Overview
If you’re already working in the industry, you can boost your knowledge with this part-time Engineering BSc, which works around you.
Coventry University has offered a part-time degree in Engineering for over 25 years and we are ranked as the country’s 3rd best university for the study of ‘Mechanical Engineering’ in the Guardian University Guide 2020.
Our extensive industry links include Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, MIRA, Whale Tankers, BAE Systems, TEREX, GE and E-ATON Hydraulics. We are home to the £32 million Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AME), run in partnership with Unipart.
This course offers a flexible study route with three intakes and intensive blocks of study, ideal if you are a mature working student or employer looking to upskill your workforce. The course environment provides the opportunity to mix and network with students from various manufacturing organisations. In certain instances there may also be the possibility to network with our professional contacts and potential industry partners for research collaborations.
Why Coventry University?
An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedTeaching Excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their fieldCourse essentials
A degree which offers you more, at no extra costWhat our alumni say
Lean manufacturing is a production practice that considers expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Lean has unfortunately also become synonymous with cost reduction and job losses, so countering this misconception in workplace is what my project was all about: involving and empowering workforce colleagues was the key to our success, an outcome which saw an increase in production of 10% and machinery and equipment set-up time reduce to 15% of the working day.
Course information
The course aims to provide a solid foundation in the key principles of engineering. It is designed to produce graduates with the versatility and depth of understanding to deal with new and unusual challenges in engineering, alongside the necessary imagination and creativity to innovate.
We aim to equip you with the essential knowledge and skills in science, commerce, design, manufacturing and management required for a career across a broad range of industries, with, for example, a major equipment manufacturer, a design consultancy or a supply-chain company.
Modules are structured to teach technical requirements and management issues within engineering, together with core design and analytical principles, using industry-standard software and the latest computer aided engineering (CAE) packages where appropriate. Examples include CATIA, Solidworks, Robotstudio and Arena.
Through application of lean, quality and project management concepts, factory simulation, experimentation and design, aim to help develop your analytical and problem solving skills so that you will be better equipped to tackle engineering problems.
Course specification
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Modules
We are ranked as the 15th best University in the United Kingdom in The Guardian University Guide 2020.
In more detail...
Developed to respond to the cross-disciplinary needs of local, regional and national industries, including automotive, aerospace, mechanical and engineering services.
We aim to provide you with relevant, specialist knowledge in one or more areas of manufacturing, engineering management and design, so that you may contribute to ensuring regional industry achieves and sustains competitive success in global marketplace.
Course content is consistent with the ‘Incorporated Engineer’ general and specific learning outcome statements of the Engineering Council’s UK-SPEC.
Successful students should develop an in-depth knowledge of the essential technical subjects, along with the personal skills considered necessary to progress in industry. This includes, for example, awareness of professional responsibilities, such as associated ethical and legal issues.
Our experienced teaching staff aim to incorporate their professional experiences from industry into teaching. Our teaching staff have previously had roles such as senior engineer for TRW, production engineering manager for Dynacast and chief engineer at Mahle Powertrain.
There will also be opportunities for them to share their research expertise, many involved in cutting-edge commercial and academic research for the Centre for Mobility and Transport, for example, in areas such as cybersecurity, vehicle dynamics, light weighting, advanced simulation, future concepts and crash protection.
- Home to the Coventry University Simulation Centre
- Admissions criteria encompass a broad range of suitable qualifications and will factor in work experience
- Opportunity to participate in fieldtrips abroad, which have recently included trips to Poland, Bulgaria, China, Belgium and USA
- Study in our £50m Engineering and Computing building, which features sustainable technologies including rainwater harvesting, solar thermal energy and biomass boilers.
- Flexibility in terms of delivery and completion times – you can start in September, January or May and take between two to three modules per year within a maximum of six years
- Supervised training and access to extensive facilities in our High-Performance Engineering Centre, which houses a 20% scale model wind tunnel, composites lab, metrology lab, four-pot shaker rig, flow lab, AVL engine test cell, automotive workshop, fatigue and tensile testing (Instron), a full-size Harrier Jet, three further simulators, civil engineering specialist testing equipment, a range of CNC machinery and a laser workshop.
The course offers two exit points – depending on whether you wish to achieve an ‘Ordinary’ or ‘Honours’ Bachelor’s degree.
Our main study themes are:
- Science and technology: The essential underpinning science and technology necessary for today’s engineers
- Design and manufacture: The innovative resolution of design and manufacture problems focused on commercially viable solutions
- Manufacturing analysis: Tools and techniques for optimising and enhancing quality of production. You could also, depending on options selected, learn to use industry standard software to model, analyse and validate process and systems
- Project management: Knowledge around best practice in managing projects
This course starts from Level 2 and is mainly aimed at candidates from an engineering working environment with an appropriate qualification (Examples include HNC – Merit & above Post 2010 awards, HND and Foundation Degree in an Engineering).
It can only be followed in a part-time mode, starting in September, January or May. The course must be completed within a maximum of six years and students typically take between three and four years, studying one module per semester.
Some modules are scheduled to run in the evening, others in the afternoon and there are also a few modules delivered in the distance learning mode. The evening modules start at 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (attendance on both days is required), whereas afternoon modules start at 2pm on Fridays.
Selected guest lectures are provided and are generally delivered by staff from manufacturing companies, consultancies and other educational institutions. Themes vary from year to year, but, as examples previous topics have included the application of lean practices in industry, managing teams within industry and consultancy experiences.
Teaching methods include: lectures with associated practice, laboratory, workshop exercises and tutorials; problem-based learning in groups; group learning; CAD studio work; design exercises and group discussion.
Assessments consist of coursework and examinations. Some modules include both aspects, while others are focused on coursework only. Assignments can take many different forms, for example, a written report, individual or group presentation or in-class test. These coursework assignments can fall any time within the teaching block; at times, module leaders may set a coursework submission date after the end of teaching also.
Examinations take place within the pre-defined examination weeks. These normally run across a two-week period per semester; with the examinations generally falling on a Friday afternoon, though this is not guaranteed.
On successful completion, you should have knowledge of:
- The function, materials, manufacturing organisation, processes and management of engineering products and projects.
- The principles of engineering science and analytical tools, their application and capability in appraising the performance of products and systems.
- Aspects of design including standards and codes, selection of materials and methods of manufacture, and computer-aided design tools for optimisation of performance, reliability and cost or optimisation of operations planning and control.
- The synthesis of design solutions and their subsequent analysis to meet technical and commercial objectives, using appropriate tools and techniques (design, quality, manufacturing systems).
- Factors involved in the commercial success of an engineering enterprise or new product innovation including social, environmental, ethical, legal and sustainability.
- Analyse and solve engineering problems of a technical and managerial nature using appropriate engineering and standard mathematical analysis techniques
- Synthesise innovative solutions to problems in an engineering environment using appropriate tools and techniques.
- Select appropriate tools for the analysis of engineering products and systems.
- Search for and evaluate information to aid the development of solutions to problems.
- Analyse and assess the impact of innovation on company's business performance.
- Use commercial software in the solution of engineering problems.
- Formulate a strategy as to how best to tackle a problem using relevant tools and techniques.
*Please note that knowledge gained will differ depending on options selected
The volume of time you will spend either being taught or studying, to an extent, relates to your background knowledge at the start of each module, the speed at which you learn the material being taught and the structure of the module. As an example, a module with multiple pieces of coursework will typically require you to be working steadily throughout the 11-week term, whereas a module with one piece of coursework and an exam may require focused periods of study at specific points within the module.
If you study one semester a term, in a typical week, you will have up to 4 ‘contact’ hours of teaching. This will generally include lectures and tutorials. In addition, you will be expected to allocate further time for self-directed study each week eg. revising, using guided handouts, online activities etc. For a typical 20-credit module there would be approximately 156 hours of self-directed study. The split across the weeks will depend on the module.
As a guide, each module equates to about 200 hours of study commitment – in-class time, coursework and your own study time.
Global ready
Did you know we help more students travel internationally than any other UK university according to data from the experts in higher education data and analysis, HESA?
In 2016/17, we were able to provide a total of 3,482 experiences abroad that lasted at least five days.
Much of this travel is made possible through our Global Leaders Programme, which enables students to prepare for the challenges of the global employment market, as well as strengthening and developing their broader personal and professional skills.
1st for
international experiences
Sending more students overseas than any other UK uni (HESA 2016/17)
3,482
Student experiences
The number of student trips abroad for at least 5 days in 2016/17
21,000
and counting
The number of students we’ve helped travel internationally so far
12
global programmes
As well as trips, we offer other opportunities like language courses
What our alumni say
Lean manufacturing is a production practice that considers expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Lean has unfortunately also become synonymous with cost reduction and job losses, so countering this misconception in workplace is what my project was all about: involving and empowering workforce colleagues was the key to our success, an outcome which saw an increase in production of 10% and machinery and equipment set-up time reduce to 15% of the working day.
Entry Requirements
What our alumni say
Lean manufacturing is a production practice that considers expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Lean has unfortunately also become synonymous with cost reduction and job losses, so countering this misconception in workplace is what my project was all about: involving and empowering workforce colleagues was the key to our success, an outcome which saw an increase in production of 10% and machinery and equipment set-up time reduce to 15% of the working day.
Tuition Fees
We pride ourselves on offering competitive tuition fees which we review on an annual basis and offer a wide range of scholarships to support students with their studies. Course fees are calculated on the basis of what it costs to teach each course and we aim for total financial transparency.
For more information, please visit our Finance pages.
Course essentials at no extra cost
We're committed to communicating study costs clearly to make sure you're not faced with having to make any unexpected payments.
This is why our ‘Flying Start’ package provides you with a few course essentials. Your full-time fee for an undergraduate degree will cover the following:
UK field trips
Any mandatory site visits and trips within the United Kingdom.Key material
This can include core textbooks, software and equipment.Laser prints
1,000 A4 sides of black and white laser printing credits per year.Optional year
Pay no tuition fees for optional work placements or study abroad trips.EU student fees
EU nationals and their family members starting in the 2019/20 academic year remain eligible for the same fees as home students and the same financial support. Financial support comes from Student Finance England, and covers undergraduate and postgraduate study for the duration of their course, providing they meet the residency requirement.
For tuition fee loans
EU nationals must have resided in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that three year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
For maintenance loans
EU nationals must have resided in the UK and Islands for the five years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that five year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
Career prospects
Engineering is a dynamic, ever-expanding sector and there is a high demand for well qualified engineers, making them among the most sought-after and highly paid professionals in UK business.
We will actively encourage and support you to make the most of this demand, aiming to prepare you with the skills required in the sector.
Our award-winning Faculty careers service, the Talent Team, which won the ‘Best Placement Service in the UK’ award at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards in 2015 and 2016, provides a wide range of employer initiatives, support and professional guidance to help you apply for your career.
Successful graduates leave with experience of industry-relevant technologies, as well as industry-standard software for computer-aided engineering (CAE). Through the practical and industry-focused projects, you should aim to stay abreast of the emerging issues and challenges for engineers.
Coventry University is committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The university’s Talent Team provide a wide range of support services to help you plan and prepare for your career.
Where our graduates work
Our course aims to provide skills sought in careers with the global engineering industry. Past students have gone into varied careers including such industries as aerospace, automotive, rail, marine, chemical construction and defence.
What our alumni say
Lean manufacturing is a production practice that considers expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Lean has unfortunately also become synonymous with cost reduction and job losses, so countering this misconception in workplace is what my project was all about: involving and empowering workforce colleagues was the key to our success, an outcome which saw an increase in production of 10% and machinery and equipment set-up time reduce to 15% of the working day.
Disclaimer
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the University. The Contract will detail your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and will contain the obligations that the University will owe to you. We encourage you to read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the University. A copy of the 17/18 Contract can be found here and the 18/19 Contract will be published shortly.
