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Level 5 Diploma in Jewellery
Design and Manufacturing
Full bursaries may be available for 16-18 years based in London, subject to availability and eligibility.
Overview
Are you ready to refine your craft, master advanced techniques, and elevate your jewellery career?
This advanced, practical qualification helps you develop and enhance technical skills while expanding your design and creative thinking.
You’ll gain hands-on expertise in CAD/CAM, advanced bench techniques, gemstone setting, 2D design, and business management, completing over 1000 hours of practical training.
You’ll work on both traditional jewellery manufacturing and computer-aided design, creating set pieces and self-directed designs that showcase your skills.
Equivalent to the second year of university or an HND, this qualification provides a higher-level pathway to advance your career in the jewellery trade.
Accredited by the SQA, it combines expert tuition with practical, real-world skills to help you succeed in the professional jewellery industry.
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Level:
L5 Diploma in Jewellery Design & Manufacturing
Awarding body:
SQA
Location:
London
Duration :
10 months, 2 d/wNext start date:
September 2026
Tuition fee:
£6,421
Study mode:
In person
What You Will Learn
The course will begin with a solid review of crucial design techniques and a comprehensive study of introductory gemmology. At the same time, you’ll expand your existing knowledge of the cultural identities of art and design, applying this knowledge to your practice in the jewellery workshop.
Throughout the course you’ll be given a variety of set briefs asking you to design jewellery pieces for specific ‘clients’. You’ll be responsible for analysing the cultural, aesthetic, and socioeconomic elements as part of the design process and how these relate to the jewellery industry as a whole.
While you continue to develop your design skills in the studio you’ll also advance your study in CAD. You’ll bring these designs into the workshop in combination with learning more advanced jewellery techniques such as filigree. You’ll further improve your jewellery bench skills by producing your CAD designs at the bench refining your craft every step of the way.
Professional Studies (20%)
Throughout your diploma, you’ll cover jewellery-specific subjects like gemmology and jewellery history alongside other subjects that will prepare you for a jewellery career.
You’ll also engage with the wider creative and cultural context, prepare for creative industries, prepare for the workplace, and gain a deeper understanding of gemstones.
Assessment
The first assessment period will be a review of the safe working procedures in a workshop environment. This will build on the knowledge you previously gained.
Assessment 2
You will have a second assessment period during which you will be evaluated on the the knowledge you have gained in your gemmology studies and the practical application to a brief addressing design and cultural identities.
Assessment 3-4
Leading up to assessments 3 and 4, you will continue to add more advanced jewellery making skills to your repertoire in both the workshop and design classes. You will undertake advanced hinge, clasp, compartment/mechanism and linkage production and in CAD, workshop and design classes combining these techniques and skills in physical jewellery pieces.
Throughout classes leading up to the third and fourth assessments, you will also be presented with skills you will need to develop your own brand identities and marketing platforms whilst you continue to refine your own career paths. During this period you will also undertake a setting masterclass that will add to your portfolio of skills.
Your third assessment will focus on your ability to develop a unique piece of jewellery to a set brief around the theme of hidden or secret compartments using advanced jewellery making and design techniques suitable to the content of the brief.
The fourth assessment will evaluate your ability to apply your knowledge of advanced mechanisms with complex linkage and clasp production.
Final project
Your final project for the diploma will be a culmination of the live work you’ve been working towards throughout the year. Up to this point, you will have had mentor meetings with tutors on various subjects, including design, theory, manufacturing, and CAD. You’ll present your project to a panel of tutors and showcase it in a final exhibition.
What is covered?
Jewellery Techniques and Projects (40%)
You will learn advanced jewellery manufacturing skills in technical exercises, and develop your designs in response to set and self-set briefs.
– Forming
– Joining
– Finishing
– Polishing
– Metallurgy
Aside from the key technical knowledge and skills (40%) you will be taught: CAD (25%)
– Use technical CAD skills for professional fine jewellery manufacturing using a CAD software package.
– Produce advanced design for precious metal objects using CAD technology.
– Produce advanced prototypes for precious metal objects using CAM technology design (15%).
– Create your designs in response to industry set and your self-set briefs.
– Interpret the design brief and follow the design process.
– Art and Design: Cultural Identity
What Will You Learn
This qualification is made up of 10 mandatory units totaling 108 credits, giving you the skills to
– Master advanced forming, joining, and finishing techniques for high-quality jewellery.
– Apply metallurgical knowledge to create precious metal objects with precision.
– Develop skills in CAD manufacturing and experimental jewellery design.
– Explore gemmology and art/design history to inspire your creative work.
– Plan and manage your own professional development in craft.
– Understand marketing concepts to promote your products and services.
– Communicate design ideas clearly and professionally.
– Complete a real-world product design project that showcases your creativity and technical expertise.
Your progress is assessed through a portfolio of evidence, demonstrating the skills you’ve applied in practice.
This approach ensures you can confidently carry out professional jewellery tasks, manage projects, and meet industry standards.
Student Work
The Results
Upon completion of the diploma, you’ll receive an SQA Level 5 qualification in Jewellery Design and Manufacturing along with a BAJ certificate of completion. The course is assessed on a pass/fail basis and is equivalent to a university HND.
Entry Requirements
Some prior knowledge and skills in jewellery manufacturing are required to undertake the diploma. An ideal stepping stone to this programme is our Level 3 Diploma in Jewellery Design and Manufacturing. If you have not completed a L3 Diploma with BAJ you may be required to take a bench test.
Fees and funding
The course can be privately funded, co-funded, or funded through an Advanced Learner Loan. Full bursaries may be available for 16-18-year-olds based in London, subject to availability and eligibility. Funding may also be available for learners ages 19 and up via the Advanced Learner Loan.
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£6,421 for learners eligible for the Advanced Learner Loan. -
£6,921 for learners not eligible for the Advanced Learner Loan, which includes international students who already have sponsorship.
To find out if you are eligible, please contact our recruitment team.
“It’s brilliant. I can’t wait to get on to [BAJ’s diploma programme] and I can’t wait to see where it’s going to take me. I thought I would join BAJ with the intend of honing in on a specific skill but now I’m open to literally anything to do with jewellery. It’s completely opened up something that I was already passionate about. The atmosphere at BAJ is incredibly supportive. I did four years of university before coming to BAJ and in these six or seven months, I’ve felt more supported within the college than I have anywhere else. It’s been incredible. “
– Author
Entry Requirements
Some prior knowledge and skills in jewellery manufacturing are required to undertake the diploma. An ideal stepping stone to this programme is our Level 3 Diploma in Jewellery Design and Manufacturing. If you have not completed a L3 Diploma with BAJ you may be required to take a bench test.
Fees and funding
The course can be privately funded, co-funded, or funded through an Advanced Learner Loan. Full bursaries may be available for 16-18-year-olds based in London, subject to availability and eligibility. Funding may also be available for learners ages 19 and up via the Advanced Learner Loan.
-
£6,421 for learners eligible for the Advanced Learner Loan. -
£6,921 for learners not eligible for the Advanced Learner Loan, which includes international students who already have sponsorship.
To find out if you are eligible, please contact our recruitment team.
Entry Requirements
-
18 + -
Applicants for Jewellery Design & Manufacturing Level 5 must have some prior knowledge or experience in manufacturing and Rhino CAD. -
An entrance test will be arranged to assess your skills (only external applicants). -
To apply for the Advanced Learner Loan – Must be a resident in UK -
Have a valid passport, ID card, VISA, Resident Card/Permit.
To find out if you are eligible, please contact our recruitment team.
Case Study
BAJ alumna Selina (Mingjie) Yang, originally from China, was awarded the prestigious UK Global Talent Visa (Exceptional Promise) in Fashion Design. This means she can continue building her jewellery career in London – a dream seven years in the making.
Learn more about Selina (Mingjie) Yang
Careers and Progression
You’ll be prepared for a wide range of roles in the jewellery industry, including:
– Jewellery designer
– Jobbing jeweller
– Goldsmith, or silversmith
The course also gives you the chance to set up your own business, freelance work, or organise and host a special exhibition, and showcase and sell your work to the public.
This Level 5 qualification is the third stage of BAJ’s three-year learning programme (equivalent to the second year of a degree), building on the skills developed at Levels 3 and 4 and preparing you for advanced roles in the jewellery industry.
Where You Can Study
Discover our campuses
BAJ Camden
81-84 Chalk Farm Rd,
London NW1 8AR
BAJ Camden
81-84 Chalk Farm Rd,
London NW1 8AR
More about BAJ Camden
BAJ Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter
The Assay Office, 1 Morton St,
Birmingham B1 3AX
BAJ Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter
The Assay Office, 1 Morton St,
Birmingham B1 3AX
More about BAJ Birmingham
BAJ Camden
81-84 Chalk Farm Rd,
London NW1 8AR
BAJ Camden
81-84 Chalk Farm Rd,
London NW1 8AR
More about BAJ Camden
Application Process
Thank you for expressing interest in our programme!
Our application process is designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible.
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– if there are insufficient student numbers to make the course financially viable.
