Bachelor of Arts (Hons ) in Community Development and Youth Studies

at University of Bolton United Kingdom

If you’re looking for a postgraduate course that exactly matches your strengths and ambitions then your search is over. The University of Bolton's MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism): Extended allows you to design your own master’s degree. We’ll help you personalise your postgraduate education by combining the disciplines that matter for your future. This bespoke course will support you to gain a combination of academic, analytical, and employment-focused skills that will prepare you for a career in your chosen professional area, as well as provide a sound basis for doctoral-level study.

Supporting your choices
Working with our expert tutors, you can choose two modules from across the whole spectrum of master’s level modules available at the University of Bolton. You’ll also be supported to devise a master’s-level dissertation or major project that develops your research and critical thinking skills and allows you to demonstrate your expertise. We’ll counsel you as you make these choices to ensure you create a coherent programme of study – one that is achievable and that will support you to develop the skills and knowledge you seek. We offer a wide range of subjects and you can choose modules from a single area or from two different disciplines, depending on your interests, prior qualifications and experience.

Capture essential employability, transferable and business skills
Alongside your subject-specific studies, you’ll have the opportunity to build the essential employability, transferable and business skills you need to compete with confidence for your dream job or build your own successful business from the ground up. You’ll focus on developing the skills that are most valuable to you as an individual, as shaped by your prior learning and future plans. We’ll guide you to explore areas such as influence and impact, self-management, creativity and innovation, and professional identity, bringing in business and psychological concepts to enhance your development as a professional.

Focusing on your future
We want to help you gain the skills and self-belief to showcase your worth in your chosen field. We’ll guide you to explore and understand the postgraduate labour market in the sector you wish to join, preparing you to apply your new knowledge, attributes and experiences so that you can satisfy and impress your stakeholders (such as employers, clients, commissioners and funding bodies). We’ll help you learn about the recruitment methods used by different types of organisations in your field, explore your personal brand and self-positioning, and prepare for recruitment and selection or self-employment. In addition, we’ll support you to develop skills in commercial ability and acumen, networking and professional relationship management, as well as strategies for career maintenance and growth.

Tried and tested research-informed coaching
Throughout the programme, we’ll use tried and tested, research-informed coaching and training methods to support your development. These will range from postgraduate-level skills in research, critique, problem-solving, professional presentation and synthesis to interpersonal and business-relevant skills such as innovative thinking, team working and project management, the effective use of technology, public speaking and professionalism. All this knowledge will be tailored to your chosen employment context to help you achieve your vision for your future.

An ideal course for graduates and professionals in a wide range of areas
This course should appeal to (but isn’t limited to) graduates and professionals in areas such as art and design, accountancy, science, engineering, business management, film FX, performing arts, community development and youth, computing, games, construction, law, crime and criminal justice, early years, education, English and creative writing, mathematics, nursing and the caring professions, media, psychology, the humanities and sport.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a different timeframe?
We also offer this course full-time over 12 months or part-time over 24 months. For details of the 12-month course, please visit our full-time MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) course search web page. Alternatively, to find out more and apply for the 24-month course, please visit our part-time MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• This course allows you to focus on one subject or to combine two areas of interest to follow an interdisciplinary route. When you successfully complete the master's, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
• Our highly qualified and professionally experienced staff have strong links with many economic sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• The University of Bolton offers a host of world-class facilities across our campus and faculties. Depending on your choice of modules, you'll be able to make use of our specialist facilities to support your studies.
• This MA/MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, which offers shared modules designed to give you a wider business perspective, including tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as knowing how to start a business and to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to your areas of study and professional development needs.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from industry professionals.
• We'll offer you opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration.
• Your studies will culminate in your Professional Dissertation, an independent and substantial piece of research that will further your knowledge and practice. This will demonstrate your mastery of an aspect of your field, showcasing your expert knowledge to employers as well as forming an ideal preparation for doctoral-level studies should you to wish to pursue a PhD.
• Your final master’s degree title will reflect your specialist areas of study (please note that the final award title will be selected in agreement with the University within the parameters specified in programme documentation). If you have chosen two specialist subject areas with equal weighting, the title will reflect both specialist subject areas; for instance, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing and Computing. If one of your specialist subject areas has a greater weighting than the other, the word ‘with’ will be used instead of ‘and’ between the two subject areas; for example, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing with Computing.

The competitive nature of the motorsport industry drives engineers to innovate and develop novel ideas that power progress in the automotive industry. This exciting course aims to give you the theoretical, practical and hands-on knowledge and experience needed to overtake your competition in the field of motorsports engineering.

This multi-disciplinary course brings together engineering principles and theories with design know-how, manufacturing skill and real-life racing experience with our partner teams. Our aim is to equip you with automotive performance engineering and motorsport-specific knowledge. We offer understanding in areas such as data analysis, performance optimisation, aerodynamics, safety considerations, whole vehicle and part design, and manufacturing. We also want to help you develop industry-focused commercial awareness and parallel business and management skills.

Seminars delivered by motorsport and automotive performance engineering professionals, and the chance to work alongside them on live projects, help get your career on the starting grid. Examples of practical activities include using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to simulate the aerodynamics of sports cars, testing parts using our impact and tensile test equipment, and working on actual motorsport projects.

If you don't have the appropriate qualifications to start this course, a four-year version that includes a foundation year is available.

Highlights

• This degree is fully accredited by the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) as meeting the academic requirements leading to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
• We want to help you learn what it takes to run a race and championship-winning team on every level, from engineering cars to dealing with the challenges of a race meeting.
• Our workshops and laboratories are designed so that you can develop your ideas from initial thought through to production and testing, mimicking the research and development process used in industry.
• We offer exciting opportunities for you to work with motorsport and automotive industry experts so you can gain impressive experience that is highly valued by employers.
• Based in the brand new, purpose built National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME).

Key Features

• The University of Bolton has a distinguished history in engineering.
• The course focuses on helping you develop in-demand motorsport-specific and transferable skills that are designed to meet the needs of the motorsport and other high performance engineering-related industries.
• We offer individual tutor support and a favourable staff:student ratio.
• Our course aims to help you learn from top industry professionals, such as international racing teams and supercar manufacturers.
• Hypothesis and experiment are key elements in your learning, and our laboratory facilities are designed and equipped so that you can gain experience in applying and testing engineering and scientific principles.

Professional recognition

Our BEng (Hons) Automotive Performance Engineering (Motorsport) degree is fully accredited by the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) as meeting the academic requirements leading to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. Please see the Engineering Council UK website for further details.

It’s predicted that by 2022, there will be a worldwide shortage of 1.8 million information security workers , meaning that the future offers qualified cybersecurity professionals access to excellent career opportunities and competitive salaries. Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) course is an ideal route into this dynamic and evolving industry.

Cyber security focuses on protecting data and information systems from cyber breaches. Covering how to design secure computer systems, this unique degree emphasises secure software development and promotes a deep understanding of the structure of computing systems. Throughout the course, you’ll develop technical knowledge and applied skills in security defence techniques and counter-measures, ready to protect computer systems and electronic infrastructures from attack. In particular, we’ll focus on helping you learn to design and develop your own security tools for probing, analysing and defending computer systems against attack.

Our expert and dedicated team will cover how to analyse and evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities to information systems, perform security risk assessments and develop security controls, processes and software. We’ll support you as you learn how to respond to security incidents and implement resolution activities. The department’s strong links with business mean you’ll have the chance to work on ‘live briefs’ in your coursework assignments, so you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy real-world context and application for the skills and knowledge we’ll help you develop.

With class sizes no greater than 30, we can offer you meaningful, personalised learning plans. Our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers – many of whom are active researchers with extensive industry insights and experience – will help you develop both the theoretical knowledge and the practical, hands-on skills required by the security sector that will put you one-step ahead of attackers from day one. Meanwhile, guest speakers and lecturers give you access to highly relevant and up-to-date input from industry settings.

All of this is backed by our well-equipped IT suites, where you’ll get to apply and develop your learning individually and in groups, with expert guidance and support.

Highlights

• The department – and the wider University – provides a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• Your teaching and tutorial team brings an impressive range of professional experience and technical prowess to the course, so you’ll have the chance to explore and evaluate a range of perspectives relating to your studies.
• A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. The teaching team work collaboratively with industrial partners to ensure that you have access to the latest and relevant industrial skills. So, we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer access to industry contacts, and contribute to your underlying professional development.
• By underpinning our content and assignments with a strong industrial focus, we foster a keen understanding of the professional IT environment, and help you develop essential skills such as team-working, communication and problem solving.
• This degree offers a comprehensive overview of key cyber security principles, methods and activities, such as types of security, common attack techniques, performing a risk assessment, penetration testing, managing risk and assessing the ‘cyber security culture’ of an organisation.
• We’ll focus on your individual needs, and provide personalised learning support in order to help you find the learning strategies that best support you as you begin your journey towards an exciting and challenging career as a cyber-security.

Key Features

• Our dedicated laboratories, servers and end-hosts feature high-specification hardware and the latest software, so you’ll have industry-equivalent hands-on experience.
• You’ll also get to experience the latest technologies, such as OpenStack – developed by Rackspace and NASA.
• As you’d expect, many of our computing facilities are accessible online, so you can work on your assignments wherever you are, and whenever inspiration kicks in.
• We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as background research, critical reasoning and problem solving, as well as professional communication, time management, teamwork, and lifelong learning.
• We’ll also encourage you to build a portfolio of evidence representing the projects and tasks you’ve completed during your studies, ready to impress potential employers.
• We continually monitor and update the course to reflect current and ever-changing issues in computing, and to keep your learning in line with technological advances and innovations.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) programme offers you the opportunity to develop the skills to be recognised as a RedHat certified practitioner in systems administration, and gain a number of other industry-relevant professional accreditations. We were the first UK university to become a RedHat academy and offer you access to the accreditation examinations at a significantly reduced cost.

In our ever-changing world, novel ideas can create new businesses, help them grow faster than ever and develop new industries overnight. We aim to prepare you to lead these changes. The University of Bolton’s MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation will build your knowledge in the three key areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and business development and help you gain the skills and self-confidence to showcase your worth. Our expert team will work to nurture your entrepreneurial mindset so you can realise your entrepreneurial potential.

Innovation for everyone
Entrepreneurship and innovation play vital roles in knowledge creation and exploitation to generate value and drive sustainable economic, social and organisational development. Organisations are increasingly seeking people with the ability to spot and take advantage of new opportunities so entrepreneurial and innovation skills are highly sought after. It doesn’t matter what your background or area of expertise is, this course is open to everyone with entrepreneurial drive and the desire to innovate.

Be the change
The need for professionals who can create and grow innovative companies and sustainable social enterprises has never been greater. We also want to prepare you to bring innovative insights into existing organisations so they can better respond to the complex challenges facing our society. Many business executives link the success of their businesses to innovation and as a result, put a lot of emphasis on it. Not only does it allow organisations to stay relevant in the competitive marketplace, but it also plays an important role in economic growth. Our MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is designed to help you develop the high-level skills and critical competencies you’ll need to become a successful innovator and an entrepreneur who can build ethical and sustainable businesses.

Study in one of the most innovative regions in the UK
The North West of England was a powerhouse of the industrial revolution, and Greater Manchester remains at the heart of innovation in the UK today. MediaCityUK is an international hub for innovation, technology, and creativity and has been chosen as a base by over 250 media and digital businesses. Moreover, industry heavyweights like Google, Amazon, Freshfields, LLP, the BBC and Microsoft have opened offices in the Manchester area. Overall, the diverse industry base and the region’s growing population offer rich opportunities for those with innovative ideas coupled with the skills, knowledge and self-belief needed to build a new business from the ground up. As a graduate of this master’s degree, you’ll be well placed to thrive in this environment.

Supporting you to become the ‘complete package’
To succeed as an entrepreneur, you’ll need a combination of high-level business development expertise coupled with essential interpersonal and thinking skills, such as persuasion, negotiation, critical thinking, collaborative working and problem-solving. We draw expertise from across the University to ensure you gain the vital mix of hard and soft skills necessary for career success. In addition, our extensive links with regional and national employers offer opportunities for masterclasses, networking and individual industry-based projects. Overall, this course supports you to develop extensive knowledge of innovation and entrepreneurship, coupled with essential skills for business and leadership. Together these attributes will take your CV to the next level.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a longer time? We also offer this course with a duration of 18 months full-time or 24 months part-time. For full-time study, please visit our MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Extended course search web page for details and to apply. Alternatively, for part-time study, please visit our MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent and often personalised support offered by our teaching staff.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching and this is supplemented by colleagues from our enterprise lab who are on hand to offer practical support throughout the programme.
• Our industry?engaged staff have strong links with organisations across the range of public, commercial and industrial sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• This MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, offering shared modules that give you a wide business perspective. Inspired by the graduate training programmes of major companies, these modules will help you develop high-level employability and transferable skills and apply them in your career.

Key Features

• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to entrepreneurship, innovation and your professional development needs.
• We regularly invite guest speakers with varied and extensive experiences in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and mentorship.
• You’ll benefit from opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and network building with students from our other Career Development Master’s degrees, including the Human Society, Data Analytics and Technologies, Professional Practice and Creative Industries courses.

Bolton was one of the first institutions in the UK to offer a degree in this exciting subject and studying in our well-respected, vibrant learning and research culture offers you an excellent start to your career. Whilst working towards a BSc (Hons) in Psychology here at the University of Bolton, you’ll have the opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of the subject in terms of the science and theories of psychology, and their application in everyday life.

You’ll explore a range of core modules that provide a strong grounding in study and research methods, as well as a deep understanding of the science of psychology. There’s also the option to choose specialised modules according to your areas of interest, or that relate to a particular career path you wish to follow after graduation.

As a psychology graduate you may use your qualification as the basis for a career as a professional psychologist or to enter a wide range of other careers, including teaching, human resource management, the police, the armed forces and social work.

Highlights

• Our psychology courses are ranked top in the UK for teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020, as well as top in the UK for student satisfaction by The Complete University Guide 2020.
• You’ll have an opportunity to carry out a work placement module in an approved professional setting.
• There is a strong focus on employability skills as well as academic success. Modules focusing on applied psychology and applied experience introduce these skills and a range of career options.
• You’ll also have support throughout your degree from your personal tutor, part of our team of helpful and approachable psychology staff who possess a diverse range of research interests.
• We work hard to create a learning environment that offers innovative methods of teaching and assessment, and access to high-specification facilities such as our observation and psychophysiology laboratories, Neuroscan software and hardware, and Stim2 software.
• The course provides opportunities to achieve the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society, as well as additional qualifications (e.g. Test user certificate in occupational (ability) assessment).

Key Features

• The BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Bolton is one of the most well-established psychology courses in the UK. It’s accredited by the British Psychological Society, so offers opportunities to progress to further professional qualifications and employment as a professional psychologist when you graduate at the required standard.
• You’ll be guided to explore the theories and concepts of psychology that apply to a wide range of human behaviour, including the philosophical, historical and social issues that have influenced the study and practice of psychology.
• You’ll have the chance to examine the relevance of psychology across the spectrum of human activity, including criminal behaviour, the psychology of cyberspace, therapeutic practices, and group and individual behaviours.
• We’ll explain the methods of psychological research, including collecting and analysing data, and encourage you to explore key skills such as accessing and evaluating information and effective communication skills.
• Throughout the course, you’ll be encouraged to devise, implement and write up research projects that focus on psychological phenomena.
• Personal supervision from staff throughout the course ensure you have the best possible opportunity to achieve your true potential. The course team is also committed to maximising your opportunities for future graduate-level employability.

Professional recognition

• Successful completion of the degree course is approved as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society, provided the minimum standard of qualification of second class honours is achieved.
• The British Psychological Society is the professional body of psychologists.

Literature is an extraordinary resource for broadening your intellectual understanding. It’s one of the most powerful ways we can experience others’ lives, enjoy worlds we’ve never visited, and develop our appreciation for the sheer power of words in expressing ideas and emotions. Through in-depth study and analysis of a range of texts and formats – including prose, poetry and plays – you’ll have the chance to hone your critical skills and develop your prowess as a creative communicator.

We’ll guide and support you through a rich course of study that should help you extend your understanding of language and how it can inform, persuade, shock and delight. Join us on a journey into the world of literature, where we’ll help you develop a deeper understanding of the social, political, historical and cultural contexts, and the impact of literary texts.

Our experienced and highly qualified team offers you a supportive environment in which to explore the central role of language in the creation of meaning. Through research, discussion, argument and analysis, you’ll have opportunities to learn to use language, effectively and powerfully, to achieve your goals.

Highlights

• Our English and Creative Writing courses are ranked second in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2020.
• The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 also ranks our English subject area as top in the UK for student experience and second in the UK for teaching quality.
• You’ll get the opportunity to benefit from our strong links with external creative organisations, including the nationally acclaimed Octagon Theatre, Bolton, where you can gain behind-the-scenes access and workshop experience.
• To give you publishing experience, we encourage you to submit your work to our literary magazine The Bolton Review.
• Our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers are professional writers and researchers whose work is published or produced on stage, screen or radio.
• We have excellent industry contacts and strong links to external creative organisations such as publishers, production companies, theatres, libraries, art galleries, schools, funding bodies and arts development agencies – so we can offer you work experience in a wide variety of settings.

Key Features

• We offer popular options in women’s writing, Gothic fiction, children’s literature, film adaptation and contemporary poetry, as well as a range of creative writing workshops in poetry, fiction and drama.
• You can benefit from the latest thinking and discoveries, as our course tutors are active researchers in poetry, prose and drama, and feed their knowledge back into the curriculum.
• We’ll help you develop a range of skills highly valued by employers, such as written and verbal communication, presenting information and ideas, argument and persuasion, working to tight deadlines, and research and critical analysis.
• You can attend guest lectures from literary scholars, and hear contemporary writers’ work at the University’s regular literature events.

Visual effects (VFX) and animation is at the heart of creating spectacular imagery for the film, TV, commercial and music video industries. VFX is an integral part of nearly every global blockbuster film in the modern era. Whether it’s the creation of hideous monsters, futuristic vehicles, or epic alien landscapes, VFX is the driving force behind the magic that you see on screen.

Our BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation course is ideal if you wish to combine design creativity with cutting-edge 2D and 3D computer generated imagery and animation to create visual effects. We offer hands-on experience covering the whole workflow of a digital VFX pipeline – from concept design, pre-production and visualisation, to the production of photorealistic 3D models/environments, and computer generated and composited images.

Our dedicated and experienced team will lead you in an exploration of 3D computer modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation, as well as the established areas of compositing, matte paintings and environments.

VFX artists need transferable skills too, including communication, project and time management, team-working and entrepreneurship. We aim to support you to develop these attributes, alongside the imagination, flair and curiosity that will enable you to design and deliver inventive VFX and animation solutions for film, TV and advertising.

Highlights

• Each year our final year students are set industry briefs by Oscar-winning VFX studios such as DNEG. Getting involved with these industry projects can help you form great links with top VFX studios, as well as give you direct feedback on your work from leading industry artists and professionals.
• You’ll have access to our fantastic range of VFX facilities, including our dedicated effects studio with infinity curve green screen, our site-wide renderfarm that uses distributed computing to render high quality, complex photo realistic scenes and environments, and our boutique film studio that includes broadcast standard cameras and lighting equipment.
• You’ll also use industry-standard software, such as Autodesk Maya for 3D work, The Foundry’s Nuke and Mari for compositing and digital painting, Houdini for technical effects and dynamics, and ZBrush for digital sculpting.
• We’re committed to helping develop your employability and career network. You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning and help you make contacts in the industry. For instance, Malcolm Watts, a Lead Modeller at Oscar Award-winning visual effects studio DNEG (and University of Bolton VFX graduate) has recently shared his expertise with students on our film FX courses.
• Alongside your visual effects skills and knowledge, we’ll support you to develop a broader understanding of production design, including concepting, cinematography and composition. This will help you appreciate the roles, skills and expectations of other professionals working in the industry.

Key Features

• The course is designed and regularly reviewed in collaboration with professional visual effects artists and studio directors. This ensures that the content is industry-relevant and includes the latest techniques and innovations.
• We’ll help and support you to develop a portfolio of work/show reel that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.
• Course assignments and projects mimic industry pipelines and standards so your experience is a realistic preparation for a career in visual effects and animation.
• Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
• We prefer to keep student numbers relatively small in lecture and practical classes, so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask us questions and get individual help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• We’ll encourage you to research, analyse, design and develop visual effects techniques so that you can take an idea from a brief or script scene and find the most time-efficient, cost-effective and visually impressive way to turn that vision into reality.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation degree holds Tick accreditation from Screen Skills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based creative industries, including animation, film, games, television including children's TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. Working with industry experts, ScreenSkills awards the quality mark of the Tick to practice-based degree courses that most effectively provide students with the skills and knowledge required by employers in the screen industries. ScreenSkills provides the highest level of industry-led accreditation for VFX focused degrees, meaning our degree is globally recognised for its outstanding levels of teaching, employability and links into the VFX industry.

The market value of the UK games industry was approximately £5.7 billion in 2018, with over 37 million people playing games in the UK*. If you are seeking a career in a strong sector of the economy, then games is an excellent choice. From PC, console and mobile games, through serious games for education and training, to the emerging virtual reality games market, software developers are seeking highly qualified games specialists.

Our Games Design course offers a broad study of games, with an emphasis on the technical, design and innovation aspects, rather than programming. Key topics include content production, games and level design as well as platforms and technologies. Our dedicated games team will work to help you develop skills in games analysis, usability and playability testing and understand the concepts underpinning games production and the business of computer games (for instance sales and marketing).

Team-based projects involving regular critique sessions with your peers and members of our games team are designed to help you develop the high-level of team working and communication skills that are vital in the games industry. Our intensely practical, hands-on approach aims to encourage and support you to develop a high-quality portfolio of work ready to demonstrate your skills and creative flair to potential employers.

Highlights

• We share your passion for games. As well as extensive experience playing games (just like you!), our dedicated games tutors offer a vast range of industry experience, a wide network of contacts in the games industry, and knowledge of the latest games research and developments.
• Industry experts from the leading games studios in the UK, along with Bolton graduates now successful in the sector, are regularly invited to give guest lectures on aspects of games development.
• Team working and collaboration are essential for games industry success, so we encourage you to work with students from our Games Art and Games Programming courses forming interdisciplinary teams to complete games projects.
• Our Game Jams are great opportunities to build your social network and practice your communication, project management and problem solving skills.
• We work with games development companies on games usability and software testing, giving you the opportunity to test games before they go to market. In the past, some of our students have even got their names mentioned in the credits.

Key Features

• University of Bolton games graduates have been enjoying careers in the games industry for longer than most – we were one of the first UK universities to offer games courses.
• The course covers both 2D and 3D game environments, concepts and mechanics for traditional gaming (PC and console), mobile gaming (cloud, social and casual), and virtual reality gaming, along with game play analysis and testing.
• We offer opportunities for you to go on studio visits and field trips, undertake work experience with relevant studios, and network with professionals.
• The assignments and projects set on the course are based on industry pipelines and standards to give you a real feel for a career in the games sector.
• Our well-equipped, dedicated games labs feature high-specification PC hardware, HTC Vive VR systems and industry-standard software, along with modern and vintage consoles.

The MSc in Software Engineering offers graduates with a background in computing and programming the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of advanced software methodologies. This intensely practical course supports and encourages you to hone your creative thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills through the use of realistic scenarios inspired by the industry experience of our tutors and professional software engineering contacts.

You’ll have the opportunity to study the latest methodologies and development techniques and deepen your understanding of approaches such as design patterns and contemporary software engineering practices. We’ll support you as you acquire the capacity to adapt and learn new skills ready to respond as the software engineering industry evolves throughout your career. Since software engineering is an international business unconstrained by geographical area, you’ll also explore issues such as localisation within application development.

The programme has been designed collaboratively with industrial partners, giving you the chance to equip yourself with professional skills, and understand the ethical and environmental issues you’ll encounter in your professional life.

You’ll also be encouraged to prepare for your postgraduate career with coursework designed to help you develop sophisticated intellectual capabilities in research, critique, synthesis and innovation, and enhance essential skills such as group working and report writing.

Highlights

• Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
• We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small, so that you have plenty of opportunities to us ask questions and get help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• We have well-established links with the software engineering industry, and continually monitor and update the course to make sure the content is industry-relevant and introduces you to the latest thinking and innovations.
• We are committed to helping you develop your employability and career network. You will be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry and contribute to your professional development.

Key Features

• We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• We want to work with you as an individual, giving you access to the help and support you need to succeed.
• Our commitment to provide the best possible learning environments has seen us make significant investments in our IT facilities.
• Many of our computing facilities can be accessed across the internet, allowing you to work on your assignments whenever and wherever you choose.
• Our lecturers take time to build strong personal relationships with all students, enabling questions to be answered quickly and easily.

Graduate Sport Rehabilitators (GSRs) are in demand due to our increasing participation in sport and exercise and the injuries that we inevitably sustain. Sport rehabilitators are trained in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and are essential across all levels of sport, from amateur to elite. Our British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT) accredited BSc (Hons) Sport Rehabilitation degree offers industry-approved training ready for a career working with sports men and women and members of the public.

We focus on equipping you with hands-on practical experience teamed with an invaluable grounding in theory, so you can graduate with a well-rounded skillset. Our dedicated and professionally experienced team will guide you as you explore musculoskeletal injury prevention screening, specific exercise therapy and clinical treatment skills. Extensive practical and laboratory work will help to cement your understanding of human anatomy, the biomechanics and physiology of the human body, and the pathology of injury and dysfunction.

You may gain direct experience on-campus at our Sports & Spinal Injury Clinic and Athlete Development Centre in Bolton One, as well as through external placements, safe in the knowledge that as a graduate you’ll be eligible to practice as a registered GSR, rehabilitating athletes from injury.

Highlights

• This course is accredited by BASRaT. As a graduate of this degree you will be eligible to join the BASRaT practitioner register, and subsequently use the title of Graduate Sport Rehabilitator (GSR). BASRaT’s accredited practitioner register is approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.
• Our solid links with professional and elite sport mean we can access an extensive array of placements. We work with Olympic sports, Premiership and Super League rugby clubs, professional and semi-professional football clubs, as well as with an army specialist mobility rehabilitation centre, private clinics and orthopaedic departments.
• Two of our final year students, who meet the specific entry criteria, are chosen each year to attend our prestigious overseas placements that are co-ordinated with a USA university, allowing them to gain experience in athletic training departments for NCAA sports.
• You will be encouraged to attend world-class guest lectures from renowned sports professionals and practitioners in the orthopaedic, sports and private practice arenas. These enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry and contribute to your professional development.
• You’ll have the opportunity to gain additional qualifications as part of your programme. These include a first aid certificate, the Royal College of Surgeons-endorsed level 2 certification in Immediate Care in Sport, assessed by the Rugby Football Union, and eligibility for an externally recognised level 3 sports massage qualification.

Key Features

• Our on-campus facilities are based in the £31 million Bolton One building, including hydrotherapy and swimming pools, rehabilitation suite, strength and conditioning suite, fully-equipped physiology and biomechanics laboratories, and specialist classrooms. We also use some facilities at the world-class Bolton Arena.
• We offer a highly qualified and experienced team of multi-sports practitioners and academic staff with links to top-flight athletes and sports teams. Our chartered, state-registered and BASRaT-accredited lecturing staff are involved in current clinical practice and relevant research.
• Opportunities exist for you to gain experience in our clinician-led Sport & Spinal Injury Clinic and our Athlete Development Centre, where you can engage with a range of athletes: elite, professional, recreational and participatory.
• You’ll complete at least two external placements, and gain over 400 supervised clinical hours of experience prior to graduation. For example, your placements may be at professional sports clubs, physiotherapy clinics, the Ministry of Defence, or even overseas in the USA.
• We offer bespoke pathways if you are keen to have a career in the Military. On successful completion of the Military application and interview process, you will have the chance to partake in paid training alongside your degree; in fields such as Combat Medic Technician.
• Your dedicated personal tutor will support you to develop valuable transferable skills such as communication, self-management, group working, numeracy, research and critical evaluation.

Professional recognition

• The course is accredited by the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT), the professional body for Graduate Sport Rehabilitators (GSR), who hold an Accredited Professional Register approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Healthcare in the UK. BASRaT provides full professional liability insurance to all graduates, which enables you to practice as a sport rehabilitation professional.