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Anglia Ruskin University

UCAS Code: H304 | Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) - BEng (Hon)

Entry requirements

Sorry, no information to show

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2025

Subject

Mechanical engineering

Be useful. Mechanical engineers design, manufacture, repair or operate the things we need in everyday life. Based in Chelmsford, studying our Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) you’ll use simulation software to come up with solutions to real world engineering problems. Take up an option for a placement year and benefit from our links with local industry to gain experience and a head start in your career. Our BEng Mechanical Engineering degree can ultimately lead to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.

Mechanical engineers solve problems through innovation, helping society to become more advanced and adventurous.

Our newly redesigned Mechanical Engineering BEng degree course focusses on project based-learning, meaning you’ll apply your theoretical learning from class to a project-based module that runs throughout Year 1. You will gain experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team with other students from mechanical engineering courses, helping to prepare you for working in competitive commercial and industrial environments. Skills in teamwork, management and leadership – along with an integrated approach to engineering – are highly valued by employers.

While studying Mechanical Engineering at ARU, you will develop both your academic and practical skills, becoming an analytical and creative problem-solver, exploring how engineering works in the business context, and how to achieve results within financial constraints. You’ll use testing and measurement equipment, learn how to specify and design electronics subsystems and understand how to use computer-based and mathematical methods to model and analyse mechanical-engineering problems.

As well as the hands-on experience, you’ll benefit from lectures given by visiting engineers, ensuring you’re up-to-date with current methods in industry. You also have the option of doing a year-long placement in industry between years 2 and 3.

Our facilities at ARU include a CAD/CAM centre, industrial-scale CNC milling machine, CNC lathe, rapid prototyping machine, scanning electronic microscope, Instron bi-axial fatigue-testing machine, tensile-testing machine, material-preparation facilities, welding equipment and electronic testing and measuring equipment such as oscilloscopes and signal generating and testing facilities.

Due to our new project-based curriculum, we've arranged for IMechE and IET to visit our campus, with a view to re-accrediting this course. Accreditation means it's been approved by a professional body as meeting their level of requirements.

Modules

Year 1 (Level 3 foundation year)
Foundation in Engineering, Computing and Technology

Year 2 (level 4) modules
Introduction to Mechanical Engineering
Engineering Skills
Design and Manufacturing Project
Materials and Mechanical Structures

Year 3 (level 5) modules
Ruskin Module
Product Development and Quality Engineering Project
Thermofluids
Advanced Engineering Skills

Year 4 (Level 6) modules
Engineering Simulation and Optimisation Project
Vibration and Control
Individual Major Project and Research Methods
Mechatronics

Assessment methods

We’ll use a range of assessment methods to check your academic and practical progress throughout the course. These include exams, essays and reports, work relating to practical classes and demonstrations, log books, presentations and posters.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni

Course location:

Chelmsford Campus

Department:

School of Engineering and the Built Environment

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

59%
Mechanical engineering

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Mechanical engineering

Teaching and learning

59%
Staff make the subject interesting
71%
Staff are good at explaining things
53%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
59%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

65%
Library resources
94%
IT resources
53%
Course specific equipment and facilities
65%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

46%
UK students
54%
International students
93%
Male students
7%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
16%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
C

After graduation

The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Mechanical engineering

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£24,000
med
Average annual salary
87%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

57%
Engineering professionals
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
7%
Draughtspersons and related architectural technicians

We're short of engineers in a lot of areas and mechanical engineering is no exception. Mechanical engineers are in demand across multiple industries, with vehicle manufacturing most popular, with roles especially common in design and manufacturing. Other important sectors include aerospace, the oil and gas industry, consultancy and defence. Jobs are all around the country, with London, the Midlands, Scotland and the South East the most likely places for a new mechanical engineer to find work at the moment, and starting salaries are good. Although large employers are much the most likely place to get work, some of the most challenging, cutting edge jobs are with small niche engineering firms, so keep your eyes peeled if you want something a little different. Bear in mind that a lot of courses are four years long, and lead to an MEng qualification — this is necessary if you want to become a Chartered Engineer.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Mechanical engineering

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£31k

£31k

£34k

£34k

£34k

£34k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 112-128
Nearby University
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University of East London | Newham
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UCAS Points: 112
Lower entry requirements
place
Anglia Ruskin University | Cambridge
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BEng (Hon) 4 Years Full-time including foundation year 2025
UCAS Points: 80
Same University
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Anglia Ruskin University | Cambridge
Mechanical Engineering
BEng (Hon) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2025
UCAS Points: 80

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here