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Product Design (with an industrial placement year)

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-A,B,B

A-levels should include Art or a Design subject normally at grade B. Without A-levels in these areas you will still be considered but will need to demonstrate a strong, recent background in art and design through other means. You must have GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics with at least grade 5 (or grade B) and, if you are not offering Art or a Design subject at A-level you must also have GCSE Art or Design Technology at grade 6 (or grade B). You should also have a broad range of GCSEs 9-4 (A*-C), including good grades in relevant subjects.

Pass Diploma with at least 39 level 3 credits at Merit or above including 21-24 credits at Distinction. The Access to HE Diploma will need to contain substantial amounts of Level 3 credit in Art or design. Applicants without an Access containing Art or Design will still be considered but will need to demonstrate a strong, recent background in art and design through other means. You must have GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics with at least grade 5 (or grade B) and, if you are not offering Art or a Design subject at A-level you must also have GCSE Art or Design Technology at grade 6 (or grade B).

We take the EPQ into account when considering your application and it can be useful in the summer when your results are released if you have narrowly missed the conditions of your offer. We do not routinely include the EPQ in the conditions of your offer but we sometimes offer alternative conditions that include the EPQ. If you wish to discuss this further please contact Admissions at [email protected]

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30-32

Higher Levels should include either Visual Arts or Design Technology with at least grade 5. Applicants without one of these at Higher Level will still be considered but will need to demonstrate a strong, recent background in art and design through other means.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDD-DDM

The BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma would normally be in Art and Design. Applicants without this will still be considered but will need to demonstrate a strong, recent background in art and design through other means. You must have GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics with at least grade 5 (or grade B) and, if you are not offering Art or a Design subject at A-level you must also have GCSE Art or Design Technology at grade 6 (or grade B). You should also have a broad range of GCSEs 9-4 (A*-C), including good grades in relevant subjects.

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B,B-A,A,B,B,B


Highers must include Art or a design subject. You will need Scottish National 5 in Mathematics at grade B.

UCAS Tariff

120-147

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About this course


Course option

4years

Sandwich | 2024

Subject

Production and manufacturing engineering

**10th in the UK for Student Satisfaction in Manufacturing and Production Engineering (Complete University Guide 2024)**

**=13th in the UK for Product Design (The Guardian University Guide 2023)**

**About the course**

At Sussex, you’ll learn to create products that satisfy the needs and behaviours of people and society – both now and into the future.

During your studies, you’ll:

* be taught by design experts with industry experience, combining multifaceted design, science and technology

* work with industry professionals on live creative briefs that will challenge you

* have opportunities and guidance on how to commercialise your products.

We’ll ground you in design thinking so you can develop informed solutions and produce them through prototyping and manufacturing models. You’ll also design your products to fit within the circular economy – a complex system that is regenerative and takes sustainability to a new level.

Your degree prepares you for success. Our students have:

* won awards from design leaders such as Dyson, LEGO and Hasbro

* taken their own designs to market through the Sussex Innovation Centre.

**Accreditation**

Accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

**About Sussex**

Sussex graduates change the world. Our students become the leaders of the future, making discoveries, improving lives and changing things for the better.

Study with us to join a welcoming and inspiring community of staff and students from more than 140 countries.

**Location**

We shape the world from a fantastic campus on the UK’s beautiful south coast.

We are the only UK university surrounded by a national park, so you can step off campus to explore the hills and woodlands of the South Downs. The vibrant, colourful and creative seaside city of Brighton & Hove is just nine minutes away.

With Brighton voted the happiest city in England for students, (Student Living Survey, Sodexo, 2018) there can be few better places to study.

Modules

See the modules you will study by year by going to the 'view course details' link.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£25,000
per year
International
£25,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Sussex

Department:

Engineering and Design

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

81%
Production and manufacturing engineering

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Production and manufacturing engineering

Teaching and learning

73%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
75%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

82%
Library resources
68%
IT resources
85%
Course specific equipment and facilities
68%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
58%
Male students
42%
Female students
87%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Production and manufacturing engineering

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£25,000
med
Average annual salary
89%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

42%
Engineering professionals
8%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
8%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

Graduates are in significant demand, so unemployment rates are well below the national graduate average and starting salaries are well above average. Much the most common industries for these graduates are now vehicle manufacture - there are not enough people with these degrees to go round and so the big employers tend to take the lion's share at the moment. But pretty much anywhere there is manufacturing, there are production engineers. Bear in mind that a lot of courses are four years long, and lead to an MEng qualification — this is necessary if you want to become a Chartered Engineer.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Production and manufacturing engineering

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£26k

£26k

£32k

£32k

£36k

£36k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here