Design for Stage and Screen (Design for Film and Television)
UCAS Code: W280
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
112 UCAS Tariff points from three A-Levels or equivalent qualifications.
Pass your Access course with 60 credits overall with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English grade C/4 or equivalent GCSE Maths grade C/4 or GCSE Science grade C/4 or equivalent
112 UCAS Tariff points from your BTEC level 3 National Diploma and one A-Level or equivalent qualification.
112 UCAS Tariff points from your BTEC level 3 National Extended Certificate and two A-levels or equivalent qualifications
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
Created in close collaboration with the film and television industry, this course will prepare you for a successful career as a production designer, art director or other art department role. Learn a wide range of art department skills including set design, visualisation and drafting.
**Key features**
- As a dedicated art and design school, our facilities promote collaboration and innovation. You’ll be working alongside artists, designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, and filmmakers.
- Opportunity to apply for a European or international exchange to one of our partner institutions, such as RMIT in Australia.
- All first-year students within the School of Art & Design will work together on a joint project.
- The School supports your course in developing a flexible approach that enables work experience / placement activity to occur within modules.
- Industry experts and specialists are a regular feature of the course, either delivering guest lectures and workshops or working more closely with you on live projects. Recent industry experts include: Oscar-nominated production designer Maria Djurkovic (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Billy Elliot, The Imitation Game) and BAFTA award-winning production designer Charles Wood (Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange).
- Recent study trips have included the Harry Potter film studios, London and the Luc Besson studios, Paris.
- You’ll showcase your work at our Student Showcase, with the opportunity to exhibit at a high-profile industry venue, such as Pinewood Studios.
- We're ranked 12th best University for Art and Design in the UK. (The Complete University Guide 2021).
- 100% of our undergraduate Design for Film & TV students are satisfied with the quality of this course (National Student Survey 2020).
**Assessment**
Assessment is 100% through coursework. You will receive feedback throughout each module and will be awarded a grade.
**Employability**
This course has an excellent graduate employment rate, with 95% of graduates in employment or further study within six months (DLHE survey 2016/17).
Our graduates go on to work in roles such as production designer, art director, art department assistant, model maker, draughtsperson, graphic designer, concept /storyboard artist and set dresser. Recent graduate destinations include Vanity Fair, Electric Dreams, Victoria, Britannia, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Legend of Tarzan and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Modules
[Year One]
Introduction to Design for Film and Television (100 credit points)
You’ll be introduced to production design practices and vocabulary within film and television. Complete a range of challenging, real-situation-based design projects that will allow you to develop skills and understanding in illustration and visualisation, model making, lighting, storyboarding, technical drawing, life drawing, key computer software, working from script, and location scouting and surveying. You’ll also start to assemble a portfolio and a professional practice journal.
Contextual Studies 1 (20 credit points)
Develop your skills in researching and analysing visual material in the context of film and television. Negotiate a topic related to film and television that you’ll present to your fellow students at the start of the module. By the end, you’ll have developed this into a 2,500 word illustrated essay.
[Year Two]
Exploring Design for Film and Television (100 credit points)
Further develop the skills gained in Year One through a range of design projects. These will cover designs for period-accurate props, light entertainment, close-up design detail, promotional music videos, and working from a script. Build your professional portfolio and continue to develop your professional practice journal from Year One.
Contextual Studies 2 (20 credit points)
Explore and experiment with: the analysis of moving image texts; techniques or sociological factors influencing production, genres or practitioners; critical approaches to the study of the moving image; and the history and future of film and television. Research a personal topic that you’ll present to your fellow students at the start of the module and develop into a 3,500-word illustrated essay by the end.
[Final Year]
Design for Film and Television: Exposition (120 credit points)
Demonstrate skills, competencies, and an understanding of film and television industry production design practice to a professional level. Complete a short film design project, two personal negotiated projects (to demonstrate a range of genres), a written dissertation of 5,000 words, and a professional practice journal.
The Uni
City Campus
School of Art and Design
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.
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.
Drama
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Drama
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.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Performing arts
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£22k
£22k
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.
Explore these similar courses...





This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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