Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Illustration with Animation with Placement/Overseas Study

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

To survive, thrive and succeed in business, it’s not only about managing people, developing strategies and driving performance within the organisation. It’s also about understanding and engaging the market – identifying your position in the competitive landscape, developing an offering that meets demand and communicating with your target audience effectively.

With this business and marketing degree, you’ll delve into business operations, looking at how some of the world’s most successful organisations manage finances, lead staff and harness technology, as well as learning about the key issues in business today – from sustainable development to ethics in a global environment.

It’s a course that’s designed to help you prepare for the workplace, so we don’t limit your learning to the classroom or lecture theatre. Once you’ve discovered and discussed the theories in lectures and seminars, you’ll have the chance to turn ideas into action. We run various business and enterprise competitions that provide skill-building, CV-boosting experience. You will also have the option of spending a year on a placement, building on your skills in a professional environment.

As such, you’ll leave us with a blend of business understanding and marketing intellect. It’s a powerful mix. Whether you see yourself running a start-up, getting onto the fast-track to senior management or making waves in an agency environment, our BA (Hons) Business and Marketing can help you pave the way.

Placement options
Our BA (Hons) Business and Marketing degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

The BA (Hons) Fashion program has an excellent reputation for producing fashion graduates who are employed for their creativity, originality, versatility, and professional skills.

The program focuses on contemporary fashion design and encourages students to be creative and experimental while challenging the conventions of fashion and textile design practices.

Students follow an arts-based studio practice model through which they develop concepts and ideas using in-depth research processes and experimentation, learning how to design and make original fashion outcomes with a focus on contemporary craftsmanship. Students learn essential skills for designing and making, including the opportunity to develop a textile specialism such as knit, print or embroidery.

Students are encouraged to develop a personal design philosophy, leading to a final collection and design portfolio in their final year, with consideration of sustainable design practice. There is also opportunity to collaborate with industry partners through live briefs, and to work with other art and design students both within the university and with international partners in the award-winning cross-disciplinary Unit X.

Product designers at Manchester Met explore why, examine how, and ask ‘what if?’ We are investigative and critically responsive to human and global needs, developing innovative design-led solutions that connect the consumer experience of products, systems and services. As a product design student, you will be creative with purpose, gaining critical understanding of the emergent issues affecting design across society and culture, learning how to be a designer of products that enhance functionality, interactions and relationships with people and the places we inhabit.

 You will develop essential skills in creative methods, research, design thinking, prototyping and design strategy, applying design intelligence to the creation of new product opportunities and solutions. You will discover how to design products that embrace both traditional and contemporary approaches to production and manufacturing, generating value through the application of materials, processes, and technologies. This course will enable you to produce innovative crafted design solutions and develop the creative and professional skills required to support a sustainable career in product design.

Product Design at Manchester Met builds on the success of our previous programme, BA Three Dimensional Design, which has produced influential and award-winning graduates including designer and architect Thomas Heatherwick, jeweller Ruth Tomlinson and ceramicist Joe Hartley.

Over the course of our Biomedical Science degree, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of the biological principles that relate to the workings of the human body, as well as the characteristics and diagnosis of disease leading to possible therapeutic interventions.

After gaining a solid grounding in the principles of biomedical science, you’ll move on to specialist topics, acquiring the in-depth understanding and advanced techniques vital for professional practice. That means you’ll study a range of areas, from cell and molecular biology, physiological systems and research skills, to blood science, cellular science, and techniques and applications in biomedical science, to name but a few.

In your final year, you’ll get the chance to develop your own particular interests with a major project. With our excellent facilities and close links with local hospitals, by the time you graduate you’ll be ready for the next stage of your career.

Placement options
You can apply to transfer to the four-year BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science with Placement Year program, which provides the opportunity to go on a placement for at least 36 weeks, to get a taste of professional life in either a clinical or industrial setting. You will be required to secure your own placements for this route and as such the placements are not guaranteed. You will be required to pass a medical health check and be vaccinated to work in medical fields. You’ll also need a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate, which is completed through the University.

Once enrolled on this program, you will be also be given the opportunity to apply to transfer to the full-time four-year BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science placement route. This very specific route provides the opportunity to complete a 48-week placement in an Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) approved training laboratory and work towards completion of the IBMS Registration Portfolio. Graduates from this degree route will be eligible to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Biomedical Scientist. The number of placements are limited by the capacity of local placement providers, making this a highly competitive placement route.

From ancient civilizations and great empires, to terrible battles and the roots of our modern society, history is a vast landscape to explore and understand.

The past is part of our everyday lives, shaping our world profoundly. Study history and you won’t just learn about what happened in the past. You’ll develop a better understanding of the how and why of the events that make us who we are. In every period we study, our courses seek to develop different approaches and methods to understanding the past, embracing political, social, and cultural history. We foster the practice of history as an inclusive discipline, and recognise that powerful ideologies of race, gender and social status have shaped our past and our present. In other words – you won’t just discover the story, you’ll investigate and interpret its sources, impacts and meanings.

This degree program offers a roadmap for exploring the social and political landscape of human history. You’ll look at a huge variety of times and places – immersing yourself in wars, famine and poverty, charting technological leaps and social progress, and unearthing conspiracies, catastrophes and revolutions. And that’s just in your first year. In years two and three through your option unit choices, you'll have the opportunity to specialise and develop your interests further, and graduate with a degree title that reflects this: Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern, or American.

Staff researchers are constantly searching for new discoveries, fresh perspectives and unknown aspects of our history, bringing the past alive in the classroom. With this degree we give you the skills to understand the world and how this affects societal developments.

You may also have the opportunity to study abroad, including in the US, or spend your third year on placement in Britain or abroad.

Placement options

You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world, and it shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

You are free to choose Placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad, with the opportunity to take advantage of our connections with local heritage institutions, museums and archives. You will be supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

This course is at the forefront of production design and manufacturing practices and brings together students from creative and technical backgrounds, to foster original approaches to product design for manufacture. It supports you to explore and develop personal design methodologies and philosophies, and locate these within a deep understanding of historical, contemporary and future design practices, and wider social and cultural contexts.

You will undertake core units, delivered by production design specialists, consisting of design theory and practice lectures, material and manufacturing workshops, group seminars, individual tutorials, live external projects, and research study trips. Practical design development is supported by extensive hand and machine workshops for wood, metal, ceramics, glass and plastics, and digital workshops for laser cutting and large scale CNC routing.

Optional units facilitate innovative cross-disciplinary opportunities, supporting the development of collaborative working with students from within the material making and manufacturing cluster of MA/MSc/MFA Craft and MA/MSc/MFA Textile, and across the wider postgraduate design community. There are cross-faculty options to study within the faculty of “Science and Engineering”, acquiring advanced 3D CAD skills for industrial production, and utilising the latest advanced 3D printing processes. The Manchester Metropolitan Business School option addresses commercial aspects of design, enabling students to locate their ambitions within a defined financial model.

You will able to explore and challenge all aspects of product design, embracing opportunities for innovation across markets and production levels, from one-off making and batch fabrication, to flexible digital manufacture and high volume industrial production.

Whether your ambition is to help an athlete smash world records, or improve the quality of life for recovering patients, we can give you the tools to achieve it.

Our sport and exercise science degree covers a broad spectrum of themes across sport and health. You’ll build an understanding of the key disciplines of biomechanics, physiology and psychology, and then develop specialist skills and knowledge according to your strengths and interests. You'll also have the opportunity to spend an extra year expanding your horizons, working on a placement in industry.

Study sport and exercise science at Manchester Met and you’ll have the support of our team of accredited sport scientists and experts who work with business, the NHS, government and international athletes. With our network of local sports organisations and health providers, you’ll have plenty of great opportunities to apply your knowledge and secure work placements.

Placement options

Our sports and exercise science degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. If you choose to go down this route, your degree will take one year longer, with the third year spent working in industry. These optional placements not only give you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. We offer a range of services to help you find the right placement, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs.

From evolutionary development to environmental stimuli, animal behaviour is shaped by a range of factors. This masters course is your chance to explore them all – not only developing the theoretical principles of behaviour, but also learning how to harness these principles to tackle real-world animal welfare and conservation issues.

It’s an area that covers a diverse range of disciplines, from a strong numerical approach in the classroom to a practical approach in the lab and in the field. While the course is built around strong core units, it also offers the flexibility to explore specialist areas, such as genetics and GIS.

Above all, this is a course that offers the chance to study animal behaviour up close. As well as a field trip to Poland, Ecuador or Tanzania, your dissertation project could take you to Kenya, the Philippines or Mauritius (not to mention sites across the UK) for your research.

As well as expert analytical abilities and practical research techniques, you’ll leave us with an in-depth understanding of animals physiology, and how experience and environment combine to create behaviour – everything you need to pursue a range of career paths, from animal management to education or further research.

With a toolkit that mixes the creative and the technical, an animator does all this and more. Whether working in the artistic or commercial worlds, animators produce the moving images for anything from film and broadcast media to digital platforms and video games. Our BA (Hons) Animation course brings together key aspects of contemporary professional animation practice to help you prepare for an exciting range of careers, from animation to concept art to games development.

As an animation student you will be part the School of Digital Arts, a vibrant community that offers the chance to explore every aspect of what it means to work in the digital arts. You will work across a range of creative practices – just as the professionals do – to collaborate on cross-disciplinary group projects, alongside photographers, sound engineers, filmmakers, games and media professionals. And, just as we mirror industry practices, we also work with industry-standard tools – learning within a brand new, purpose-built building that comes equipped with the latest emerging technologies for animation, filmmaking and more.

Manchester offers an ideal setting as an animation student. A global, creative city, it has a long-established history of animation and is home to Cosgrove Hall Films – creators of numerous children’s animations and whose company founders were both students of Manchester Metropolitan University. Today the city has a thriving industry, with a significant TV, film and digital production presence at MediaCityUK, which is home to the BBC, ITV and a host of independent media companies, all of which offer you some inspiring opportunities.

With a course that’s built on our local heritage and that makes the most of our industry links, you’ll have the chance to develop the skills, build the network and gain the experience that rewarding careers are made from.

Music and sound design is a field that mixes the artistic and the technical to produce the vital ingredient for a range of media. On the one hand, it’s a discipline of creative composition and emotional interpretation. On the other, it’s about harnessing the latest technology and studio techniques to produce compelling music and sound content. Our course offers the chance to learn both sides, letting you explore your creative passions while equipping you for a career in the fast-paced digital arts and media sector.

The School of Digital Arts aims to prepare you for a career in the creative sector. It’s home to a dynamic community that spans skills and approaches, creating a space for collaboration and experimentation. And, as well as the human element, this is a space for technical skills, equipped with industry-standard tools and technology.

More than a purpose-built school, we also have the perfect setting. Manchester is a city at the forefront of the creative and digital sector in the UK (second only to London), home to a wide variety of broadcasters, creative agencies and media businesses. More importantly, it’s also one of the world’s musical capitals – much like Detroit and a handful of others. This is a city known around the world for its thriving, distinctive music scene.

Study with us and you’ll have the chance to tap into this vibrant city, making the most of our links with Scruff of the Neck, Louder Than War and other key promoters, labels and venues, not to mention youth music organisations, DJ educators, schools and cultural producers. With the chance to learn from, and connect with, these key figures and organisations, we offer the chance to study in a city that provides an ideal starting point for building your network, developing your experience and starting your career.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.