Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Product Design

at University of Bedfordshire - Luton Campus United Kingdom

The UK is at the forefront of product design, but for the country to maintain this position, it needs new talent, people with the imagination and drive to create the next generation of industrial and consumer products.

This course is designed to produce industry-ready specialists who can design, prototype, test and improve products.

You will study using a mix of traditional learning and the very latest techniques, including cutting-edge software programmes and 3D printing, and graduate with a fully developed portfolio of work.

Why choose this course?

• Learn the key aspects of design, including how materials behave under load and in different environments, and the purpose and aesthetics of decorative, functional and combined design
• Study the structural integrity, longevity and failure-in-use of a wide range of products
• Develop your understanding of engineering and fluid mechanics, and design process management
• Gain an in-depth appreciation of the importance of team working and project management
• Explore your subject with experienced and professional tutors on an employability-focused course
• Challenge yourself as you produce robust and functional prototypes of your work and a fully-developed portfolio of work
• Benefit from a university location that is close to some of the biggest employers of product designers in the UK.

Models of work are constantly evolving, but one thing does not change: people still need to be recruited, trained, motivated and paid to meet an organisation's requirements. If your interests lie in effective people management, this course puts you on the right path.

You begin your journey with a thorough grounding in business before exploring the many aspects of human resource management (HRM): professional practice; leadership and motivation; creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; business systems including international business; selection and recruitment; employee relations; and employment law.

Learn from expert tutors as you carry out practical projects that emulate working as a professional manager, and develop your practical experience with an optional year’s paid work placement in a HRM role.

In your final year, study strategic HRM, examining real firms with a view to solving people problems, and carry out an independent research project.

Why choose this course?

• Develop your understanding of how HRM works with other business disciplines, knowledge that will enable you to fit into numerous types of organisation in the future - private, public or not-for-profit
• Learn from experts in their field, active within the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and in both consultancy and research
• Challenge yourself with an optional sandwich year placement after your second year.
• If you want to step up into higher education, we also offer a degree path with an initial Foundation Year (see below)
• Equip yourself with a range of subject-specific and transferable skills suited to a career in specialist human management roles or professional business and management environments, both national and international

“The University has offered me numerous opportunities to develop my skills and expand my network, and has constantly pushed me outside of my comfort zone, helping me become a real HR professional. My lecturers have always been supportive and understanding, and put great effort into communicating with us. All in all, these have been the most important three years of my life!”

The international tourism industry continues to grow and flourish increasing the need for senior planners and managers with the skills to tackle a broad range of global management issues.

From heritage, cultural, social, environmental and political matters, to questions concerning strategic management and sustainable development, this course will provide you with a critical overview of the subject.

You will gain the knowledge and skills to understand the role of critical evaluation techniques and decision-making strategies necessary to establish yourself and thrive in a senior management role.

There are six entry points through the year. This allows you to start when it is most suitable.

Why choose this course?

• Study major aspects and developments in international tourism and how these may be positively reflected in management practice
• Explore the interconnectedness of international tourism within its economic, technological, socio-cultural, psychological and political contexts, and deepen your knowledge of the effects of tourism on the environment
• Develop your knowledge of academic frameworks, theories and understandings within the policy and professional practice environment of tourist enterprises and business
• Gain access to high-quality research through our Institute for Tourism Research (INTOUR) and draw on numerous practical projects and case studies from a range of national and international organisations in the commercial, public and third sectors
• Benefit from our extensive links with industry, many of which provide opportunities for internships and possible employment.
• The University of Bedfordshire is a member of The Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE). ATHE is the subject association for tourism in higher education in the UK. It represents universities that are leading providers of tourism programs.

The MBA is a flagship generalist management qualification designed to meet the needs of early career individuals and is structured to support your aspirations for fast track career progression through the development of leadership and strategic management skills and a contemporary understanding of business.

The course adopts a practice-led curriculum and aims to develop an advanced knowledge of organisations and their effective management in the dynamic competitive global context, and the ability to creatively apply this knowledge and understanding to complex issues to systematically and innovatively enhance strategic business and management practice.

This offers a challenging learning opportunity to encourage the integration of theory and practice supported by experienced academics with substantial management experience.

Through practice events you will work with academics and professors of practice on live consultancy projects with leading employers in organisations across private, public and not-for-profit sectors to support your personal and professional development as a creative and innovative leader with the knowledge and skills needed in the global, knowledge-based economy.

You will develop the attributes and skills expected of post-graduates, as recognised by professional and industry bodies such as the Chartered Management Institute and the Confederation of British Industry, including team-working, negotiation skills, leadership, confidence and the ability to apply critical and creative thinking to complex and unclear problems to develop innovative solutions.

This degree aims to enhance your professional prospects by developing your capability to apply the latest thinking relating to organisational development and change in the competitive global context. Successful completion of the MBA highlights your potential to have a real impact on the transformation of the organisation you join.

Marketing graduates, with understanding of the dynamics of modern business marketing, are highly employable, and this professionally-accredited degree will ensure you are up-to-date with developments in communications, digital and social media as well as essential business functions like finance, HRM and operations.

Marketing embraces psychology, consumer behaviour, management, innovation, sociology and popular culture and is central to life in the 21st century.

After studying buyer behaviour, marketing data analysis, branding, competition, and media and communications, you will combine it all in practical assignments.

Why choose this course?

• Learn from staff with extensive industry experience as you engage with real marketing projects
• Study the latest marketing developments ensuring you graduate with up-to-date knowledge
• Develop your career opportunities with an optional placement and links to industry practitioners
• Gain knowledge of marketing and communications areas including management, marketing in contemporary contexts, marketing data and international business
• Explore a range of potential career options including sales, brand management, business development, market research, communications and customer liaison
• Benefit from studying a degree accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), with an optional placement (sandwich) year.

In each year of study, you will be involved in  practical marketing projects from real companies and you will interact with professional practitioners, allowing you to engage with theory and practice and encourage you to make links between your studies and workplace practice.

This provides you with an understanding of modern business marketing and will ensure that you are up-to-date with developments in communications, digital and social media, as well as business functions like finance, HRM and operations.

Our professionally-accredited course will provide you with the opportunity to take the Introductory Certificate in Marketing qualification awarded by the renowned Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), with further exemption opportunities for the CIM Professional Certificate and CIM Professional Diploma.

After graduation, this could provide a great way to start your marketing career and save you time and money towards your professional marketing qualification

This 2 year Master’s courses will give you the opportunity to be awarded a subject specific degree in Project Management with Data Analytics.

The course will improve your knowledge and skills to manage projects effectively in the commercial, public and third sectors (including the voluntary sector). You will learn from your experience of managing real projects by critically assessing a range of project management methodologies, tools and techniques.

The Data Analytics units cover a wide range of topics including programming, databases, security, project management and computer networking, giving you both the underpinning theory and the ability to apply it to complex real-world problems.

Why choose this course?

• 2 year subject specific degree with data analytics.
• During this course you will learn from your experience of managing real projects by critically assessing a range of project management methodologies, tools and techniques.

The contemporary professional and economic environment of globalised markets commands persistence on quality, the immediate adjustment to the rapidly changing conditions and opportunities, as well as the need for a long-term vision. The world is recovering from a very severe economic crisis which originated in the financial sector and very quickly affected the economies of most countries in the western world.

In the aftermath of this and in a globalised world, the study of finance proves to be essential in understanding the way businesses operate, governments exercise policies and countries cooperate and compete with each other.

Economics on the other hand is the foundation of modern finance. It offers students the opportunity to acquire the cognitive knowledge and skills required to understand the structure of the world we live in.

This course will provide students with an intimate knowledge of the structural issues economies are facing and the way they are being realised in today’s economic affairs through the dominance of financial institutions. Student will be able to apply economic analysis to real-life issues while the technical and analytical skills that are necessary to understand key developments in the global markets will be developed.

The Department of Law and Finance has a critical number of academic staff who will support the delivery of this course. They are highly qualified academics and experienced professionals whose research achievements in the areas of economics and finance and real-life experience promise a unique student experience.

Why choose this course?

The world is recovering from a very severe economic crisis, which originated in the financial sector and very quickly affected the economies of most countries in the western world. In the aftermath of this and in a globalised world, the study of Finance is essential in understanding the way business operate, governments exercise policies and countries cooperate and compete with each other. Economics on the other hand is the foundation of modern finance.

If you are willing to pursue a degree in Economics, driven by the need to understand how the western world is structured and how the environment, in which businesses and financial institutions operate, is working, this course will be of interest to you. You will be able to apply economic and financial analysis to real life issues. All necessary technical and analytical skills that are desired by employers in economics and finance relevant institutions will be developed.

With its strong emphasis on real-world and real-work experience, this entrepreneurial-focused course gives you the skills you need to achieve success producing first-class television studio and film work.

The degree offers a business-based approach to TV and film production, providing you with the knowledge and expertise you need to establish a successful career in this dynamic industry.

In your first year, you explore creating content; film and TV studio production; and reading the screen. Later units include freelancing; fiction film-making; and writing for the screen. You also work independently on a special film or TV project of your own choosing.

Why choose this course?

• Produce your own work in our industry-standard production and post-production studio facilities, giving you a head-start if you wish to set up your own production company
• Learn from studying with an academic team with key roles in the British film industry, many of whom have made documentaries and dramas for TV, cinema and gallery exhibitions
• Develop your skills and take on live creative briefs through our links with the local film and TV community, including Luton Culture and Clearhead Productions
• Broadcast your own work and assist with the running of a TV studio through BedsTV, the University’s student-run online television channel  
• Build your professional knowledge by exploring the business issues that affect television broadcasting in the UK
• Benefit from learning key transferable skills in communication, team working, critical evaluation and analysis
• If you need a step up into higher education, start with a Foundation Year which guarantees entry to the undergraduate degree

Law plays a key role in all aspects of our lives. Whether at work or play law governs our behaviour and gives shape to government, business and personal relationships.

Our LLB Law with Criminology course will provide you with key communication and research skills. Alongside the core topics which satisfy the Foundation of Legal Knowledge requirements of the Law Society and the Bar Council, you will study key aspects of criminology including why people offend and how crime is controlled, and contemporary issues such as violence in in today's society and corporate and organised crime.

Our law graduates leave us as articulate, knowledgeable and work ready individuals with a range of transferable skills to pursue a career in law, management, HR, the public sector, education and many other areas

Why choose this course?

• Learn the Foundation legal skills alongside key aspects of Criminology, then use and explore them in further units to develop your proficiency and competence even further.
• Study law within the broader economic, social, political, historical, ethical and cultural environment of specific areas of legal knowledge
• Develop your advocacy skills in our newly refurbished courtroom giving you confidence in a realistic setting
• Gain skills in critical analysis, research, teamwork, use of language and argument and the ability to work and learn independently
• Explore your ability to present arguments in a way that others can understand
• Challenge yourself with a demanding but valuable qualification highly regarded by employers which is accredited by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The LLB is the undergraduate degree for all students wishing to pursue a career in law. Graduating with an LLB from the University of Bedfordshire is the first step on your journey towards becoming a solicitor or a barrister. The LLB is recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Council as a Qualifying Law Degree which exempts you from the academic stage of legal training.

The LLB Law with Criminology offers the added opportunity to study the issues of crime and punishment from an alternative perspective. You will study not only what constitutes a crime from in the eyes of the law but also explore the problem of crime and the reasons people commit crimes from a social science perspective.

Teaching on the LLB Law with Criminology is taught by a dedicated team of staff who combine world leading research with professional experience in the legal industry and the criminal justice system.

In class teaching is supported by a range of fantastic extra-curricular opportunities including our Law clinic, our award winning Refugee Legal Aid Clinic and our mooting debate programme.

This 2 year Master’s courses will give you the opportunity to be awarded a subject-specific degree in International Business with Data Analytics. As the business world morphs to accommodate the dynamic economic environment of today, this course introduces non-specialists to a range of business functions areas to enable you to become knowledgeable and effective managers.

The course focuses on developing an awareness of business operations in an international environment, the management of corporate reputation and brands, international finance, and cultural awareness in global contexts.

The Data Analytics units cover a wide range of topics including programming, databases, security, project management and computer networking, giving you both the underpinning theory and the ability to apply it to complex real-world problems

Why choose this course?

• 2 year subject specific degree with data analytics.
• This course introduces non-specialists to a range of business functions areas to enable you to become knowledgeable and effective managers.