Engineering university choices....pls help

[Canadalife]

Hello..we seek help and advice for lovely DD. My daughter is applying for general engineering this September. She is doing Maths, Further Maths and Physics A levels...predicted grades A,A A...poss Oxford.Definetly not London ie no Imperial. She is considering oxford , Durham, Warwick, Cardiff and Sheffield. Does anyone have any experience with any of these unis/cities, or other unis they’d recommend us looking at for engineering? All help gratefully received.. Thank you .

I did mention it when op said Aerospace. Not sure if they do General though. In general, MN is very anti Bristol but of course many do realise how good it actually is. Having said that, lots of Bristol grads don’t stay in engineering. They are sought after in other careers.

I do think the majority of applicants know which type of degree they want in engineering. That’s why there are not huge numbers of general engineering degrees. The vast majority of 6th formers apply for precise courses, eg mechanical, civil, chemical etc. These courses significantly outnumber the general engineering ones. The main reason for this is that these disciplines in themselves are huge. It also means you can target precise Work experience early on. If a student has a third year in industry, a general introduction in the first 2 years can be a bit non specific.

What I don’t get is why people love Bristol so much.

Whys that crafty gin?

Strathclyde is the Uni most Scottish engineers aspire to attend. An offer is more likely from an English/Welsh student as the numbers are not so heavily capped.

You can do an MENG where the entry requirements are BBB or AAB for direct entry into 2nd year after A levels.

Scottish students have a year less at school and an extra year at Uni to compensate, so you can go directly into second year after A levels if you prefer.

DS was impressed by Strathclyde - seemed a very practical course. They cap fees at 4 years for English students even if you do the full 5. Very very few none Scots at the Open Day. Hard to work out benefit of missing year 1 when everyone else starts versus danger of repeating some of year two A level/being older than Scottish students?

Aurea, that is certainly worth bearing in mind. considering an accredited MEng degree is now required CEng (Chartered Engineer)

Aurea, that is certainly worth bearing in mind considering an accredited MEng degree is now required for CEng (Chartered Engineer)

Imperial is the top one for engineering. Oxford not so much... why oxford or Cambridge?

I am a chartered engineer btw...

I thought you could do BEng and then do a separate MEng rather than integrated? It’s quicker to do MEng from the start but you can swap over after first year of BEng at lots of universities.

Most students who go to Bristol love it. It’s always been good for Engineering so people like what it offers. It’s a very popular university and it should be in the mix for English and Welsh students if it offers the course they want. I can see why Scottish students may prefer to stay at home but few from Devon would consider Strathclyde when there are other top universities within reach.

DCs like Oxford and Cambridge because they do General Engineering. In terms of getting Chartered, they are no better than anywhere else. DH is a Fellow of 3 Engineering Institutions and an employer of 35 years plus.

You can do a BEng and an accredited MSc instead of a n MEng to satisfy accreditation requirements, the MEng is an integrated undergraduate masters, an MSc is a stand alone postgraduate degree. There are funding implications of the BEng/ MSc route which you need to be careful of, depending on your funding body.

DS1 did engineering of sorts, Design & manufacture, at Nottingham which has some great facilities and a good sized department - first year is same as all engineering courses so heavy on maths as expected but he wanted to focus on hands on and design methods. He also looked at Loughborough and several others. He loved the course but decided Engineering is not going to be his chosen career. My advise is to look at courses that do a Year in Industry,e.g. Bath & Loughborough encourage this and have good links - that way your DD gets to see what the jobs are like at the end. Another thing to consider is that DS did a weeks summer course at Warwick when in lower sixth, you can apply through most schools - can't remember the scheme name, it costs a maybe £300 and counts towards Gold DoE too. DS was told at the end of course that everyone on it would get an offer if they applied - he decided not to as there wasn't much design focus, but he did get to visit the Astin Martin factory which was the highlight for him at the time.
DS2 is at Durham, a good friend and housemate is studying engineering, he is very academic and they work them really hard - but all engineering courses are known for that. Durham is a lovely city, small, easy to get round, collegiate set up but lots of societies for music, drama etc. and very sporty - a real work hard play hard vibe. Surprisingly expensive accommodation, but DS who is very sporty is very happy there (despite growing up in London Borough).
I know a few studying engineering at Bristol, love the city and student set up, but not impressed with the course which they find dull and not up to date?

Which engineering at Bristol? There are loads of courses! I love the idea the students know more than the lecturers. Why choose a course you think isn’t up to date?

Also every engineering course has basic requirements. Maybe when they get to spread their wings in the 4th year their grounding might be useful? Classic case of thinking they know it all I’m afraid.

Also since when could parents pay £300 for a course and that can be used for DofE? That’s awful and no doubt is why DofE isn’t respected anymore. You just buy the skills!

Only just saw this thread. My DD has just done the first year of MEng and Cambridge (now midway through an intern job with BT) - absolutely loving it. She got two Astars and an A in physics, further maths and maths - that combination is definitely absolutely fine for engineering except chem eng (general engineering degrees do mech, elec, civ but not chem, usually).

She also ruled out imperial because she didn't want to be in London. Her other voices were all for EEE - Cambridge was the only place she reckoned would be good enough for the 'general then specialise' approach. Oxford calls itself 'engineering science', the thrust seems rather different and is a much smaller dept than Cambridge.

It really does seem to be a great place if you're willing to put a lot into it - the supervision system really does add a lot.

Her reserve choice was Southampton, the other ucas choices were Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham. Other places she looked at were Bristol, Loughborough, Surrey and Birmingham. If she'd wanted to do general engineering as such she'd have looked at Warwick; Durham wasn't convincing at all.

Thank you very much. We have been in the wilds with no WiFi etc. Dd really appreciates all your help.

I would definitely look at apprenticeships. DH is an engineer and female engineers can pick their university and name their price currently!

Re the Integrated vs Stand Alone Masters, the funding issue may be important for some / many students. Funding for the extra year involved in obtaining the former being just another year's 'fees plus whatever maintenance loan I am entitled to', but the postgraduate loan being a set amount 'to assist with fees and living costs' which may not actually cover the fees element, let alone leave anything over to live on. So for those who want / need to get into employment as soon as possible after university, an accredited integrated course, chosen wisely, is a sensible option.

Admittedly, the Bachelors plus separate Masters route (for any discipline) may offer more flexibility, but it is almost certainly possible to start out on an integrated course and drop down to the Bachelors if you find that you want to change direction in a way not permitted by the course that you are on.

I’m also not sure how many apprenticeships offer the MEng integrated courses. Apprenticeships must be the slow route to getting Chartered I would imagine. Lots of people call themselves Engineers but they are not Chartered. They are Incorporated. Or not even that if Engineer is just a job title. Any young person must understand the different routes and what course suits them best.

The vast majority of courses are not general engineering for good reason. These are large and complex disciplines. Many very good engineers need 4 years to do a full syllabus of their chosen strand. There will be many Engineers in the best universities with high grades in their A levels but you need more than that to really be a good engineer. Sometimes employers need problem solvers and top academics comes second because they are not always the same thing when selection tests are administered.

Many courses are not particularly competitive to get into when you drop down from the top 10 or so. There is a huge choice. Women in some areas of engineering are still fairly rare but it’s improving. I’m not sure the top universities actively recruit girls over boys. Some will recruit anyone that’s breathing - ditto some employers!

Ds is an incorporated engineer through an apprenticeship route. I can assure you he is a real "engineer"

I'd like to put a shout in for Southampton. Always in top 5 on lists as far as I can see. Good vibe. Very focused on their engineering. Good career fairs specifically for Engineering. Hard work, but lecturers seem to be very engaged in creating interesting curriculum. Lots of choice. Good practical, academic split. Highly respected courses in a range of Engineering fields.
Uni is green, pleasant and by a nice town - good mix of campus and city life. Down south one of the only Russell group unis except London.
I was recommended on here and sent my DS to do Headstart and smallpiece trust courses. He liked Soton as they call it and is thriving there. Am surprised more has not been said about it on this thread actually. When we were looking, always mentioned.

Any dc interested in an engineering carer should look at Arkwright Scholarships in yr 11 for 6th form. They get a free Headstart plus about £300 for 6th form. Ds won a scholarship a few years back and had some great experiences through it.

Arkwright scholarship

I went to Surrey uni and did a four year course in civil engineering which included a year in industry. I had a wonderful time there. I trained with the same company that I spent the industrial year with. I became chartered six months before being age eligible.

I got top grades at school and my teachers wanted me to do the oxbridge exam. I declined as I had a dreadful education experience at one of the top grammar schools of the time. I do not regret it.

Civil engineering is varied and interesting. I have worked with contractors, consultants and public bodies on very large projects all over the world.

I do feel that a general engineering degree can be problematic as a career path in engineering should be built on a more dedicated platform. My bias is towards civil and structural engineering. Every job is different. You never become bored. The pay is ok, not great and most of the population will have no idea about what you actually do. But for enjoyment and self satisfaction it’s fairly high up the scale.

How much do engineers earn ie; civil, chemical etc

For my DS starting salaries were £28/29k pa plus £2k golden handshake. Regular pay rises every 6 months during the 2 year grad programme, 2 years post grad salary is c. £33k.