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Date 20th May 2025
All information is accurate at the time of publication. Please check individual course pages for the most up-to-date information.
One of the most frequent questions we get asked by prospective students is which Level 3 Diploma they should study - Level 3 Fashion Design or Level 3 Fashion Retail or Level 3 Visual Communications & Styling.
The courses have a lot of similarities! They are all fully funded for those aged 16 to 18, so if you’ve just finished your GCSEs, you won’t need to pay anything to study at the FRA.
Level 3 diplomas are equivalent to 3 A-Levels, and worth up to 168 UCAS points. If you successfully complete a Level 3 diploma with us and achieve a merit or above, you’ll automatically qualify for a place on one of our accelerated undergraduate degrees! You could also choose to progress onto one of our Level 4 diplomas.
Our Level 3 Fashion Design diploma is a highly creative, practical course where you’ll learn the fundamentals of clothing creation. We’ll teach you the key skills you need to be a successful fashion designer, including fashion illustration, pattern cutting and garment construction. As part of your studies, you’ll create lots of practical work like sketchbooks and concept pieces, and have regular lessons in our dedicated Fashion Design Wing. It’s a challenging and inspiring course that prepares you for an exciting career in clothing, textiles, pattern design, or creative direction.
As part of your studies, you’ll also be assigned a Group Industry Mentor. They’ll meet with you to discuss, advise and support you on your journey into industry or higher education. They’ll give you insight into the industry, and help you plan towards your career goals.
After finishing their Level 3 diploma, many students choose to progress to a Level 4 Diploma or an undergraduate degree.
Students from the Level 3 Fashion Design course can also move straight into employment - often starting as a junior or assistant within a design, sample or production team. This versatile course also opens doors to a range of other career paths, including fashion journalism, pattern cutting and textile design, and creative direction.
Whilst still a creative course, Level 3 Fashion Retail focuses on the business side of the fashion industry. Studying this diploma, you’ll explore the entire fashion retail environment, learning the business process from head office to shop floor. The course prepares you for a huge variety of fashion retail careers, including buying, merchandising, marketing, visual merchandising or retail operations. It’s also a great step to learning how to start your own successful fashion business!
As part of your studies, you’ll take part in our Future Pathways Programme which is a 3-week schedule of industry engagement activities to help you connect with industry professionals, boost your skills and knowledge, improve your career prospects and prepare you to enter the industry. For those wanting to progress onto an undergraduate degree, we also offer a dedicated UCAS Pathway.
After completing Level 3 Fashion Retail, many students progress on to one of our undergraduate degrees or Level 4 Diplomas.
From Level 3 Fashion Retail, you can also move straight into an industry role, such as marketing assistant, junior merchandiser or shop floor assistant. If you prefer, you could also start an apprenticeship with one of our partner brands!
Our Level 3 Visual Communications & Styling Diploma explores key topics, such as creating on-brand messaging, developing compelling narratives for specific target audiences, and creating visual stories for fashion media that truly engage consumers. You'll learn how to transform fashion products into must-have pieces and use them to construct powerful, visual storytelling.
Throughout the course, you'll be supported in building a strong professional network to carry with you throughout your career. You'll also benefit from regular talks, masterclasses, and hands-on projects led by industry professionals. This diploma provides you with the key creative and business skills needed for a successful career in fashion styling, personal styling, communications or art direction.
You’ll also be assigned a Group Industry Mentor, who is there to support you with your next steps, whether that's straight into the industry or higher education.
Many of our Level 3 Visual Communications & Styling Diploma students choose to continue their studies:
From Level 3 Fashion Visual Communications & Styling, you could also progress straight into the industry as a junior or assistant stylist, communications assistant or social media assistant. You could also consider doing an apprenticeship with one of our brand partners.
If you’re stuck choosing between Level 3 Fashion Design, Level 3 Fashion Retail or Level 3 Visual Communications & Styling, think about your future career plans, and your personal strengths and abilities.
If you absolutely loved your Art or Textiles GCSE, and enjoy creating sketchbooks full of practical work, then you’ll love studying Fashion Design! The course offers excellent progression onto a specialist Fashion Design undergraduate degree. Or you might choose to pursue a career in Garment Technology instead.
Fashion Retail is still a creative course, but you’ll be learning more about the business elements of the industry. If you’re good with numbers, you’d make a fantastic fashion merchandiser. If you’re always on top of the latest social media trends, you’d make an excellent fashion marketer! Throughout your course, you’ll discover the wide variety of career options available in fashion business.
For those who are creative, visual thinkers with an interest in styling, journalism or photography, Visual Communications & Styling could be your perfect fit! After completing the course, you'll be skilled in communication, project management, concept analysis and visual research.
If you’ve started studying for your Level 3 diploma, and decide you want to choose a different career from what you originally thought - don’t worry! All of our courses are designed to cover a wide range of skills and knowledge across the fashion industry. For example, Level 3 Fashion Retail students have progressed into Fashion Design degrees, Visual Communication & Styling students have moved into fashion marketing roles, and Fashion Design students have transitioned into buying and merchandising careers. If you don’t know what you’d like a career in, but know you love fashion, choose the course you think you’ll enjoy the most.
If you’re still not sure which course to choose, our friendly Applicant Services team would be happy to chat to you! You can reach them by email at info@fra.ac.uk
If you’d prefer to speak to us in person, you can visit the FRA on our Level 2 & 3 Open Days!
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