BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Including Foundation Year)
If you don’t quite have the right qualifications to start our Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree, you could opt to start your studies with a foundation course in electrical and electronic engineering.
You’ll study introductory modules relevant to the degree course whilst developing key skills for academic study. Successful completion of the introductory foundation year will allow you to progress onto the degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
As the electronics industry continues to grow worldwide, the demand for electrical and electronic engineering graduates is high. This Electrical and Electronic Engineering qualification offers a healthy balance between theory and practice, with the aim of producing graduates who can play leading roles in industry.
We combine technical engineering with management and business skills, and cover a broad area of this subject discipline, including embedded computing, power, electrical, electronic and communications engineering.
Years one and two provide essential knowledge and skills to prepare you for the final years of the course. Areas of study include analogue and digital electronics, embedded systems, mathematics, power, machines and control, and signals and digital communications.
Lectures are strengthened by hands-on laboratory assignments, which use a range of modern software tools with practical hardware systems. This allows you to realise the theory in a practical way. Group and project work throughout the course will reinforce teamwork and develop transferable skills.
In your final year, you will cover electronics design, control system design, power electronics and drives, telecommunications and embedded systems design. You'll also undertake a major practical project.
Foundation Year: Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree
The Foundation Year will give you a good understanding of our engineering courses and provide you with a good numerical background to support you throughout the remainder of the degree. Following your initial foundation year, you will progress onto the modules studied as part of your award.
- Foundations of Mathematics - 20 credits
- Further Foundation Maths for Engineers - 20 credits
- Essential Engineering Skills - 20 credits
- Engineering Project - 20 credits
- Foundation Engineering Principles - 20 credits
- English for Engineering (optional) - 20 credits
- Electrical Science (optional) - 20 credits
Year One: Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree
- Mathematics for Engineers - 20 credits
- Electrical Principles - 20 credits
- Engineering Applications - 20 credits
- Introduction to C programming and Embedded Systems - 20 credits
- Analogue and Digital Electronics 1 - 20 credits
- Health Safety and Professional Development - 20 credits
Year Two: Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree
- Analogue and Digital Communications - 20 credits
- Power, Machines and Control - 20 credits
- Electrical Principles and Analytical Methods - 20 credits
- Configuration and Programming of Embedded Systems - 20 credits
- Analogue and Digital Electronics 2 - 20 credits
- Group Project and Management for Engineers - 20 credits
Year Three: Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree
- Communication Engineering and Application - 20 credits
- Control System Design - 20 credits (Optional)
- Power Electronics and Drives - 20 credits
- Advanced Embedded Systems - 20 credits (Optional)
- Electronics Design - 20 credits
- Singleton Project and Project Management (40)
- Supervised Work Experience (SWE) - 120 credits
Teaching
You will learn through lectures, which are supported by tutorials, practical sessions and seminar groups. Wherever possible, your work will be based on live projects and case studies, with contributions from industry professionals.
The Electrical and Electronic Engineering course includes activities that help you become self-reliant, self-motivated and resourceful, as well as develop leadership qualities and management expertise.
Assessment
There is a range of assessment methods. The first two years combine exams and assessments based on laboratory work, but in later years there are exams for technical options and coursework or reports for management and project work.
Accreditations
This Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) as partially satisfying the educational base for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. This means that what you learn meets industry standards, so you will graduate with the engineering ability and managerial business skills to succeed. Students completing the MEng qualification will have gained a full educational base for professional development to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng status).
Placements
We encourage you to gain experience in the workplace as part of your engineering degree. Our students have completed year-long placements with a range of companies, including Tata Steel, 3M, Renesas, Airbus UK, Renishaw, GlaxoSmithKline, Panasonic, Bosch, and IBM.
Facilities
Our industry-standard facilities help you make the transition from the classroom into an employment setting. We have three suites that include an embedded systems lab, general electronics lab, and power and renewable energy lab.
Our embedded systems lab contains 25 high-end terminals that run cutting edge development tools that have been designed in conjunction with our sponsor, Renesas – the world’s leading supplier of microcontrollers. This sponsorship means our students are taught using the most up-to-date technologies and development tools.
The general electronics lab is split into three sections – Computer Aided Design (CAD) and embedded systems, practical electronics, and communication engineering. You will learn how to use industry-standard software, construct prototypes, build and test printed circuit boards and use a range of equipment such as oscilloscopes and signal generators.
In the communication engineering section, you will undertake experimental set-ups to support your understanding of theoretical principles. These set-ups include analogue and digital modulation schemes, microwave antennas, time and frequency division multiplexing, coding, transmission lines and fibre optics.
The power and renewable energy lab is where you will learn about the key components and construction skills involved in planning, designing, building and testing electronic circuits which are used in micro renewable energy systems. You will design and simulate your very own renewable systems, analyse performances and produce feasibility reports. Equipment you will find yourself using includes a photovoltaic solar energy unit, wind energy unit and lab-volt stations.
Lecturers
We regularly revalidate courses for quality assurance and enhancement
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
The entry criteria below reflect our standard entry requirements for the course for September 2023. However, all applications received by the University are reviewed holistically and individually. Entry criteria for September 2024 is changing and will be published on ucas.com from 8th May 2023. Entry criteria for September 2024 will be updated on our website from the end of October 2023.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions. USW prides itself on it’s a student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university. Here is a link to our Contextual Admissions Policy.
Other qualifications and experience
We can also consider combinations of qualifications and other qualifications not listed here may also be acceptable. We can sometimes consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or advanced entry to year two or three of a course where this is possible.
To find out which qualifications have tariff points, please refer to the UCAS tariff calculator.
If you need more help or information or would like to speak to our friendly admissions team, please contact us here
Typical A-Level Offer
EE
Typical Welsh BACC Offer
N/A
Typical BTEC Offer
BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass or BTEC Diploma Pass Pass
Typical Access to HE Offer
Pass Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points
Additional Requirements
GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs including Mathematics and English at Grade C/Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent but consideration is given to individual circumstances
International Entry Requirements
We also welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications. Please visit the country specific pages on our international website for exact details.
If your current qualifications don't meet the entry requirements for entry onto year 1 of your chosen undergraduate degree, we offer one-year International Foundation Programmes through our pathway partnership with QAHE to help you reach the level required for progression. For more information visit our Pathway website.
English Requirements
In general, international applicants will need to have achieved an overall IELTS grade of 6.0 with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component.
However, if you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, but please visit the country specific page on our international website for exact details. If your country is not featured please contact us.
Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee will remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course
August 2023 - July 2024 Fees
Full-time UK: £9000
Full-time International: £14400
August 2024 - July 2025 Fees
Full-time UK: TBC
Full-time International: TBC
Student Perks
At the University of South Wales, you’re investing in so much more than a degree. We strive to provide our students with the best possible experience, no matter what you chose to study. Whether it’s access to top of the range mac books and PCs, state-of-the-art facilities packed with industry-leading equipment and software, masterclasses and events led by industry experts, or a wide range of clubs and societies to meet likeminded people, better tomorrows start with extra perks.
Each course also has their own unique student benefits to prepare you for the real word, and details of these can be found on our course pages. From global field trips, integrated work experience and free course-related resources, to funded initiatives, projects working with real employers, and opportunities for extra qualifications and accreditations - at USW your future, is future-proofed.
Click here to learn more about student perks at USW.
Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
Funding
Funding to help pay for (or cover) course tuition fees and living costs
Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
To learn about course fees, funding options, and to see if you are eligible for financial support, visit our Fees and Funding pages.
UK students
Apply via UCAS if you are a UK residing applicant, applying for year one of a full-time undergraduate degree, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree or HND and you have not applied through UCAS before. If you are applying to study part-time, to top up your Foundation Degree or HND, or to transfer to USW from another institution, please apply directly.
International and EU students
Apply directly to the University if you live outside the UK.
By the time you graduate from your Electrical and Electronic Engineering course, you will be ready for a leading role in the development of modern electrical and electronic systems: researching, designing, building and marketing the next generation of products.
Career opportunities exist in a wide range of engineering sectors including electronic engineering design and development, and the management and production of electronic systems and components for a wide range of applications. You may also develop and produce communication and computer systems, including hardware, software and signal processing aspects. You could work in medicine, communications, aerospace or the military, while your transferable skills will be valued in many sectors, particularly business.
Our Careers and Employability Service
As a USW Electrical and Electronic Engineering student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate. Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.
Graduate Stories
Student Stories
Highlight Stories
The Pontypridd Campus is made up of two sites: Treforest and Glyntaff. Our students love the community atmosphere, as well as living and studying in the same place. It’s quieter than the cities, with green open spaces and views across the valley.
It’s the community and friendships you’ll build that make this place special. Outside your studies you can experience our amazing sport facilities and Students’ Union.
Living in Halls is a great way to meet new people and make friends. We have high quality accommodation in Treforest, Cardiff and Newport.