Bachelor of Science - Product Design (Honours)

BSc (Hons) Product Design applies engineering discipline to consumer and industrial products: design methodology alongside materials and manufacturing processes, mechanisms and structures, CAD and simulation, prototyping and testing, and design for manufacture, assembly and sustainability.

Compared with the arts-faculty product route recorded elsewhere in this sheet at the same £16,800 fee, this science-badged degree weights technical resolution more heavily — products must be demonstrably makeable, costed and specified — making it the better fit for students with mathematics and physics comfort who want to design rather than purely engineer.

Applicants weighing this against mechanical engineering should understand the trade: this degree produces designers who engineer rather than engineers who occasionally design, so it suits students drawn to products and users but unwilling to abandon technical rigour. It does not carry engineering-institution accreditation in the way a BEng does, which matters for chartered-engineer ambitions and should be checked against career intentions early. September entries run across the three recorded cycles at £16,800, with prototyping and materials costs additional, and applicants should present evidence of both technical aptitude and design curiosity in their supporting application material.

Project work moves from concept through detailed development to functioning prototypes tested against requirements, using the university’s workshops, rapid-prototyping and testing facilities, with final-year projects frequently developed alongside industry partners.

Graduates enter product and design engineering roles at £24,000–£28,000 — typically above the arts-route equivalent, reflecting the technical scarcity — across consumer goods, medical devices and manufacturing. The honours degree confers Graduate Route eligibility at the 18-month post-January-2027 term, with dependants excluded throughout taught study.