SAQA

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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION:

Bachelor of Arts Honours in Fashion

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
117857	Bachelor of Arts Honours in Fashion
ORIGINATOR
Stadio (Pty) Ltd
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
Honours Degree	Field 02 - Culture and Arts		Design Studies
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	120	Not Applicable	NQF Level 08	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Reregistered		EXCO 0821/24	2020-09-29	2027-06-30
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2028-06-30		2031-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification replaces:

Qual ID	Qualification Title	Pre-2009 NQF Level	NQF Level	Min Credits	Replacement Status
85246	Bachelor of Arts Honours: Fashion	Not Applicable	NQF Level 08	123	Complete

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

Purpose:

Fashion is increasingly seen as a site for advancing theoretical understandings of complex human ethnographies in both historical and contemporary settings. Fashion, as a lens of social scientific enquiry, is receiving much attention in academic circles and is increasingly being targeted as a site for understanding complex historical, anthropological and sociological narratives of identity.

Fashion theory, in this context, takes the definition of fashion as, "The cultural construction of the embodied identity", and becomes a key part of the broader fashion knowledge system that demands greater attention and critical scrutiny.

Both the Fashion Design and Manufacturing Practitioner and the Fashion Marketing and Merchandising Practitioner are increasingly required, through new knowledge reproduction, to access and consolidate, or to generate, detailed and complex information at both theoretical and practical levels, in order to make effective decisions.

The demand for theoretical models to manage new dynamics in fashion apparel production is on the increase. These dynamics include:

Gathering or generating data and discerning trends;

Determining saleable colours, design concepts, textiles and silhouettes;

Assessing processes of manufacture and production on seasonal and bi-seasonal time lines;

Effectively distributing, managing and selling contemporary commercial apparel.

This qualification allows learners to focus on a specific area of the total fashion industry and to develop critical, higher-order cognitive skills in order to meet the challenges and demands of their chosen area of specialisation.

Rationale:

The national goals articulated in the Education White Paper express a clear need to provide a fuller range of advanced educational opportunities and to diversify the higher education system in respect of programmes that are needed to meet national and regional social, cultural and economic development needs. In the increasingly competitive, sophisticated and changing world of fashion, the development of both cognitive and practical higher order skills - to allow fashion practitioners to gather, sort, analyse and present data and information is becoming increasingly essential.

These skills are required to target the design, production and presentation of apparel to satisfy local and global retail environments in increasingly shorter spaces of time.

They are also used in the growing theoretical perceptions that Fashion plays in understanding complex historical and contemporary ethnographies related to dress narratives, or explorations of identity in multidisciplinary contexts.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

It is assumed that learners who register for this degree:

Have achieved a competency level ordinarily associated with a first Bachelor's Degree: Fashion or in a cognate field.

Are able to assimilate, process, analyse, reflect upon and critique information, as well as reproduce a range of theoretical and technical tasks.

Have sufficient knowledge of and competency in fashion theory, design and technology, and merchandising principles and methods.

Recognition of Prior Learning:

Learners who can demonstrate proficiency in the whole qualification or any part of this qualification may apply for Recognition of Prior Learning.

Access to the Qualification:

Access is open to learners who are in possession of a three-year Bachelor's Degree: Fashion with a minimum of a 65% aggregate pass at the exit level.

Learners who do not meet the admission requirements can apply for admission through the Recognition of Prior Learning.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

QUALIFICATION RULES

The Bachelor of Arts Honours: Fashion consists of four compulsory modules, totalling 123 credits:

Research Methodology, 11 credits.

Fashion Theory, 21 credits.

Merchandising Theory, 21 credits.

Research Dissertation, 70 credits.

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

1. Demonstrate an advanced, theoretically-driven understanding of fashion as a lens of social scientific enquiry, incorporating complex human ethnographies, in both historical and contemporary settings.

2. Demonstrate critical thinking and practices in the areas of fashion marketing and merchandising, including a solid understanding of the theoretical and business models related to consumer behaviour.

3. Demonstrate an understanding of, and skills in, the design and methods of both quantitative and qualitative academic research.

4. Produce a coherent research report that demonstrates vocational competence and readiness to enter the professional context.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes:

All the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are addressed in this qualification.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:

Contextualise, analyse, understand and apply fashion theories.

Read and interpret complex ethnographic and symbolic texts and apply knowledge in own creative context.

Evaluate theoretical work and produce written texts which demonstrate understanding and engagement with relevant theory.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:

Demonstrate and apply critical thinking skills in the areas of fashion marketing and merchandising.

Understand and apply theoretical and business models, both historical and current, that have informed the complexities of understanding consumer behaviour and responding to the needs of the consumer in an ever increasing 'global' marketplace.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:

Use appropriate academic research techniques and methods within accepted international standards.

Produce a Research Proposal that demonstrates engagement with the broader academic research discourse and results in a thoughtful and purposeful set of choices directed at the realisation of a final research report (minor research dissertation).

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:

Apply research practices relevant to the field of fashion and participate in advanced Postgraduate studies.

Think critically and theoretically, and solve problems inductively, through a legitimate process of academic research.

Utilise accumulated skills (theoretical, applied and attitudinal) to produce a research report that reflects a vocational/professional competency and ability to work independently.

Integrated Assessment:

The production of the research dissertation represents the summative expression of the learner's accumulated knowledge and skills that naturally integrate a range of knowledge discourses from the broader fashion education system. Although disciplinary specialisation (depth) is one of the hallmarks of an Honours qualification, fashion, as a site for research, represents a broad range of inter-related discourses at both theoretical and practical levels. It is therefore guaranteed that an integration of these sub-systems will be realised in the summative assessment.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY

In the international context, both undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes in fashion are significantly differentiated by the level of sophistication of the occupational context in which skills are taken up. In highly developed and sophisticated fashion market contexts, e.g. Europe, programmes are highly specialised in particular areas of fashion practice, for example, design, production, journalism, trend forecasting, history or merchandising. By contrast, in commercial fashion contexts, programmes are characterised by less sophistication and differentiation. For example, the Americas and Australasia have less specialisation in undergraduate and Postgraduate qualifications and generally offer more broad-based courses.

Since South Africa falls into the first category, this Bachelor of Arts Honours Fashion qualification is more easily compared to one-year Postgraduate programmes in the higher education band in Europe.

It is also the case that qualification structures in vocational contexts like fashion frequently provide for four-year degree qualifications, where the four-year minimum duration realises a Bachelor Honours qualification equivalent with or without early exit options. This means that the horizontal comparability of the qualification is difficult to describe against all international contexts but the qualification guarantees vertical articulation pathways into Masters' programmes, regardless of fashion 'geographies'.

This qualification has been compared to the Bachelor of Arts Honours degrees in Fashion from both the London College of Fashion and The University of Utrecht. The depth and breadth of the learning programme supporting this qualification has been measured against and compares favourably with these qualifications.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

Horizontal Articulation:

This qualification articulates horizontally with a cognate NQF Level 8 qualification.

Vertical Articulation:

This qualification articulates vertically with a cognate Masters Degree at NQF Level 9.

MODERATION OPTIONS

All assessment tasks contained in the learning programme are either internally or externally moderated. All assessors and moderators (internal and external) must be proficient in the propositional content and vocational practice of the courses they are responsible for assessing/moderating and must have a clear understanding of applying critical benchmarks and assessment practices to higher education learning outcomes at NQF Level 8. They must also have a clear understanding of current good practice standards in the related vocational contexts, in order to make valid assessment or moderation judgements about learner proficiency and in order to provide validation of, and evaluate, the learning programme.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

N/A

NOTES

This qualification is now offered by Stadio (Pty) Ltd, and no longer by LISOF - effective 29 September 2020

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

When qualifications are replaced, some (but not all) of their learning programmes are moved to the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replaced qualification.

NONE

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	Stadio (Pty) Ltd