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How to become a Interior Designer

Plans and designs the look, layout and function of indoor spaces.

What does a Interior Designer actually do?

More about this career

Plans how interior spaces – homes, offices, shops, hotels – look and work, from layouts and materials to lighting and furniture, usually working with clients, architects and contractors. Most routes need a portfolio or selection process alongside your marks.

Where this degree can take you

  • Space Planner
  • Furniture Designer
  • Exhibition Designer
  • Retail Visual Merchandiser

This is our general description of the role and related jobs, not from an official source – it’s here to give you a fuller picture, not as a careers-counselling guarantee.

Not from an official source

Subjects that usually help

  • Visual Arts or Design (helpful)
  • Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy

This is our general guidance about which school subjects suit this career. It is not an admission requirement and not from an official source – the real requirements are on the degrees below.

Not from an official source

Where to check this yourself

What the programmes we’ve captured actually ask for

  • Mathematics – asked for by 3 of 5 programmes
  • Mathematical Literacy – asked for by 3 of 5 programmes
  • Technical Mathematics – asked for by 2 of 5 programmes

Counted from the requirements below (an “or” alternative counts for each subject named). Each programme links to the page it came from.

Programmes that lead here

5 programmes at 5 universities. More are added as we verify them.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Diploma in Interior Design

Architecture, Planning and Design

CPUT APS 30 points (method varies by programme)

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more) OR Technical Mathematics: level 5 (60% or more) OR Mathematical Literacy: level 6 (70% or more)

Raw-confirmed 2026-10-04 against CPUT’s own prospectus course page. APS 30 with Mathematics, 32 with Mathematical Literacy. Technical Drawing and Design subjects are recommended. CPUT calculates this programme’s APS using one of three methods, confirmed from page 3 of CPUT’s own 2027 Undergraduate Prospectus - see CPUT_APS for the arithmetic.

Source: View the official page (prospectus.cput.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Durban University of Technology

No cut-off publishedSelection programme

Diploma in Interior Design

Arts & Design · 3 years

No points cut-off published for this one – see the note below.

  • English: level 3 if it is your Home Language, level 3 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Four more subjects – Four 20-credit subjects at level 3 (not more than one language).
  • Portfolio, drawing test and interview – A portfolio of at least 10 original drawings, a drawing test and a personal interview. Only 1st and 2nd choice applicants are considered.

New row, read directly from DUT’s 2027 Study Opportunities prospectus (dut-pass-3). Closes 30 September 2026. From DUT’s 2027 Study Opportunities prospectus. Applications go through the CAO (cao.ac.za), not directly to DUT; general closing date 30 September 2026 (fee R250 SA / R300 international).

Source: View the official page (dut.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Nelson Mandela University

Selection programme

Diploma (Interior Design)

Engineering, the Built Environment & Technology · 3 years

NMU Applicant Score (AS) 315 out of 600

  • Mathematics: 30% OR Mathematical Literacy: 45% OR Technical Mathematics: 30%
  • Portfolio and placement assessment – Admission is subject to departmental selection, a creative portfolio of work and a placement assessment.

Raw-read 2026-10-04 from the user-supplied NMU "Undergraduate Programmes 2027" Z-Card (A-Z table of Applicant Scores and subject percentages). AS 315 with Mathematics, 330 with Mathematical Literacy.

Source: View the official page (mandela.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Tshwane University of Technology

Selection programme

Diploma in Interior Design

Arts & Design · 3 years

TUT APS 22 points

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)

New row, read directly from TUT’s 2026 faculty prospectus (tut-pass-3). Recommended subjects: Civil Technology, Design Studies, Engineering Graphics and Design, Visual Arts. Closes 31 July 2026 (TUT First-Year Course Information).

Source: View the official page (tut.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of Johannesburg

BA (Interior Design)

Art, Design and Architecture · 3 years

UJ APS 25 points

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more) OR Mathematical Literacy: level 5 (60% or more)

Read from the 2027 UJ Undergraduate Prospectus, page 33, programme code B8BA6Q. APS 25 with Mathematics, 26 with Mathematical Literacy; Technical Mathematics not accepted.

Source: View the official page (uj.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Are your marks enough?

Put your subjects in once and we’ll check them against every programme above – scored each university’s own way.

What do I qualify for?