Level 4 Visual Merchandising for Fashion

In order to be successful in today’s retail environment, brands must reach customers through many different channels and platforms. Consumers want a seamless brand experience, whether they’re shopping online or in-store, reading an email or browsing social media.

In this creative, varied and dynamic course, you'll develop the fundamental skills for communicating a brand’s identity and values visually, learning how a modern brand uses physical and digital platforms to reach its target audience.

Level 4 Visual Merchandising for Fashion is a comprehensive course that teaches you key skills across all areas of visual merchandising, spatial design and branding practices. You’ll explore the design process from concept to execution, developing new and exciting ways to inspire customers in both online and in-store environments.

We’ll teach you how to design inspiring and dynamic visual displays, shop windows and mannequins. You’ll also learn to use the Adobe Creative Cloud software used by brands across the industry, including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. You’ll discover how to create branded industry documents that excite customers and increase sales, including planograms, social media content and email newsletters.

Throughout the course, you’ll also investigate the current retail environment, exploring new trends in sustainability, technology and consumer behaviour and analysing their impact on the industry.

Using the work you create during the year, you'll design a professional digital portfolio. This will give you a competitive edge when applying for industry roles, and help your application stand out to hiring managers. 

The Level 4 Visual Merchandising for Fashion course covers:

• Fashion Retail Store Concepts: Learn how retail architecture contributes to a successful brand image. Explore how physical spaces are manipulated and managed to create ambience and “theatre” in-store, highlighting specific stock and driving sales.
• Designing and Installing Window Displays for Fashion Retail: Investigate the aesthetic value of window displays. Learn to communicate the image and ideals of a brand visually and maximise sales. Understand the core concepts of window design including colour, graphics, lighting and styling products.
• Fashion Retail Branding: Discover how visual merchandising is used to support brand identity across physical and online retail environments. Learn to communicate branding through retail and shop floor design. Develop skills in typography, logo design, layout and digital image manipulation.

• Contextual Studies for Fashion Retail: Explore the fashion retail industry as a whole and learn the historic, cultural and contemporary influences that have impacted it.
• Preparation for Progression in Fashion Retail: Learn how to make the most of the skills and knowledge gained after graduating. Develop teamwork and presentation skills.
• Individual Negotiated Fashion Retail Project: Create a personal project through a mixture of directed and self-study. Improve research, self-evaluation and written communication skills.

With links to over 250 major brands in the industry, we help our students to develop a strong professional network to support their future careers.

All our tutors have previously worked in the industry meaning that our students can benefit from real-world expertise and experiences.

Our industry partners set live tasks and briefs, reflecting current challenges and opportunities the industry faces. These challenges will help you to develop valuable professional skills.

VISITING INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Visiting Industry Experts (VIEs) from top brands in the industry will deliver regular classes and lectures throughout your course. They'll set projects and tasks that reflect the current challenges and opportunities faced by the industry, offering you the chance to develop practical and professional skills.

VIEs will provide realistic feedback on your work, showing how their brand may react in a real-life setting. This helps to provide context to your studies, putting theoretical knowledge into practice. You'll also develop strong time management, team building and prioritisation skills through these projects.

Previous projects have been set by retailers including Alexander McQueen and H&M.

FUTURE PATHWAYS PROGRAMME

The Future Pathways Programme is a 3-week, full-time (5 days per week) schedule of industry engagement activities to help you take your next steps after graduating, connect with industry professionals and build a range of skills and knowledge to improve your career prospects.

When you apply to the programme you can choose from the following routes: 

Placement Pathway: Qualifying students* can opt to apply for our Work Placement Pathway as part of our Pathways Programme.  This is a full time three week work placement within a brand.  This is aimed at providing hands on experience, however it may not always be specifically related to the course. 

Employability Pathway: Take part in a range of activities to support your progression into employment. You’ll work with a recruitment agency, learn about head office roles and complete an assessment centre, alongside an industry project and networking event to build your fashion retail contacts. 

* Students will be provided with qualifying criteria ahead of the September in the year of placement

After graduating Level 4, you’ll be ready to progress straight into an entry-level role in fashion.

85% of our Level 4 Fashion Visual Merchandising students are in employment or further education within 6 months of finishing their course at the FRA.

This course prepares you for a role in a brand’s in-store or online visual merchandising team. You could also move into similar sectors and become a prop maker or creative assistant.

All our Level 4 specialist higher Diplomas come with our Job Guarantee. 

We design our courses alongside our industry partners to teach you the skills and attributes you need to secure a job. So, if you’re not offered one within six months of completing your course, we’ll refund your course fees in full. 

This offer applies to students who are paying privately or using the Advanced Learner Loan to fund their studies. If you secured a loan to pay for your course, we will not refund your loan interest.

See our Terms & Conditions for our full eligibility criteria.

Awarding body
University of the Arts London

Qualification title
Level 4 Diploma for Visual Display and Branding for Fashion Retail

Age requirement
18+

Course duration
1 year, delivered over 2 days per week

You’ll attend the Fashion Retail Academy for 2 full days per week (totalling an average of 16 hours per week) and you'll be expected to complete 2 days of independent study and coursework each week. Many of our students take on part-time work on their remaining free days to boost their industry experience.  

Course fees

• Fully-funded for students aged 18
• £4,220 per year for students aged 19+ - Advanced Learner Loans are available

Fees & Funding

Entry requirements

• 1 A-level or the equivalent Level 3 qualification
• 5 GCSEs grade C/4 or above, including Maths and English

For non-UK qualifications, please provide an ENIC Statement of Comparability. 

If you're applying from a non-English speaking country, you'll need at least 5.5 overall and in each section of IELTS test for English language 

Assessment
The course is 100% coursework via termly assignments that measure your knowledge and understanding.

Offers
After completing our online form, we'll process your application and send you the outcome by post and email in 5-10 working days. We process applications in the order we receive them, and offers are made on a first-come, first-served basis. 

• If you have your exam results and you meet the course's entry requirements, you'll be given an unconditional offer.
• If you don't have your results yet, your offer will be conditional on you meeting the entry requirements.

Your place on the Level 4 Visual Merchandising for Fashion course is only secure after you have completed enrolment.

2024-2025

ENROLMENT

• Unconditional Enrolment: Week commencing 8th July 2024
• Conditional Enrolment: 15th August 2024

AUTUMN TERM 

• Academic transition day: Tuesday 3rd September 2024 
• Term starts: Week commencing 9th September 2024 
• Half term: Week commencing 28th October 2024 
• Term resumes: Week commencing 4th November 2024 
• Winter break: Week commencing 23rd December 2024 

SPRING TERM 

• Term starts: Week commencing 6th January 2025 
• Spring break: Week commencing 14th April 2025 

SUMMER TERM 

• Term starts: Week commencing 28th April 2025 
• End of year celebration: Week commencing 9th June 2025 

2025-2026

Term dates to be confirmed.

Victoria

Motel Rocks Website Design Mock-up

Michela

Ssense Digital Window Display

MELIS

Jacquemus Re-Brand Digital Concept Board

Ella

Vivienne Westwood Customer Profile Moodboard

The Fashion Retail Academy is located at our new campus at Electra House near Liverpool Street, central London. 

The listed building has undergone a £50 million refurbishment to give our students the facilities and spaces they need. Liverpool Street has excellent transport links to the rest of London and beyond, and Electra House is situated directly across from Moorgate tube station. 

There are: 

• 8 floors (Electra House is double the size of our old campus)
• A bigger library and more workspaces
• 26 classrooms
• Bespoke studio spaces
• 6 lecture theatres
• Dedicated fashion design wing
• IT hub and self-service laptop lockers
• "Speakeasy" student common room and on-site cafe
• 2 specialist exhibition and event spaces
• Wellness spaces and communal areas
• Discovery nook

Click here for more information about Electra House.