Entry requirements

2:1 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in design or a related discipline.

We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information.

If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.

Months of entry

October

Course content

Why Lancaster?

  • Use this Master’s course as a springboard into a rewarding career - our graduates are the next generation of design leaders
  • Learn from world-renowned figures in design, be among the first to hear about their latest research and the innovative way we take design in new directions
  • Explore complex design challenges in our cutting-edge Imagination Lab - an intensive, project-based design studio
  • Be part of our vibrant, international community – we benefit from being joined by students and staff from around the world
  • What role does good and bad design play in society? What challenges do design managers face in the real world? You’ll explore questions such as these while examining how design shapes our interactions with people, products and places.

Design for life

Design management is all about how we organise and deploy design solutions to solve problems and add value for users, organisations and society.

Our Master's programme helps you assess the far-reaching impact of strategically deploying design methods to address key issues today and for the future. You’ll focus on much more than just design but on aspects such as delivery to market, the supply chain and sustainability.

You might consider some big issues. How design can be used to help a city reach net zero. Or how to apply data privacy rules when working with the Internet of Things. Or how to give people better access to health services.

Our students and staff join us from diverse disciplinary backgrounds as well as from businesses in various sectors. This creates an inspiring and creative environment that is rich in innovation.

Sparking the imagination

Experience the excitement of creating a prototype in our project-based module – the Imagination Lab. We’ll bring in charities or businesses to set the brief, so you get the sense of working with a client in real life. You may be looking at the steps needed to improve transport around the region or how to tackle social inequalities in a particular town.

In addition, your major research project is a chance to experiment with new design methods and focus on a real research question; for example, using speculative design to consider topics such as artificial intelligence, distributed production and digital space.

Why Should I Study Design at Lancaster?

Lancaster’s distinctive approach to design reflects a department that is at the cutting-edge of the field. Taught by global design experts, our courses move beyond the scope of traditional disciplines such as graphic or product design, to place design in a central role in shaping the world around us.

Design at Lancaster actively responds to rapid changes in technology, complex societal challenges and the pressing need for new ways of thinking about the world. We foreground the designer’s ability to engage with the most difficult of problems, bringing individual and collective creativity together to propose and test new ways forward.

Information for international students

We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.

We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.

If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.

Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Fees and funding

Learn more at our fees and funding page.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • MA
    full time
    12 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification

Course contact details

Name
LICA Admissions
Email
lica-pg-admissions@lancaster.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0)1524 510899