Lancaster University undergraduate open day
27 Jun 2026, 08:00
Lancaster
Design prepares you to tackle the complex challenges of today’s world by developing versatile skills in graphics, products, and user experience (UX/UI). You’ll learn to solve problems with creativity, design research, and professional visualisation techniques. Taught by experts from our world-class design research lab, this programme equips you for a career in design agencies, tech companies, healthcare, education, public services, and beyond — wherever innovation is needed.
Why Lancaster?
Develop a future-focused, adaptable, and agile skill set through a broad design curriculum that enables you to consider how design can address complex challenges
Take a course that helps you become a socially and environmentally responsible designer
Benefit from a research-driven approach to teaching, learning from expert designers and practitioners who push the boundaries of design
Gain valuable industry experience through working on live briefs with real-world clients
Take advantage of our close links with globally renowned design research lab, ImaginationLancaster
Visualise. Experiment. Create.
At Lancaster, we view design as a way of understanding the world, as a creative process that can address any problem, and contribute to creating a better society. You will work on projects that help you put this view into practice.
Our carefully curated curriculum nurtures creative experimentation, intellectual inquiry, adaptability, critical thinking and ethical awareness as well as emphasising the importance of developing design solutions that are rooted in robust design research.
You will learn how to conduct design research using a broad range of design methods, such as sketchbooks, storyboarding, design workshops, prototyping, journey mapping, empathy mapping, IDEO cards, and many more, allowing you to translate that research into exciting, relevant design solutions visualised to industry standard. This approach expands your horizons whilst fostering adaptability as it enables you to work on a range of projects spanning varied topics such as, environmental and social sustainability, healthier lifestyles, urban wellbeing, and digital futures.
Our research-driven approach to design allows you to gain skills not only in creating innovative design solutions but also in design processes, methods, and tools, as well as identifying problems and opportunities that would benefit from design – a skill valued by many different employers.
Explore what interests you
You will have the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics during your time at Lancaster, giving you the flexibility to dive deeper into the design methods and issues that interest you most. Your final year project will showcase a wide range of innovative and impactful ideas. Our broad Design curriculum will allow you to develop an adaptable, futures-focused mindset, with transferable skills that will enable you to stand out in the design industry.
Discover your design identity
Throughout your degree, you will be encouraged to explore and develop your own design identity and values. By doing this, you will graduate with a strong sense of where you want to take your design career, and you will develop your portfolio to reflect this.
To support you in planning your future career, we will help you gain professional contacts by inviting design professionals, many of whom are our alumni, to share their experiences of working in the design industry. You will also have the opportunity to work on live briefs from organisations such as RSA and D&AD as well as with real-world clients, giving you valuable experience you can take forward into your career. In your final year, our Design Consultancy module enables you to work with a real client for the entire year.
Important Information
For the most up-to-date course information and more details, we recommend that you revisit our website before submitting your application.
The following entry points are available for this course:
Discover what it's like to study Design at Lancaster University: insights on the course, making friends, personal statement tips, uni prep, and recommended books, podcasts, and videos.
At Lancaster, we are committed to widening access to higher education for all. As part of this we take a holistic approach to reviewing applications, taking into account exceptional circumstances and potential as much as we can. We run a Contextual Offer Scheme which incorporates a reduced grade offer for applicants that meet our eligibility criteria. For more information on the scheme, and other widening participation activity such as the Lancaster Access Programme, please visit our website.
This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
Students aged 17/18 who applied to this course were offered a place.
See how students with your grades have been accepted onto this course in the past.
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Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
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The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
For information on our fees, please see www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding.
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Lancaster
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Email:ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
Phone:01524 592028