On this course you’ll discover how to craft products from scratch, taking them from scale drawings to the final prototype. You’ll lean towards an environmentally aware and technologically innovative approach, supported by a sound understanding of cultural and critical insight and user behaviour.
This course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.
Why study BSc (Hons) Product and Furniture Design at BNU?
A sustainable future
The course is essential to all walks of life, whatever industry you work in having the skillset to problem-solve and ensure the user-experience is as efficient as possible. The products and designs you create can change the future by answering ethical, environmental and social issues with tangible objects and well-considered concepts as we respond to global sustainability challenges.
State-of-the-art facilities
We’ve invested in workshops that replicate those you’ll find in industry. We keep on top of the best equipment, using professional facilities and software for your designing needs.
You’ll get hands-on with our industry standard 3D CAD systems, and benefit from our workshop facilities to produce 3D models, fully working prototypes, and computer models to demonstrate your design solutions. In these workshops you’ll be able to experiment with a range of different materials including wood, metal, ceramics and mixed media, developing traditional hand skills and working with new technologies such as our MetraSCAN 3D and utilising the latest CNC machining and techniques.
You’ll explore different solutions for several areas, engaging with live industry briefs as you use your expertise to create products with a purpose. We also have specialist technicians and demonstrators on site to support and share their knowledge with you.
Taught by industry-experts
With a history of delivering expert craft, art, and design education for more than 130 years, Buckinghamshire New University is the perfect place to start your creative career. This rich history mixed with contemporary teaching techniques and hands-on learning, makes this course unique.
Led by a dedicated teaching team with a wealth of experience within the product design, model-making, and design visualisation industry, many of your tutors on this course are still involved with design practice and research. Not only will you benefit from a rich and varied programme, you will also have direct access to guest lectures, live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities with industry professionals.
What will I study?
This product design degree course offers you the opportunity to successfully design innovative and functional products that include a successful interface between products and users. You’ll become a multi-disciplinary designer who have a focus on sustainability within Product Design. You’ll adapt and work on a range of different products for different industries, whilst gaining hands-on knowledge on how to work with materials, processes, components, and products to meet user requirements.
By working through a sequence of challenging projects, you will acquire a wide range of creative and technical skills, which enable you to complete sustainable design projects from the stages of consultation and research through to final product presentation. You’ll learn how to communicate an idea from concept, to functioning product.
Year one
Core Modules
Craft Skills
Materials and Processes
Design Communication
Sustainable Practice
Critical and Historical Thinking
Design Project
Year two
Core Modules
Design Visualisation
Sustainable Design
Design Research and Theory
Professional Studies in Product Design
Applied Production and Manufacture
Industry Brief
Year three
Core Modules
Final Major Project
Professional Practice
Dissertation
Design for Manufacture
As a BSc (Hons) Sustainable Product Design student you’ll have to complete a series of modules and projects across your time spent studying with us. Projects are designed to present new challenges to you as you progress through the course. They involve working with varied briefs, clients and requirements. By the end of your time with BNU, you’ll benefit from a full portfolio of work to go to employers with.
You’ll also benefit from lectures, 1:1 or small group tutorials, seminars that enable open discussions, guided research and reading, group critiques and self-directed study.
We also aim to provide industry brief opportunities for you to apply your knowledge, skills and understanding into real-world contexts. The theoretical underpinning of practice encourages the development of critical perspectives in relation to the history and language of design.
Our graduate network continues to spread through many companies in the industry. You’ll be a part of this network, gaining valuable contacts with a variety of work opportunities.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Buckinghamshire New University has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
Visit bnu.ac.uk/international to find out more about applying to BNU as an international student!
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | We require an IELTS score of 6.0 (with no element lower that 5.5) or a recognised equivalent. |
BNU English Language Requirements https://www.bnu.ac.uk/study/general-entry-requirements
We aim to cultivate an environment where individuality, diversity, and academic excellence thrive.
Our decision-making process is not just about grades; we assess the entire application, including personal statements, relevant experience and where appropriate portfolios. Within our Contextual Offer Scheme, we strive to embrace students whose educational and social backgrounds may have influenced their academic journey.
This underpins how we champion an inclusive community that transforms lives.
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.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|
| England | £9790 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £9790 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £9790 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £9790 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £9790 | Year 1 |
| Republic of Ireland | £9790 | Year 1 |
| EU | £15910 | Year 1 |
| International | £15910 | Year 1 |
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.
Buckinghamshire New University tuition fees cover the cost of instruction, assessment, and core academic materials. However, additional costs may be incurred for course-related items or requirements, such as, but not limited to:
Additional costs will vary by course. It is your responsibility as a student to budget for any additional expenses associated with your studies.
For further details on what is included in your tuition fees, please check bnu.ac.uk/fees-and-funding
There are several ways you can fund your studies, including sponsorship and student loans. You may be able to use ELCAS credits for some of our courses. We also have scholarships and bursaries to help support our students.
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Phone:01494 605060
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