School of Arts and Creative Industries

At SACI, every course is built around a project-led learning model.

• You'll focus on one module at a time rather than juggling multiple modules.
• Teaching is immersive and concentrated, supporting deeper engagement with each project.
• Staff coach, facilitate, and give feedback in a more sustained and meaningful way.
• You can move through the full project cycle (Define–Design–Produce–Reflect) within a block. This structure is designed to support clarity, progression and effective workload management..
• A dedicated teaching window supports focused engagement with external, industry-informed projects and case studies.

You may also have opportunities to work on projects informed by industry, community partners, global issues and professional practice.

Each project moves through four stages:

1. 1

   Define

   Work on a real-world challenge faced by companies and agencies and translate it into a meaningful creative brief.

2. 2

   Design

   “Own the problem”: researching, testing ideas, developing skills, and proposing multiple possible solutions with staff acting as coaches and facilitators.

3. 3

   Produce

   Refine ideas through feedback from staff and, where available, external contributors and deliver a final output.

4. 4

   Reflect

   Evaluate the final outcome with external stakeholders and reflect on progress, professional growth and employability.

Externality is at the heart of the model: you learn by responding to briefs that are anchored in the real world and visible beyond the university, through exhibitions, performances, publications, events or digital platforms.

What we mean by externality

External input can take different forms depending on the course, year and project. Examples include:

• basic: projects that are simulated industry briefs, cross-disciplinary collaborations.
• intermediate: live briefs, organisational partnerships, collaboration with internal research centres, enterprise teams or international partners (e.g. Collaborative Online International Learning).
• advanced: direct collaboration with industry professionals, creative practitioners, alumni and partners on high-level live briefs.

The level of external engagement may increase across a course as you develop skills and confidence, depending on course structure and available opportunities.

Every project results in a carefully researched, professionally relevant output that responds directly to the brief. Outputs can take any format appropriate to the task and discipline.

You will get support for building a discipline-specific portfolio of work during your course, from performances and productions to designs and visual outcomes, which can be used to support applications within the creative industries.

Opportunities involving live briefs, external partners, exhibitions, industry input, projects and professional practice are subject to availability and may vary by course, year and individual circumstances. Participation is not guaranteed and some activities may involve additional costs.