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Creative Direction

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C-B,B,B

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,C,D

Scottish Highers – five passes at Grade C or above

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-120

You may also need to…

Present a portfolio

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Marketing

Creative arts and design

The creative economy is one of the world’s fastest growing sectors, growing more than five times faster than other industries in the UK and employing over 2 million people. This course is designed to develop your conceptual thinking, creative problem-solving skills, and strategic vision. It will provide you with the skills and experience necessary to occupy a role that is the beating heart of this success, the Creative Director.

Creative Directors are employed across all sectors of the creative economy whether that be advertising, the arts, design, fashion, gaming, music, publishing or TV and film. They develop an intimate knowledge of their brand’s customers and direct all communication, controlling every point that their brand encounters their audiences, customers, and users. They do this by developing a team of creatives from a range of disciplines to assist in the design, development and delivery of their organisation’s products or services. You will work with a team of designers and content creators of illustration, photography, video and many more mediums and environments to deliver creative solutions to defined problems.

On this course you will be introduced to design thinking, and problem solving by learning about the freedom of ideas. You will learn innovative brainstorm techniques, capturing even the smallest of ideas that you will nurture and grow into solutions that have impact. You will learn to listen, placing people at the very heart of your design projects, being empathetic and responding to their needs and aspirations. You will discover insights that lead you to develop innovate solutions to their problems. You will gain confidence in the idea generation process, learning to trust yourself, your design team and your customers and users. You will become adept at managing projects, people, and resources to deliver on time and on budget, surpassing expectations at every stage of the process. You will have an opportunity to engage in a range of hands-on projects, collaborative exercises, and industry simulations, applying your learning in real-world contexts. You will also have the opportunity to work with industry professionals, agencies, and clients, gaining valuable insights and building a professional network.

It is the blend of real-world experience, project management and design skill that makes studying at Arts University Bournemouth unique. At AUB we are a microcosm of the creative industries, a university wide creative team. This course will place you at the very heart of a creative team as you learn to express yourself, to design, develop and deliver as a Creative Director. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to pursue a range of exciting career paths. Graduates will typically go on to find opportunities as creative directors, art directors, brand strategists, advertising managers, marketing consultants, or digital content creators in a wide variety of sectors, including advertising agencies, design studios, marketing departments, media organisations, and as self-employed consultants.

The BA (Hons) Creative Direction course aims to nurture innovative and forward-thinking individuals who can shape and influence the creative landscape. It provides a platform for you to explore your creativity, develop your leadership qualities, and become an industry-ready professional capable of making a significant impact in the evolving creative industries.

Modules

Year 1: Introduction to Creative Project Management, Understanding Creative Projects, Project Lab
Year 2: Client Brief, User Centred Design, Creative Entrepreneurship and Business Planning, Contemporary Issues in the Creative Industries, Industry Insights
Year 3: Major Project Planning, Major Project, Option A: Consultancy Project, Option B: Dissertation

Assessment methods

Coursework and practical work

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£17,950
per year
International
£17,950
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Main Site - Arts University Bournemouth

Department:

School of Arts, Media, and Creative Industries Management

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

45%
Marketing

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Marketing

Teaching and learning

70%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
85%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

75%
Library resources
100%
IT resources
70%
Course specific equipment and facilities
20%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

91%
UK students
9%
International students
12%
Male students
88%
Female students
66%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

Creative arts and design (non-specific)

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
30%
Male students
70%
Female students
73%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Marketing

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000
low
Average annual salary
100%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

47%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
12%
Design occupations
7%
Artistic, literary and media occupations

Want to join a fast-moving, diverse industry that's at the cutting edge of tech? Try marketing! A lot of the jobs are in London, but graduates don't just go to work in advertising agencies — all sorts of industries do their own marketing these days, and with the rise of digital and mobile technology, a lot of marketing is done in quite innovative ways using a wide range of methods. Common industries (apart from advertising and PR) include recruitment, online retail, higher education, banking and IT. A lot of jobs in this industry are handled through recruitment agencies, so if you get in touch with them early, that might give you a headstart for some of the jobs available. But be careful — unpaid working is not the norm in the marketing industry, but it is more common than in most sectors.

Creative arts and design (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

45%
Design occupations
23%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
7%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Marketing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£16k

£16k

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Creative arts and design (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£16k

£16k

£22k

£22k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here