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Software Engineering with Foundation

Entry requirements


A level

D,D,E

64 UCAS Tariff points from the Access course.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE minimum Grade 4 (Grade C in grading system prior to 2017) in Maths and English Language.

64 UCAS Tariff points from all components of the Diploma Programme. International Baccalaureate Career-related programme will be considered on a case-by case basis. To include English grade 4 HL, Maths grade 4.

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

MM

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

MPP

T levels – 64 UCAS Tariff points

UCAS Tariff

64

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Software engineering

The foundation year in computer science offers an entry route for those students who do not have the required entry requirements for all three-year degree pathways in the department of computer science. Successful completion of the foundation year enables an automatic progression onto the first year of any of: BSc Computer Science, BEng Software Engineering, BSc Digital Media Development, BSc Business Information Systems and BSc Computer Games Development and students who progress to the 3-year degrees via this foundation year route have traditionally performed very well. The foundation year route may also be of interest if you do not feel ready to start the first year of an undergraduate course, perhaps because you have been out of education for some time or you feel your current qualifications will not equip you to attempt a 3-year undergraduate computing course directly.

The Software Engineering BEng studies the best ways to design, build, maintain and evaluate software systems. It uses many of the technical aspects of computer science, especially programming, and aims to develop the professional attitudes, interpersonal and technical skills you will need in the software engineering industry. You will study software development, programming languages, technologies and applications including Java, C/C#, UNIX, UML, graphics, networks, concurrent systems, databases, artificial intelligence, and web and mobile computing. You will share a common first year with the Computer Science BSc Honours course; you can transfer in Year 1, and specialise in Year 3. The course provides a solid foundation in software engineering theory and practice to develop professional software systems. It will equip you to take up a wide range of career opportunities, including software engineer, web application programmer, software designer/analyst or website designer/programmer. The Software Engineering BEng emphasises fundamental principles, design, acquisition of practical skills and evaluation of technologies. You may go on to complete an integrated Masters programme with the award of an MEng degree after four years.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,400
per year
International
£15,400
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Westminster, London

Department:

School of Computer Science and Engineering

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.

45%
Software 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.

Software engineering

Teaching and learning

50%
Staff make the subject interesting
55%
Staff are good at explaining things
60%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
55%
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
68%
IT resources
75%
Course specific equipment and facilities
50%
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?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
84%
Male students
16%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
19%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
D
E

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.

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.

£25,000
med
Average annual salary
89%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

44%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
16%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
16%
Information technology technicians

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.

Software 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.

£24k

£24k

£30k

£30k

£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 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

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here