Intro

Our Interior Design MA degree is a future-facing course that deals with current issues and themes, taking an interdisciplinary approach that values creativity, curiosity and methodical rigour to build on the traditional abilities of the interior designer.

We foster creative interchange and collaborations between designers, fine artists, architects and design thinkers, developing your practical and intellectual skills. Through projects that examine fundamental concerns of the field such as identity, atmosphere and narrative, diversity, inclusion, belonging and sustainability, this degree will challenge you to form well-crafted, studied responses to contemporary interior design briefs.

You’ll explore the subject through lectures, workshops and seminars delivered by staff who are active in research and consultancy, tutors who are practising designers, and visiting specialists, critics and consultants who will share their knowledge and experience.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Full-time 12 months
Part-time Typically 24 months

Apply now for your place

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
A good degree (2.2 or above) in a design-related subject. In exceptional circumstances, ie where an applicant has several years experience working in a design industry, those with non-design degrees will be considered. Applicants need to show evidence of a portfolio and most will be invited for interview.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

View our English language courses

For pre-sessional English preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Portfolio advice

Admission to this course involves reviewing your portfolio. After you apply, we will ask you to share a link to an online portfolio of your work. This enables us to see your potential and understand your approach and motivations.

We will ask you to log on to Student View to share your portfolio link. We will not be able to progress your application to Brighton until you share your portfolio.

Find out about the specific requirements for your course.

Creating your portfolio
We’ve put together advice and guidance to help you create and share your portfolio and we run regular online portfolio advice sessions where you can get help from our expert team.

Course content

Why study with us?

Dual emphasis on creative and critical enquiry in the broad context of design, visual arts, fashion and textiles, design thinking and the humanities.
The opportunity to participate in multidisciplinary social design projects.

Interdisciplinary workshops that encourage you to think across a range of design fields including art, fashion, architecture and urban design.

A creative approach that will support you in developing your own practice in the field.

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A selection of work by Interior Design MA students for their Design Museum project

Course structure

The Situate module provides an opportunity for you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and identify ambitions for future study. This module is a great opportunity for you to think about the direction you are taking, whether you are returning to education or are continuing your studies. Lecture courses in Design Strategies and Research Practices run in parallel.

You’ll consolidate and extend the themes, questions and approaches established in the preliminary projects through the Design Lab module. Alongside this you can choose from option modules in Sustainable Design Future(s) or Critical Readings. A proposal for the final project will also be developed and submitted. You’ll also work on the self-direct design project through the Masterwork project.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

British Institute of Design Drawing (Digital) competition winner – Md Abu Al Shoud

Syllabus

The programme begins by giving you the opportunity to position what you do within the wider discourse and practice of design. Working from the outside in, you will be supported in situating what you want to do in terms of contemporary issues and global challenges. At the same time you will investigate the interior from the inside out, as you begin to methodologically engage with space on a sensory and affective level to interrogate the physiological, psychological and emotional experience of being in a place.

You’ll examine how colour, form, finish and furnishings affect us and how to use such elements to create new ways of living and being that respond to the large-scale challenges of contemporary life. Through a series of interlinked modules you’ll develop a set of concerns, issues, themes, questions and techniques that make up your practice, which you will fully explore in the final Masterwork module.

Modules

Core modules

Design: Masterwork

This module takes the form of a self-directed design research project which requires you to employ the experiences, methods, skills and mastery gained throughout your studies so far. The research-led design process will enable you to create new directions for your design specialisation, challenge existing expertise and develop insights relevant to your professional ambitions. A key feature of this module is to prepare you for professional life after graduation.
Design Research Practices

In this module you will learn to understand research in a way that’s specific to design. It starts from the idea that research, including scientific research, is a specific form of design activity and that design can influence research and vice versa. You will rearticulate the design expertise you’re already developing and apply this to research. You will also learn how to combine design research and practice in your own way.
Situate

This module introduces established and emerging principles, theories and themes in design. It will help you to situate your work within modern design trends and global issues and discover and develop what motivates you in your field. Themes covered may include sustainability discourses, power and politics, decolonising design, equity and equality, systemic complexity and creating change through design.
Design Strategies

Through small-scale experimental interior design projects, this module provides an opportunity to review your position, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and identify ambitions for future study. It challenges you to determine the extent of your knowledge, skills and abilities and pinpoint your study priorities for the year. Projects will place a priority on decision-making, enquiry and supported self-directed study.
Design Lab

In this module, you will develop your approaches to design within your specialisation through experimental practices. The module provides a reflective and productive environment within which you can develop, realise and critique new and innovative design concepts, theoretical positions and practice-based research methods. This will support you in confidently and critically developing individually defined and research-informed design practices.

Options*

Sustainable Design: Future(s)

In this module you will develop your project in a structured way, identifying the factors central to your ideas and seeing where these connect with other elements. You will learn how to identify key points for change and use communication and interaction to bring abstract ideas to life. Specific content will change year on year, but themes covered may include complex systems thinking and theories of uncertainty.
Critical Readings in Spatial Design

In this module you will explore historical, theoretical and practical issues in architectural, spatial and urban design. You’ll reflect on your own ideas and experiences while considering how these issues relate to different cultural contexts. Seminars will address issues of disciplinary context, including the interrelationship of architecture with technical, political, social and cultural fields.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Careers

Brighton graduates enjoy a reputation for being creative and innovative designers, responsive to the needs of people and places. In addition, this postgraduate programme offers opportunities for experimental and exploratory work in interior design both within and beyond the limits of professional practice.

Our graduates are working in roles such as:

an interior designer at Harrison Ince
an interior designer at gpstudio
a store designer at Estée Lauder Travel Retail
an architectural technologist at Agora Chartered Architects
an industrial and interior designer at B-H Design
a senior interior designer at Hirsch Bedner Associates
a creative director at Night Art Design Studio
a designer at Johnson Naylor.

Students crowded round a table with spatial design model structure

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time)9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 17,900 GBP

Perkins+Will Thesis Prize for Architecture

The £250 Perkins+Will Thesis Prize for Architecture is open to final-year students of the Interior Architecture BA(Hons) and the Interior Design MA. It rewards work that exhibits strong design principles and that shows concern for sustainability, social responsibility, diversity, wellness and innovation.

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international postgraduate students
Student finance and budgeting while studying
About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university - https://www.brighton.ac.uk/whats-included-in-your-fee - and check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status - https://www.brighton.ac.uk/fees-and-finance.

You can chat with our enquiries team - https://www.brighton.ac.uk/enquiries - if you have a question or need more information.

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees.

Travel and accommodation costs are included for all mandatory taught residential field trips, but you’ll need to provide your own food and drink.
There will be opportunities to attend additional study trips or optional taught residential field trips throughout the school, but these are not required to pass your course. Normally, a contribution will be required towards expenses such as travel, entrance fees and accommodation. This will vary depending on where and how long the trip is, but you should budget around £1,500.
Where optional international field trips are offered, these are not required to pass your course. You should expect to budget £300–£500 for these, to cover flight, accommodation, food and entrance to museums. The total amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
If you choose to take an optional paid placement, you’ll be expected to cover your own travel, accommodation, food and drink.
Some students require specialist outdoor equipment and/or personal protective equipment (PPE) and should budget up to £150.
You will have access to computers and necessary software; however, many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses. Find out what free software is available from the University of Brighton.
Course books are available from the university, but you may wish to budget from £15 to £100 per year to buy your own copies and subscribe to design magazines.
In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but students may wish to print notes which would involve an extra cost.
Costs of up to £50 are included in the fees for students on engineering courses to pay for materials for their final year projects. On rare occasions where material costs exceed £50, they will need to be paid for by the student.

Architecture, interior architecture, design and product design additional costs

Students should budget around £25 for printing and binding dissertations in their final year.
In your first year of studies, you will need to buy a drawing and modelling toolkit. Each course will suggest a list of items of which some will be essential, and others optional. You should budget around £100–£250 for these.
For most courses you will need to budget between £100 to £300 per year for printing and portfolio costs. Costs will vary depending on type of printer and type and size of paper used. Some students tend to work digitally, spending more on printing and some by hand, spending more on materials so these costs vary widely between students.
For most courses you will need to budget between £10 and £100 for material costs per design project. Costs will vary depending on how and what you use to make models. You are encouraged to recycle used materials where possible.
You will need to budget between £5–£50 to exhibit work for the end-of-year show. Fundraising by the student society, BIAAS, normally helps towards this cost.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you’ll find new Students’ Union, events venue and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our Moulsecoomb Place halls and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains so you can access all the exciting things happening in our home city.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently?
We can help – find out more about private renting.

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

Local area

One of Time Out's 50 best cities in the world

“Brighton has… all the important parts of a sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis (connections to London in under an hour, an array of properly excellent restaurants, energetic late-night spots) … with the easy-breezy beachy attitude to life that makes you feel welcome in an instant.”
Time Out’s 50 Best Cities in the World, 2025

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy – as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Maps

Moulsecoomb campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition.

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Brighton Cricket Academy

Develop your cricketing skills in the UK’s largest indoor cricket facility alongside studying for a degree. Whether you can already play or you’re new to the game offers the opportunity to train with top coaches in our world-class training environment.

Find out about the Brighton Cricket Academy.

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Take a tour of sport facilities on our Falmer campus