DEGREE GUIDE

Product Design

What do Product Design degrees involve?

Product Design degrees teach you how to create innovative and user-friendly products that improve everyday life. You will explore key areas such as design thinking, materials and manufacturing, ergonomics, sustainability, and 3D modelling. These courses help you develop creative problem-solving skills while using industry-standard software and prototyping techniques to bring ideas to life. You will also learn how to research consumer needs, refine concepts, and balance aesthetics with functionality. Many degrees include industry collaborations, hands-on projects, and opportunities to showcase your work, helping you build the skills and experience needed to design products for a range of industries.

Example
Modules

Design Thinking and Research: Explore how designers solve problems creatively. Learn to research user needs, generate ideas, and turn insights into design concepts.

Visualisation and Sketching: Build your skills in drawing and visual communication. Practise freehand sketches, digital illustrations and concept boards to present ideas clearly.

Human Factors and Ergonomics: Study how people use products and design with comfort and function in mind, ensuring your ideas are user-friendly and accessible.

Common Degree Names

💼 Placement years are commonly available in product development, industrial design or user experience roles.
🌍 Study abroad is offered at many universities.

BA (Hons) Product Design
BSc (Hons) Product Design
BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
BSc (Hons) Product Design Engineering
BA (Hons) Product Design and Innovation

Product Design is offered as both BA (more creative) and BSc (more technical or engineering-led), depending on the course focus.

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Product Design courses vary in their focus – some lean towards creativity and aesthetics (often BA courses), while others emphasise engineering and technology (often BSc courses). Universities value both creative and technical skills, but requirements depend on the course emphasis.

Subjects that can strengthen your application:

Design and Technology (Product Design) – directly relevant preparation
Art and Design – develops visual communication and creative skills (especially for BA courses)
Graphics or Graphic Design – useful for design communication
Physics – helpful for understanding materials and manufacturing (especially for BSc courses)
Maths – relevant for technical calculations and engineering aspects
Engineering – valuable for understanding how products are made

✨ BA courses typically prefer creative/design subjects, while BSc courses often want Maths, Physics, or Engineering alongside design. Most courses require a portfolio – see Other Requirements.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Art and Design, Engineering, or Product Design
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside relevant A-Level subjects
T-Levels in Craft and Design (for creative courses) or Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing (for technical courses)
UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with at least two IB Higher Level subjects (ideally three) alongside your Career-Related Study; an Art & Design pathway would be directly relevant

Many Product Design courses are accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED). Always check specific course requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE or equivalent)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths (or equivalent) – such as Scottish National 5s, BTEC Level 2, or IB MYP certificates. Some courses require Maths at grade 4/C or above
GCSE Art, Design, or Technology (or equivalent) – helpful but not always required

📋 BSc Product Design courses may have higher Maths requirements than BA courses.

🎨 Portfolio

Most universities require a portfolio of your creative and design work. This is often the most important part of your application. Include:

Sketchbooks showing your design process and development of ideas
Finished projects demonstrating problem-solving and making skills
Examples of how you've responded to design briefs
Evidence of your interests in design, products, and how things work

💬 Interviews

Many universities interview candidates, often alongside a portfolio review. Be prepared to discuss your work, explain your design decisions, and show enthusiasm for product design.

🔍 Work Experience

You don't need work experience to apply for Product Design. If you have a school placement to fill, a design studio, workshop, manufacturer, or maker space gives you a sense of how products go from concept to production. But developing your own design projects — identifying problems, prototyping solutions, and refining your ideas — is more valuable than any placement.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What have you designed and made, and what did you learn from the process? Reflect on the problems you've tried to solve, the prototypes you've built, and how your design thinking has developed. Think about products or designers that inspire you and how they've influenced your own approach. Product design combines creativity with practical problem-solving and understanding of how things are made, so show how you develop ideas from concept through to prototype. Admissions tutors want to see your passion for designing things that work and evidence of your own making and experimentation.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design

A common route into Product Design. This one-year course helps you develop your portfolio and explore design disciplines — your portfolio will usually be a key part of the application.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Art & Design or Engineering)Accepted by many universities offering Product Design. A portfolio will usually be required alongside the academic qualification, so choose a course that gives you time to develop your design work.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships such as Engineering Technician or Product Design and Development Technician carry UCAS tariff points from 2026 and can support a university application, particularly when combined with a strong portfolio and a foundation year.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a Product Design degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

Visual Art, Craft & Design: The degree is about creating products that work and look good. You'll develop skills in sketching, prototyping, CAD modelling, and model-making, learning to turn creative ideas into physical products through hands-on studio and workshop practice.

Machines, Structures & How Things Are Engineered: Understanding how products are made is a core part of the degree. You'll study materials science, manufacturing processes, and engineering principles, learning how the choice of materials and production methods shapes what is possible in product design.

Students who thrive in a Product Design degree are often motivated by

Sharing Your Work with Others

You take pride in showing what you've created to others, whether that's exhibiting artwork, demonstrating an invention, publishing writing, or presenting project results. The moment when someone else experiences or responds to your work gives you a buzz. You create with an audience in mind, even if that audience is small.

Practical Problem-Solving

You're energised by finding fixes to real-life issues, whether they're mechanical, technological, or social. You're motivated by problems you can see, touch, or experience directly, and you get satisfaction from solutions that work in practice, not just in theory. You'd rather build a prototype than write a report about one.

Creativity and Innovation

You're energised by the act of creating something new or finding a fresh way to approach a problem. Whether it's designing, writing, building, or experimenting, you feel most alive when you're generating original ideas rather than following established methods. The possibility that something has never been done before excites rather than intimidates you.

Making and Crafting

You love hands-on work: building, shaping, or creating physical objects. Whether it's working with tools, materials, or your own hands, you're happiest when you can see and touch what you've made. The process of turning raw materials into something finished gives you a deep sense of satisfaction, and you'd rather make something than just talk about it.

What makes Product Design click for the students who love it?

Nothing satisfies them like turning an idea into a thing they can hold and use, not just a drawing of it. A clumsy, awkward object nags at them, because they can already see the better version. The hands-on making is the best part, shaping and modelling and building a prototype until the thing finally does what it should. The payoff is the moment it feels right in the hand and does its job without anyone noticing. And showing the finished object, seeing someone reach for it, is the proof it worked.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you enjoy figuring out how to make something work — testing different approaches until you find a solution that fits?
Do you find yourself coming up with ideas for new products or ways to improve everyday objects?
Do you like sketching ideas, building models, or thinking about how things should look and feel?
Do you enjoy making things with your hands — prototyping, experimenting with materials, or understanding how products are manufactured?

Careers a Product Design degree could lead you to

Product Design

What do Product Design degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a Product Design degree could lead you to

Example
Modules