The School of Jewellery’s HND course has an excellent reputation within the jewellery industry, with our students and graduates employed at all levels locally and internationally. Being positioned in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, we are uniquely placed to provide the education and skills that we know that employers and industry are looking for.

As an HND student, you will be working on live, collaborative and customer-facing projects, broadening your experience through our industry-focussed curriculum. Working at authentic jewellers’ benches, you will develop traditional skills alongside knowledge of contemporary cutting-edge technology.

WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS COURSE?

Our course will immerse you in the world of jewellery and silversmithing as you create pieces in precious and non-precious metals. You will produce pieces by hand and by mechanical means, with a particular focus on manipulating metal.

The practical, design-led nature of the course gives you plenty of opportunity for hands-on workshop experience to hone your skills. You’ll develop practical experience of materials and tools, alongside techniques in drawing and model making to develop your design processes.

You’ll have access to the latest equipment such as laser welders and 2D and 3D CAD software packages, as well as casting and plating workshops.

Dedicated staff with professional experience will offer advice, support and industry contacts. You’ll be encouraged to enter national and international competitions, and you’ll also have fantastic opportunities to work on live projects with industry.

Field trips and study visits add colour and relevance to your studies, and support an understanding of commercial jewellery manufacturing environments.

You’ll study at our internationally-renowned School of Jewellery, in the heart of Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter, where much of today’s jewellery is still made. The historical facade of our Vittoria Street building conceals a contemporary environment, including workshops, a specialist library, a state-of-the-art technology hub, an atrium gallery and an exhibition space.

Enhancing your employability skills

We have designed the course to make you the most employable jewellery graduate possible.

In addition to all the basic metalworking skills, you will learn about hallmarking, the history of jewellery and silverwares, gemstones and gem-setting, CAD software, and all about the newest types of digital production technologies. We pride ourselves on the fact that you will learn most of this in a practical way, by actually doing the work and our many connections to the jewellery industry support us in this.

Many of our graduates are now prestigious makers and designers in their own right. Kevin Gray was recently the highlight of the Silver Speaks exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Agnieszka Maksymiuk runs her own successful company. Naomi Newton-Sherlock has become the director of casting company Weston Beamor, while Jack Row runs his own bespoke pen company, which is sold through prestigious outlets such as Harrods. 

PLACEMENTS

You will be encouraged to take up any opportunities which are available to you, and the jewellery industry frequently contacts us when they are looking for employees. It is not uncommon for our students to be working in the industry part-time while studying with us, and we have put people into companies as diverse as Weston-Beamor (casting) and Thomas Fattorini (medal-making,) as well as into smaller workshops doing repairs, commercial stone-setting and small-scale manufacture.

Our students are also in demand for retail work as their experience in handling jewellery and their knowledge of gemstones and other materials is helpful in the retail environment.