BA (Hons) in Interior Design

Summary

This unique BA (Hons) Interior Design Open Degree places emphasis on the positive reshaping of attitudes and preconceptions of interior design. It is designed to foster ambition and creativity so that students can become spatial dreamers, architectural investigators and playful innovators of interiors.

Degree overview

The BA (Hons) Interior Design will encourage students to challenge and propose new and innovative occupations of space and will allow students the freedom to develop their own individual design identities, using digital and analogue software and techniques. The course will encourage students to creatively explore and challenge the notion of space and how it is used, whilst incrementally introducing them to the technical, practical and professional skills of interior design. Students will question both the physical and the invisible, initiate rigorous methods of the process led research and experimentation, as the foundation of imaginative and well-realised designs.

Degree aims

• To widen access to education in interior design through open and flexible learning.

• To provide an intellectually stimulating programme based on high-quality study program and tutor support.

• To develop students’ creative capacities and their ability to synthesise, reflect, respond, apply and simulate findings.

• To ensure that students develop a high-level ability in 2D & 3D skills, both analogue and digital media to successfully communicate designs that are professionally and academically recognised.

• To develop students’ critical understanding of the theoretical and conceptual issues central to the practice of interior design and the social, historical and cultural context in which it is practised.

• To foster high-level ethical and professional standards and an awareness of the responsibilities and developments surrounding interior design.

• To develop autonomous learners capable of applying intellectual and practical skills in a chosen area of interior design appropriate to employment, further study or life-long learning.

• To provide an environment in which the student has the possibility of changing their view of the world and their interaction with it both visually and intellectually.

The creative sector employs 1.9 million people in the UK alone.

By studying the OCA BA (Hons) Interior Design degree, you can kick-start your career in the creative industries by working part-time or doing an internship whilst gaining your academic qualifications at the same time.

Achieving a degree in Interior Design prepares you for a career in a variety of fields. Through the broad practical and theoretical skills you will have acquired during your studies, you will be highly employable not just for a career specifically in the fields of Interior Design, but in a range of industries and sectors. As well as a career in as an Interior Designer, you will have careers such as a teacher, lecturer, curator, art editor or consultant, amongst many more, open to you.

Due to the OCA’s emphasis on practical work, you will have a substantial portfolio of work to take with you to potential employers, and if you opt to use a blog to document your learning journey throughout your studies, you will already have a rich online presence which can be a useful asset in promoting your future work to the world. For more information on the careers your OCA BA (Hons) Interior Design degree can lead to, please see the Prospects.ac.uk.

Our Story

The Open College of the Arts was founded in 1987 by Michael Young, Lord Young of Dartington, the driving force behind numerous citizen-centred and educational initiatives such as the Consumers Association, the National Extension College and the Open University.

Young’s original vision was to offer the general public the chance to take high-quality arts courses by distance learning education, without prior qualifications or restrictions. He saw the OCA as a means of transforming people’s lives, giving them the opportunity and skills to express their creative talents under the guidance of professional artists. We still live by those values.

Today the OCA is a thriving educational charity whose charitable purpose is to widen participation in arts education. Over 2000 students each year now study creative and visual arts courses and degrees by open learning with us. OCA strategy is determined by a Board of Trustees. Our head offices are on the site of a former colliery in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and all of our tutors work from their homes or studios.

OCA is part of the University for the Creative Arts

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) is one of the UK’s leading specialist universities offering a range of courses in art, architecture, communications, design and media across five campuses in the South East of England. Graduates include Zandra Rhodes, Karen Millen and Tracey Emin.On 1 November 2016, the Open College of the Arts became part of the University for the Creative Arts. This merger built on a close working relationship established in 2010.

The Students’ Association (OCASA)

When you enrol you become part of the OCA Student Association (OCASA), who acts as the voice of students. The college takes student representation seriously. The OCASA president attends our board meetings so the student's voice is heard at the highest levels.