International Preparation for Fashion (Certificate in Higher Education)

The International Preparation for Fashion (Certificate in Higher Education) course is designed for international students who want to progress on to a BA Honours programme (3/4 years) or an Integrated Masters programme (4/5 years) at London College of Fashion.

This exciting and challenging preparatory experience allows you to explore your creative, academic and professional potential in fashion. The Academic Language and Communication element of the course supports academic study skills and language development.

The diagnostic first term, followed by two terms in one specialist area will support you in making appropriate choices for undergraduate study at LCF.

Throughout the first term, the course team will direct you to the most appropriate area of fashion for your particular skills, talents and ambitions so that you can concentrate on either Fashion Business, Fashion Design or Fashion Media.

Successful completion of this course will guarantee the offer of a place on an undergraduate course at this College.

International Preparation for Fashion (Certificate in Higher Education) is based at Mare Street in Hackney. The surrounding area boasts a number of east end art galleries, fashion and clothing enterprises, interesting shops, Broadway market and the famed Hackney Empire theatre. London Fields, with its excellent open air lido (heated in winter), and Victoria Park provide nearby green spaces, and the Regent’s Canal runs through the area from east to west. A short bus ride will take you to the V & A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green and the Geffrye Museum in Kingsland Road.


Course Structure

Year One - Stage One - level 4 - 120 credits

• Term One: Introduction to Study in Fashion (20 credits)
• Term One and Term Two: Cultural and Historical Studies for Fashion (20 credits)
• Term One, Term Two and Term Three: Academic Language and Communication for Undergraduate Study (20 credits)
• Term Two: Specialism Studies: (20 credits)
• Term Three: Personal Progression Project (40 credits)

Course Units


Term One

Introduction to Study in Fashion gives you the opportunity to the range of fashion related subjects in each of three main areas: fashion business and management; fashion design and technology; and fashion media and communication. This diagnostic unit gives you the opportunity to consider which specialist pathway is most suited to your talents and potential. It will also introduce you to a variety of skills essential for successful study at undergraduate level, and will help you to identify your strengths and those areas in need of development through the introduction of Personal and Professional Development (PPD).

This unit will give you the opportunity to explore, at a preparatory level, a range of fashion-related subjects before focusing on your specialist pathways in term two of the course.

The unit will introduce you to a range of research methods and applications in the development and evaluation of ideas, visual communication and presentation of concepts for appropriate fashion audiences.

The diagnostic process will introduce you to all three specialist areas at London College of Fashion:

• Fashion Media and Communication,
• Fashion Business and Management,
• Fashion Design and Technology.

It will help you and your tutors find your specialist pathway and signpost to future progression opportunities. It will establish a range of creative approaches to learning used within a higher education context and will allow you to explore the variety of resources that will support your educational career whilst at London College of Fashion. It will introduce you to a variety of skills essential for successful study and help you to identify your strengths and areas in need of development through the introduction of Personal and Professional Development (PPD).
At the end of the Introduction to Study in Fashion unit you will continue in a specialist pathway for term two and three of study.


Term One and Term Two

Cultural and Historical Studies for Fashion aims to prepare you for the theoretical study of fashion. It will introduce you to the concepts and methods which shape the study of fashion from the broad discipline of Cultural Studies and will prepare you for subsequent undergraduate study in this area.

The unit supports you in acquiring academic literacy and competencies and will therefore focus on the development of skills in academic communication in a number of formats both written and spoken combined with the acquisition of subject knowledge which draws on the broader discipline of Cultural Studies. The unit will introduce the critical, communication and analytical skills that are essential to study on a range of Undergraduate Programmes at London College of Fashion.


Term One, Term Two and Term Three

Academic Language and Communication for Undergraduate Study aims to prepare you to be academically able to enter the first year of a range of undergraduate degree programmes at London College of Fashion. The unit supports you in acquiring academic literacy and study skills.

You will develop specialist vocabularies; enhance your language proficiency and understanding of academic conventions. The unit aims to aid you in becoming a self-directed learner and to gain transferable language and learning skills to prepare you for undergraduate university study.

In the second term you will progress to the most suitable pathway:
Specialism Studies: Fashion Business and Management will provide you with a range of academic, creative and specialist subject knowledge relevant to the business and management areas of the fashion industry. You will be encouraged to be open-minded in exploring and developing ideas for presentations for the variety of business audiences. You will conduct and evaluate research, develop ideas and learn to employ the appropriate techniques for the presentation of ideas within the context of fashion business and management.

Specialism Studies: Fashion Design and Technology will introduce you to a range of creative, practical and theoretical approaches within the subject of fashion design and technology allowing you to develop a preparatory body of knowledge and skill. You will be introduced to the importance of research as the basis for the creative development of ideas for a range of fashion products. You will carry out and evaluate original research, develop ideas and make use of the appropriate techniques for visual presentation.

Specialism Studies: Fashion Media and Communication will introduce you to a range of media subjects providing you with the opportunity to develop creative, practical skills and subject knowledge for fashion media content whilst introducing the techniques for the generation of original ideas for target markets. You will conduct and evaluate research, develop ideas and learn to employ the appropriate techniques for the presentation of ideas within the context of fashion media and communication.


Term Three

The Personal Progression Project unit will enable you to take responsibility for your own learning through the development and construction of a project proposal in response to your negotiated specialist pathway. The unit provides practical, theoretical and contextual activities in the development of a personally established project. You will carry out investigations around an issue, or issues, connected with your chosen specialist area by proposing and realising a project which integrates planning, research, development, process, evaluation, reflection, and future progression within a chosen professional context.

Building on knowledge gained in previous units you will use a range of research methods and applications in the development and evaluation of ideas, visual communication tools and the presentation of concepts.


Travelling across London

The renowned London College of Fashion library is at our John Prince’s Street site, and you will need to travel to this site, and possibly others, during your course to use the library, which is open seven days a week in term time, and for tuition and special events.


Course structure

The information outlined is an indicative structure of the course. Whilst we will aim to deliver the course as described on this page, there may be situations where it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, for example because of regulatory requirements or operational efficiencies, before or after enrolment. If this occurs, we will communicate all major changes to all applicants and students who have either applied or enrolled on the course.

Please note that due to staff research agreements or availability, not all of the optional modules listed may be available every year.
In addition, the provision of course options which depend upon the availability of specialist teaching, or on a placement at another institution, cannot be guaranteed. Please check this element of the course with the course team before making a decision to apply.