MA Textiles
London, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
19 Jan 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
07 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 39,200 **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* as the RCA received a high number of applications we encourage you to apply as early as possible to secure your place on your programme
** overseas and EU | visit the RCA website to find out about fees for this programme as well as scholarship and funding opportunities
Key Summary
Our free in-person open days are the perfect way to experience what studying at the RCA is like. Opening times: 7 February 2026 - 10am to 4pm (UK time)
MA Textiles at the RCA operates at the intersection of design, craft, and fine art, and we encourage this mix of thinking to collectively challenge the role of the 21st-century Textiles practitioner. Practice-led research is a fundamental intellectual framework for how we develop textiles and materials; conceived and created by ‘thinking through making’, we are uncovering new insights through the material and process exploration in the physical and digital domains.
Diverse practice across the programme unites commercial designers, individual craft and gallery-based practitioners, and smart textile innovators, fostering a vibrant community culture where this range of practice stimulates critical questioning of the discipline.
The MA Textiles enables the development of a personal creative identity through a combination of individual, personally driven initiatives, collaborative work, and industry-oriented and interdisciplinary projects.
With a focus on radical experimentation, material exploration, and transformation, we encourage an exploratory, non-linear approach that embraces the conceptual, allowing space for the incidental and accidental processes of discovery that foster a culture of research through physical and digital making.
We critically engage with all aspects of the discipline to demonstrate our creative capability. We value all approaches and promote responsible and ethical values.
Meet the RCA
We host a range of online and on-campus open days as well as recruitment events in cities around the world. These events can include 1-to-1 meetings and portfolio advice, informal chats, presentations and sessions with staff, students and alumni.
Check the RCA event webpage for details of upcoming events including events in India and the USA.
Please refer to the programme webpage for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the programme, its structure, modules and any updates or changes.
The MA Textiles at the RCA operates at the creative interface between materials, making and meaning. Practice-led research is at the heart of the programme: you 'think through making' by experimenting with materials and processes in both physical and digital domains. The community brings together commercial designers, craft practitioners, gallery-based makers and smart textiles innovators. Through individual initiatives, collaborative work, and interdisciplinary projects, you develop a unique creative identity. With a focus on radical experimentation, material exploration and transformation, the programme embraces a non-linear, conceptual approach and values accidental and incidental discovery. You critically engage with all aspects of the discipline and work with responsibility and ethical values.
Programme structure
Term 1
In term 1, you take Textiles Alchemy, which lets you build foundational skills through research, experimentation, and exploration of colour, materials, and processes. You are encouraged to assess which techniques best support your emerging project and critically reflect on your material choices.
Term 2
In term 2, you take Textiles Make, where you deepen your making practice through lectures, workshops, technical inductions and independent study. You develop specialist skills and techniques and engage with debates in textiles covering topics like sustainability, future materials, identity, and manufacturing.
Also in term 2, you take Grand Challenge, a school-wide unit that asks you to work on a “wicked” design problem in a cross-disciplinary way, often with external partners.
Term 3
In term 3, you take an Independent Research Project, defining and delivering your own body of work. This culminates in a public event (Textiles Festival) where you present and reflect on your MA-level practice.
AcrossRCA (Terms 1 & 2)
During the first two terms, you participate in the AcrossRCA college-wide unit, collaborating with students from other programmes on a self-initiated themed project that addresses cultural, social, environmental or economic issues.
The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading postgraduate art and design university, providing students with unrivalled opportunities to develop their practice, build their networks, enhance their career and to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.
For 11 consecutive years, the RCA has been ranked as the world’s number 1 art & design university in the QS World University subject rankings (2015-2025) - attracting artists, designers and communicators from across the globe.
Ameea Scholarship (Textiles)
Supporting Intelligent Mobility and Textiles students from the UK experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: One scholarship valued at £20,000
Boots Bursary
Supporting an MA Visual Communication student from the UK, experiencing financial hardship.
Eligible Programmes: Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £10,000
Burberry Design Scholarship
Scholarships are targeted to students enrolling on a number of RCA MA programmes to enable students to unlock their full potential regardless of their financial circumstances. Preference will be given to students from underrepresented communities.
Eligible Programmes: Print MA, Digital Direction MA, Visual Communication MA, Fashion MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Up to seven full-fee tuition fee scholarships
Haberdashers' Scholarship
Supporting MA Textiles students from the UK experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Full fee scholarship of £13,500
House of Fraser Bursary
Supporting students in any MA programme from the UK (Preferably a Scottish national), experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Architecture MA, Interior Design MA, City Design MA, Environmental Architecture MA, Ceramics & Glass MA, Contemporary Art Practice MA, Curating Contemporary Art MA, V&A/RCA History of Design MA, Jewellery & Metal MA, Painting MA, Photography MA, Print MA, Sculpture MA, Writing MA, Animation MA, Digital Direction MA, Information Experience Design MA, Visual Communication MA, Design Products MA, Fashion MA, Global Innovation Design MA/MSc, Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc, Intelligent Mobility MA, Service Design MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £10,000
Kay Cosserat Scholarship
Supporting MA Textiles or MA Fashion students experiencing financial hardship and specialising in knitting/knitwear
Eligible Programmes: Fashion MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: One full tuition fee (£13,500) scholarship in either MA Textiles or MA Fashion
Osborne & Little Bursary
Supporting MA Textiles students from the UK, experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £10,000
Roger Walls Binns Bursary
Supporting MA Fashion and MA Textiles students experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Fashion MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: Full fee scholarship
Sir Frank Bowling Scholarships
The Scholarship supports 21 UK MA, MRes and PhD students every year from across all RCA MA, MRes and PhD disciplines.
Eligible Programmes: Architecture MA, Interior Design MA, City Design MA, Environmental Architecture MA, Architecture Pathway MRes RCA, Architecture MPhil/PhD, Ceramics & Glass MA, Contemporary Art Practice MA, Curating Contemporary Art MA, V&A/RCA History of Design MA, Jewellery & Metal MA, Painting MA, Photography MA, Print MA, Sculpture MA, Writing MA, Fine Arts & Humanities Pathway MRes RCA, Arts & Humanities MPhil/PhD, Animation MA, Digital Direction MA, Information Experience Design MA, Visual Communication MA, Communication Design Pathway MRes RCA, Communication MPhil/PhD, Design Products MA, Fashion MA, Global Innovation Design MA/MSc, Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc, Intelligent Mobility MA, Service Design MA, Textiles MA, Design Pathway MRes RCA, Design MPhil/PhD, Healthcare & Design MRes, Intelligent Mobility MPhil/PhD, Materials Science MPhil/PhD, Computer Science MPhil/PhD
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: £21,000
The Coats Foundation Trust Bursary
Supporting MA Textiles students from the UK, experiencing financial hardship
Eligible Programmes: Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status only
Value: Eight tuition fee bursaries of £3,000 each
The RCA Logitech Scholarship Programme
To provide scholarships to students in any RCA programme, from underrepresented communities, and facing financial challenges. Preference will be given to those identifying as Black or Black British; Asian or Asian British; or from a mixed background.
Eligible Programmes: Design Products MA, Fashion MA, Global Innovation Design MA/MSc, Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc, Intelligent Mobility MA, Service Design MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: Any
Value: Up to sixteen full-fee scholarships
The Tony Snowdon Scholarship
Applicants must make an application via the application portal on the Snowdon Trust website from Jan 2023: https://www.snowdontrust.org/scholarships
Eligible Programmes: Architecture MA, Interior Design MA, City Design MA, Environmental Architecture MA, Architecture Pathway MRes RCA, Ceramics & Glass MA, Contemporary Art Practice MA, Curating Contemporary Art MA, V&A/RCA History of Design MA, Jewellery & Metal MA, Painting MA, Photography MA, Print MA, Sculpture MA, Writing MA, Fine Arts & Humanities Pathway MRes RCA, Animation MA, Digital Direction MA, Information Experience Design MA, Visual Communication MA, Communication Design Pathway MRes RCA, Design Products MA, Fashion MA, Global Innovation Design MA/MSc, Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc, Intelligent Mobility MA, Service Design MA, Textiles MA, Design Pathway MRes RCA, Healthcare & Design MRes
Eligible fee status: Any
Value: Up to £15,000 in tuition fees + £15,000 maintenance support
The Virgil Abloh Scholarship
Supporting School of Design students from the UK from under-represented communities. Preference for those identifying as Black or Black British (Caribbean); Black or Black British (African), or other Black backgrounds.
Eligible Programmes: Design Products MA, Fashion MA, Global Innovation Design MA/MSc, Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc, Intelligent Mobility MA, Service Design MA, Textiles MA
Eligible fee status: UK fee status
Value: One scholarship valued at £35,000
Students from over 70 countries come to the RCA. We welcome applications from talented, creative individuals from all over the world. Many are from backgrounds you might expect such as art, design, architecture, communications, media and humanities. Others come from disciplines as broad as engineering, social sciences, technology, toolmaking, medicine, business, law, physics, life coaching, economics, teaching, music, etc. The list is endless. What RCA students share is the potential, commitment and ambition to make change in the world through art and design.
What types of jobs to graduates go on to?
The RCA has consistently produced world leaders in the fields of creative endeavour – acting as a launchpad for the careers of major international figures.
Our alumni shape the world – whether founding their own studios and brands, pushing the boundaries of possibility through their start-ups or taking on impressive roles with global companies across a wide range of disciplines.
What if they want to start their own business?
Our creative students have ambitions of being their own boss and making their own decisions, so launch their own enterprises or studios either soon after graduating or any some time employed in industry. Many did not intend to start their studies considering themselves entrepreneurs but discovered an idea during their studies with their fellow students that they believe would make a successful business. InnovationRCA – the College’s centre for student and graduate enterprise and entrepreneurship – supports students and recent graduates to transform compelling ideas into successful businesses, providing incubation, intellectual property and commercialisation support.