Undergraduate courses

If you want a friendly place to study and lots of support, Derby's the place to be. The atmosphere is unstuffy and really friendly. But don't take our word for it, here's what people say about us:

What our students say

"Staff are always friendly and approachable - even if busy!"

"I've really enjoyed the course and the content is interesting. The University has a great atmosphere"

"Best three years of my life with wonderful, supportive lecturers and tutors who made the course enjoyable and entertaining."

We offer a range of undergraduate courses:

These include:

HNCs and HNDs

These are usually directly related to the world of work and offer excellent professional training.

They're shorter than bachelors degrees, but you'll usually have the chance to stay on at Derby to top your qualification up to a full degree.

Foundation degrees

Foundation degrees are valued by employers and can help you to further your career, as you'll develop the knowledge and skills employers are looking for.

They are equivalent to the first two years of a bachelors degree, but you'll usually have the chance to stay on at Derby to top your qualification up to a full degree.

Year Zero

If you're not quite ready to start a bachelors degree in an art or design subject, you can take Year Zero for one year first.

During this studio-based course, you'll explore, challenge and develop your visual and conceptual skills, so you're ready to move on to the first year of your specialist degree.

Technology Foundation Programme

If you haven't got the right subject qualifications to get straight on to bachelors degrees in these areas:

* engineering

* media production

* music and media technologies

* music technology

You can take the Technology Foundation Programme for a year first to develop your knowledge and skills.

Bachelors degrees

These are qualifications such as BA (Hons), BSc (Hons), BEng, and LLB plus all joint honours courses.

If you study full time, they usually take three or four years, depending on whether you spend a year on a work placement.

And, depending on the course you choose, you could achieve a professional qualification or exemption from professional exams.

Top up degrees

If you already have a HND or foundation degree, you can take a top up degree, which usually takes one year full time, to gain a bachelors degree.

* View all undergraduate courses

* Order our undergraduate prospectus

Post graduate courses

We know that continuing your education with a postgraduate degree is an important decision. Here at Derby we offer a supportive and friendly environment and flexible postgraduate degree options, so you can fit study around your other commitments.

You can study full time, part time or online/by distance learning, whether you're taking a masters degree, PG Cert, PG Dip or a professional course. We also offer research degrees such as PhDs and doctorates.

We have a wide variety of postgraduate degrees in many subjects including arts, design and technology; business; computing and law; education; health and sciences; hospitality; events; tourism and sports management.

Online study

Online study and online degrees - flexible and convenient

You're working, you're busy, how do you find time to study?

By taking an online degree or one of our online courses at Derby, you can study at home, at work or wherever there's a computer.

The benefits of online study:

* You don't waste time travelling to lectures because there aren't any

* You don't have to come to Derby so you can study from anywhere in the UK, or anywhere in the world

* There are no fixed lecture times, so you study when you want, fitting it in around your work or family life

"Distance learning was the only really viable option due to commitments at work" - James, MBA

You won't be on your own

As you'd expect from Derby, we'll give you all the support you need to help you get your online degree. You can call on our dedicated online learning support team whenever you need us and your lecturers and tutors will be really friendly and helpful.

"The University was brilliant. It has its own dedicated e-learning support team who were on hand to sort out my problems" - Karen, BA (Hons) Business Studies

Choose from around 30 online courses

From an MBA or masters degree, to a BA/BSc (Hons) degree online, or shorter professional courses - look for your online degree or other online course now.

Through work

With work-based learning, you can get university qualifications without leaving your workplace

"I had complete control of my learning. I didn't need to visit the University as it's all online and I set all my own deadlines...It was great with my hectic family life"

Robert Worthington Harris

People don't always need to attend college or university to learn because learning is part of everyday working life

Learning Through Work is the name of our award-winning work-based learning scheme. It allows you to plan and structure learning around your job and then have it certified and gain a university qualification

The qualifications you'll gain have the same value as if you'd achieved them by going to university in the traditional way

It benefits you and your employer

You get a qualification that's useful and relevant to your career, and your employer gets a satisfied employee who's learning the latest techniques and developing themselves professionally. And all of this can be done without taking time off work. So everyone benefits

Choose a course that's right for you

Our work-based learning courses are designed for people working in specific areas or disciplines

Get support online, at the end of a phone and face to face

Once you're up and running with your work-based learning, all your support materials, including electronic libraries, will be available online. We have a dedicated team of tutors to support work-based learning students, who can give you help and guidance by email, phone or by face-to-face tutorials

Part-time study

You can study most of our courses part-time - that includes standard undergraduate degrees as well as our postgraduates and professional qualifications