Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Foundation Year

UCAS code: 1269

Here's what Birmingham City University says about its Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Foundation Year course.

Do you want to design and develop cutting-edge electrical and electronic systems that drive innovation and transform the way we live, work, and connect? Turn your passion into a future-proof engineering career with our reimagined and industry-focused BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering with a Foundation Year degree.

Our approach to Engineering is unique. You will not have traditional lectures or be assessed by exams, instead you will learn through practical-based tasks that respond to real-life engineering problems across industries including telecommunications, renewable energy, electrical power, robotics and advanced manufacturing.

This course has been carefully designed in collaboration with industry to ensure that you graduate ready for employment, with core technical skills and knowledge as well as employability skills such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving and leadership. You could have a career working with electric vehicles, robotics, smartphones and medical devices – the opportunities are endless!

The foundation year

This foundation year is a preparatory year designed for students who are passionate about engineering but may not yet meet the entry requirements for our degree programmes. Over the course of a year, you’ll build a solid grounding in key subjects such as mathematics, engineering principles, and problem-solving, while developing practical skills through hands-on projects and lab work. The foundation year will provide you with a smooth transition to progress on to one of our engineering degrees and set you up for a successful educational journey.

What's covered in this course?

On this course you will:

• Learn through block delivery. This means you will study one module at a time across a 6-week period, allowing you to fully immerse yourself and get a deeper understanding of each subject. This style reflects how engineers work and shifts away from traditional models of teaching where you are expected to study multiple modules at one time.

• Gain skills that industry needs. You will tackle real-world challenges that are co-designed with industry partners, developing skills that the workforce needs. You will also receive feedback and mentorship from industry professionals on your work throughout the course.

• Get experience in the workplace. Work experience modules are factored into the course, as well as the opportunity to study abroad so that everyone leaves with practical work experience to take forward into a career. In addition to this, you will have the opportunity to do a professional placement year after year two, to spend a year in industry before returning to complete your final year.

• Immerse yourself in practical learning. Each module includes hands-on, project-based tasks that enable you to conceive, design, implement and operate solutions based on the CDIO (Conceive Design Implement Operate) framework. This framework will transform you to think and act like an engineer and integrates professional skills into every aspect of work to ensure you graduate for industry.

• Be assessed through competency and not traditional exams or lectures. You will be assessed through your practical outputs that reflect real-world engineering and industry expectations to ensure that your learning transitions seamlessly into a future career.

• Develop sustainability and digital knowledge. You will create solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and use cutting-edge technology in modules looking at Smart Grids, Sustainable Energy, IoT, Cyber-Physical Systems, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to stay ahead of engineering innovation.