In Studio Diploma (UK)
Professional Interior Design
Study in our UK Design Studio for your Level 3 Interior Design Diploma with the National Design Academy. Become a professional Interior Designer!
Entry Requirements
No previous qualifications required, just an interest & enthusiasm for interior design.
Study Duration
2 weeks In-Studio + Up to 10 weeks home study – 12 weeks total.
UK Student Loans
No up front fees to pay!
If you are aged 19+ and have lived in England for 3+ years you are eligible.
Become a Professional Interior Designer
This Professional Interior Design Diploma will provide you with the skills you need to design your own project or help family and friends with theirs, to start your own business or enter a new career and, it will even give you the confidence to move on to study a degree!
As an alternative to flexible online study our live ‘In-Studio’ Course Diploma in Professional Interior Design allows you to join other like-minded design enthusiasts for a more hands-on and collaborative approach to learning. Working with a client brief, you will work on an array of skills to take you from concept stage, through to design development and final proposal stage for a residential project.
What our Students Say
Course Breakdown
You will study 8 dedicated units during this professional interior design diploma.
Unit 01 - Interior Design & the Role of the Designer
Interior Design & the Role of the Designer
This unit introduces you to the fundamental elements and principles that are common within a successful design scheme and how they are adopted by Professional Interior Designers today. You’ll learn how and why interior design has changed over time and to identify key interior design trends. What you learn in this unit will provide an essential foundation to underpin your future designs. This unit also includes:-
- The 7 design elements of good design
- Interior Design history and contemporary practice
- The role of an Interior Designer and different project types
- Professional presentation boards
- How to write a short design report
Unit 02 - Using Colour in Interior Design
Using Colour in Interior Design
This unit will spark your creativity by giving you the opportunity to play with colour. You’ll explore practical colour theory to enable you to design both historical and contemporary colour schemes. This unit also includes:-
- Basic colour principles and terminology
- The impact of colour in a design scheme
- The psychological importance of colour in an interior space
- Historical and contemporary colour trends
- Creating a successful interior design colour scheme
Unit 03 - Exploring Surface Finishes in Interior Design
Exploring Surface Finishes in Interior Design
This unit covers the wide and exciting range of surface finishes now available to create fabulous interiors. You’ll explore the versatility and impact of materials for walls, floors and soft furnishings and how to use them to create an effective design scheme. This unit also includes:-
- The characteristics and suitability of different materials
- Sourcing and using materials to develop a design scheme
- Practical skills to represent colour, pattern and texture
- How to visually present your design ideas
Unit 04 - Plans and Space Planning in a Professional Context
Plans & Space Planning in a Professional Context
This unit shows you how to plan the space for a room design. From initial sketches to final layouts, you will visualise and present design solutions to meet a client brief. This unit also includes:-
- Understanding the space and the client brief
- Traffic flow and zoning of space
- Developing floor plans by hand
- Creating elevations by hand
- Practical sketching and hand drawing techniques
Unit 05 - Furniture & Accessories in Interior Design
Furniture & Accessories in Interior Design
This unit focusses on the limitless range of furniture and accessories available to the Interior Designer. You’ll learn to recognise key styles in furniture and accessory design and how to select and source appropriate furniture and accessories to meet a client brief. This unit also includes:-
- Understanding of different furniture and accessory styles, historical and contemporary
- Influential practitioners and design movements
- Characteristics & suitability of furniture & accessories
- Choosing and sourcing items
- Producing furniture layouts
Unit 06 - Creative Lighting in Interior Design
Creative Lighting in Interior Design
This unit explores the potential of creative lighting in interiors and develops your knowledge of lighting design, including traditional and contemporary products. You’ll learn how to choose lighting for your schemes and how to deal with suppliers. This unit also includes:-
- Understanding different lighting products and lamps
- Task, ambient and decorative lighting
- Lighting levels for room design
- Cool and warm lighting
- Creating a lighting scheme for a furniture layout
- Applying symbols appropriate to industry lighting plans
- Developing a lighting plan to meet a client brief
Unit 07 - Professional Practice in Interior Design
Professional Practice in Interior Design
This unit explores the diverse possibilities for a career in the Interior design industry and helps prepare you to work successfully in the professional environment, whether this be in an established practice or setting up an interior design business. With a focus on your personal and professional development, you will consider the steps you should take to achieve your own progression ambitions. This unit also includes:-
- Being employed, self-employed and setting up an interior design service
- Portfolio development
- Working with others in a professional environment
- Effective marketing and promotion
- How to charge for your design service
- Studying for a degree
Unit 08 - Professional Interior Design Project
Professional Interior Design Project
For this final unit of the course, you bring together all your newly learned skill by producing conceptual designs to create a wonderful interior design scheme for a new client. When complete, your work will form an asset to your developing portfolio to show future clients. This unit also includes:-
- Developing a design concept
- Creating a colour scheme
- Selecting surface finishes
- Space planning, including furniture and accessory arrangements
- Creating a lighting plan
- Professional presentation techniques
Qualify in Just 12 Weeks!
The Diploma course consists of a first week (5 days) in-studio followed by 5 weeks online home study through your Virtual Learning Studio (VLS). Then a second week (5 days) in-studio with up to an additional 5 weeks home study to complete any project work for submission.
We are passionate about delivering high-quality courses to our students, and we believe that students learn faster in smaller groups, which is why we cap the number of students who can attend each course.
All VLS course material and resources are available during home study weeks. Your tutor will also be on hand to support you through your studies.
Course Timeline
2 weeks In-Studio + Up to 10 weeks home study – 12 weeks total.
Week 1: Monday to Friday in studio, 9:30am to 4:30pm.
Week 2 – 6: Flexible Online Home Study via the VLS.
Week 7: Monday to Friday in studio, 9:30am to 4:30pm.
Week 8 – 12: Flexible Online Home Study via the VLS.
10 x Studio Classes
+ Home Study
12 Weeks Total
Why Study in Studio?
You will learn the skills to be able to tackle your own projects more professionally, start your own business or enter the interior design industry with the practical knowledge required to work with potential clients. You can also progress to the next level with a guaranteed place on one of our online BA (Hons). You’ll also learn how to establish industry contacts, where to source materials, samples, furniture, lighting and start to build a design community with your peers.
Whilst receiving hands-on advice directly from our highly experienced NDA Tutors, the In-studio course brings together a fantastic mix of students, helping to create an exciting, friendly and dynamic class and the chance to share ideas with fellow up and coming designers.
In Studio Gallery
Images of our talented Diploma students hard at work in our In-Studio sessions
Our Learning Eco-System
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Responsive Learning, Designed For You.
Offering a fully responsive learning experience our course content can be opened, studied and enjoyed on any device, from anywhere in the world.
Virtual Learning Studio
How do you learn online, you ask? It’s simple: introducing our Virtual Learning Studio, or VLS for short. The VLS is our exclusive, online resource which replaces the normal lectures given in Colleges and Universities.
Students can rewind and re-watch until they are sure they have understood. No frantic note taking and no missing an important lecture! Study when and where it suits you!
Personal Tutors
Every National Design Academy student has a Personal Tutor to guide them through their qualification.
You have unlimited access to your tutor and can contact them by email, telephone, Zoom, Skype or in-person as often as you wish.
Student Support Team
We also have a dedicated Student Support and Administration Team to help deal with any other queries such as payments, student loans advice and anything else you may need a helping hand with.
Our Student Helpline is available Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 17:00 (UK Time).
Group Tutorials
All delivered online via zoom, join NDA tutors and like-minded peers to discuss interior design topics, course content and gain valuable live feedback.
As a Diploma level student, you will be invited to course introduction sessions, interior design discussions and also receive advice on how to progress once you complete your course.
Online Forums
Once you enrol, you will also have the opportunity to join our dedicated NDA Facebook discussion group. Student cohorts will often set up their own Whatsapp chat groups to communicate also.
Students enjoy discussing their design projects, encouraging others and offering advice, as well as sharing work and offering top tips for approaching units.
What Our Students Say
With the course being online, it was really convenient, as I could fit the course around my children and family life…. My tutor was Simone. The support was wonderful, and she was always super helpful.
Last year, I set up my own online furniture shop and this year I have started an interior design service in and around Norfolk.
Laura Ruddy
Professional Interior Design
I have massively enjoyed the week. Such a great way to learn both in respect of the different tutors and also meeting such a lovely variety of people.
The help in drawing techniques has been superb. Looking forward to week 2!
Ruth Weaver
Professional Interior Design
The studio course gave me an opportunity to meet my fellow peers, and the tutors.
Working as a home student would have suited my work commitments, but attending the studio helped me feel more connected to the school…
Annette Bryan
Professional Interior Design
Online learning wasn’t something new to me; I enjoyed it and it was ideal for my needs of working during the day and studying in the evenings and on the weekends.
The VLS was simple to navigate and easy to find anything you wanted.
Ashley Dawkins
Professional Interior Design
Studying In-Studio with the NDA has really opened my eyes to the exciting world of interior design.
The course content is structured and in-depth with hands-on practical experience applied on a continuous basis.
Lorraine Jamison
Professional Interior Design
I found the course to be very good if you want to kick-start your career in interior design. The VLS is easy to use and navigate around, which is helpful when studying fully remote.
My tutor was able to offer me support and feedback for each unit that I completed. The Virtual Learning Studio was a massive help for maintaining the communication between us.
Daniel Stasac
Professional Interior Design
I found the course to be clear and incredibly informative. The Virtual Learning System was super easy to use, and I loved getting to know my classmates via Zoom. It was all very approachable.
The communication was amazing. My tutor was super supportive and friendly, with clear advice and expectations for me.
Kim Bunce
Professional Interior Design
Internationally Recognised
Accredited by AIM Qualifications
This Level 3 Professional Interior Design Diploma is accredited by AIM Qualifications. NDA is the only design school to be able to offer government funding & student loans because our Diplomas are fully accredited.
Course Pricing
Fees and payment options may differ depending on whether you are a UK resident or an internationally based student. Please select the correct tab below.
Price Match Guarantee:As a not-for-profit foundation, we are so confident in the price of our Diploma’s that if you can find the same level of education for less, we will match it!
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Student Loan
Most Popular
£50*
Loan Covers Full Course Fee of £2,390.
* Refunded on course completion
Pay in Full
£2,390
£1,500
On Enrolment
Save £890 by paying in full with UK Government funding.
Spread the Cost
3x Monthly Payments
£550
£1,650 in Total*
Breathe easy. Spread the cost of your course over 3 months.
*Monthly payments include admin fee
Pay in Full
One-Time Payment
$3,225 (USD)
On Enrolment
Make one easy payment to cover the full cost of your course.
Save $275 by paying in full
Spread the Cost
3x Monthly Payments
$3,500 (USD)
In total*
Spread the cost of your course.
$1,500 on enrolment + 2 x $1,000 monthly payments.
*Monthly payments include admin fee.
You Can Afford to Study a Diploma Course
UK Advanced Learner Loans (ALL) are the most popular way for NDA students resident in the UK to study as they cover the entire cost of their interior design diploma course.
Loans are not based on income or means tested and most students in England will qualify (Wales, Scotland & NI have different arrangements).
What's Next?
An NDA Interior Design Diploma will provide you with the knowledge and design skills to start your own business, the qualification to progress to higher education or why not both! Find out more below…
Higher Education
Successful completion of your NDA Interior Design Diploma provides a guaranteed place on one of our online Bachelor’s Degrees with a generous Progression Scholarship. Degrees are validated by De Montfort University (DMU).
For those who wish to continue their study at an on campus university, all NDA Professional Diplomas carry a UCAS tariff point value. You can top up any existing UCAS points you may have with points from an NDA Diploma.
Diploma in Professional Interior Design = 24 UCAS tariff points.
Careers
The NDA Professional Interior Design Diploma is designed to help you start your own Interior Design business. Like the Diploma course itself, you can work flexibly for your clients around your family commitments and gradually expand your business.
Many of our Diploma students start their own business and then progress to study for their NDA Bachelor’s Degree flexibly alongside their client projects.
Supporting Your Next Steps
We love to watch our students succeed, those that complete one of our Short, Diploma or Degree courses gain access to our Progression Scholarship giving you money back for continuing to study with us.
Alternatively, our courses are built with business in mind, giving you the skills to begin work as a freelance designer in the exciting world of Interior Design. Learn more about our Students.
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Progression
Guaranteed
Get Equipped
To complete your NDA in-studio interior design diploma course, you’ll need access to the right tools – and we’ve got you covered!