An applicant will be considered for admission who has already achieved an educational level equivalent to an Honours Degree.

• A relevant Honours degree; evidence of experiential learning equivalent to a degree; and normally at least one year of relevant professional experience;
• Relevant fields are: product design, three-dimensional design, furniture design, service design, interaction design, architecture, engineering and ergonomics;
• Applicants are also considered from related disciplines but portfolios from these areas must demonstrate some proficiency in industrial design skills, however, and demonstrate that personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims of the course;
• A professional qualification recognised as equivalent to an Honours Degree.

Applicants who do not meet the standard course entry requirements may still be considered if the application demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might be demonstrated by:

• Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be shown to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;
• A combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning that, taken together, can be shown to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

English language requirements

All classes are conducted in English. If English is not your first language you will be asked to provide evidence of your English language ability in order to apply for a visa, enrol, and start your course. The English language requirement for entry for this course is:

IELTS Academic 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the 4 skills (on one single test).

For further information visit the English Language requirements page.

What we look for

Selection criteria

Applicants will be selected on the basis of the following criteria relevant to the discipline of industrial design. These criteria are assessed through a review of the Personal Statement, Portfolio and Interview. Interviews are only arranged on the basis that the portfolio demonstrates the applicant’s ability to skilfully generate and communicate a range of ideas addressing problems relevant to the discipline of industrial design.

• The generation and communicate a range of ideas (Portfolio review);
  • The analysis of a design problem from a number of perspectives and generate a range of design responses to a particular problem (Portfolio review);
  • That the applicant shows that their personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims and objectives of MA Industrial Design (Personal Statement/Interview);
  • That the applicant can demonstrate the necessary fluency in your design process to be able to benefit from the postgraduate course (Portfolio review/Personal Statement/Interview).

A typical graduate should have a thorough knowledge of contemporary product design and development, and be able to adopt a critical perspective on both their own work and that of their contemporaries. In addition, the emphasis on self-directed study should equip graduates with appropriate methods and strategies for successful project management both within teams and as individuals. The typical aspiration of graduates is to find work in the consulting field. Following significant shifts in this industry over the last 10-15 years, many graduates working in consultancy find themselves in roles that can be described as designer, design strategy, service innovation, forecasting, or management in addition to straightforward new product development.

The second largest area of graduate employment is through in-house design for manufacturing companies. Increasingly students establish their own studios and have moved to work in charitable organisations and the third sector. A number develop careers in commercial research and also progress to study at PhD. Graduates are now distinguished and respected designers and design managers in international companies.

Employers of recent MA Industrial Design graduates include: Plan UK, Projects by If, Mother, Catapult Satellite Industries UK, Itsu, Arup, Microsoft, Open Desk, Fitch, Tangerine, Seymour Powell, Nokia, LG, Samsung, Herman Miller, The Future Laboratory, Tangerine, Lenovo, BenQ, Acer.