Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Product Design with Placement/Overseas Study

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

Study a software engineering degree with us and you’ll build the essential skills you need to work with software systems – opening the door to a range of career opportunities. You’ll cover all aspects of the software engineering process, with a focus on the methodical approach to robust, error-free software design and development.

In your first year, you’ll start with the core principles of computer architecture, databases, web design and programming. You’ll then begin to specialise, with areas of study like software design and development processes, full-stack web development and advanced programming.

As you progress you’ll develop knowledge of cloud computing, full-stack web development, software testing, as well as advanced development skills in a range of programming languages. You’ll also tackle team-based projects and a large-scale software project in your final year. This will help you to build vital project management skills, as well as giving you a sound understanding of the role of software development tools within the software life cycle.

Our BSc (Hons) Software Engineering, BSc (Hons) Computer Science and BSc (Hons) Applied Computing degrees share a common first year, allowing you to switch between these courses at the end of your first year.

Placement options

The full-time four year placement route provides the opportunity to go on a placement for at least 36 weeks, where you’ll get a taste of professional life. A placement not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and experience, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. We offer a wide range of services to help you find the right placement, including employer presentations, advice and fairs. But it’s also up to you – the more proactive you are about applying for placements, the better. This may be subject to national lockdown restrictions.

The MFA in Graphic Design & Art Direction program is designed for creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge, skills and specialism within the field of visual communication.

Each student will develop a practice-led investigation within this broader context, actively constructing a bespoke body of design knowledge which combines theory, practice, research, entrepreneurship and innovation from a wide range of creative activities.

They will be taught to question and expand their creative thinking and generic design process by developing their analytical skills; engaging in critical dialogues; work independently, collaboratively and interdisciplinary; experimenting in a range of directions before delivering professional and innovative outcomes to defined audiences with confidence. All creative activities are supported by strategic thinking, robust methodologies and informed by practice-led research.

FinTech (financial technology) is disrupting and reshaping commerce. The term is applied anywhere technology is used to help companies manage the financial aspects of a business. It includes new software and applications, processes and business models.

Understanding rapidly evolving financial markets
This course combines our expertise in finance, computing, risk and behavioural science. You’ll look at innovative technologies and the disruptive nature of FinTech business models.

We’ll show you how FinTech has combined finance and technology and is changing the way companies and consumers interact. You’ll also discover how it has affected the regulatory environment in which companies operate.

You’ll experience different elements such as programming, business analytics, digital strategy, data science, strategy and risk in financial services.

Our integrated masters will set you on the path to an exciting career in the rapidly evolving world of electrical and electronic engineering.

Study at Manchester Met and you’ll start off by getting a solid introduction to key engineering principles, before specialising with subjects like electrical energy systems, control and automation and electronic systems design. You’ll also learn to use advanced engineering software as you develop your analytical skills and work on more cutting-edge topics.

Much of your learning will take place through projects, reflecting the multidisciplinary world of work. In these projects, set by academic colleagues and industry contacts, you’ll learn what it takes to come up with creative solutions to current engineering problems. You’ll get feedback and advice directly from industry insiders, giving you the chance to find out exactly what it takes to impress a potential future employer.

This degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Designed for anyone with a passion for computer-generated content, our BSc (Hons) Computer Animation and Visual Effects degree will help you learn and hone the skills needed to launch a career in an incredibly exciting industry.

We take a learning by doing approach on this course. So, as well as expert guidance and support, you’ll have access to a fully equipped computer animation suite, with dedicated green screen room, lighting rigs and motion capture equipment. In other words, you’ll have everything you need to learn how to create your own assets for integration with virtual environments and live-action footage to produce complex visual effects.

You’ll learn about creating, rigging and animating 3D models, developing advanced particle effects such as fire, smoke and moving liquids, and about compositing and integration methods. And most importantly, at all stages you’ll have the creative freedom to develop your own ideas and concepts right through to the finished article.

Teamwork is at the heart of this industry and you’ll have plenty of opportunity for team-based study to help prepare you for the world of work. You’ll be perfectly poised to enter this rapidly expanding and exciting digital sector.

Our computer animation and visual effects degree also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons by working on a placement in industry.

Placement options
The full-time four-year placement route provides the opportunity to go on a placement for at least 36 weeks, where you’ll get a taste of professional life. Completing a placement not only develops your core skills and experience, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. Graduate employers report that students who have been on placements tend to be well organised and better able to apply their skills in a structured way.

Linguistics is a popular course taken on its own or in combination with English, TESOL or a modern language. It is devoted to the scientific study of natural language and concerned with how languages are acquired, structured and applied. Our programme offers a sound knowledge of both theoretical and applied perspectives. The core topics include syntax, semantics and pragmatics, forensic linguistics, sociolinguistics, and phonetics and phonology, as well as media and intercultural communication.

Critical thinking and argumentation are transferable skills that are valuable in the job market and sought after by all employers.

If you take Spanish as a major or equal subject you will have the opportunity to spend your third year abroad in Spain or Latin America. If Spanish is your minor subject, the course will be three years with no period of residence abroad. You will also have the option to study Spanish from beginners level.

This course is at the forefront of craft-making practices and is for materially engaged makers who are looking to explore craft practices across a range of materials and object types. It encourages the development of craft across specialist and multi-material making, investigating and exploring definitions of contemporary craft practice.

The program is an opportunity to pursue a making practice that might already be located within a specific material area or object definition such as glass, ceramics, textiles or jewellery, or to develop and expand the definitions and materials of craft practice. The program supports the exploration of genre-breaking approaches to making, to develop individual and personal methodologies and philosophies, and locate these within a deep understanding of historical, contemporary and future craft-making practices, and wider social and cultural contexts.

With access to the wide range of hand, machine and digital technologies at Manchester School of Art, you will work within, across and between definitions of craft, to evolve and progress a unique and personal making practice. In addition to traditional material workshops across ceramics, hot and cold glass, metal, wood, textile print, weave and embroidery, there are digital making facilities for laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC routing, and digital print for textiles and ceramics, with access to specialist academic and technical expertise from across the School of Art, to support the development of a wide range of craft making practices.

Our BSc (Hons) Biology degree offers the chance to gain a solid grounding in the biological sciences – with the flexibility to develop your own interests and learn about the areas and aspects of biological sciences that match your career ambitions.

Study biology at Manchester Met and you’ll begin by learning the fundamentals of the subject, before exploring the areas that interest you most through a variety of option units. Along the way, you’ll explore the issues that shape our world and touch our lives – from molecular biology, microbiology and genetics, to ecology, animal behaviour, biodiversity and conservation.

The program also allows you to develop your own interests in areas such as comparative anatomy and physiology, plant science, brain and behaviour, population biology, biotechnology, biochemistry and the conservation of biodiversity, to tailor your learning to your career aspirations.

In our laboratories, you’ll get to grips with the latest equipment, as we help you develop a range of practical skills that you can take into your career. And, by getting out in the field, you can learn about biology out in the real world – whether in the UK or overseas.

Our biology degree also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with a business or non-governmental organisation.

Placement options
The four-year placement route gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on a placement with a relevant employer, such as a conservation or environmental body, zoo or animal welfare organization, or with local government or a molecular diagnostics company. It’s a great chance to gain experience, build your network and develop transferable skills – all of which can boost your career prospects.

Studying politics allows you to know what is happening today, how change is enacted, and how you can be a part of it. The principal focus of the degree is power relations between individuals, social groups and nations – so it is one of the most exciting ways to understand why things are the way they are. You’ll study a broad range of social and public policy areas and explore fundamental issues that affect communities in the UK and elsewhere, including: emancipatory political thought and theory, international politics, digital politics, and ‘issue’ politics such as environmentalism and climate change.

The course is underpinned by both the research specialisms of the staff who will teach you and a wide variety of options mean you can pursue your own interests, depending on what you choose to specialise in – with things becoming increasingly flexible as you progress through the course. In the final year, you will engage more directly with current academic debates and contemporary political developments.

We place a heavy emphasis on employability and offer practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, which many employers look for when offering placement opportunities. This, alongside the opportunity to study a foreign language or do an exchange abroad, means that a politics degree opens doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities, as well as providing you with a much better understanding of what is happening right now.

You can also combine politics with another subject and broaden your outlook still further. In your third year, you may have the opportunity to take a placement year with an employer or study abroad, broadening your horizons and boosting your employability.

Placement options

Through a placement year, you may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life and show employers that you’re ready to get to work. This is a valuable opportunity to develop core employability skills and explore how your course, and the knowledge you’ve gained from it, can be transferred to the real world.

Students are free to choose placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are 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.

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.