Welcome to our C&D Student Area

This is your exclusive area for all C&D updates and content.

Follow us on Instagram @rsn_education_ see our student’s stunning work. Remember to tag and collaborate with us so we can share your work.

Announcements

Tues 05/05/2026

Dear Students,

After feedback from our students, we have added some additional C&D HCP Term Time classes over the summer which are now available to book via Bookeo. We will be running these additional classes on average once a week between mid-June to the start of August at Hampton Court Palace.

Should the additional dates over the summer be popular then we will consider adding more dates to the calendar going forward.

To book please head to Bookeo via the link below and scroll down to the ‘C&D HCP Term Time Classes: September 2025 to August 2026’.

Certificate & Diploma course booking | Royal School of Needlework

Any questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Best wishes,

C&D Team

Fri 17/04/2026

Dear Students,

We are writing to let you know the arrangements for C&D graduation in summer 2026.

Graduation will take place on Tuesday 14^th July 2026 at 11am in our degree studios at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey. The presentation usually lasts about an hour to 90 minutes. The presentation will also be live streamed for those graduating in-absentia.

There will also be an exhibition of C&D graduate work in the room next to the RSN Shop at Hampton Court Palace, starting on Tuesday 14th July when it is open those attending graduation. It will then be open to the public from Wednesday 15th – Sunday 19th July.  We will invite everyone graduating to exhibit at least one of their embroideries, more if space allows. More details will follow.

If you are hoping to graduate this year, whether or not you plan to attend graduation you should aim to have your final piece(s) of work for assessment at HCP by Friday 22^nd  May. You should also let us know when submitting your work that you are planning to graduate in June. This should ensure that your work is assessed in good time.

If you have any questions about graduation, please contact us on [email protected]

Best wishes,

C&D Team

Thurs 05/03/2026

Dear C&D Students,

Please click the button to view the call out to the RSN community for embroideries to be included in the Fragile Threads exhibition to be held on 23rd February to 7th March 2027 at Bankside Gallery.

Fragile Threads, the RSN’s NLHF-funded project, aims to spotlight both the craft of needlework and its connection to the natural world. As you will see in the document, we are holding an information session on 1st  April.

With best wishes,

Isabella and Vicky

Curators of the Fragile Threads Exhibition

Mon 02/03/2026

Dear Certificate and Diploma Students,

I am writing to let you know that I will shortly be leaving my role at the Royal School of Needlework.

It has been a genuine privilege to work with the Certificate and Diploma programme. This course sits at the heart of the RSN’s training tradition and, as you all know, it is far more than a leisure course. It demands discipline, precision, research, critical reflection, and an extraordinary level of technical control. It requires stamina and professionalism. I have always been deeply proud of the seriousness with which you approach your work and the standards you hold yourselves to.

I particularly want to mention Glasgow. From the very first time I visited, I was struck by how welcoming you were and by the real sense of community amongst you. There is something very special about the atmosphere there – supportive, generous, and quietly ambitious. I have been consistently impressed not only by the quality of the work, but by the way you encourage and champion one another. That spirit will stay with me.

The Certificate and Diploma is demanding, and it has been inspiring to see you meet that challenge with such dedication and resilience.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey. I wish you all the very best as you continue your training and move forward in your embroidery careers.

With very best wishes,
Rashid

Tues 24/02/2026

Dear Students,

We hope that you are having a lovely week.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their work for the assessment week just passed, we are currently moderating and aim to get feedback out within the next few weeks.

We would also like to notify you that the next assessment week is 30^th March – 2^nd April 2026. If you would like your work to be assessed during this week then please ensure that it arrives to us by Friday 27^th March with all the accompanying documentation, such as your brief, self-evaluation, ILP and any preparatory work.

Furthermore, if you wish to graduate in summer 2026 then you will need to ensure that your work to be assessed reaches us by 22^nd May. The last assessment week pre-graduation will be 25^th-29^th May 2026. Any students work which reaches us after this date will not receive their assessment results back in time for the summer 2026 graduation.

We would like to remind students of the grade boundaries, please see below:

Certificate

• Pass 50-69%

• Merit 70-89%

• Distinction 90-100%

Diploma

• Pass 65-79%

• Merit 80-89%

• Distinction 90-100%

Please get in touch should you have any questions.

Best wishes,

C&D Team

Fri 16/01/2026

Dear Students,

We hope that you are having a great start to 2026.

This email is to notify you that if you submitted your work for the December assessment week, that it has now been assessed and moderated. We will be sending out results via email within the next two weeks.

The next assessment week is 16th-20th February 2026. If you would like your work to be assessed during this week then please ensure that it arrives to us by Friday 13th February with all the accompanying documentation, such as your brief, self-evaluation, ILP and any preparatory work.

Furthermore, if you wish to graduate in summer 2026 then you will need to ensure that your work to be assessed reaches us by Friday 22nd May. The last assessment week pre-graduation will be 25th-29th May 2026. Any students work which reaches us after this date will not receive their assessment results back in time for the summer 2026 graduation.

Please get in touch should you have any questions.

Best wishes and Happy New Year,

C&D Team

Thurs 27/11/2025

Dear Students,

This is a reminder that under the new C&D assessment system there will be an assessment session taking place from 15th to 19th December. If you would like your work to be assessed during this session, please ensure that it is received by the Education team at Hampton Court by Friday 12th December. As the RSN will be closed over the Christmas break, we hope to issue assessment results by the end of January 2026.

To make sure that we are able to assess your work during the session, please ensure that all preparatory work (e.g. outlines, drawings, stitch plans, original source material) are included when you submit your work. You should also submit a copy of your independent learning plan (“ILP”) so that the assessors can see the reasons behind any decisions made, and to show that you have received at least 40 hours of tuition per technique as required. Your tutor should be able to provide you with a copy of your ILP.

The following assessment session will take place from 16th to 20th February. To be assessed during that session work must arrive at Hampton Court by Friday 13th February.

If you have any questions, please contact us by emailing [email protected].

Best wishes,

Elaine

Fri 24/10/2025

Dear Students,

I’m excited to let you know that the Education Team has just launched a brand-new Instagram account @rsn_education_ where we will be sharing work from across all our education programmes.

We’d love to use this space to celebrate and showcase the amazing work you’re creating in our classes. If you’d like to be featured, please tag us in your posts or invite us to collaborate when you share your embroidery projects on Instagram.

We would love to create a community where we can inspire and support our students and fellow stitchers. We can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on!

Best wishes,

C&D Team

Fri 25/07/2025

Dear Students,

I hope you are all well.

I am writing to inform you of an important update to our guidance regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the Certificate and Diploma programmes.

From this point forward, the use of AI tools (including but not limited to image generators and text-based platforms such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL·E, etc.) is not permitted on any assessed work or course-related tasks within the C&D courses.

This decision reflects the core values of the Royal School of Needlework – originality, craftsmanship, and integrity  and is essential to ensuring that the skills you are developing are entirely your own.

Please click here to view the guidance document, which outlines the reasoning behind this decision and provides further clarification on what is and isn’t acceptable. We encourage you to read this carefully and reach out to your tutor if you have any questions.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we maintain the high standards of excellence expected at the RSN.

Kind regards,

Dr. Rashid Aziz

Director of Education