Best unis for Engineering?

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Hi - my son has applied to Cambridge for Engineering as his first choice for 2022 entry, but as his chances of getting in are slim (1 in 7 approx I believe), he's exploring other options (General Eng or Mechanical Eng).

As he's a quiet lad who prefers not to be in the middle of busy action, he's not too keen on the idea of the obvious London choices (Imperial, UCL etc). He's a keen road cyclist and runner so access to green spaces and countryside whilst studying will be important to him (as will be applying to good unis with reputable engineering departments with good links to industry). We live in the north of England, but are also considering looking uk wide.

Anyone got any Engineering insights as to which unis may suit? We're trying to draw up a shortlist of a couple to visit before Christmas but are failing to move forward much on this. Any help much appreciated!

Thanks!

(Some of the courses accredited at lower levels may be excellent choices for students looking for lower entry tariffs but I doubt they're what they OPs DS would want)

The DS should be looking for MEng courses. Links with industry are there is most engineering departments where companies sponsor research. All MEng courses at the best universities will be accredited.

I would also go for mechanical above general. It’s well known lots of general engineering grads go into finance and other jobs. Not engineering.

There are some great engineering universities. Lots in our old industrial cities. I know Bristol and Sheffield are great for mechanical engineering and are close to wonderful countryside. Southampton, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Warwick and Loughborough should be on the shortlist too. All their MEng courses are highly respected.

It’s the Engineering Council that sets the standards for engineering education and accredits courses. CEng (Chartered Engineer) is the gold standard qualification after graduating. Each engineering institution gives a good overview of what their engineers do so look at their web sites - Institute of Mechanical Engineers. www.imeche.org

Check if any of the unis have cycling clubs! I doubt he will want to cycle alone. It would be a good way to make friends.

Bristol, Bath, Loughborough, Leeds, Southampton and Sheffield all
rank highly for Mech Eng in England, Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt in Scotland and Trinity St Davids in Wales (Guardian 2021 tables).

QS rankings add in Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Warwick.

As you're in the north of England I'd definitely look at the Scottish options, although they will generally be a 4 year course for BEng and a 5 year course for MEng (you may get direct entry to Yr 2, but from a social / experience point of view I think missing out Yr 1 would be a mistake). Heriot-Watt always had a good reputation for links with industry, and is on the edge of the city and close to the Pentland Hills.

Heriot Watt has strange entry requirements for A levels. AAB - BBB for MEng and then says a minimum of BCC! It’s industry links are around the curriculum. Lots of universities do this. Doesn’t necessarily lead to employment. I wouldn’t do 5 years in Scotland. It’s no advantage over a 4 year MEng here. I think DC should aim higher. Based on entry requirements, Bristol, Sheffield and a few others are better for a high flyer.

DS is doing MEng in mechanical engineering at Bath. That ranked third in The Times list for that subject this year, fwiw, after Cambridge and Imperial. It has good industry links. He's done the placement option, which I think has been good for him, as he's a quiet lad, and it seems to have increased his motivation - he was pretty lazy before, but seems to be much harder working now . It's great for sports, and there're lovely walks around there, so I've really enjoyed dropping him off!

This is the top ten ranking for Mech Eng from The Times this year, just to give you some ideas. Obviously, other rankings are available.
Cambridge, Imperial, Bath, Strathclyde, Bristol, Southampton, Loughborough, Leeds, Sheffield, Aberdeen.

I did Chemical Engineering at Edinburgh and DS did Electronic Engineering at UCL - can recommend both.

Heriot Watt

Strathclyde too.

@Thegingerpig

University of Surrey has always been strong for engineering plus most of their degrees include a year in industry. It’s in Guildford and on a smaller campus than most unis so might suit him better than the London unis.

This is a good insurance choice - and is in the middle of Road Cycling Central.

Depends what kind of Engineering as I can only vouch for Civil, but Surrey and Bristol are good engineering choices with acredited courses (I employ lots of grads from those two and they always seem to turn out well!). Also both (especially Surrey) are great for cycling.

The Complete university guide rankings for mech eng are more or less congruent with the suggestions on this thread. The Guardian rankings are the customary apparently semi random list.

It’s always worth remembering that employers do not always agree with league tables. They test grads and the university attended doesn’t always mean they pass the tests and interviews. If research is part of the ranking, undergrads might not get anywhere near it. Problem solving is important and research at a university won’t tell you if a DC has what an employer wants. Frequently DC interviews grads who don’t really understand basic principles so cannot produce solutions. They can all code though.

DH interviews grads!

A friend's son applied to Cambridge, Bath, Southampton, Warwick and Bristol. He had some other requirements so didn't look further north but those were the five he rated highest.

@Winestopsthewhine

A friend's son applied to Cambridge, Bath, Southampton, Warwick and Bristol. He had some other requirements so didn't look further north but those were the five he rated highest.

It is crazy to make five applications to places with the same entry requirements. You have to apply to a range of universities.

Well everyone has different needs and opinions! Most of those will require high grade A levels. There is no insurance amongst them.

Glasgow is very involved in Formula Student which is sponsored by Institute of Mechanical Engineers I believe.

It is crazy to make five applications to places with the same entry requirements.
Each to their own. Perhaps they were applying after A-levels. Also, I feel grades are more predictable for sciences - feel free to disagree - so maybe they felt no need to have an insurance. Perhaps Bristol required lower grades, so was the insurance.

My son is sitting his ENGAA tomorrow for Cambridge - is your DS too? Best of luck to him.

He has applied to Imperial (interview on the 11th) and Bristol (and has an offer already), and I think he's also put Durham and Loughborough.

DS. went to Nottingham for MEng and loved it. His second choice was Sheffield.

One of his friends from school got an offer from Cambridge but turned it down in favour of Bristol as he felt the Bristol course was better.

Bristol, Southampton, Bath and Warwick are all A*AA for Meng mech Eng. Cambridge would not be lower. So no insurance. Maybe post results application? Not good advice for most pre results students.

I don't know what the requirements are now for those specific courses for mech eng/gen eng, but when dd was applying, Cambridge was (at least) A stars in FM and physics plus another A. The next two down her list (Manchester, Southampton) were one A star and two As but without specifying which subject the star was needed for, so that gave more wiggle room. And Southampton provided the 'free insurance' of a BEng place if a grade was dropped, with the likelihood of being able to do the MEng if the first year went well enough. (A lot of MEng offers do this now, I think, it was a bit less common then).

So, Southampton was a very realistic insurance choice vs Cambridge. (At the time it also guaranteed a halls place if it was specified as the insurance whereas most unis only do that for the firm, so that was another plus)

Sheffield has always been highly rated for engineering, and is currently ranked in the top 5 for engineering courses. They own AMRC and have a lot of industry links.

@TizerorFizz

Heriot Watt has strange entry requirements for A levels. AAB - BBB for MEng and then says a minimum of BCC! It’s industry links are around the curriculum. Lots of universities do this. Doesn’t necessarily lead to employment. I wouldn’t do 5 years in Scotland. It’s no advantage over a 4 year MEng here. I think DC should aim higher. Based on entry requirements, Bristol, Sheffield and a few others are better for a high flyer.

It’s based on my experience of DCs’ high flying friends doing various MEng degrees there which have led to employment, plus plenty of our own contemporaries that have done post grad degrees there and are now C level.

The minimum offer will be contextual.

Sheffield also offers AAB if you have an EPQ or AS level further maths, or as a contextual offer.