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2022 - 20232023 - 2024
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Make sure you check on the university, college or conservatoire website for any updates about course changes as a result of COVID-19.

Course summary

If you’re creative and you’d like to explore how your ideas could have real impact in the world, our Product Design BA/BSc(Hons) courses give you the chance to develop the skills to become an enterprising professional designer. So much goes into a finished product: the initial sketch, physical model making, prototyping, digital visualisation and animation. While you’re working on the practical side, we’ll also encourage you to:

  • Think about how to research a product, and what goes into product development and manufacturing.
  • Use our industry links to help you get started on your career. We focus on commercial product design, and give you the chance to experience real design challenges set by businesses or design organisations. This can offer opportunities to win prestigious design awards and even for your design solutions to be licensed. For example, one recent student designed an innovative clothes hanger that is now used in a major high street store.
  • Acquire listening skills to identify gaps in the market, people's frustrations with everyday tasks and existing products and develop ideas to solve them.
We believe design can improve people's lives, aiding an individual or a community's wellbeing. Whether you’re designing solutions physically or digitally, in sketch form or 3D, we’ll focus on end results that are capable of being mass-produced. In Year 1 of the course, all students follow a common pathway. At the end of this Year 1, students then decide on which pathway they want to follow - either the BA(Hons) or the BSc(Hons). So far both pathways have always been offered. However, if too few choose either route at this point, the University reserves the right to deliver only the larger of the two options. Product Design has an 83.3% student satisfaction rating (NSS 2020) Additional Costs - Materials: You’ll need to supply some of your own materials during the course, such as sketch pads and basic drawing equipment. We also recommend you purchase an external hard drive to back up your work. The University will provide basic materials to enable you to produce sketch development models and hand fabricated photo-realistic representations. For some projects, you may choose 3D printing as an alternative to making models by hand, or produce a 3D animation. You’ll need to cover the cost if you choose 3D printing, and costs can range between approximately £10 and £300 depending on the size, output quality and complexity of the model. However we offer a range of 3D printers to meet your quality needs and budget; from desktop printers through to advanced machines. You could look to secure external sponsorship to cover the full cost of larger 3D prints, especially in your final year. The approximate cost of equipment/materials per student in recent years, including an average amount of 3D printing, has been approximately £260 in the first year, £365 in the second year and £500 in the final year. These costs may vary based on the materials you choose and the approximate costs are given as a guide only.

Modules

Year 1 - BA(Hons) and BSc(Hons) Core modules: Creative Thinking for Product Design Digital and Visual Communication Design Context Studies Year 2 - BA(Hons) and BSc(Hons) Core modules: Commercial Product Design Professional Practice Awareness Plus either: BA(Hons) core modules Behavioural and Cultural Issues Materials, Manufacturing and Digital Technologies Or: BSc(Hons) core modules Advanced Computing and Technology Studies Innovation Detail Design and Specification Development Year 3 - optional placement year - BA(Hons) and BSc(Hons) Work Placement Final Year - BA(Hons) and BSc(Hons) Core modules: Major Project - Product Design Responsible Research and Innovation New Product Development Report

Assessment method

You'll be assessed both individually and in groups through methods such as presentations of design-project work, and written assignments and reports. Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.

How to apply

This course has limited vacancies, and is no longer accepting applications from some students. See the list below for where you normally live, to check if you’re eligible to apply.

EU

Wales

England

International

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Republic of Ireland

26Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Pass in Diploma Foundation Studies in Art and Design combined with A Level or BTEC qualifications, to total an equivalent of 120 UCAS tariff points. As a centre of creative excellence, we look forward to hearing about your own creative experiments and ambitions through a discussion of your portfolio at interview. Read our guidance on developing your portfolio and what to expect from your interview - (https://www.hud.ac.uk/undergraduate/how-to-apply/interviews/) Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course

http://www.hud.ac.uk/undergraduate/howtoapply/entryrequirements/

Additional entry requirements

Interview

Portfolio

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent will be considered acceptable.

Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our 'Where are you from?' information pages.

https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/where-are-you-from/

Unistats information

Operated by the Office for Students
63%
Student satisfaction
85%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
95%
Go onto work and study

The student satisfaction data is from students surveyed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £9250* Year 1
Northern Ireland £9250* Year 1
Scotland £9250* Year 1
Wales £9250* Year 1
Channel Islands £9250* Year 1
EU £15000* Year 1
International £15000* Year 1

*This is a provisional fee and subject to change.

Additional fee information

This information is for applicants applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2021/22. Please note that your tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X). This webpage will be updated with 2022/23 tuition fees as information becomes available. If you are an EU or International student coming to study at the University of Huddersfield, please visit the International Fees and Finance pages for full details of tuition fees and support available - http://www.hud.ac.uk/international/tuition-fees/ Please email the Student Finance Office ([email protected]) or call 01484 472210 for more information about fees and finance.

Sponsorship information

Please see our website for more information - http://www.hud.ac.uk/undergraduate/fees-and-finance/undergraduate-scholarships/

Product Design at University of Huddersfield - UCAS