Aircraft Maintenance Engineering including Foundation Year
Take your first step towards a double-accredited, industry-approved degree and a career in aerospace. Explore aircraft maintenance and the aviation industry as you grow the key knowledge and skills you’ll need as an engineer.
How to apply Apply through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to Us/prod01/channel_2/media/university-of-south-wales/site-assets/images/03-courses/engineering-aerospace/bsc-aircraft-maintenance-engineering-foundation-year.png)
Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
H40F
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Start Date
September
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Location
Pontypridd
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Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£9,790*
International students
£17,200*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Our Foundation Year will help you to prepare for degree-level study with confidence as you gain essential practical and theoretical knowledge in preparation to join the UK’s only double-accredited course.
Designed For
Our course is ideal for students looking to study BSc Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, but who do not currently meet the admissions criteria. This Foundation Year will give you a good base to start the full degree and work towards an EASA Part-66 B1.1 licence.
Accredited by
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The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
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European Union Aviation Safety Authority (EASA)
Career Paths
- Aircraft maintenance
- Technical support
- Logistics
- On-wing support
- After sales
Skills taught
- Professionalism
- Reliability
- Communications and team work
- Logical thinking
- Problem solving
Module Overview
Develop your skills, knowledge and confidence through our Foundation Year. Gain an understanding of our engineering courses as well as a strong mathematical base to support you through your undergraduate studies.
Starting your University Journey
This module helps you develop academic, personal and professional skills for university study. You’ll reflect on your progress, build confidence, and create an evidence-based portfolio to support your future learning.
Engineering in Action: From Theory to Practice
Explore real-world engineering challenges as you develop your theoretical knowledge, including core mathematical and scientific principles. Learn key skills through tutorials and seminars before applying them in immersive laboratories and workshops.
Design and Manufacture in Action
Discover the fundamental principles of engineering design and manufacturing, including the knowledge and practical skills to approach real-world challenges. You’ll explore the full design process, from research to creation and everything in between.
The Impact Challenge
You’ll work in teams with other Foundation Year students to tackle real-world challenges, developing solutions through research, curiosity, collaboration, and responsible problem-solving while building skills that will support your future studies.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
You’ll learn by doing, through real-world activities that help you understand how learning works at university. You’ll be encouraged to ask questions, explore new ideas and work with others, as well as independently. Teaching builds confidence, critical thinking and reflection, supported by digital tools. Regular feedback helps you track progress, plan next steps and build resilience and a strong sense of belonging as you prepare for higher-level study.
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How you'll be assessed
You’ll be assessed in different ways, including short tasks, coursework, presentations, and group work. Early assessments are designed to support your learning and help you understand what is expected at university. Most assessments are coursework-based and help you develop key skills such as research, academic writing, teamwork, and communication. You’ll also reflect on your progress and use university systems and digital tools. Clear, timely feedback will help you understand how to improve and support your next steps.
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Placements
After your Foundation Year, as you progress onto your degree, you’ll have a range of opportunities to learn and experience the practical side of life on the job in the aerospace industry.
We know the value of gaining hands-on experience in the real world and so we work with several local and national companies, including Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, to offer students incredible insight and work placements.
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Facilities
USW has invested £3.3m in its aerospace facilities, including a two-storey Aerospace Centre extension, offering engineering students 1,000m2 of workshop and lab space, two aircraft hangars, and a MP521 flight simulator.
Our Aerospace Centre houses a Jetstream 31 aircraft, gas turbine maintenance, riveting, hand tool, and welding workshops. Additionally, it features clean and dirty composite workshops, labs for electronic tasks, avionics, hydraulics, and pneumatics. We also have sub-sonic wind tunnels to facilitate aerodynamic instruction.
The Merlin MP521 simulator, programmable for any aircraft type, is pivotal in design testing and flight test preparation.
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Accredited By
Why USW?
£32,235
average earnings for Aircraft Maintenance Engineering graduates
Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022/23-
100% of our Aircraft Maintenance Engineering graduates work in aviation roles directly related to their degree (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022/23)
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Top in Wales for teaching quality in Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (Times Good University Guide 2026)
Why USW?
Top in the UK
for student satisfaction in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering
Complete University Guide 2026100% of our Aircraft Maintenance Engineering graduates work in aviation roles directly related to their degree (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022/23)
Top in Wales for teaching quality in Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (Times Good University Guide 2026)
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Mathew Mugwagwa
Aircraft Maintenance Engineering student
Pooja Thathsarani Umashankar
Aircraft Maintenance Engineering student
Aboobakar Shahjahan
Aeronautical Engineering graduate
Matthew Dyke
Aircraft Maintenance Engineering student
Shubh Birari
Aviation Engineering and Management graduate
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS points: 48 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: DD
- Welsh BACC: N/A
- BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass or BTEC Diploma Pass Pass
- Access to HE: Pass the Access to Higher Education Diploma
- T Level: Pass (D or E)
Additional requirements include:
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 applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
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 its 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.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,790
per year*£17,200
per year*Additional Costs
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 stationery, printing, or equipment during your foundation year. For costs after you progress to year 1 of your degree programme, please see the list below.
How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).
Advanced entry
If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.
International admissions
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
University Quality Assurance
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.
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Introducing Calon
We are investing in the future of STEM with the exciting new Calon building at the heart of our Pontypridd Campus.
