Design (Taught)

Deepen your creative expertise with a Masters in Design, empowering you to be strategic, innovative, and adaptable across a range of industries.

Looking to advance your career or acquire specialised knowledge in your field? This Masters course in design helps you meet the rigorous and ever-changing demands of industries everywhere. The programme focuses on user-centred design, helping you develop research and practice-based design solutions for today and beyond.

Whether your background is in design or another discipline, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge to develop, test and critically evaluate innovative design strategies and solutions for real-life scenarios. You’ll gain first-hand experience of the needs and trends in markets across a variety of sectors, before focusing on a large-scale design project within one of our core specialisms.

You’ll learn from tutors with a wide range of design expertise and internationally recognised profiles in research and practice. Plus, you’ll draw from multiple perspectives and cutting-edge research to develop design solutions in stimulating environments.

Upon graduation, you’ll have the technical and creative expertise to broaden or enhance your career potential.

Why study at Leeds

• Get industry experience: Get the chance to collaborate with clients and gain consultancy experience as part of our 2-week online Global Industry Programme.

• Get hands on with live projects: Work on live projects from industry or research projects within the School of Design.

• Your course, your choice: Apply your specialist design project in a real-life setting or produce an independent research dissertation based on a relevant field.

• Learn in expert facilities: Test your skills with our creative spaces, like our 2D art studio, photography studio, digital printing studio, and laboratory for materials testing and characterisation.

Rankings and awards

• 6th in the UK for Art and Design, Complete University Guide 2026

• 53rd in the world for Arts and Humanities, QS World Rankings by Subject 2026

Where this degree could take you

Here’s an insight into the job roles some of our design graduates have obtained:

• Content Strategist at Alibaba Group

• Visual Designer at Amazon

• Editorial Designer at the American Planning Association

• Associate Professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology

• Designer at Brand42

• Designer at Central 23

• Test Leader at Decathlon

• UX Design Analyst at Deloitte UK

• Creative Strategist at DTG Limited

Alumni profile: Lucy Clanfield

“The most valuable takeaway from my industry experience has been the confidence I've developed in both me and my abilities as a designer.''

Lucy Clanfield, Pace Intern

Career support

10 most targeted for 10+ years by the UK's leading employers, The Graduate Market 2026, High Fliers Research

At Leeds, we help you to prepare for your future from day one.

Our Careers Service has the global expertise and sector-spanning industry partnerships that, combined, go way beyond simply helping you get a job. They provide you with the resources you need to upskill and achieve the future you aspire towards – even in the face of lightning-paced change.

Depending on the modules you choose you will be assessed by different methods, they will include individual and group projects, project proposals and reports, presentations and reflective reports.