MA Product Design

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has launched an Integrated International Pre-Masters year, which is based at UCA Farnham.

On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Master’s, and you’ll also improve your English for academic study.

Launch
This intensive week of study is to help you get ready for starting your course, and getting to know your course staff, peer group and the school community in greater depth. Activities include a multi-story guest lecture super session, an all staff pecha kucher, Canterbury and surroundings walking orientation tours and a studio launch collaborative making project.

Experimentation and Innovation
A space for orientation, adventure, and exploration of your subject and practice, this unit provides opportunities to develop and discover new perspectives on design, analytical techniques and production methods. In so doing it will situate your current and future practice, expanding your critical framework for the units ahead.

Research and Professional Contexts 1
Designed to help you develop advanced skills in research, conceptual understanding, appropriate analysis techniques and application of knowledge, this unit will help position you within the contextual foundations which support the past and future of your discipline.

Opportunity
Opportunity Week is an intensive week of activity conceived and undertaken in collaboration with an external partner(s). Typically, this will sit outside the your subject areas, and could cover topics including politics, economics, business, culture or philosophy.

Studio Practice
Studio Practice’ extends your research and development from term one and acts as a design accelerator unit. In the early stages, in collaboration with your specialist tutor, you will formulate a research and project proposal to be carried out through the remainder of your studies. This unit is an intensive, fast paced, and productive “engine” of your course, the outcome of which will be a comprehensive and sophisticated project that demonstrates a developing mastery of your practice.

Research and Professional Contexts 2
Research and Professional Contexts 2 further extends and focuses your research, critical analysis, and communication skills through two components.

The first is a contextual practice presentation, in support of the development of your individual project. This should demonstrate your ability to situate your research, experimentation, and knowledge in a wider field, and express your comprehension of the impact of your work on that field.

The second can be either a:

• Collaborative Practice Project – An opportunity to work with others on a collectively defined project.
• Creative Business Start-Up – An exploration of professional business practice specific to design disciplines. This component is delivered by the Business School for the Creative Industries and the Careers Department.

Final Realisation
The culmination of your Masters course, this unit gathers all of your prior research, experimentation, concept development, and contextual analysis into a focused synoptic outcome. The project is a natural continuation and resolution of the work you began and the goals that you set yourself in Studio Practice and includes the dissemination of your work to external audiences.

Tuition fees - 2024/25 entry

UK students:

• MA course - £10,500

EU students:

• MA course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
• MA course - £18,000

Further information
The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources.

Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

You'll find everything you need to know for your level of study on our scholarships page.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.

Our range of industry contacts include:

• Industrial Design Consultancy
• TheAlloy (product and interaction consultants)
• IDEO (design consultants)
• Philips
• Kenwood/De'Longhi
• Priestman-Goode

And recent guest lecturers include:

• John Gertsakis, product ecology
• Philip Davies
• Stuart Heron, Design Director

Our course will equip you with a host of valuable and transferable skills. Graduate opportunities exist within:

• Product design practice
• Independent design studios
• Specialist design consultancies
• Design teams in manufacturing industry
• Design management
• Environmental management
• Service design sectors.

You may also wish to progress onto a PhD or MPhil research degree.

MA course

• A good honours degree or equivalent qualification in a related discipline
  
  

and/or

• Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.
  
  

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course

The entry requirements for this course will depend on the country your qualifications are from, please check the equivalent qualifications for your country:

• Non-UK equivalent qualifications

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

• A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

English language requirements

To study at UCA, you'll need to have a certain level of English language skill. And so, to make sure you meet the requirements of your course, we ask for evidence of your English language ability, please chcek the level of English language required:

• English language requirements