Software Engineering with a Foundation Year

UCAS code: 1279

Here's what Birmingham City University says about its Software Engineering with a Foundation Year course.

This Software Engineering degree with Foundation Year will provide you with the knowledge and skills required to design and manage complex software systems.

The Foundation Year course option enables you to study for our BSc (Hons) degree over an extended full-time duration of four years by including a Foundation Certificate (year one of four). The Foundation Certificate provides a broad study programme that underpins the follow-on degree. In order to progress to the next year of your degree, it is necessary to achieve a pass in all of the modules of the Foundation Certificate.

The course has been designed to provide you with practical experience of models, techniques and tools that drive innovation in the design of software-based systems. In addition, the course also focuses on crucial professional considerations, such as users and organisations, cyber security and computer ethics, as well as the latest developments in the ever-changing computing field, such as machine learning and cloud-based data storage.

You will graduate with skills in software design, artificial intelligence, data structures and algorithms and programming ready for a successful career. You could go into roles such as applications developer, full stack developer, software engineer (design, development and testing), site reliability engineer, game developer etc.

What's covered in this course?

The course covers the fundamental concepts of Software Engineering and Computer Science in the first year, including computer programming, computer systems, data structures & algorithms, software process, requirements analysis.

In the second year, you will consolidate your first-year learning by studying advanced subjects that emphasise software engineering skills including software design, social issues & professional practice, project management.

In final year, you will broaden your understanding of software engineering by studying specialised subjects like user experience design, and software quality verification & validation. You will also gain insight into artificial intelligence & machine learning, and modern data store. With its emphasis on computer laboratory based practical work and project delivery, the course provides you with ample opportunity to acquire both the technical and transferable skills desired by industry.

The philosophy of the course is to promote lifelong self-learning by providing a curriculum that promotes a variety of approaches to study. The curriculum is designed to develop not only the academic knowledge, but also the engineering ethos and practical skills required by the modern Software Engineering professional. Academic members of staff within the Department of Computer Science will teach topics and supervise projects according to their personal research interests. This gives you a cutting-edge experience, one that opens up new opportunities for career advancement in industry. For students who show aptitude for research, there is also the possibility of continuing their studies on a PhD programme.

The course structure and its content have been developed by taking into account inputs from various sources including the curriculum philosophy of the School of Architecture, Built Environment, Computing and Engineering where this course is located, the suggestions from industrial partners, the benchmark statements of the British Computer Society (BCS), and the computer science curriculum guidelines released by The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula comprising Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society.

The course also offers you with the opportunity to take a sandwich placement year between your second and third year. This is something that is highly recommended as it will give you an invaluable opportunity to hone your expertise, try out a potential career path and get relevant workplace experience that is valued by so many employers.