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Theoretical Physics with a Year in Industry

Entry requirements


A level

A,B,B-A,A,B

To include Maths and Physics.

We recognise the EPQ as an excellent indicator of success. If you are predicted a grade B or above in the EPQ, you will receive an offer with a one grade reduction, to include your EPQ with a grade B.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

34-36

To include at least 6 in HL Mathematics and 6 in HL Physics

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-DDD

Plus A-level grade A in Physics. Applicants will also be expected to demonstrate mathematics equivalent to A-level grade B or above potentially during interview

ABBBC to include A in Mathematics

Welsh Baccalaureate: Requirements are as for A levels where you can substitute the same non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Level Core Grade.

UCAS Tariff

128-136

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

5years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Physics

Physics is an exciting subject which seeks answers to the biggest questions, covering everything in our universe, from the building blocks of matter to the vastness of the cosmos, and the MPhys degree is ideal if you are aiming for a career as a physicist.

Employers seeking physics graduates include academic institutions, government research organisations and industry, including aerospace and defence, education, energy, engineering, instrumentation, manufacturing, oil and gas, science, communication, space exploration and telecommunications. Many physics graduates pursue a career outside physics, for instance in consultancy, IT, the environmental industry, financial services, the legal sector, transport and utilities.

Our degrees reflect our cutting-edge research and the Swansea Physics group achieved the trapping of anti-matter. Studying in this dynamic research-led environment will help you learn how fundamental physics is applied across disciplines and is contributing to advances in fields such as engineering, medicine and mathematics.

Based at our superb seafront campus close to the magnificent Gower Peninsula, you will have the opportunity to study an exciting and flexible range of modules which could include astronomy and cosmology, electromagnetism, atomic physics, the frontiers of nuclear physics, the quantum world and climate physics.

You will spend the fourth of your five years on a paid industrial placement, putting your skills into practice and greatly enhancing your employability.

In addition to the new laboratories, the facilities include IT and teaching rooms; scanning probe microscopy (SPM) systems; scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) systems; laser spectroscopy systems based upon fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy; atomic force microscopes (AFM); and Beowulf computer cluster, with 130 CPU cores connected by a low-latency infiniband network.

All of our Physics degrees are accredited by the Institute of Physics.

As a Theoretical Physics student, you will also benefit from exceptional project supervision, small group teaching, and opportunities to visit the CERN Particle Physics Laboratory.

Our notable Physics alumni include Professor Lyn Evans, leader of the Large Hadron Collider project at CERN, while Professor Peter Higgs, Swansea University Honorary Fellow and Physics Nobel Prize winner, proposed the Boson particle, and has strong links with the department.

"The Physics staff were always very supportive; the lecturers enthusiastic and are good at explaining difficult concepts eloquently. There was a real sense that they thoroughly enjoyed teaching us. Through my degree, I was able to successfully apply to the NHS Scientist Training Programme, a highly competitive graduate scheme through which I will eventually become a fully qualified Medical Physicist."
- Guy Drabble, Physics graduate

Modules

In Year 1 your modules may include Dynamics, Oscillations and Waves; Astronomy and Cosmology; Physics of Fields and Matter; Essential Skills for Physicists; the Quantum World; Mathematics for Physicists; and Laboratory Physics, which can be studied in English or Welsh.

In Year 2, modules may include Statistical Physics; Physics Simulation; Quantum Mechanics; Mathematical Methods in Physics; Condensed Matter Physics; Electromagneticism and Special Relativity; Particle Physics; Foundations of Astrophysics; Probing the Nano-scale; and Laboratory Group Projects, which can be undertaken in English or Welsh.

In Year 3, you will study modules covering Quantum Mechanics; Atomic Physics; Condensed Matter Physics; General Relativity; Atomic Physics and Quantum Optics; Particle Physics; Frontiers of Nuclear Physics; Climate Physics; Computational Physics; and mathematical Models in Physics. You will also have options to study Cosmology; Foundations of Astrophysics; Nanothechnology; and Teaching Physics via a School Placement, which can be undertaken in English or Welsh.

You will spend Year 4 on a paid industrial placement, putting your skills into practice and greatly enhancing your employability.

In Year 5, you will choose from modules such as Quantum Field Theory; Advanced Particle Physics; Modern Laser Systems; Atomic and Quantum Optics; Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena; Quantum Information Processing; Nano Bio-photonics; and Magnetic Resonance Physics, NMR Spectroscopy and MRI. You will also undertake. You will also conduct a cutting-edge research project, with the opportunity to do this with the Swansea Antihydrogen group in CERN.

Assessment methods

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, laboratory work, examples classes and weekly small group classes. You will be assessed through regular problem solving in small groups and individual study, online assessment custom designed for each lecture module, keeping a laboratory diary and preparing scientific reports in practical modules. Final year projects are assessed through the preparation of a dissertation and presentation of your research, either as a poster in a conference-like forum or an oral presentation. Your Year in Industry will be assessed through visits by an Academic mentor from Swansea, the preparation of a report and presentations detailing your role.

The Uni


Course location:

Singleton Park Campus

Department:

Physics

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.

65%
Physics

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.

Physics

Teaching and learning

62%
Staff make the subject interesting
76%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
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

82%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
78%
Course specific equipment and facilities
45%
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?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
79%
Male students
21%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
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.

Physics

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
99%
high
Employed or in further education
28%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
15%
Other elementary services occupations
13%
Business, research and administrative professionals

Although the subject has seen a bit of resurgence in recent years, the UK is still felt to be short of physics graduates, and in particular physicists training as teachers. If you want a career in physics research — in all sorts of areas, from atmospheric physics to lasers - you'll probably need to take a doctorate, and so have a think about where you would like to do that and how you might fund it (the government funds many physics doctorates, so you might not find it as hard as you think). With that in mind, it's not surprising that just over a fifth of physics graduates go on to take doctorates when they finish their degree, and well over a third of physicists take some kind of postgraduate study in total. Physics is highly regarded and surprisingly versatile, which is why physics graduates who decide not to stay in education are more likely to go into well-paid jobs in the finance industry than they are to go into science. The demand and versatility of physics degrees goes to explain why they're amongst the best-paid science graduates.

What about your long term prospects?

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

Physics

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

£18k

£18k

£27k

£27k

£33k

£33k

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.

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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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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

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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?

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