--- title: Interior Design Practice url: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/interior-design-practice type: programme published: 2026-08-13 last_reviewed: 2026-08-13 reviewed_by: julia-hart publisher: The Study Guild --- # Interior Design Practice A 10-week live interior-design programme with a marked scheme, taught by a practising UK designer of sixteen years. ## Programme facts - Price: £399 (payment plans available, never discounted) - Format: Live online + self-paced - Live contact hours: 20 - Expected self-study hours: 50 - Duration: 10 weeks - Level: All levels - Tutor: julia-hart ## Learning outcomes - Run a client briefing that produces a scope, a budget and a constraint list - Develop a concept that can be built, not only photographed - Specify finishes and furnishings a trade can price - Sequence a job including lead times and snagging - Present a scheme that survives a client who changes their mind - Price design fees from a costed practice, not from a course brochure ## Curriculum 1. **The job is delivery** — What a practising designer actually sells, versus a style diploma. Topics: Protected titles: architect versus designer; Insurance and the contract; What this programme is not; The assessed brief 2. **Briefing** — Extracting a scope a builder could recognise. Topics: Budget as a design tool; Households who disagree; Measured survey, honestly; Constraints 3. **Concept that can be built** — A narrative and a set of decisions, not a collage. Topics: Planning a room; Light, storage, circulation; When to stop decorating; Critique one 4. **Materials and specification** — Finishes a trade can price and a client can live with. Topics: Durability versus Instagram; Lead times; Sustainability claims you can stand behind; Sample boards that mean something 5. **Furniture, joinery and the awkward wall** — The decisions that make a room work on a Tuesday in February. Topics: Joinery briefing; Ergonomics; When to hire an architect; Critique two 6. **Trades, sequence and snagging** — The part self-paced diplomas skip because it is not pretty. Topics: Who does what; Programme and dependencies; Site manners; Snagging lists 7. **Fees, procurement and saying no** — How the practice stays solvent. Topics: Fee structures; Procurement versus design; Scope creep; Contracts 8. **Presenting and revising** — The meeting where the scheme lives or dies. Topics: What to show; Handling a no; Version control; Assessed presentation 9. **Finding the next job** — Portfolio, referrals and the work that is still worth doing after AI interiors. Topics: What a portfolio must show; Directories; When to specialise; Pricing 10. **Assessment clinic** — Live critique of schemes against the rubric. Topics: Common fails; Resubmission; First paid client; What the certificate does not licence ## Assessment A client-ready residential scheme — concept, drawings at an appropriate level, specification and a costed delivery plan — marked by Julia Hart. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Style without a build sequence does not pass. ## Upcoming cohorts - 2026-11-17 to 2027-02-02 — Tuesdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks (no session 22 or 29 December) (open, cap 18) - 2027-03-02 to 2027-05-04 — Tuesdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks (open, cap 18) ## What does interior design practice training actually cover? It covers taking a residential brief through concept, specification and a delivery sequence a trade can use. It is not architecture, not a protected title, and not a colour-theory hobby class. The skill buyers pay for is a job that completes, on a budget, without a surprise on site that the designer never thought about. ## Do you need a licence to practise interior design in the UK? No. Interior designer is not a protected title. Architect is. You may charge for interior design without a government licence. Clients still buy a portfolio, insurance, and evidence you have run a job. A certificate that never put your scheme in front of a practising designer is ornamental. Sources: - [Regulated professions and their regulators](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/regulated-professions-and-their-regulators) — GOV.UK ## Is this architecture training? No. Architecture is a protected profession with its own prescribed qualifications and registration. This programme will teach you when a job needs an architect and how not to stray into that title. If you wanted to become an architect, this is the wrong product and we would rather say so before checkout. ## How is this different from a self-paced interior-design diploma? A practising designer critiques a full scheme and can fail it. Delivery sequence and budget are marked, not optional. A self-paced diploma can improve your eye. It cannot tell a client whether you can get a kitchen through a builder without the job collapsing in week six. ## Common questions **Do I need to draw to a professional CAD standard?** You need drawings a trade can interpret. We will work with the tools you have. Photoreal renders without a specification do not pass. **Can I take this as a hobby?** You can enrol. The assessment still assumes a client brief and a budget. A hobby colour course would be cheaper elsewhere and more honest for that goal. **Will this make me a BIID member?** No. Professional-body membership is a separate application with its own rules. We do not award it. **Can I pay in instalments?** Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £399. --- Source: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/interior-design-practice · The Study Guild