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Product Design

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,B

One of which should be either Art & Design or Technology & Design.

Overall profile of 55% (120 credit Access Course) (NI Access Course) Overall profile of 45 credits at Merit (60 credit Access Course) (GB Access Course)

GCSE/National 4/National 5

For full-time study, you must satisfy the General Entrance Requirements for admission to a first-degree course and hold a GCSE pass at Grade C/4 or above in English Language. Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills - Communication will be accepted as equivalent to GCSE English.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

24

Overall profile is minimum 24 points (including 12 at higher level).

96 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.

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

MMM

We will also accept smaller BTEC/OCR qualifications (i.e. Diploma or Extended Certificate / Introductory Diploma / Subsidiary Diploma) in combination with A Levels or other acceptable level 3 qualifications. To find out if the qualification you are applying with is a qualification we accept for entry, please check our Qualification Checker - https://www.ulster.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/equivalence We will also continue to accept QCF versions of these qualifications although grades asked for may differ. Check what grades you will be asked for by comparing the requirements above with the information under QCF in the Applied General and Tech Level Qualifications section of our Entry Requirements - https://www.ulster.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/undergraduate-entry-requirements

Scottish Advanced Higher

D,D,D

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,C

UCAS Tariff

96-105

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Product design

Furniture design and making

This adaptable course is designed primarily for students from either an Art and Design or Technology with Design background who wish to follow careers within the design (product, industrial) and design-making industries (to encompass ceramics, metal and jewellery) or who wish to teach in either Art and Design or Technology with Design, or want to undertake further design-related studies at Masters or Doctoral level.

The course provides stimulating and challenging practice-based education for the designer and designer-maker within a multidisciplinary studio environment with fabricating and prototyping at the core of the curriculum. There is access to metal, jewellery, ceramics and wood workshops, and 3D printing facilities.

The emphasis is on design (wood/ plastic) and design as making (clay/ ceramics and metal/ fine metal), so manufacture and material manipulation are very important with maquettes, concepts and testing as key parts of design creation and product development. State-of-the-art metal, jewellery, wood and ceramics workshops with full technical support offer facilities for fabrication and manipulation of soft and hard materials, as well as applied skills for metal and plastics.

Practice is informed by a strong culture of contextual understanding and critical writing and reflection. Students will engage in multidisciplinary work-based learning through collaborative projects and industrial placements underpinned by teaching in professional practice, strategic business thinking and entrepreneurship. Product, ceramics, jewellery and metalsmithing are the course pathways comprising designer and designer-maker strands.

The goal is therefore to produce design and making graduates who are critical thinkers, fluent communicators and informed and highly-skilled makers who have the requisite technical, intellectual, creative and entrepreneurial skillsets to contribute in a valuable and meaningful way to the creative industries offering social solutions to real world issues which include being a furniture or spatial designer, lighting and homewares designer, a designer for education, or ceramicist, metalsmith or jeweller.

The ceramics pathway, for instance, equips the student with all the skills necessary for a career as an independent maker or as part of a team. The ceramics workshop allows students to develop their practice with teaching and technical support from experienced staff in a technically high-end environment. As with all workshops, the focus is on new and evolving technologies and traditional 2D and 3D processes that are appropriate for industrial manufacture. The workshop is fully equipped to support traditional and digital processes with materials and equipment perfectly suited to the individual maker and designer in contemporary ceramic practice. The studio features all elements necessary for ceramic design for industrial batch or multiple manufacture and individual production. There is a dedicated throwing area for wheel-based ware with full mouldmaking facilities.

There are also wood and metal workshops with technical and academic staff supporting the product design, and metal and jewellery strands. There is access to 2D and 3D printers and the course itself is across two floors of the Belfast campus, in close proximity to the above workshops, allowing for interaction and cross-overs of ideas, materials and expertise.

Tuition fees

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

England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,320
per year
International
£16,320
per year
Northern Ireland
£4,750
per year
Republic of Ireland
£4,750
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Belfast

Department:

Belfast Campus

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.

66%
Product design
66%
Furniture design and making

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.

Design studies

Teaching and learning

81%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
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

68%
Library resources
62%
IT resources
68%
Course specific equipment and facilities
51%
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?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
A
B

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.

Design studies

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.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
59%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

47%
Design occupations
12%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
8%
Artistic, literary and media occupations

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 96-128
Lower entry requirements
Edinburgh Napier University | Edinburgh
Product Design
BDes (Hon) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96-102
Same University
Ulster University | Coleraine
Graphic Design
BDes (Hon) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112

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Teaching Excellence Framework (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?

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