University of Aberdeen
UCAS Code: H6H4 | Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) - BEng (Hon)
Entry requirements
A level
A-Levels at BBC with BB in Mathematics, plus either Physics, Design & Technology, Engineering or Chemistry. GCSE English at a Grade C also required. Entry to Year 2: Three A Levels at AAB, including Maths and Physics, with A in Maths or Physics. GCSE English at a Grade C also required.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Must include Mathematics and Physics at HL 5 or above and English at Standard level. Entry to Year 2: 34 points with 6 at HL required for Maths and Physics and 5 in English at Standard Level.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
5 subjects at Higher, with 3 at H2 and 2 at H3 H2 or above in Mathematics and H3 or above in Physics required.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDM in Mathematics and Physics required. GCSE at C or above in English Language, Mathematics and in either Chemistry or Physics or Dual Award Science.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Entry to Year 2: Three Advanced Highers with AAB, including Maths and Physics, with A in Maths or Physics. Also required: English at Standard Grade 1, 2 or 3 or National 5 at grades A, B or C.
Scottish HNC
For entry to Year 2: Satisfactory completion of HNC Engineering Systems (120 SCQF credit points) - A in all Graded Units - Curriculum to include: Engineering Maths 1, 2 and 3 (or equivalent). Contact Selector to discuss exact unit requirements.
Scottish HND
For entry to Year 3: Satisfactory completion of HND Engineering Systems (240 SCQF credit points) - A in all Graded Units - Curriculum to include: Engineering Maths 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (or equivalent). Contact Selector to discuss exact unit requirements.
Scottish Higher
BBBB required to include Mathematics and Physics/Engineering Science (previously known as Technological Studies). Also required: English at Standard Grade 1, 2 or 3 or National 5 at grades A, B or C. Applicants who achieve the Standard entry requirements over S4 and S5 will be made either an unconditional or conditional offer of admission.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Software Engineering at Aberdeen encompasses both the theory as well as the practice of computing, with special emphasis given to Distributed Information Systems and Knowledge Technologies.
Electronic Engineering is at the core of the modern world, from computers, to digital circuits, photonics and a wealth of electronic devices. This exciting new programme delivers the ideal marriage between Electronic engineering and Software engineering, allowing graduates to pursue a wide range of engineering interests and career choices. You will use your imagination, creativity and knowledge to provide society with the complex electronic systems it needs as well as the software required to operate these systems optimally. In your future career you may design the machines that supply our energy needs, digital control systems for aircrafts, internet-enabled sensors, design complete computer systems on a silicon chip, photonics to instrument the ocean depths, create stunning electronic displays, or design the latest communications satellite or mobile phone.
Students will learn how to design, analyse and implement large-scale software solutions, factoring in hardware and electronics specifics. The courses will cover core computing topics such as computer architecture, programming, programming languages, algorithms, databases, software project management, and software engineering tools and techniques. Advanced computing topics include distributed (autonomous) systems, knowledge technologies, Internet-of-Things, sensor networks, robotics, and security.
The first two years cover general Engineering, with elements of Chemical, Mechanical, Petroleum and Electrical/Electronics, as well as Civil. In the later years you specialise, following your chosen discipline in greater depth. You do not need to finalise your choice of specialisation until you begin third year.
It is possible to move between MEng and BEng and this can be accomplished at any point until the second half session of fourth year. Successful BEng candidates will be offered the chance to change to the MEng and there is no quota, meaning that if grade requirements are met that transfer is guaranteed.
Modules
View all modules on the programme page to find out more about what you will be studying and when. University of Aberdeen modules are designed to give you breadth and depth to your degree. The range of modules you study will allow you to become proficient in all subjects which are directly relevant to your degree giving you greater career options.
Assessment methods
The use of various forms of assessment and learning environments facilitates the development of generic transferable skills enhancing student employability.
Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods: coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course; practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course; and written examinations at the end of each course. The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.
Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.
International Students: The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme. This scholarship is in the form of a tuition fee waiver. To be eligible students must be registering for a full-time, on-campus programme and cannot be in receipt of external scholarships or other University of Aberdeen scholarships, except for awards granted by the University of Aberdeen Development Trust. Please note that the scholarship does not apply to the DPLP or Medicine.
View the University of Aberdeen Online Prospectus programme page to find out about any scholarships and funding you may be eligible to apply for.
The Uni
University of Aberdeen
School of Engineering
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.
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.
Electrical and electronic engineering
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Software engineering
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Electrical and electronic 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.
Top job areas of graduates
This is one of the more popular areas to study engineering and there is not quite such a serious shortage of electrical engineers as there is of other engineering subjects - but there's still plenty of demand. The most common jobs are in telecommunications, electrical and electronic engineering, but there is some crossover with the computing industry, so many graduates start work in IT and computing jobs. At the moment, there's a particular demand for electrical engineers in the electronics, and the car and aerospace industries, and also in defence, and salaries can vary across the country depending on the industry you start in. 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.
Software 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.
Top job areas of graduates
A specialist subject, and not surprisingly graduates tend to go into software engineering roles or related. The degree classification students achieved made a particular difference last year — computing graduates with the best grades were much less likely to be out of work after six months and employers can even rate a good grade as important as work experience. Most students do get jobs, though, and starting salaries are good — particularly in London, where average starting salaries for good graduates were getting towards £38k last year. Be aware that at the moment, recruitment agencies are much the most common way for graduates from this degree to get their first job, so it may be worth getting in touch with a few specialist agencies in advance of graduation if you take this degree to get a foot in the door.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Electrical and electronic 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.
£26k
£33k
£38k
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.
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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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
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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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