitted out with new Macs and PCs, the area is staffed by Digital Demonstrators who also run weekly intro and How To classes on design software.
Book an Open DayOur photography studios and darkroom facilities offer extensive opportunities to gain hands-on experience with both digital and traditional techniques. You will acquire invaluable skills ensuring you take superb photos of your creative process and final outcomes. Work alongside professional photographers and technical specialists to get outstanding images of your work.
Book an Open DayCourse Leader - BA (Hons) Contemporary Design Crafts & Jewellery Design
Head of School of Materials and Design, BA(Hons) Artist Blacksmithing Course Leader & MA Contemporary Craft Course Leader
Lecturer - BA (Hons) Contemporary Design Crafts
Lecturer - School of Materials & Design
Lecturer - BA(Hons) Contemporary Design Crafts & BA(Hons) Jewellery Design
Digital Design Lead
Lecturer - BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing
Technical Demonstrator - 3D
Technical Demonstrator - 3D
My time at HCA was incredible, giving me the freedom to find my voice through my making. I would say so often that I look forward to Mondays more than Friday.
Tracey Caldah - BA(hons), Contemporary Design Crafts
As part of your Contemporary Design Craft Degree, you will explore the interface of new and old technologies in the intellectual and creative context of an arts college.
We are at the forefront of education in multidisciplinary design, participating in a vibrant community of practice. You will have the unique opportunity to learn to use a wide range of materials and combine them with creative design skills and critical thinking.
In one day you can experience the materiality of Wood, Metal, Textile and Clay, and then switch to exploring design possibilities in our new £1m Digital Skills Centre.
You’ll discover design tools such as laser cutters, 3D printers and scanners and a professional suite of software to enable you to visualise, iterate and test outcomes quickly, and to convey your intention before bringing them to life back in the workshops. The next day you’ll be drawing and designing in your dedicated space in the design studio followed by an afternoon lecture or seminar that will hone your critical thinking skills through analysis, evaluation and debate, supported by our dedicated Art & Design library.
While studying for your degree, you will connect with the larger world, through visiting lectures and master classes, featuring nationally and globally known designers and artists.
You’ll have opportunities to network within the Contemporary Craft community, building connections that you can draw upon as you build your own practice. Those include independent designer-makers, national craft event organisers and gallery owners.
This course gives you the opportunity to build your influences and technical skills across disciplines, and opportunity to test and pursue those areas you enjoy most - in preparation for a fulfilling career as a designer, maker, artist or creative professional.
A robust and resilient creative practice is founded on the application of critical thinking skills, from idea development in the studio to process execution in the workshop.
During the course, your critical thinking will be honed through lectures, seminars and studio discussions. You will learn to enrich and contextualise your emerging practice through reflection on themes and processes in historical and contemporary making, and gain knowledge about cultural and critical theory. Through this, you will become equipped with skills in research, analysis and evaluation. The aim is for you to learn to express your ideas within your profession and in a way that is specifically relevant to you realising your authentic creative voice.
By graduation you will have identified your place in contemporary art practice and be able to articulate your position with clarity and confidence.
This is a course tailored to those people who like to think with their hands. You aren't assessed through exams, because the course is designed to mirror contemporary practice within the industry.
However the Contemporary Design Craft programme is designed to help you both find your voice and develop your skills.
Throughout your study will become adept at drawing on contextual research to enrich and inform your ideas. Historical and contemporary making will be analysed and scholarly ideas debated in studio and seminar sessions.
You will establish a practice of critical thinking, enabling you to identify your authentic individual creative practice and articulate it with confidence. Your abilities will be honed in the creation of your own body of work, the development of a dissertation, your participation in the annual degree show, and your involvement with creative industries’ events.
You are not asked to choose a specialism on Day One or in Year One or ever.
You will be able explore and access all the workshops throughout your time at HCA and develop a practice that is individual to you - whether you want to master a distinct craft, or explore a more interdisciplinary practice.
You will develop a strong peer network with highly-motivated students in the programme and in the arts college as a whole.
This is a dynamic atmosphere, with the opportunity to exchange ideas and collaborate across disciplines. HCA is located in a region known for outstanding making, and you will be working in a heartland of independent craftspeople.
Connect with the wider world through visiting lectures and master classes, featuring nationally and globally known designers and artists.
You will have the opportunity to visit major design collections and events, both in the UK and abroad.
On this course you will master design and creative process, develop your own voice and practice, learn to articulate your work through theoretical conversation.
You will build up a portfolio that will stand out by exhibiting your work, and developing networks with galleries and makers.
Find your own path and learn to make a difference through making.
The impact you have through your work may be personal - shaping your own life - or tied to something bigger. Making can be a vehicle to explore and communicate social issues, from sustainability to representation, identity and accessibility.
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If you are unsure or have any questions, please contact us at registry@hca.ac.uk and we can offer further advice on HCA and the UWTSD awarding body requirements.
You can apply to HCA by making us one of your options on your UCAS application. In some cases, such as with current students, student transfers and top-ups, we also accept direct applications.
We receive a high number of application all our subject areas so we recommend that you make your application as early as possible.
You can find out out everything you need about the application process using the link below. If you have any questions, just email registry@hca.ac.uk.
As soon as you apply, our Registry team will be in touch to let you know they have received your application. At this point they will also send out information on portfolios or auditions.
Portfolios and auditions are a chance for you to showcase yourself in a different way. They give us an idea of what excites you about the subject, and what you might want to explore further on the course.
We will send out guidance on how to submit your portfolio, or book and audition date, and if you have any questions you will always be able to reach out to us for assistance or clarification.
After submitting your portfolio online, your work will be reviewed by a course lead, and you will receive personal feedback alongside your offer.
Studying is an investment in yourself, and in your future. It’s important to understand the financial support that is available to you, and to be clear about any fees or funding associated with the course you want to study.
Follow the link below to visit our Fees and Funding pages. These pages are designed to help you plan for your future, so you can start your course with confidence in your financial situation.
Everyone’s personal circumstances are different. If you can’t find the information you need, our Student Finance team can offer additional advice.
Your space to make pasta, make friends and make art in the heart of one of the UK’s happiest cities.
Chat to students. Tour the campus. Drop in on some free workshops. Our Open Days are a great way to get a feel for what makes HCA special.
Everything you need to know about applying to HCA - and starting the next stage of your journey as an artist
Get a glimpse of our students' creativity in action. Explore an evolving archive of images and videos showcasing their work in progress and projects seeing the talent and innovation happening across the college right now.
All undergraduate degrees at HCA are validated by University of Wales Trinity St David.
You can view a detailed breakdown of the course content in the Key Information Document.
This can be downloaded below.
Everything you need to know about applying to HCA - and starting the next stage of your journey as an artist
Find out moreChat to students. Tour the campus. Drop in on some free workshops. Our Open Days are a great way to get a feel for what makes HCA special.
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