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Prepare for a career as a fashion journalist or stylist. Learn editorial styling, catwalk reporting, trend forecasting, studio photoshoots and the history of Chanel and McQueen. Create a glossy fashion magazine or website and join the Fashion North team.
By studying BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism at Sunderland, you'll develop essential fashion journalism skills such as catwalk reporting, editorial styling, studio photoshoots, street style photography, podcasting, social media stories and beauty and video journalism.
You'll learn from industry experts, publishing opportunities and fashion trips, while earning your National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma in Journalism, the industry-recognised qualification. You'll also get hands-on experience as part of the Fashion North editorial team and go on placements which have previously included Sunday Times Style magazine, Harpers Bazaar, Grazia, Elle, ASOS and Glamour.
Get to know Spark, Fashion North and Sportsbyte, our students' award-winning websites for local news, local sport, fashion and arts and entertainment.
Teaching methods include fashion newsdays, attending editorial conferences and creating content for Fashion North, lectures, workshops, photographic studio time and group projects. All our teaching staff have worked as journalists and have strong links with national and regional media organisations. We also invite experienced industry professionals to host guest lectures and masterclasses.
Assessment is split between portfolios of practical work, essays, examinations, reports and presentations.
Part-time study
If you study this course on a part-time basis you will typically complete 40-80 credits in a year, rather than the 120 credits of full-time students. All modules are taught during the day time and you'll be studying alongside full-time students.
Our typical offer is:
| Qualification | Minimum grade |
|---|---|
| High School Diploma along with one of the following at the required grade - SAT I and SAT II, ACT or Advanced Placement | GPA 3.0 or above and: |
| Sat score of 1250/1600 from SATs | |
| AP (Grades 3+ in at least 3 subjects) | |
| ACT (score of 30+) |
If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, you can take one of the foundation pathways at our partners ONCAMPUS Sunderland. Find out more information and whether your course is eligible on our ONCAMPUS page.
If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.
Our admissions policy uses a range of flexible options to support you in studying with us. This may include a reduced offer of up to 16 UCAS tariff points, (or equivalent). Find out if you are eligible.
If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.
If you are studying an HND or Foundation Degree you may be able to enter the final year of our degree courses. For more information, please contact studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk.
As part of our NCTJ accreditation, we will also invite you to an informal interview. We’d like to hear about you, why you’re interested in fashion journalism, and tell you a bit more about our course and what makes us special.
The annual, full-time fee is:
*Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. The fee for your first year of study for 2025/26 will be £9,535. You will pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.
The tuition fee includes the NCTJ exam fees. It covers the cost of one attempt at all seven exams required for the NCTJ Diploma, including each shorthand speed.
Tuition fees for part-time students are £7,145 per 90 credits. Please note that part-time courses are not available to international students who require a Student visa to study in the UK.
Read more about EU fees and funding in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
This degree prepares you for a variety of careers in fashion. You may become a writer for magazines, supplements and newspapers, covering the fashion shows and interviewing designers. Some of our graduates now work as stylists, either for celebrities (such as Nicole Scherzinger and Jessie J); for a fashion house, such as Burberry; or for a fashion publication, such as You magazine or Mail on Sunday.
Other graduates have moved into public relations, or writing and styling while travelling the globe for retailers such as Gymshark.
The industry qualifications you'll gain from this course also equip you to work as a general features or news writer for a magazine or newspaper.
You’ll be actively involved in the Fashion North website and have the opportunity to get involved in Spark Sunderland, the 24/7 community radio station based in the David Puttnam Media Centre. Spark has won many awards and holds the Nations and Regions Award for Best Radio Station in the North East. Students are responsible for all news-gathering, programme production and advertising.
Other opportunities for real-world experience include Spark online magazine and SportsByte, which are linked to our journalism courses.
Our academics are industry experts and have excellent relationships across the fashion industry including Vogue, Grazia, ITV and BBC.
Broaden your horizons with inspiring trips – recently students have enjoyed creating an online autumn/winter lookbook for shopping mall The Bridges, in-store styling challenges at John Lewis, and talks from fashion journalists, stylists, photographers and trend forecasters.
You'll undertake a work placement module in your final year, though many of our students arrange placements for all three years. Recent student placements at fashion publications include Elle, Grazia, Asos, Harper's Bazaar and Fabulous - the Sun on Sunday’s magazine.
In the past, our students have commissioned and styled fashion shoots for magazines and newspapers, worked on catwalk shows and fashion weeks and provided fashion reports for the websites of major retailers in the North East.
All students studying this course can take up a CV-enhancing work placement, a University-led industry initiative, or a professional and business development boot camp. By the term placement, we mean we are offering you a taste of the industry which might last anything from two days to four weeks on a part-time basis.
"The programme offered at the University of Sunderland is the best fashion journalism course in the country. Fashion North is unique, with nothing like it elsewhere.
Students are supported throughout their three years on the degree and continually encouraged to improve their work and achieve higher standards. The team must be commended for their excellence in both teaching and pastoral care.
Working as a magazine consultant in the industry, I would have no hesitation in recommending this course for anyone who wants to become a fashion or lifestyle journalist."
Mary Hogarth, External Examiner and Lecturer at Bournemouth University.
Author of Writing Feature Articles: Print, digital and online (2019) and Business Strategies for Magazine publishing: survival in the digital age (2018).
I would recommend the course to anyone who has a passion for fashion and journalism
The work I produced on my course played a key role in securing my current job.
I'm really proud of the skills I've learned and I’m excited to show them off to future employers.
