Engineering degree- BEng or MEng/ Mech Eng if not sure of focus?

I’ve PM’d you, @shurl.

Thanks, @shurl.

By lacking general knowledge, I mean that they perhaps find it harder to change industries further down the line. But that again depends on the job they do afterwards

@SparklingLime As far as I can see, the good ones are well regarded in industry. And the graduates have a good, in depth knowledge of the industry they have studied. It sets a student up well for a career in their studied field. But they do lack some of the more general knowledge and knowledge of other industries a student gains during a traditional degree.

Having said that, a graduate having done a general degree is initially a less useful employee because they have all the technical knowledge, but none of the specific company knowledge. So swings and roundabouts!

I have experience working with apprentices of three apprenticeships at different global companies. Two I would recommend. If you want to know specifics, feel free to pm me any questions you have

Hope you don’t mind me tagging you, @stubiff, @Serendip20, @Shurl? Thanks

Can I reanimate this thread by asking about apprenticeship degrees in engineering? How well they are working as I think they are pretty new? And any recommendations? Thanks.

Also (& I may be wrong, check), I think you pay back an MSc at a lower salary??

You're right - it is paid back at the rate of 6% of income over a threshold which is lower than the threshold for undergraduate loans (including loans for the integrated MEng / MSci etc degrees).

DS1 is in the process of completing an MSc at Bristol, for which the fees were £9600, plus his 'bench fee'. Some Master's degrees are significantly more expensive than that. The postgraduate loan for 2020/21 was c.£11200, flat rate.

Very good points, which aren't made obvious to the students. Also because MEng is an undergrad degree you get the full tutiion & maintenance loan, whereas for an MSc it is a ceratin amount to cover both (which is nowhere near enough). Also (& I may be wrong, check), I think you pay back an MSc at a lower salary??

Oh, and in an MEng degree the final year runs Sept to May/June whilst the MSc runs for the full calendar year in the UK.

Just be aware that in the UK MEng is an undergrad honours degree whilst MSc is a post grad qualification. Doesn’t make any difference to going down the Chartered route but may make a difference to some employers, eg in Europe a BEng + MSc is seen as more prestigious than MEng.

Your DC may find they want to do a BEng, work for a couple of years and then do an MSc, maybe at a different uni and could be in a specific field (the route I took). My DC has just finished a 5 year MEng course and found it a very long haul.

My son mentioned mechatronic engineering to me which is a combination of mechanical, electrical, robotics and AI. May be worth a look.

We’ve just been through all this with my DS

He was lucky in a way that he knew his main interest was aero, he was always interested in this aspect, though for a while he considered robotics

What we learned is that the entry level for MEng is higher, so whether to for for BEng or MEng would depend on grades he is likely to get.

Then, look at some Universities such as Bristol which offer combined option of Mechanical Engineering with Electronic Engineering. This was DS second choice

He spent ages reading course descriptions. Let your DS take his time and see which areas excite him most.

This year there were lots of places in Clearing for Engineering degrees in Mechatronics and materials engineering (both look slightly undersubscribed so easier to get into)

FWIW my DS was working at AAA but got AAB in the end. He had applied for MEng asking for AAA…. But the university still offered him a place. I think this is not unusual? Lots of universities request higher grades but in reality accept a bit below what they say.

Still, with hindsight, he should have probably applied for BEng as safer bet! Ideally a 4yr ;BEng + year in industry) and then you can always still do the masters

Just my tuppence worth

Good luck!

Not sure if someones already said this but he really doesn't need to decide now nor are the grade difference much more than presentational. Generally students decide (depending on university - not A level grades) which to go the BEng or MEng route).

Of course general is just as well respected. And presumably more popular, hence the increased grade requirements.

Really, your child needs to decide what they want to do post university and pick the best degree from there. Engineering subjects are more vocational, in that they lead to specific career paths (although you can also obviously go down the finance route etc), rather than subjects like English where students are more likely to study then for the enjoyment. The degree is a means to an end.

In my experience, engineering careers are also much less snobbish about university rank etc than other careers. And the specific department may be "known" as excelling in specific fields, but no one is expected to know that as an undergraduate.

Eg, in the field of materials engineering, the reputations are: Manchester for nuclear, Sheffield and Cambridge for steel, Oxford for micromechanical testing, Loughborough is composites and so on. They all offer overlaps, but there are key academics in each institution that give the reputation. It really isn't something that would affect an undergraduate, only a PhD student

Agree with other posters, since you are worried about your dcs predictions then a BEng will allow him onto a course with lower grades at a more “prestigious “ university.
He will need to transfer to the MEng once there though if he i tends to use his engineering degree for engineering and not eg to get into accountancy.
If he is uncertain about which branch on engineering then again echo others to do a general engineering degree, lots of unis offer them ( did use to be just Cambridge and Imperial) eg Sheffield, York, etc etc.
He can then choose after year 2 which branch to specialise in with the benefit of a lot more knowledge than he has now as a y13 student.
Certainly Sheffield also allow a year in industry with general engineering, I am sure others do as well.

Just to clarify, MEng will not give you chartered status, but it does meet the academic criteria for Chartered. However it’s a further 3-5 years work experience before you apply for Chartered.

You can usually switch to MEng at the end of the first year if you get >60%. DS held offers of BEng from the more demanding unis & MEng from the others.

So, choose the MEng from an even lower ranked uni, be the ‘brightest’ on the course and assuming you work hard enough more or less guarantee yourself a 1st, if rank doesn’t really matter?

What/who would the BEng be for?

I'd have thought most would choose thebMEng even from a lower ranked institution - largely because for vocational courses the rank is irrelevant as long as the course is accredited. Plus post 92 sector is largely made up of places designed to offer proper content that employers ask for, and often sandwich placements.

But if rank is important to him then as others have said transferring to integrated Masters is often straightforward - though will use up his 'spare' year of loan funding.

@titchy I’m not sure it is a no-brainer, because the entry requirements are different. ABB would get you onto the York BEng, but if you wanted an MEng with those grades you would need to go to a lower ranked (probably) uni. Say York was the most respected course then you may choose the BEng from York over an MEng from somewhere else.
However, we don’t know unless Engineering recruiters come on.
They may say that MEng is usually required.

An MEng will give him chartered status, so that's a no-brainer surely? If he want to be an engineer he can't be with just the BEng.

Some universities e.g. Birmingham, offer a general engineering programme with the option to choose your pathway after then. So you get a BEng/MEng in your chosen Engineering area - Mechanical, Electrical, Civil etc but have the flexibility of a year to decide what route you want to go down.

I wouldn’t worry too much about BEng vs MEng. If you have the right grades/first year marks there’s normally the option to switch to an MEng and its normally straightforward to change from an MEng to BEng. This should be on each university’s website.

As others have said, there are also really interesting new/niche engineering disciplines, e.g.aerospace, materials science which are worth looking at. The best advice is to try and get to one of the early autumn open days/online events and speak to admissions tutors & current students.

Please check if it’s endorsed by the main engineering bodies, I know it wasn’t when it first came out, but was endorsed by the professional maths organisations I think.