Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Year one
Visual Investigation
Year: 1
Status: C
In this module, you will explore how drawing and making help you represent and develop your ideas as a designer or maker. You will learn how to use drawing as a creative tool to shape your thinking, guide your design process, and communicate your ideas clearly. You will work with both 2D and 3D drawing techniques to help you generate and share concepts through your design projects.
Material Practices
Year: 1
Status: C
This module introduces you to the core principles of design enquiry and material making emphasising hand-modelling, drawing and physical making, it encourages you to explore materials, processes and spatial considerations in three-dimensional form. Through problem-solving you will develop the skills necessary to express original ideas as conceptual models and finished pieces. Teaching, learning and assessment will focus on building confidence in the design process, from initial exploration through to development and resolution of ideas in material form, laying the groundwork for studio-based modules.
Design Research and Cultural Contexts 1
Year: 1
Status: C
In this module, you will explore key issues in design research to help you build a broader understanding of design and material culture. You will be encouraged to think critically about design in historical, theoretical, and social contexts, and to reflect on how it connects to past, present and future ideas. You will also focus on developing strong reading, writing, and research skills so you can clearly express, support, and defend your ideas.
Design Studios 1
Year: 1
Status: C
In this module you will be introduced to formal design and making processes. You will explore the tools, techniques, and methods used in design, and learn creative strategies to help you generate ideas and solve problems. Alongside this, you will study the key issues and influences that shape contemporary design and maker practice, particularly in relation to creating solutions and innovations for real users.
During the module, you will have the opportunity to select two of the three specialist areas, Product Design, Ceramics, and Silversmithing & Jewellery, for deeper exploration. This choice allows you to begin developing your own direction within the course, giving you ownership over your learning and preparing you to make informed decisions about your future studio pathway in Year 2 and into your final year.
Year two
Professional Practice
Year: 2
Status: C
By the end of this module, you will have a clear, professional CV and a portfolio that highlights your skills and experiences. You'll be more confident in generating ideas and using design communication, and better prepared for a career in your chosen pathway. The knowledge you gain will support your progression into an optional placement year or your final year, where you can build on this foundation to develop your practice further.
Design Enterprise
Year: 2
Status: C
In this module, you will explore how ideas in Product Design, Ceramics, Silversmithing & Jewellery can work in both commercial and social contexts. You will learn how to balance user needs with business goals and develop concepts that are creative, innovative, and market-aware.
You will build professional skills in visual, written, and verbal communication, learning how to present your work to industry standards. Through hands-on, project-based activities, you will take your ideas from early sketches to final outcomes, creating refined objects, artefacts, or prototypes that show both creative thinking and commercial understanding.
Your assessment will be based on your concept and prototype development, use of materials and processes, and a design log that documents your progress throughout the module.
Running over two semesters, this module is designed to help you grow your entrepreneurial skills and prepare for future careers in industry, self-employment, or other roles in the creative and design sectors.
Design Studio 2
Year: 2
Status: C
This year-long module provides the opportunity to specialise in your chosen pathway of Product Design, Ceramics, or Silversmithing & Jewellery. You will develop skills in both traditional and digital tools and processes, while exploring sustainable materials and creative methods for idea generation and problem solving. Through hands-on projects and contextual research, you will investigate the key issues that inform and shape contemporary design and making practices.
Design Research and Cultural Contexts 2
Year: 2
Status: C
This module engages you in discussions of issues that underpin contemporary design practice. You are encouraged to contribute your own ideas, theories, opinions on key design issues and to develop intellectual tools to challenge and inform your developing practice. It provides you with the necessary critical frameworks and core skills in academic writing and oral presentation to undertake the major writing and research project in final year.
Year three
International Academic Studies
Status: O
Year: 3
This module is optional
This module gives you the opportunity to spend an extended period studying outside the UK and Republic of Ireland. You will deepen your understanding of your subject while building international educational and cultural connections.
Industrial Placement
Status: O
Year: 3
This module is optional
This optional placement year gives you the chance to gain hands-on experience before starting your final year. The placement must last at least 25 weeks and can take place in a wide range of art or professional practice settings. You, your Placement Tutor, and the Placement Partner will agree a plan of work in advance. Most placements take place in Europe and follow all relevant health, safety and accessibility regulations.
During the year, you will develop your skills in studio, workshop, or technical environments, while also growing personally, socially, and professionally. If you successfully complete the placement, you will graduate with either a Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP) or, if your placement is outside the UK and Ireland, a Diploma in Professional Practice International (DPPI).
Year four
Design Futures
Year: 4
Status: C
This module focuses on the key strategies that will prepare you for graduation, career development and employment. You will provide a professional e-portfolio, a 5-year strategic career plan and an opportunity to showcase skillsets in the end of year show (EOYS). Student learning is supported with online resources to allow you to tailor the resource material to specific career ambitions. You are expected to independently research and compile the e-portfolio and five year plan for verbal and electronic submissions. The module will adopt a professional and entrepreneurial approach to planning a career within the creative industries.
Major Project Research and Context
Year: 4
Status: C
This module allows you to develop skills as individual researchers and collaborative and informed practitioners. You will be asked to critically reflect on the interdisciplinary nature of your own practice, building an intellectual framework to support the final year project. You will establish a self-directed research topic following historical, contemporary and theoretical frameworks. The module stimulates rigorous self-reflective, critical and analytical writing and research with its oral and textual articulation.
Major Project
Year: 4
Status: C
The Major Project is your final practice-based module. It gives you the opportunity to bring together the skills, processes and knowledge you have developed throughout the course, including your placement year if you completed one. You will design and produce a substantial self-directed project that reflects your specialist pathway. Your final work will be presented as part of the end-of-year degree show, marking the culmination of your studies.
