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best universities for product design

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hey, i am from india. im currently doing foundation course in design n im applying for UK uni for sept intake so can anyone tell me which are the best product design uni (ba/bsc) as in top 5? n what they really look fr in a portfolio. pls help!
Original post by arjun mittal
hey, i am from india. im currently doing foundation course in design n im applying for UK uni for sept intake so can anyone tell me which are the best product design uni (ba/bsc) as in top 5? n what they really look fr in a portfolio. pls help!

Your a bit late to apply now- ucas deadline has passed.
Original post by alasdairgeddes
Your a bit late to apply now- ucas deadline has passed.

No bt d ucas site says for art n design cllges students cn apply till may.
Reply 63
I do Product design BSc At nottingham trent university and would highly recomend it. The lecuturers are great and We have got one of the worlds experts on Solidworks for CAD sessions. You also do a placement which really enhances your job oportunities after you finish the course
Original post by Nick205228
I do Product design BSc At nottingham trent university and would highly recomend it. The lecuturers are great and We have got one of the worlds experts on Solidworks for CAD sessions. You also do a placement which really enhances your job oportunities after you finish the course

Yes, but all the universities I have applied to are amazing in every way. I CAN'T DECIDE!!!!
I have applied to Sheffield Hallam, Nottingham Trent, Brunel, Loughborough and Strathclyde. I have offers from all of them.

Brunel gives me £3000 a year if I get top grades (which I probably will), does that matter?

Sheffield and Nottingham are nicer places. Brunel is in Uxbridge (Only technically in London) which is a place in the middle of absolutely nothing about an hour away from London. I have been near London all my life and want a change of scenery.

I haven't visited Loughborough and Strathclyde yet.

Any advice?
Original post by Nick205228
I do Product design BSc At nottingham trent university and would highly recomend it. The lecuturers are great and We have got one of the worlds experts on Solidworks for CAD sessions. You also do a placement which really enhances your job oportunities after you finish the course

ya i hv heard a lot about nottingham trent brunel loughborough bt what should be in the portfolio to get in.
Reply 66
Original post by alasdairgeddes
Yes, but all the universities I have applied to are amazing in every way. I CAN'T DECIDE!!!!
I have applied to Sheffield Hallam, Nottingham Trent, Brunel, Loughborough and Strathclyde. I have offers from all of them.

Brunel gives me £3000 a year if I get top grades (which I probably will), does that matter?

Sheffield and Nottingham are nicer places. Brunel is in Uxbridge (Only technically in London) which is a place in the middle of absolutely nothing about an hour away from London. I have been near London all my life and want a change of scenery.

I haven't visited Loughborough and Strathclyde yet.

Any advice?



I have offers from Brunel and Loughborough for industrial design and an offer from Central St Martins for product design. From everywhere I've looked Brunel and Loughborough seem to be the best, so if you have offers from there I really wouldn't consider anywhere else.

Brunel (from what I've heard) might have slightly better industrial links, as well as a more technical/engineering focus. Loughborough still has amazing industrial links and to me more creative/impressive final year work (could just be the CAD), alongside the fact that it is generally a better university. I felt a lot more at home around loughborough so I put it as my firm. Both courses have the year in industry which is REALLY important for job prospects.

I'd still look around to see which one you like most. Most people seem to split 50/50 with lboro/brunel. Hope that helps.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 67
Reply 68
does anyone know about good unis for product design engineering? i have applied for brunel, loughborough and glasgow but im not sure which one i should firm.
Original post by i-am--sam
I think the order for me (and what I will apply for) is Brunel, Lbro, Northumbria, Nottingham Trent and I'm not sure on #5.

Loughborough is best, I'm going there in September. It's much better than Brunel. Brunel puts maths into everything. Even arts courses at Brunel have some kind of maths hidden in them according to one of the teachers at the open day. Brunel is also a tiny campus in the middle of nowhere. It says it's in London but actually London is the nearest city, about an hour away on the train. A student at an open say I went to said that because it's so far away from anything, most students just hang around their hall of residence for fun. Sounds a bit boring. Loughborough has the best social side with more societies to go to and a better community feel. The product design course also has less exams so is easier than Brunel.

My second choice is Sheffield Hallam. That's nice but it's not a campus and has less things for students to do outside of class than Loughborough. The course and facilities at Sheffield are brilliant though, just like at Loughborough.

I went to Nottingham Trent open day, it's ok but I wasn't so impressed as with the others.

I don't think Northumbria is accredited so that's why I didn't apply. It's not really the best.
Hi everyone!
I've been offered foundation course diagnostical pathway in Central Saint Martins.
After that I want to study product design there.
What do you guys think about their program? Is it good enough or just the name?
Thanks for your answers!
Reply 71
Original post by alasdairgeddes
Loughborough is best, I'm going there in September. It's much better than Brunel. Brunel puts maths into everything. Even arts courses at Brunel have some kind of maths hidden in them according to one of the teachers at the open day. Brunel is also a tiny campus in the middle of nowhere. It says it's in London but actually London is the nearest city, about an hour away on the train. A student at an open say I went to said that because it's so far away from anything, most students just hang around their hall of residence for fun. Sounds a bit boring. Loughborough has the best social side with more societies to go to and a better community feel. The product design course also has less exams so is easier than Brunel.

My second choice is Sheffield Hallam. That's nice but it's not a campus and has less things for students to do outside of class than Loughborough. The course and facilities at Sheffield are brilliant though, just like at Loughborough.

I went to Nottingham Trent open day, it's ok but I wasn't so impressed as with the others.

I don't think Northumbria is accredited so that's why I didn't apply. It's not really the best.



Thanks for the input! Brunel and Loughborough are the most respected for design i guess but i heard central st martins is amazing. I am considering doing product design as well, but I am still deciding which course suits me the most. I want to learn more about design and incorporating it in business in the future. Perhaps industrial design would be good too. Any advice and input would be appreciated.
Original post by Steveyg777
Thanks for the input! Brunel and Loughborough are the most respected for design i guess but i heard central st martins is amazing. I am considering doing product design as well, but I am still deciding which course suits me the most. I want to learn more about design and incorporating it in business in the future. Perhaps industrial design would be good too. Any advice and input would be appreciated.


The University for the Creative Arts run a couple of Product Design degrees:

(BA) Hons Product Design at UCA Rochester, which is an experimental and creative course, with an emphasis on materials and process;

BA (Hons) Product Design & Interaction at UCA Farnham, an innovative course interested in using new technologies.

Both of these are definitely worth a look if you're exploring studying Product Design.
Original post by MrJpp6
I have offers from Brunel and Loughborough for industrial design and an offer from Central St Martins for product design. From everywhere I've looked Brunel and Loughborough seem to be the best, so if you have offers from there I really wouldn't consider anywhere else.

Brunel (from what I've heard) might have slightly better industrial links, as well as a more technical/engineering focus. Loughborough still has amazing industrial links and to me more creative/impressive final year work (could just be the CAD), alongside the fact that it is generally a better university. I felt a lot more at home around loughborough so I put it as my firm. Both courses have the year in industry which is REALLY important for job prospects.

I'd still look around to see which one you like most. Most people seem to split 50/50 with lboro/brunel. Hope that helps.


Congratulations; Which uni did you choose in the end?
you got an offer from CSM meaning you had to produce a portfolio. Do you have any links/ advice on how I could build a decent one ? Thankyou



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Reply 74
I'm at Huddersfield and it's going great - the Product Design course is now near the top of league tables and loads of the guys who just graduated are already in jobs.
Totally recommend having a look!
Reply 75
Universities change over years as staff and funding change. I am interested in University of West of England for its accredited product design course. It appears a lot of investment has gone into buildings and the department is becoming more widely recognised. Can anyone verify whether this is just marketing or is it really a good vocational course with decent support on getting placements? What is the rest of the campus like? Thanks for any info.
Have a look at some of this stuff, they do transport design as well

http://www.facebook.com/PDTDstaffsuni
Reply 77
hello , iam looking to study product design in CSM and i am doing some portfolio work at the moment. Does anyone know what they are expecting ? how many pages they want ,,etc ? is there a lot of competition for this course? also do you know the difference between the mini portfolio and the full ?
Reply 78
What about Bournemouth university for product design?
Reply 79
Hey, I'm applying at the moment and have also decided to put Brunel, Loughborough and Central St Martins in my top five choices. What other two/other universities did you consider? Also what attracted you to Central St Martins?

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