Product Design (with Foundation Year) BA (Hons)

Nottingham Trent University

United Kingdom, Nottingham

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593

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Nottingham Trent University

United Kingdom , Nottingham

Key Facts

Program Level

Bachelor

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Course Code

W246

Campuses

City Campus

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesSeptember-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 4 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 17,500 / year

Next Intake September-2026

Product Design (with Foundation Year) BA (Hons)

About

Introduction:

Your Foundation Year will introduce you to the skills you’ll need to prepare you for your future studies. From perfecting freehand drawing and sketchbook use to learning about materials and fabrication, you’ll gain practical experience through real-world briefs and develop your confidence in presenting your ideas.

Product designers create the products, services and experiences that we use in our daily life. If you are creative and care about shaping our future relationships with artefacts and technology, then product design offers you a doorway to an exciting, ever evolving discipline that shapes people’s lives for the better.

Our teachers don’t just teach. They’re collaborators, constantly encouraging you to develop your own unique design style. We’ll plug you into the industry from day one; you’ll be pushing live briefs to the edge of your imagination as you explore the needs of users, markets, and manufacturers. You’ll create with your mind, your hands, and cutting-edge software.

You’ll learn how designers guide projects as visionaries and leaders, and as the glue between specialists. You’ll be part of a studio culture that builds confidence through community, developing your work from preliminary sketches to fully functioning prototypes. Through placements, competitions and exhibitions, you’ll have the chance to meet and impress some of the biggest names in the game.

We’ve built this course in consultation with product design’s most influential employers. We know what they want, and that’s what we teach: with hard work and creative bravery, you could be following our global network of alumni to the likes of Adidas, Puma, Sony, Speedo, the BBC, Habitat, MADE.COM, and Matter.

Explore the work of our graduating students in our Student Showcase.

Compare our courses to find out how this course differs from BSc (Hons) Product Design (with Foundation Year) and BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design (with Foundation Year).

2nd most sustainable university in the world (UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2023).
94% of Product Design Sandwich students are positive about the teaching on their course (NSS 2023).
NTU is ranked top 15 for Art & Design (Complete University Guide 2025).
You’ll work on live project briefs with real industry clients. We’ve already welcomed the likes of Nestlé, PepsiCo, W'innovate, Herman Miller and Speedo onto the course, and that list of big-time industry partners is growing all the time.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

72 UCAS Tariff points from three A-levels or equivalent

International qualifications

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

Entry requirements by country

English language entry requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)

If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:

Foundation courses leading to undergraduate study at NTU

Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3)

You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.

English Program Requirements

Career

Careers and employability

The course is designed to prepare you to succeed in the design industry, through work placements, working on real projects from industry, input from industry professionals, and contemporary course content.

Sandwich placement year

If you choose to do so you may take an additional, year-long, full-time design placement to apply your skills in a real-world setting and explore career options. The skills developed in your studies, along with a curated design portfolio, are complemented by support from our Employability team, assisting with opportunities, CVs, and interview preparation. This industry experience not only enhances your final year work but also establishes valuable connections, with some students returning to their placement companies post-graduation.

Students typically gain placements in product design companies across the UK and abroad. Recent destinations have included: Disney, Hasbro, Nestlé, Tesco, Philip Watts Design.

NTU is 2nd for number of UG students studying Design studies (HESA 2021/22)

Professional qualification

Successful completion of the 36 weeks leads to an extra qualification of Diploma in Professional Practice, which will further enhance your CV.

Where do Product Design graduates from NTU work?

NTU has a strong product design alumni community with many graduates working in senior positions in leading national and international companies.

Graduates from this course include design engineers, product designers, CAD designers and visualisation managers. Recent destinations include: Sony, Matter Design, Mothercare, Games Workshop, Nestlé, LEGO, Next, Molton Brown.

Our Employability team

Our expert Employability Team will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice. You can benefit from this service at any time during your studies and for up to three years after completing your course.

NTU Enterprise

You'll also have the opportunity to turn your ideas into a viable business with help from NTU Enterprise, NTU's purpose-built Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, a support centre to help students create, develop and grow their own businesses.