Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Management (Retail)

at University of Bolton United Kingdom

Business management qualifications open doors and are considered essential whether you are looking to pursue a career in business, or achieve higher levels of responsibility in your current work.

Our BSc (Hons) in Business Management (Enterprise) offers a strong grounding in an essential range of contemporary business management subjects combined with the opportunity to focus your studies in the final year. When you successfully complete the course you’ll also receive the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

By studying core modules that are common between all our BSc (Hons) Business Management programmes, you’ll be exposed to key concepts in areas such as business law, leadership and people management, marketing, strategic management, information systems and big data, project management, finance, innovation and enterprise. This solid foundation will support your advanced studies into specialist areas that support entrepreneurship, such as e-commerce and marketing practice, company law, and financial reporting for management.

Developing your employability is a key focus of this dynamic and flexible programme. Real-life case studies, guest speakers and industry visits are designed to help you to understand the business environment and the needs of employers in local, national and international contexts. We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as communication, data analysis, time management, team working and problem solving.

We also aim to help you develop lifelong learning skills so that you can take ownership of your professional development for the future, maximising your potential for success.

Highlights

• Our team of highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic business management lecturers offer face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support, ensuring you can access help and advice when you need it.
• On successful completion of this dual award course you’ll receive both an academic degree and a professionally-recognised management qualification – the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. You don’t need to take extra exams or coursework to achieve the Diploma – we combine our degree module and CMI assessments streamlining your route to both qualifications.
• This course is part of our Business Management suite of degrees. All students study the same modules at the first two levels of the course to gain an in depth knowledge of the major business disciplines. At Honours level, you can follow the specialist pathway in Enterprise, choose to transfer to one of our other specialist pathways in Law, People Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing or Retail, or follow the core Business Management route.
• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced and enthusiastic lecturers who have worked in a wide range of businesses ranging from multinational organisation to SME’s.
• The University offers excellent 24/7 library and IT facilities, WiFi, and well-appointed learning areas.

Key Features

• This course is offered within our vibrant Institute of Management environment in Bolton town centre.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent support offered by our teaching staff.
• We regularly invite guest speakers who hold senior positions in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and advice.
• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching. We offer a robust academic underpinning to your studies of business management.
• Our dedicated team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research skills and apply these during your final year dissertation.

Our MSc in Biomedical Engineering is focused on helping you gain the advanced knowledge, scientific and technical expertise, and research skills needed for a professional career in this diverse and rapidly developing field. Our dedicated staff will support you to develop the specialist engineering knowledge and skills needed to address medical and biological problems in healthcare, rehabilitation and advanced materials.

We’ll support you as you extend your knowledge and understanding of the engineering and scientific principles that underpin biomedical engineering and explore emerging technological advancements in the field. We’ll focus on helping you gain the postgraduate-level research and critical thinking skills that you’ll need to successfully apply your knowledge and understanding to contemporary problems in the industry. By enhancing your transferable skills, such as critical analysis, problem-solving, project management, decision making, leadership and communication, we aim to help you maximise your employability ready for successful career as a professional biomedical engineer.

Additionally, the course is designed to address all the competencies set out by the Engineering Council and UK-SPEC, and to support you to achieve Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. So, if you’re an ambitious engineering or physical science graduate, this master’s degree should prove an excellent investment in your future.

Highlights

• This master’s course is designed to meet professional institution standards in the UK, and support your achievement of Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
• Our dedicated staff team, who possess a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offers face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support.
• Our approach to teaching and learning is ‘student-centred’, so we’ll work with you on an individual basis, providing tailored help and support throughout your studies.

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.
• By studying alongside students and professionals from other engineering specialisms or alternative industrial sectors, you can benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experience that supports cross-disciplinary thinking.
• This course is based at the University of Bolton’s campus in the North West of England.
• This programme is part of a well-established suite of master’s programmes offered by the School of Engineering at the University of Bolton.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s MSc Biomedical Engineering uses UK-SPEC learning outcomes and is designed to meet the academic requirements leading to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. Please see the Engineering Council UK website for further details of UK-SPEC.
• We’ll be seeking accreditation of the MSc Biomedical Engineering for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

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.

Social work is a varied and rewarding profession centred on people. It offers careers working with children, young people and adults, supporting families, care leavers and older people, as well as those with mental health issues, learning difficulties or physical disabilities. As a social worker, you’ll work in multidisciplinary environments alongside professionals from other agencies, such as housing services, the police and health and social care teams, to empower individuals, families and communities within society.

Our HCPC-approved BA (Hons) Social Work focuses on helping you learn to use your professional judgement and build relationships, both with the individuals and communities you serve as well as with colleagues from other professions and services. Our passionate and knowledgeable staff will support you to develop the sound knowledge of social work theory, models, legislation, policy, ethics and interventions that will underpin your professional decision-making. We’ll cover areas such as the impact of injustice, demography, and social inequality, as well as safeguarding and the signs of harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation. We’ll guide you as you gain key skills, values and behaviours including professional curiosity, inter-personal and communication skills, initiative, leadership, research and critical reflection, partnership working, self-care and resilience, record keeping, and workload management.

Our focus is on preparing you to become a confident, highly competent, compassionate and professional social worker. On successful completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to use your professional expertise to work, assess, plan, implement, evaluate and intervene putting the needs of people first, and ensuring their voice is central to decision making. You’ll be ready to maintain professional and ethical standards while supporting positive change in people's lives in order to improve their wellbeing and independence.

Highlights

• The University of Bolton’s BA (Hons) Social Work is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). On successful completion of this programme, you’ll be eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC as a Social Worker.
• You’ll gain first-hand work experience and have the opportunity to develop an invaluable network of professional contacts during your two work placements. You’ll undertake a second-year placement of 70 days and a final year placement of 100 days. Placements are available in a diverse range of social work areas, helping to prepare you for the changing environments you’ll encounter during your career.
• We offer 30 skills development days that focus on helping you learn specific skills, such as interviewing families, communicating with children, family group conferencing, solution-focused approaches, ‘clarifying, probing and challenging’, resilience for practitioners, case recording and giving evidence in court.
• We’ll help you develop an awareness and appreciation for differing cultural values and behaviours, the factors that influence our journeys from pre-birth through to death, and the effects of age, sexuality, gender identity and expression, capacity, learning ability and physical ability. You’ll also be encouraged to recognise how your own values and experience influence the judgements you make.
• Our professional expert academic tutors come from a wide range of professional and academic backgrounds, including social work and a number of allied health and social care professions. They weave essential knowledge of inter-professional and multi-agency working into their delivery of the theory elements of the course, helping prepare you to work effectively with colleagues from a variety of other professions and agencies.

Key Features

• Our programme offers 200 days of practice-based learning opportunities. We’ll arrange two work placements for you totalling 170 days, and you’ll benefit from an additional 30 skills development days that take place on campus.
• Throughout the course, specialists in the field of social work, other key allied health and social care practitioners, senior managers and policy makers will be invited to join us as guest speakers. You can also expect to meet service users and carers who have direct experience of services and who can offer their unique and valuable perspectives on the role of social workers in the community.
• Our dedicated team will guide you as you develop critical thinking and research evaluation skills and apply these during your honours-level project. This experience will support your on-going professional development in future and help you evaluate evidence to inform your practice and decision-making in the field.
• Social work can be very demanding and carries a lot of responsibility so we’ll support you to learn strategies and techniques that can help you to build your professional and emotional resilience and successfully manage the situations you face.
• On successful completion of this programme, you’ll be awarded a BA (Hons) in Social Work from the University of Bolton.

Professional recognition

• This programme is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be able to demonstrate that you meet the standards of proficiency required by the Health and Care Professions Council and professional capabilities for qualifying social workers. You’ll be eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC as a Social Worker.

Business management qualifications open doors and are considered essential whether you are looking to pursue a career in business, or achieve higher levels of responsibility in your current work.

Our BSc (Hons) in Business Management (Retail) offers a strong grounding in an essential range of contemporary business management subjects combined with the opportunity to focus your studies in the final year. When you successfully complete the course you’ll also receive the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

By studying core modules that are common between all our BSc (Hons) Business Management programmes, you’ll be exposed to key concepts in areas such as business law, leadership and people management, marketing, strategic management, information systems and big data, project management, finance, innovation and enterprise. This solid foundation will support your advanced studies into specialist areas including retail operations, global consumer behaviour and digital marketing strategy.

Developing your employability is a key focus of this dynamic and flexible programme. Real-life case studies, guest speakers and industry visits are designed to help you to understand the business environment and the needs of employers in local, national and international contexts. We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as communication, data analysis, time management, team working and problem solving.

We also aim to help you develop lifelong learning skills so that you can take ownership of your professional development for the future, maximising your potential for success.

Highlights

• Our team of highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic business management lecturers offer face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support, ensuring you can access help and advice when you need it.
• On successful completion of this dual award course you’ll receive both an academic degree and a professionally-recognised management qualification – the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. You don’t need to take extra exams or coursework to achieve the Diploma – we combine our degree module and CMI assessments streamlining your route to both qualifications.
• This course is part of our Business Management suite of degrees. All students study the same modules at the first two levels of the course to gain an in depth knowledge of the major business disciplines. At Honours level, you can follow the specialist pathway in Retail, choose to transfer to one of our other specialist pathways in Law, People Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing or Enterprise, or follow the core Business Management route.
• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced and enthusiastic lecturers who have worked in a wide range of businesses ranging from multinational organisation to SMEs.
• The University offers excellent 24/7 library and IT facilities, WiFi, and well-appointed learning areas.

Key Features

• This course is offered within our vibrant Institute of Management environment in Bolton town centre.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent support offered by our teaching staff.
• We regularly invite guest speakers who hold senior positions in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and advice.
• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching. We offer a robust academic underpinning to your studies of business management.
• Our dedicated team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research skills and apply these during your final year dissertation.

Professional recognition

• Graduates of the BSc (Hons) Business Management (Retail) pathway will receive a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management from the CMI (Chartered Management Institute).
• The Level 5 Diploma is the CMI’s benchmark qualification and offers the quickest exemption route towards Chartered Manager (CMgr MCMI) status. Chartered Manager status is only awarded by the CMI and is the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession.

Business management qualifications open doors and are considered essential whether you are looking to pursue a career in business, or achieve higher levels of responsibility in your current work.

Our BSc (Hons) in Business Management (Supply Chain) offers a strong grounding in an essential range of contemporary business management subjects combined with the opportunity to focus your studies in the final year. When you successfully complete the course you’ll also receive the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

By studying core modules that are common between all our BSc (Hons) Business Management programmes, you’ll be exposed to key concepts in areas such as business law, leadership and people management, marketing, strategic management, information systems and big data, project management, finance, innovation and enterprise. This solid foundation will support your advanced studies into specialist areas including logistics and operations, supply chain and information management.

Developing your employability is a key focus of this dynamic and flexible programme. Real-life case studies, guest speakers and industry visits are designed to help you to understand the business environment and the needs of employers in local, national and international contexts. We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as communication, data analysis, time management, team working and problem solving.

We also aim to help you develop lifelong learning skills so that you can take ownership of your professional development for the future, maximising your potential for success.

Highlights

• Our team of highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic business management lecturers offer face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support, ensuring you can access help and advice when you need it.
• On successful completion of this dual award course you’ll receive both an academic degree and a professionally-recognised management qualification – the CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. You don’t need to take extra exams or coursework to achieve the Diploma – we combine our degree module and CMI assessments streamlining your route to both qualifications.
• This course is part of our Business Management suite of degrees. All students study the same modules at the first two levels of the course to gain an in depth knowledge of the major business disciplines. At Honours level, you can follow the specialist pathway in Supply Chain, choose to transfer to one of our other specialist pathways in Law, People Management, Enterprise, Finance, Marketing or Retail, or follow the core Business Management route.
• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced and enthusiastic lecturers who have worked in a wide range of businesses ranging from multinational organisation to SME’s.
• The University offers excellent 24/7 library and IT facilities, WiFi, and well-appointed learning areas.

Key Features

• This course is offered within our vibrant Institute of Management environment in Bolton town centre.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent support offered by our teaching staff.
• We regularly invite guest speakers who hold senior positions in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and advice.
• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching. We offer a robust academic underpinning to your studies of business management.
• Our dedicated team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research skills and apply these during your final year dissertation.

Professional recognition

• Graduates of the BSc (Hons) Business Management (Supply Chain) pathway will receive a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management from the CMI (Chartered Management Institute).
• The Level 5 Diploma is the CMI’s benchmark qualification and offers the quickest exemption route towards Chartered Manager (CMgr MCMI) status. Chartered Manager status is only awarded by the CMI and is the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession.

Of all the great computing degree options available at Bolton, this is the most flexible. It draws on key elements from other study pathways to give you a wide-ranging and industry-informed programme. As you progress, you’ll have the opportunity to ‘zoom in’ on aspects of the subject you have personal interest and strengths in, or that support your career or further study goals.

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 intentionally small class sizes, we can offer you more meaningful and personalised interaction with our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers – many of whom are active researchers and come with extensive industry insights and experience. 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

• 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.
• 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.
• A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. So we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer industry contact, and contribute to your underlying professional development.
• By structuring our module content, assignments and projects to mimic industry processes and standards, we aim to provide an industry-relevant education that leads you towards a successful career.

Key Features

• 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.
• We’ll focus on your individual needs, and provide personalised support to help find the learning strategies that best support your learning and ultimate success.
• 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 help you build a portfolio of work that demonstrates your skills in developing content for a range of different target devices. This can put you in an advantageous position when you come to approach potential employers.

Aligned to the Final Year ACCA programme, our MSc in Accountancy and Financial Management is designed to support your career development in business, accounting and financial management roles. It offers the finance, accountancy and broader management knowledge that can be central to success in many private and public sector industries.

Our dedicated, highly qualified and experienced team will lead you in an exploration of the principles and practice of financial management and accounting, the context in which they operate, and how they are managed. We’ll support you to learn the applied skills involved in financial reporting and financial management, as well as wider management issues such as corporate and social responsibility, business ethics, risk and business strategy, financial performance, and taxation/auditing.

You’ll be encouraged to explore research methods, giving you the chance to gain an understanding of a range of research tools and analytical techniques. This knowledge will be of value when you undertake your Master’s dissertation – carrying out a substantial piece of research on an accountancy or financial management issue will enhance your critical and investigative skills, and could benefit your professional practice, too.

Highlights

• You’ll have the opportunity to focus on the global competitive environment, with topics including performance management, ethics, social responsibility, and strategic management accounting.
• Students with a good honours degree in business or accountancy can enrol in optional modules that could enhance your employment prospects.
• You’ll be encouraged to develop a critical awareness of the principles and techniques needed for effective financial decision making.
• Your studies will provide you with the opportunity to evaluate existing empirical research, evaluate and apply theoretical concepts, and think critically and creatively.

Key Features

• Our small class sizes – up to a maximum of around 20 students – give you the chance to benefit from direct and personal guidance from our experienced teaching staff.
• By learning from case studies, and being encouraged to use mathematical and statistical techniques to solve business and accountancy problems, you could benefit in professional situations.
• All our tutors have a masters, PhD or professional accountancy qualifications, as well as considerable teaching and professional experience.

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.

Every day we read adverts, engage with websites and spend money based on choices influenced by messages delivered through graphic design. Graphic designers produce content for digital and traditional media. They creatively combine photography, illustration and typography to communicate messages for clients from big brands to small businesses.

This industry has seen massive changes in working methods, practices and media over the last ten years. However, the creative thought process that designers employ remains the same. Built on a series of diverse and challenging practical assignments underpinned by appropriate theory, our Graphic Design degree aims to give you the skills to understand the creative process from start to finish.

The course is designed to help you understand the creative and technical possibilities of contemporary graphics image making coupled with great typography and driven by original thinking. We'll encourage you to explore the theoretical and historical elements that that influence design and think critically about your own work and that of others.

We'll also focus on helping you to develop career-relevant skills. Creativity, technical knowledge, problem solving, team working, independence, time management and communications skills are all essential for success as a professional graphic designer.

Highlights

• Our Art courses are placed in the top ten in the UK for student-to-staff ratio by the Guardian University League Tables 2020, so you have access to individual tutor support and small group teaching.
• You'll have the opportunity to work on client-led briefs and be encouraged to engage in additional live briefs during your spare time so that you can gain industry-relevant professional experience to enhance your CV.
• You'll be encouraged to apply for placements, internships, awards, competitions, masterclasses and other external development opportunities, such as the D&AD (Design and Art Directors) folder clinics – the ‘Oscars’ of graphic arts.
• We'll offer you the opportunity to present your work to the public and impress potential employers during Bolton School of the Arts’ Creative Showcase in your final year.

Key Features

• Our £10 million purpose-built facilities include extensive computer suites featuring the latest design and graphics software, professional standard traditional and digital photographic studios, and fully equipped fine art workshops and studios.
• You can learn to use the latest design software, while being encouraged to generate ideas and problem solve using traditional media and techniques.
• You'll have the opportunity to use traditional graphic design media, including wood block printing, screen printing and lino cutting.
• You'll have access to a rich visiting speaker programme, providing insight into industry experts’ professional practice and up-to-the-minute developments in the sector.
• Our specialist tutors and technical support staff have professional experience and industry connections.
• We offer opportunities for you to participate in foreign study trips, as well as visit current exhibitions and events at galleries and arts centres around the UK. We also encourage you to attend design-related professional development lectures and conferences.