Automotive Design (Swansea College of Art)
UCAS Code: W240
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
Grades are important; however, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We are interested in creative people that demonstrate a strong commitment to their subject area and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. To assess student suitability for their chosen course we normally arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your qualifications and portfolio of work.
About this course
This Automotive Design course gives students the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge and intellectual abilities to undertake the design and development of new vehicles (primarily cars and motorcycles) based on a clear understanding of proportion, volume and surface design principles. The course includes live design projects that enable students to engage with both major companies and small entrepreneurial businesses. This industrial contact allows students to develop their skills in response to real-world scenarios and prepares them for the demands of employment. External client projects are undertaken each year, with recent client companies including world-renowned brands such as Jaguar LandRover, McLaren Automotive, Westfield and Lotus. The teaching team consists of highly experienced designers who are either engaged in industrial practice or are research active, supported by industrially trained technical staff. This ensures that the course delivers a qualification and experience that is highly relevant to the changing needs of the industry. The School is situated in the refurbished ALEX building in the Swansea Arts Quarter where students have access to excellent facilities including dedicated design studios with individual workstations. Traditional modelling workshops are supported by a comprehensive range of advanced CAD/CAM and Rapid Prototyping machines. Students can gain experience of working with wood, metal, plastics, glass, ceramics and automotive styling clay. Our studios and CAD facilities are equipped with Wacom Cintiq displays for freehand digital sketching and the latest versions of industry standard design and visualisation software such as Autodesk Alias, Sketchbook Pro, SolidWorks, and Adobe Creative Suite.
Modules
Example modules include: Automotive Design Methods; Creative Design Development; Materials & Manufacturing; Contextual Studies; 3D CAD & Visualisation; Professional Design Practice; Group Design Practice; Advanced Automotive Surfacing; Advanced Digital Visualisation; Vehicle Technology Concept Studies; Major Project – Design Research & Manifesto / Realisation & Communication; Professional Promotion; and, Minor Project.
Assessment methods
The three main modes of assessment used on this programme are:
Studio Projects – work undertaken to fulfil the demands of a given or student-generated brief. Projects are set to examine the student’s abilities to master the integration of new design principles and skills to his/her design practice. Studio projects may be set and take place in a variety of forms and over a range of durations, and include activity within the school's Workshops, CAD Studios as well as traditional Design Studios. Students may be required to present a variety of types of work for assessment such as: portfolios, sketchbooks and project journals, presentation boards or three-dimensional models.
Written Assignments - work undertaken by the student in his/her own time. Written assignments may take the form of an illustrated paper or report. In both cases the student is expected to demonstrate critical insight and proficiency in articulating the results of a practice or research-based assignment.
Seminar Presentations – this form of assessment requires the student to demonstrate conceptual understanding and evaluate the rigour and validity of published research, extrapolate the underlying principles, and apply this knowledge in new contexts of professional practice.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Alexandra Road, Swansea
Swansea College of Art
What students say
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After graduation
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Design studies
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Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Creative arts and design
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
£18k
£13k
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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