Buckinghamshire New University
Sound Design BSc (Hons)
Buckinghamshire New University

Key Course Facts

Student Reviews

Below you can see course specific reviews of 15 graduates of Sound Design BSc (Hons) and other courses in Music at Buckinghamshire New University for each of the survey questions in comparison to the average for all UK degree courses in Music.

The NSS is commissioned by the Office for Students

Salary

Salary of Graduates in Performing Arts

Important: Salary data below is not course specific, but contains data of all students of Music at the university. Due to data collection methodology, salary data is mainly based on data related to undergraduate students.

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £21000 £18500 £23500
25-75 percentile range £18500 - £25500 £14000 - £23500 £18500 - £29000


Salary of all UK Graduates of Performing Arts

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £21455 £18360 £22141
25-75 percentile range £17911 - £25024 £13492 - £22848 £16777 - £27979

Course Description

This degree programme provides a practical, theoretical and creative grounding in sound design across multiple industry areas, from music production to movie soundtracks, games audio, and beyond. Using industry-standard studio and live sound facilities, you’ll learn skills including professional recording and mixing techniques, how to evaluate newly emerging practices and studio technologies and build a portfolio of your personal sound work and projects.

Why study this subject?

With a degree in sound design you could be working in post-production, outside broadcast, tv and film production, live music events, or for an audio supplier or broadcaster such as Sky or the BBC. You would use your studio and music production skills as part of team to create appropriate audio to demonstrate atmosphere, tempo or overall effect.

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

BNU pioneered music business and management degrees over 20 years ago. You’ll get to work in a production-house style environment, collaborating frequently with students from our other courses and with external partners on live projects. You might design sounds to accompany an animated creature created in the university’s motion-capture studio, or work with Film & TV Production students to produce sound and music for a sci-fi scene. You could also implement sound using game engine tools with our games development students.

Honing your skills on real projects, you’ll build an extensive portfolio of work examples and experiences.

All our music degrees at BNU come with membership of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership (MAP), a ground-breaking collaboration between educational institutions and UK Music, designed to maximise the relationship between the industry and educational institutions in order to inform the next generation of industry professionals.

What facilities can I use?

Our state-of-the-art recording studios and Dolby Atmos certified sound lab give you access to the space and technology you need. From individual edit rooms up to large Pro Tools Ultimate studios with attached live rooms and vocal booths, we have it all to help you gain hands-on experience. Studio 1 boasts a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 speaker system and an Avid S6 console. We are one of the first Universities in the UK to adopt Dolby Atmos into a music environment. Studio 2 boasts an Avid D-Command control surface and 24 channels of Focusrite ISA828 microphone preamps. Studio three and the Electronic Music Studio are based around Avid S3/S4 control surfaces and UAD Apollo x8 audio interfaces. The edit booths are equipped with microphone preamps from Avid.

What will I study?

The course covers all the relevant building blocks of sound design. In addition to core recording and mixing skills, you’ll also get to grips with areas such as audio programming and synthesis, game engines and audio middleware, field sound recording, experimental composition and digital instrument design, and spatial audio.

You’ll learn about technology and sound production, and audio principles, theories and practices, and be introduced to the sound and computing technologies used in audio studios and elsewhere. You’ll build on, and apply, these skills to more specific production areas as the course progresses, focussing on areas including live sound, audio drama, sounds for games and VR, and film sound design, before completing a specialist major research project in your final year.

Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in both your first and second year from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.

Jobs & Career Perspectives

15 months after graduation, graduates of this course were asked about what they do and, if they are working, about their current job and their perspectives.

Current jobs

Required skill level of job after 15 months

Jobs of graduates of this course (15 months after graduation)

Example below based on all graduates of Sound Design BSc (Hons) at Buckinghamshire New University

30% Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations
20% Therapy professionals
10% Teaching Professionals
5% Customer service occupations
5% Sales occupations
5% Administrative occupations
5% Sports and fitness occupations
5% Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations
5% Caring personal services

Teaching on the course is highly practical and hands-on with a focus on real production work working within our industry standard studios and sound facilities. The staff on this course have a wealth of professional and academic experience, with many still working in industry. You’ll also learn through group discussion and one-to-one interaction with tutors, as well as through lectures, workshops and master classes. A variety of assessment methods will be used as appropriate to the modules you take, including essays, reports, portfolios of creative audio content, written evaluations, presentations, and some continuous assessment on practical tasks. Assessments will be appropriate to the task, achievable, motivating and vocationally focussed, forming a constructive part of your learning process.

Entry Requirements / Admissions

Minimum Required UCAS Tariff

A typical offer will be a UCAS Tariff score of 88 - 112. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

UCAS Tariff of Accepted Students for Music

Qualification requirements

Including a relevant subject/science @ C or above (80 UCAS tariff points)

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

Applicants who do not meet the minimum requirements for the three-year undergraduate programme, or those who do not feel fully prepared for a degree course, can apply for a four-year programme including a Foundation Year.

Requirements for international students / English requirements

IELTS academic test score (similar tests may be accepted as well)

    • 6.5
    • All other courses
    • 6.5
    • Graduate Degrees
    • 6.0
    • Undergraduate Degrees

For information about applying to Buckinghamshire New University as an International applicant, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/international

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships
Get advice on which foundation courses are best for you to still study Sound Design, BSc (Hons), if you do not meet the minimum requirements in terms of UCAS score, A levels, or English language requirements.

Costs

Tuition Fees Sound Design BSc (Hons)

Channel Islands £9250 year 1
Ireland £9250 year 1
England UK £9250 year 1
Northern Ireland £9250 year 1
Scotland £9250 year 1
Wales £9250 year 1
EU £15000 year 1
International £15000 year 1
EU £15000 year 1
International £15000 year 1

Additional fee information

Most courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees.

You could benefit from financial support through a bursary or scholarship during your time as a student. For more details visit our financial support, bursaries and scholarships section.

Average student cost of living in the UK

Rent £518
Water, gas electricity, internet (at home) £50
Supermarket shopping £81
Clothing £35
Eating out £33
Alcohol £27
Takeaways / food deliveries £30
Going out / entertainment (excl.alcohol, food) £24
Holidays and weekend trips £78
Transport within city £17
Self-care / sports £20
Stationary / books £13
Mobile phone / internet £13
Cable TV / streaming £7
Insurance £51
Other £95
  
Average student cost of living £1092

London costs approx 34% more than average, mainly due to rent being 67% higher than average of other cities. For students staying in student halls, costs of water, gas, electricity, wifi are generally included in the rental. Students in smaller cities where accommodation is in walking/biking distance transport costs tend to be significantly smaller.

How to apply

Application deadline:

January 1, 2025

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Possible Entry Points:

  • year 1 (Default entry point)

University Rankings

Positions of Buckinghamshire New University in top UK and global rankings.

Rankings of Buckinghamshire New University in related subject specific rankings.

Arts Visual & Performing

    • #61 
    • #73 
    Music
    The Guardian University League Tables by Subject
    [Published 09 September, 2023]
    • #66 
    • #78 
    Music
    CUG The Complete University Guide - By Subject
    [Published 08 June, 2023]

See all 6 university rankings of Buckinghamshire New University

About Buckinghamshire New University

Buckinghamshire New University, also known as Bucks, was founded in 1893, in the town of High Wycombe, South East England. This university has chosen to divide its academic offerings into seven separate schools, which is reflected in that learning resources such as libraries are located in their relevant areas to reduce crowding and also increase the ease of looking for the materials the student needs. Bucks has been the recipient of numerous awards, among which we can find the Silver Award from TEF.

List of 191 Bachelor and Master Courses from Buckinghamshire New University - Course Catalogue

Student composition of Buckinghamshire New University

undergraduates:
16465
postgraduates:
860
Total:
17325
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Where is this programme taught

Buckinghamshire New University
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