Engineering with grades ABC

[GraduationQuery]

Finding it hard to work out where best to apply with:

Maths A
Geography B
Physics C

I’m not familiar with the subject so would hugely appreciate some pointers.

It will likely be for Clearing this year.

That costs more money though and most engineers don’t do that. What a levels does earth sciences want? And where? Are those courses competitive?

Many universities are not that competitive for engineering. I thought possible clearing grades at the better unis was referred to by posters. I just confirmed these were great unis for engineering but snyome with their head screwed on at most unis would be ok and former polys should be on the list.

@OhDear111 FFS, it was just a suggestion given (a) the A levels taken, and (b) there isn’t even a suggestion that the student wants specifically to do civils.

Yes, those are good A levels for earth sciences and yes, earth sciences is competitive, and yes those grades would get you into a good university.

NMITE

Ah @SabrinaThwaite - whatever your own personal experience, there’s only One True Way into engineering, and it’s the OhDear way (or indeed, the Mr OhDear way).

Portsmouth and Northumbria Civil MEng require below his tarrif. Nottingham Trent appears spot on. All are perfectly good for civils. DH ran a medium sized civil snd structural consultancy and was happy with grads from former polys. He preferred to judge on what a candidate could do and how they thought. Not just did they have an A star at FM maths A level. I’d go civils - but I’m biased. Other courses will cut out structural engineering possibilities. DH is a Fellow of Civils and structures but that’s rare now. The main thing is to find out what you enjoy but it doesn’t have to be red brick or RG nor another route in. MEng is the quickest and cheapest route.

@SheilaFentiman And you know about this subject because?….. Or do
you just like a nasty pop at me? DH has employed many many engineering grads over a 45 year career. He’s sold the consultancy now but very few engineers come through non engineering degrees. It’s possible but not usual. What’s your experience of running a multi million £ engkneering consultancy?

Thing about engineering is that it is a hard degree. If not able to achieve higher grades at AL will the course be too tough? Obviously there will be mitiating circumstances

I know about the way you post on all threads related to engineering. And you are aggressive to all posters who present any alternative, even if they aren’t addressing you, just as you were to Sabrina.

And we all know all about your DH’s consultancy - but that’s not the only way to be an engineer.

I happen to agree with you that the easiest/most conventional/cheapest way to become an engineer is to do an integrated MEng. Indeed, one of my children is doing that, hence me knowing about a variety of recent clearing grades.

But I can also acknowledge that there are other valid ways to pursue this career, and I don’t feel the need to jump down the throats of posters who point this out.

Have a good day.

@SheilaFentiman I didn’t say there were no alternatives! I spelt out what the drawbacks were. I’ve also given very good unis to look at. So you have a dc at uni. Not actually got a job then? I’ve no idea why that gives you superior knowledge? Plus originally I said nothing about DHs company. I’m sure the op didn’t know me at all. However most students should perhaps consider what employers think?

Sigh.

It doesn’t give me “superior” knowledge - why js everything a competition with you? (Although I probably do have more recent knowledge of clearing grades, which I shared earlier with the OP)

You were aggressive to Sabrina, who actually does have a career in engineering, through a different route. I was sympathising with her, not addressing the OP. Since I “know” you both from various threads, I would imagine Sabrina does know you, under your current or previous name.

I’ve made my point - you will doubtless continue to repeatedly make yours, in your own way, on any and all engineering threads. We are off topic for the OP, so I will leave it there.

Apparently there is only One True Way, despite the evidence that there are lots of different paths to various endpoints in engineering.

And people do still study specialist one year masters degrees rather than doing the more general masters year of the MEng - it’s more expensive but often covers more in depth skills and knowledge.

thats a good point to consider. All engineering degrees aren’t the same - the higher tariff ones may have content and pace which students who aced their A levels may find hard. So realistically it might be a mistake to take a clearing place with grades significantly below the standard offer, should any of those appear (kids who’ve underperformed in a levels for specific reasons may be fine with them). An inherently lower tariff course will hopefully have content and pace more appropriate to your DS. So long as it’s got appropriate accreditation, they should end up covering the required bases even if they’re not doing some of the mind bending aspects which only a few will ever need in the real world. Does that make sense?
’links to industry’ usually comes up - alongside the course they should make sure they do a decent internship in one or more of the summer vacations.

@SabrinaThwaite Of course but many engineers do now come with the MEng. This is because chartered status is attained quicker. You need appropriate work and CPD and not all employers offer this in the world of civils. If you start in a niche position it’s difficult not to stay in it. With an engineering degree, say in. Civils, you could do structural engineering. You can do environmental engineering. You can do nearly anything you like if your employer supports it so it keeps options open. There isn’t one way but there’s only one quick way and as @ErrolTheDragon say, beware of courses that are not accredited. That really does lead to a long qualification period. How long did it take you to get Chartered ? @SabrinaThwaite

My husband did physics, is an engineer and isn't chartered because basically he couldn't be bothered and is perfectly happy and earns plenty.

@Gloschick also suggested NMITE and it looks interesting, but I can't find any objective good reports/reviews of it?

Since I had my masters and could do the CPD and training through my employer, not much longer than anyone else (there were no integrated masters back in the day).

It wasn’t that niche, moved across quite a few disciplines within engineering. Lots of interesting projects in the UK and overseas, and both onshore and offshore.

My youngest’s best friend has completed the civils BEng rather than staying on for the MEng year and is now doing a specialist masters - will finish a few months after the MEng course and with larger debt but with a great qualification.

So, as I said, lots of different routes, and just because it’s not what you consider a traditional route it doesn’t make it inferior. I would have hated being permanently stuck in a design office

I think a factor in his hesitancy might be that his older brother just finished Mech/Elec at Bristol (with A*AA that he didn't overly work for). He got a 2.1 but found it quite hard.

But from talking to a friend who's an engineer and reading a bit, it seems that engineering is a broad church with opportunities for very different people, (obviously with a base level of academic ability)?

I will suggest Environmental/Earth sciences as an alternative, thanks @SabrinaThwaite.

I agree @ErrolTheDragon that slipping on to a higher tariff course through clearing could be a bad move if it's just too hard.

Thanks everyone.

Agree with this. Someone has already mentioned Lincoln and that might well be worth looking at. Lower ucas tariff if he struggled with A levels and I believe is known for good industry links for engineering.

My 2ps worth

Daughter is currently doing an Meng in Civil Engineering at Nottingham, she didn't quite have the grades but did a Foundation year first - it's a through degree. She also did a year abroad at their campus in KL.

Yes, ‘engineering’ is very broad. Various disciplines (sometimes overlapping), all sorts of roles within them, requiring varying combinations of intellectual and practical skills, problem solving abilities and nous. Some, I think, are very ‘code based’ - doing things correctly ‘by the book’ - whereas others are blue skies (and beyond!) innovation.

@ErrolTheDragon There are some boring and rigid roles for engineers that will have you cooped up in a ports cabin doing endless changes to HS2 design! Few really should be aiming for that. And, of course, the original book was wrong hence the endless revisions. It’s better, in civils at least, to have various thoughts about how a solution can be found. With huge projects, young engineers don’t need much problem solving. They are told what to do. Others will be a lot more creative and innovative.

@SabrinaThwaite DH has no masters because back in the day you didn’t need one. CEng took 3 years after BEng degree and would have been quicker if his first job hadn’t been a mistake. Few will do it in 3 years now but it’s not making them better engineers. Most get shoehorned into a narrow role and cannot engineer a broader spectrum of work. But I guess it’s what they want.

Don't discount higher apprenticeships, yes you need to pick which companies you apply for, which can choose your discipline to an extent, but its not a life sentence. I did a higher apprenticeship, finished my course with a BEng and now I work in a completely different discipline, my experience was still relevant.

Most companies will also rotate their apprentices through different teams so they can give a breadth of experience, and not to mention no debt.

Yes they are competitive but when ive been involved in recruitment its more about attitude/aptitude than grades, the interviews are good experience if nothing else.

Newcastle will accept BBC/BCC (depending on whether you do Meng or B Eng.
Not just for Parthers students, includes everyone applying for engineering and maths degrees. Have a look at the website.

It’s called “pathways into Newcastle”

You had to apply via UCAS by16th Jan 2026, which OP says was missed.

Useful info though.