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Furniture

Rycotewood is a renowned centre of excellence.

Excellent workshop facilities are combined with a skilled and knowledgeable teaching team to offer an exceptional experience in furniture education.

A wide range of furniture manufacturers visit Rycotewood Furniture Centre every year. Live design briefs with the likes of Ercol, William Hands and the American Hardwood Export Council give our students unique opportunities to gain feedback from industry professionals.

Our annual Employers’ Day sees representatives from over thirty manufacturers come to City of Oxford College to talk about the wealth of career opportunities available within furniture.

Our students regularly receive the City & Guilds Medal of Excellence, and individuals on the degree programme have won the prestigious Alan Peters Award, Mixology Designer of the Year and Young Furniture Makers’ Design and Bespoke Awards.

You are assigned your own workbench from the beginning, to help you find your feet.

Working side-by-side with your peers, you’ll find that the programmes are highly practical, and you will spend a lot of time in the workshop. There is classroom-based learning, where you will learn about the industry, various materials and their properties, explore potential job roles and practice skills such as technical drawing or learning computer systems. Each learner’s needs and goals are taken into account and fully supported.

Furniture manufacturing is one of the top three divisions driving manufacturing growth in the UK and as of 2021. This sector is set to increase jobs by 3.5% in the next five years.

Progression from this diploma could lead to a roles as a cabinet maker, wood machinist, upholsterer, CAD designer (interpreting briefs and transforming them into digital drawings and designs), or as a furniture designer, designing furniture pieces that are aesthetically pleasing, useful and comfortable, from home furnishings to office furniture and much more.

Industry partnerships

Sean
Sean, Foundation Degree in Furniture: Design and Make A big selling point for Rycotewood was that it offered accommodation and the programme was really practical...I’m a practical learner, so Rycotewood was the best choice for me.
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