Warwick's innovative Design and Global Sustainable Development degree challenges you to think critically about important problems such as human rights, environmental impact, technological and digital advancement and consider practical, design-led solutions. Study with us and prepare to make a real difference in the world.
On this unique and exciting new course, you will explore current issues of global significance from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and examine how positive change can be achieved through the application of the theory and practice of design. This is a future facing programme which aims to develop a new generation of sustainability experts and designers. By studying this degree, you will acquire the knowledge and skills to become a responsible and ethical global citizen able to tackle society’s major challenges in order to build a sustainable and regenerative society.
You will work with sustainability and design industry experts and regional communities to co-design products, processes and solutions. You will have the opportunity to enhance your skills and studies through optional work placements, study abroad, and certificates.
Our Global Sustainable Development courses are fully accredited with the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals.
This means that upon graduation from the courses, our students receive a professionally recognised level of knowledge, skills and tools for working in sustainability practice.
Entry requirements
A level typical offer
AAA
You will also need grade 4/C in GCSE Mathematics and grade 4/C in GCSE English Language.
We do not require applicants to have formally studied subjects in art and design prior to application, but we do look for a clear demonstration of applicants’ interest in Design as well as Global Sustainable Development. Interest and experience should be described in your personal statement and there is no requirement to provide a portfolio as part of your UCAS application.
A level contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is AAB. See if you're eligible.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
International Baccalaureate (IB) typical offer
36
You will also need grade 4/C in GCSE Mathematics and grade 4/C in GCSE English Language or International Baccalaureate grade 4 in English A (Higher or Standard Level), grade 4 in Higher Level English B or grade 5 in Standard Level English B.
We do not require applicants to have formally studied subjects in art and design prior to application, but we do look for a clear demonstration of applicants’ interest in Design as well as Global Sustainable Development. Interest and experience should be described in your personal statement and there is no requirement to provide a portfolio as part of your UCAS application.
International Baccalaureate (IB) contextual offer
We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 34. See if you're eligible.
You will also need grade 4/C in GCSE Mathematics and grade 4/C in GCSE English Language or International Baccalaureate grade 4 in English A (Higher or Standard Level), grade 4 in Higher Level English B or grade 5 in Standard Level English B.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
BTEC
We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside one or two A levels.
Scotland Advanced Highers
AA in two Advanced Highers and AAB in three additional Highers subjects.
Welsh Baccalaureate
AAB in three subjects at A level plus grade C in the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales.
Access to Higher Education Diplomas
We will consider applicants returning to study who are presenting a QAA-recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma on a case-by-case basis.
Typically, we require 45 Credits at Level 3, including Distinction in 33 Level 3 credits and Merit in 12 Level 3 Credits. We may also require subject specific credits or an A level to be studied alongside the Access to Higher Education Diploma to fulfil essential subject requirements.
We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.
Warwick may make differential offers to students in certain circumstances, such as those who have participated in a Widening Participation programme or who meet the University’s contextual data criteria. These offers are usually one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer.
Do you offer foundation programmes?
All students who successfully complete the Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP) and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme, for selected courses only. Further details are available in the standard offer and conditions for the IFP.
Can I take a gap year before starting my course?
Yes, Warwick welcomes applications for deferred (gap year) entry.
Will I need to interview for this course?
Warwick does not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on the UCAS application, including predicted and achieved grades, the personal statement, and the school reference.
The course is structured on a 50/50 basis with half of the modules each year being taken in each half of the course: Global Sustainable Development (GSD) – Design.
In the first year, core modules will provide a critical understanding of the ‘three pillars of sustainable development’ and the core principles of design theory:
Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development
Environmental Principles of Global Sustainable Development
Social Principles of Global Sustainable Development
Design in Context
Introduction to Design Practice
UX with Service Design
Visual Practice and Curiosity
You will also study the core Global Sustainable Development Project module, giving you the chance to see how the principles of GSD apply to a real case affecting a local community.
The second year will consist of a combination of core and optional core modules. The GSD optional core modules provide you with the opportunity to engage with a key issue in sustainability either:
Health and Sustainable Development Security,
Sovereignty and Sustainability in the Global Food System
Inequalities and Sustainable Development: Inclusion and Dignity for All
You will also choose optional modules with a GSD focus from within or outside the School for Cross-faculty Studies.
In the core Design modules, you will learn different methods of approaching design:
Systemic Design
Social Design
And the optional core modules offer the chance to apply those approaches to either Materials, Space or Society.
You may choose to study abroad for part of your second year at Monash University. During Term One at Warwick, you will study 50% of the workload outlined above. In terms two and three at Monash University you will study modules with an approved sustainability and design focus. These modules will be pre-approved by the GSD Department.
In the final year you will take the core Dissertation and Major Project modules, as well as modules that examine The Business of Design and Design Research. You will also study optional modules with a GSD focus from within or outside the School for Cross-faculty Studies.
Note that the module catalogue is subject to change for future years of study, as we evolve our courses in response to the latest developments in academia and industry. If optional modules are listed below, these can vary from year to year.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Additional Modules
Optional modules vary from year to year. Example optional modules include:
On 26 November 2025, the UK government announced that the tuition fee cap for UK undergraduate students for the 2026-27 academic year would increase to £9,790 from the 2025-26 rate of at £9,535.
Students who qualify for government-regulated fees are classed as ‘Home’ students for fees purposes. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with any inflationary uplift as determined by the UK Government (if permitted by law or government policy).
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
You will repay your loan or loans gradually once you are working and earning above a certain amount. For students starting their course after 1 August 2023 (on Student Finance England’s Plan 5), you will repay when your income is over £25,000 a year.
Repayments will be taken directly from your salary if you are an employee. If your income falls below the earnings threshold or you stop working, your repayments will stop until your income goes back up above this figure.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
There are many different funding routes available, including a number of bursaries and scholarships for full-time undergraduates. If you struggle to meet your essential living costs, our Student Funding team will be on hand to offer advice and support.
Provides additional financial support for qualifying Home students from lower income families of up to £2,500 for eligible students
This bursary is paid directly into your bank account in three equal termly instalments to help with the costs of studying
There is no application for this bursary as your details will be provided directly from the student support awarding bodies (Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland, and Student Awards Agency Scotland)
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award
There are no scholarships available for your School or Department; however, there are other scholarships you may be eligible for - please see our Scholarships webpages for more information.
Tuition fee
If you are an overseas student enrolling in 2026-27, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:
Band 1 – £27,870 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
Band 2 – £35,530 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Mathematics, Statistics, Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)
Overseas Tuition fees for 2027-28 academic year have not been set. In future years, fees for continuing students may be subject to an increase in fees in line with an inflationary uplift. Please check our website for updates about 2027-28 fee rates before you apply.
If you are an EU student and eligible for student finance, you may be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your fees, please visit our Student Funding webpage for guidance for students ordinarily resident outside of England.
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.
Eligibility for student finance will depend on certain criteria, such as your nationality, residency status, course, and previous level of study. The information below is based on the package of financial support available to students starting their course in 2026.
Eligible European Union (EU) Undergraduates can apply for a loan to help with the cost of Tuition Fees. Eligible EU students who meet additional residency criteria may also be eligible for a loan to assist with living costs.For more information please see Student Finance for Undergraduates - EU StudentsLink opens in a new window.
Access thousands of part-time opportunities through our agency UnitempsLink opens in a new window (such as office work, retail jobs or helping at events)
Choose to apply for a job as one of our Student Ambassadors to share your own experience at events like Open Days
If you are an international student, you may be eligible for financial help from your own government, from the British Council or from other funding agencies. You can usually request information on scholarships from the Ministry of Education in your home country, or from the local British Council office.
A number of scholarship opportunities are open to full-time undergraduate students. These include sporting and musical bursaries, and scholarships offered by commercial organisations.
If you experience financial difficulties during your studies, you may be eligible for Hardship Funding from the University, in the form of an Emergency Loan and/or a non-repayable award.
As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.
Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2025/26 year of study). Information about module specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:
Core text books
Printer credits
Dissertation binding
Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Are there any course specific costs?
For departmental specific costs, please see the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue, where module-related costs are detailed.
Teaching and learning
Your GSD modules will be taught by a range of academics from different disciplines. They will communicate their expertise on a specific issue and describe their methodology for addressing it to allow engagement with global challenges with an interdisciplinary perspective. We expect you to bring together these various approaches and to develop your own informed stance on each issue.
Your Design Studies modules will be taught by our expert academics in a Design Studio context which will provide facilities to enable you to develop and hone your design skills. You will learn to work through practical, project-based design assignments that will range in their nature from working with hand constructed materials, plans and curation to digitally developed designs that simulate physical and virtual environments. Throughout your course you will work with live briefs from communities and employers in preparation for a successful career in the design industry.
Seminar and studio practice groups consist of up to 20-25 students.
First-year core modules have between 20 and 25 hours of contact time. Each module consists of lectures, workshops, practical classes and fieldwork. The Global Sustainable Development Project module, includes group supervision sessions. The core modules in Design Studies include a significant proportion of practice-based teaching and have up to 60 hours of contact time.
Second-year core and optional core modules typically have between 30 and 40 contact hours.
The final-year core modules involve lectures, tutorials and supervision sessions.
Optional modules in the GSD Department are available with between 25 and 50 hours for scheduled contact time, depending on the module. Some modules have lectures, workshops, film screenings and research supervision, whereas others only have lectures and workshops. Some GSD modules may also include field trips.
The course uses a variety of assessment methods which are intended to reflect the types of outputs required in the professional environment. In this way, the course prepares you for the working world.
Across the course, you will produce practical work that is both material and digital in nature, sketchbooks and visual research, research papers, reports, policy briefings, posters, portfolios, critical commentaries, presentations in public fora, EPortfolios; blog posts; design dialogues (viva voce); video presentations, pitches, manifestos and you will also write traditional academic essays.
Although it is not compulsory, we encourage you to study abroad during your degree.
Option 1: Part of your second year abroad
Spend part of your second year at Monash University, home to the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. You will learn to appreciate the different concerns and priorities for design for sustainable development, including different approaches to tackling global issues and the associated challenges.
Your academic achievements abroad will count towards your degree awarded by Warwick.
You may choose to apply for an intercalated year spent either studying abroad or on a work placement (subject to you meeting departmental academic requirements). This will mean extending your course to four years.
Warwick has partnerships with universities across the world. You will spend your first and second years at Warwick, studying abroad in your third year before returning for final year.
Your year abroad will not count towards your overall final mark, giving you the freedom to choose modules outside of your comfort zone.
As a GSD graduate, you have a wide range of career pathways available to you. This is demonstrated by the variety of work placements that our students have completed.
GSD students have secured work placements with employers from the private, public, and third sectors. These include (but are not limited to):
Research institutions
Governmental bodies
Non-governmental organisations
Intelligence agencies
Housing
Environmental consultancies
They have undertaken diverse roles such as:
Marketing Assistant
Sustainability Officer
Intelligence Analyst
Researcher
GSD is also accredited by the Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP), a global professional body for individuals and organisations working, studying or interested in sustainability and the environment. As a student in GSD, you can receive a free student membership of ISEP (see details below for joining) and upon completion of the course, will qualify for Graduate Membership of ISEP and the ability to use the GradIEMA title, after your name.
Transferable skills
You will learn valuable transferable skills that will help you with your employment prospects, including:
Analysing and problem solving: Through your study of sustainable development principles and models, you will learn how to extract the essential features of complex systems, providing useable frameworks for evaluation
Critical thinking: You will assess arguments, make judgements, formulate reasoned debates and generate feasible solutions
Communication: You will develop advanced communication skills that enable you to communicate with a variety of audiences and in different settings
Research: You will undertake an integrated programme of research skills training, teaching you how to source, evaluate and use different forms of information and data
Organisation: Through a rigorous assessment schedule and a compulsory dissertation module in your final year, you will learn the essentials of time management, prioritisation and how to be well organised
Collaboration: You will have plenty of opportunities to work with others and nurture your emotional intelligence, developing a professional attitude
IT: You will have received foundational software training
Design Skills: You will have acquired creative design skills in a range of areas
Helping you find the right career
We have a dedicated Employability and Placement Manager who will provide you with one-to-one careers guidance. They work in collaboration with employers, so you will be supported in securing appropriate work placements. You will have access to specialist pre-placement advice, guidance and preparation, as well as on-going support during your placement.
You will also have access to the University’s Student Opportunity resources (including careers counselling, employment advice, and job fairs).
Our Student Opportunity (Careers) department offer a wide range of workshops, from developing confidence and interview techniques to learning how to articulate what you have to offer in order to impress potential employers. Online resources are also available, including training in drafting CVs and covering letters, practice aptitude and psychometric tests, practice online interviews, and other resources to help you research job opportunities. The myAdvantage databaseLink opens in a new window also advertises job, placement and internship vacancies that are from employers who are targeting Warwick students for their recruitment.
We encourage you to undertake a work placement as part of your degree.
You will have the opportunity to take part in short and long work placements. These support you in developing your employability skills and prepare you for future employment.
Apply theory to practice
Explore a future career path
Learn about the professional environment
Learn from industry professionals
We will also support you in sourcing your own work placements outside of the options below.
Year-long work placement
You can complete a four-year degree and your work placement will take place in your third year. The work placement can take place inside or outside the UK.
Watch our video below from Maddie, a recent graduate from Politics and Global Sustainable Development:
Life at Warwick
This is where your journey begins. Our campus is the heart of it all. It’s more than just a campus - it's the places you visit, the people you meet, the fun that you have; the experiences you have here will be transformative.
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities.
Our campus is where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible sports facilities, socialising in our bars, nightclub and cafés, or enjoying an open-air event. Or if you need some peace and quiet, you can explore lakes, woodland and green spaces just a few minutes’ walk from central campus
Follow our students around campus on our social channels to see their experiences first-hand.
Teaching facilities
Our campus is designed to cater for all of your learning needs. You will benefit from a variety of flexible, well-equipped study spaces and teaching facilities across the University.
Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas
Different study spaces offering you flexible individual and group study spaces, computers, printing and scanning facilities, multimedia resources and more
Supporting you
Our continuous support network is here to help you adjust to student life and to ensure you can easily access advice on many different issues. These may include managing your finances and workload, and settling into shared accommodation. We also have specialist disability and mental health support teams.
Whether you live in a campus residence or in partnership accommodation off campus, you’ll be part of a community to get the most from your experience at Warwick.
Societies and sports play a huge part in community life at Warwick. With over 300 to choose from, getting involved is one of the easiest ways to make friends and share in experiences. Whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Your university experience is defined by far more than your course or the career path you follow. At Warwick, it’s where you discover who you could become.
74th
Warwick is ranked 74th in the world and top 10 in all major UK league tables
Our alumni community still call Warwick home. From a few hundred in 1965 to more than 310,000 alumni, and it's ever-growing.
As Warwick graduates, our students have access to employability support for two years after graduation, including access to careers appointments, job vacancies and professional networks.
Do you agree that humanity has reached a point where passivity is no longer an option? Our unique Global Sustainable Development (GSD) degrees allow you to explore ethically and morally complex areas in seeking to find positive interventions with a beneficial impact. Don't worry about the future. Change it.
This information is applicable for 2027 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our web page 'Important information to consider before making an application' in advance of applying to Warwick.
Next steps
Experience campus at an Open Day. Can't visit? Receive regular email updates or ask current students and staff questions about life at Warwick.
