Contemporary Craft BA (Hons)
UCAS Code: Combined Honours only – see combinations tab|Duration: 3|Full Time|Hope Park
UCAS Campus Code: L46
Work placement opportunities|International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
Contemporary Craft is an exciting major focused on hands-on design and making. We aim to build a supportive community where emerging makers and designers can reach their creative potential. This leads to specialised craft works, innovative projects, and new career paths.
Liverpool Hope University offers specialised facilities in metal, ceramics, textiles, and digital design. With dedicated tutoring and technical support, it is an inspiring place to study. You’ll explore materials and share ideas and goals. Masterclasses, lectures, and group seminars will explore key themes. These include the joy of making, materiality, sustainability, personal direction, collaboration, and craft identities.
We emphasise professional practice and employability. You'll work on live projects with support from university partners in Liverpool and the North West. You'll gain work experience and might even have a placement year.
A Contemporary Craft graduate can explore many careers. They might become a craft or design practitioner, a community worker, or a creative producer. They can also teach or engage in postgraduate research.
Follow us on Instagram: @liverpoolhopefashioncraft
Course structure
Teaching on this degree includes lectures, practical seminars, technical masterclasses and weekly group tutorials.
In addition to formal teaching, you are expected to spend a number of hours each week studying independently: researching and practising your technical skills.
Access to studios and facilities outside of taught contact time is provided to enhance individual and flexible independent study.
Assessment and feedback
Throughout your years of study, you will have formal and informal assessments where you will be given written and verbal feedback on your work.
Formal assessments are normally held at the end of each module and you are required to complete a series of assessment tasks. These typically include a portfolio of creative work accompanied by contextual documentation. In your final year, you are also required to complete a research project/dissertation. You will have the opportunity to discuss your work during regular one-to-one tutorials.
Curriculum overview
BA Contemporary Craft will support innovative creative practice within a critical studio workshop environment. The aims of the programme are to support students to:
1. Explore a broad range of materials and processes within the spectrum of contemporary crafts combining new technologies, traditional processes, and interdisciplinary approaches.
2. Develop professional expertise, which enables students to pursue personal directions in their creative practice and test these through real world scenarios.
3. Initiate academic enquiry, exploring and addressing current issues, through cultural, social and historical research. The course would place emphasis on ethical craft practice and valuing materials.
Year One
Our first year contemporary craft syllabus is designed to build the essential foundations of contemporary craft practice, combining creativity, skill, and critical thinking. The syllabus brings together three core elements: Craft Fundamentals, Drawing and Design, and Visual Culture, giving students the tools and confidence to develop as makers and designers.
Themes such as The Joy of Making, Sustainability and Materiality, and Reflective Practice underpin the course, ensuring every student gains a thoughtful and well-rounded introduction to contemporary craft.
Craft Fundamentals
Craft Fundamentals introduces students to the material areas at the heart of contemporary craft: ceramics, metals, and textiles. Students also experience workshops in wood and the digital fabrication lab.
Through a series of practical projects, students:
- Work with diverse materials and techniques central to contemporary craft
- Respond creatively to set themes
- Discover new directions for making and research
This element lays the strong, practical foundation that drives all future contemporary craft practice.
Drawing and Design
Drawing and Design strengthens the creative process within the contemporary craft course, directly supporting studio practice and project work. Students build skills and confidence through exercises that:
- Explore a range of design methods
- Encourage personal approaches to creativity
- Develop the ability to visualise new possibilities
This element ensures students can fully realise their ideas and grow as confident makers within contemporary craft.
Visual Culture
The Visual Culture element enriches the contemporary craft course by introducing students to a wide range of approaches in the field. Key examples from practitioners and communities of practice demonstrate the values, narratives, and journeys that shape contemporary making.
Students are also encouraged to explore Liverpool’s cultural venues and creative networks, connecting their studies with the wider world of contemporary craft practice.
Tutorial
Weekly student-led tutorials bring the group together to share work, refine research, and build study skills. These sessions create valuable opportunities to connect with peers and the wider university community, supporting personal and creative growth throughout the contemporary craft course.
Year Two
The second year contemporary craft syllabus builds on core foundations and encourages students to develop their own personal creative directions while gaining essential professional knowledge. The syllabus is structured around three key elements: Craft Directions, Professional Development, and Visual Culture, each designed to strengthen both creative practice and career awareness.
Craft Directions
Craft Directions is central to the contemporary craft course, supporting students as they define and grow their personal creative identity. Working within the material areas of ceramics, metals, textiles, and the digital fabrication lab, students are guided by three core topics: Personal Direction, Collaboration, and Craft and Equality.
Through live briefs and personal craft proposals, students explore current issues and themes, deepen their material knowledge, and advance their research skills. This process helps each student gain a clearer understanding of their own creative intentions within the wider world of contemporary craft practice.
Professional Development
Professional Development is designed to help students shape their emerging professional identity within contemporary craft. Students research and define their personal craft or design direction while positioning themselves within the broader professional landscape.
This element is enriched by university partnerships with local institutions, charities, communities, businesses, and industries across Liverpool and the North West, ensuring that students experience real-world insights into contemporary craft practice.
Visual Culture
Weekly Visual Culture lectures expand students’ perspectives, connecting personal practice to broader issues in the field of contemporary craft. This element introduces critical themes such as diversity and inclusion, social justice, the climate emergency, and arts and health practice.
Students engage with contemporary research through journals, symposiums, and—where possible—external visits. These experiences enhance critical awareness and ensure that students understand the role of contemporary craft within professional and cultural contexts.
Year Three
The final year contemporary craft syllabus is designed for advanced study, enabling students to develop a coherent craft identity, refine material expertise, and gain the professional knowledge needed for a sustainable creative career. The syllabus is structured around three elements: Craft Futures, Professional Development, and the Contemporary Craft Research Project. Together, these provide a pathway to ambitious independent work, professional confidence, and academic depth in contemporary craft practice.
Craft Futures
Craft Futures encourages the realisation of confident, ambitious collections of work. Students take ownership of their learning by defining independent project briefs, which may involve collaboration and real-world contexts.
This element focuses on two core themes: Craft Identities and Craft in the Expanded Field. By concentrating on personal expertise and knowledge, students advance their material practice while building the professional stability required for curating and presenting their work within contemporary craft.
Professional Development
Professional Development supports students in synthesising the professional knowledge and skills gained throughout the contemporary craft course. This element works in tandem with Craft Futures, preparing students for professional practice or further academic study.
Students develop a practical report that articulates their professional expertise, aligning their skills and attributes with their Craft Futures project and broader career aspirations in the field of contemporary craft practice.
Viva
The viva is a key stage of the Level H contemporary craft course. Following submission of work, students undertake a short oral examination where they articulate their learning and respond to questions about their craft identity, material practice, and professional expertise. This process builds confidence in presenting and defending their ideas in professional contexts.
Tutorial
Tutorials combine group discussion with one-to-one support, offering space for reflection, feedback, and personalised guidance. These sessions are student-led, designed to strengthen independent learning and foster collaboration within the contemporary craft community.
Contemporary Craft Research Project
The Contemporary Craft Research Project offers two options:
- A 15-credit Research Project (aligned with the Contemporary Craft Major), or
- A 30-credit Integrated Dissertation spanning both Majors.
Whichever pathway is chosen, this component gives students the opportunity to deliver a professionally presented and in-depth study that demonstrates:
- Subject knowledge
- Advanced research skills
- Critical reflection and analysis
- Strong visual and written communication
The Research Project or Dissertation strengthens each student’s position as an emerging professional within contemporary craft practice, showcasing both creative and academic excellence.
Entry requirements
| A-Levels | BBC |
|---|---|
| UCAS Tariff Points | 112 UCAS Tariff points must come from a minimum of two A Levels (or equivalent). Additional points can be made up from a range of alternative qualifications. |
| BTEC | DMM |
| Access to HE | 112 Tariff Points |
| IB | 26 points |
| Irish Leaving Certificate | 112 Tariff Points from Higher Level qualifications only |
| Welsh Baccalaureate | This qualification can only be accepted in conjunction with other relevant qualifications |
| T-Levels | Merit |
| Subject Requirements | All applicants are required to submit a digital portfolio of your work. |
International entry requirements
| Specific Country Requirements | Select your country |
|---|---|
| IELTS | 6.0 overall (with reading and writing at 6.0) and no individual score lower than 5.5. We also accept a wide range of International Qualifications. For more information, please visit our English Language Requirementspage. |
Careers
The Contemporary Craft course equips students with both practical expertise and theoretical understanding, offering a strong foundation for creative and professional growth. Through this contemporary craft course, learners develop their own personal design practice, building a bespoke portfolio of professionally documented outcomes that showcase their creative identity.
Alongside making skills, students gain entrepreneurial knowledge essential for establishing a sustainable career in the craft industry. This combination ensures graduates are prepared not only to create but also to innovate, offering alternative solutions to the challenges facing the future of contemporary craft.
Enhancement opportunities
Work Placement Opportunities
All students will be encouraged to uptake work-placements with an appropriate company, creative studio or professional scenario.
SALA
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
Study Abroad
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are £9,535* for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,535*.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
*subject to Council approval.
Scholarships
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
International tuition fees
The International Tuition fees for 2026/27 are £14,500.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
Course combinations
This course is only available as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects: