Applied Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) top-up

Study level: Undergraduate
Top-up courses
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This top-up degree is designed to enhance your existing engineering skills and qualifications and in turn, your career.

Year of entry

2025-26

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time

Duration

1 year full-time

Course code

H301

Start date

September 2025

The information on this page is for 2024-25 entry and should be used as guidance for 2025-26 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.


Course overview

Successful completion of this honour’s degree could open a wide range of careers in many engineering disciplines and prepare you to apply for further postgraduate study. The course is aimed at those who have chosen a more vocational route and have a Foundation Degree, DipHE, HND or equivalent in engineering.

  • We aim to help you build upon and ‘top up’ your previous qualification and experience with activity-led, hands-on learning, giving you the opportunity to further develop your engineering and mathematical knowledge, understanding, management and analysis skills, in a professional manner to problem-solve engineering problems.
  • You will have the chance to practice your learning through defining, analysing and solving case studies and a research-inspired individual project.
  • Upon successful completion, you will top-up your existing qualifications to an honour’s degree level through a course that has been specially developed to consider the mechanical and mathematical science and experience you have already gained, through your existing qualifications.
A star in the centre of a rosette.

Rated Gold Overall

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023

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5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

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Top 5 Student City in England (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2025

Why you should study this course

The Applied Mechanical Engineering BEng top-up degree aims to provide you with a practical, industrially relevant, hands-on experience which is based on the understanding and development of traditional and research-inspired engineering, and mathematical science and technology.

  • The degree provides a rigorous balance of academic knowledge and development.
  • Upon successful completion, the course should provide you with the skills needed to solve engineering problems through analysis and critical evaluation, using professional engineering, design and management tools4.
  • We will support you to learn and adopt working practices that are professional and innovative, in a manner where there is an awareness of fundamental theoretical and analytical approaches to problem-solving.
  • Successful completion of this degree should also give you a good grounding to develop the highly scientific, numerical, analytical, practical and problem-solving skills that are sought within the engineering sector and other diverse fields, such as managerial and finance and beyond.
  • You will have the opportunity to access and benefit from a wide range of teaching and research facilities4.
  • We aim to maintain our strong links with major international and national potential employers and our current teaching staff are experienced professionals that are industry and/or research-active in their fields (staff are subject to change).

What you'll study

The course is designed for you to learn and develop a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical, materials and mathematical (analytical) sciences; approaches to design and product lifecycle and the managerial procedures that provide a basis for working professionally and effectively.

The top-up degree is composed of several linked modules that are delivered over the academic year.

A major component of the degree is the individual project, which is bespoke in design and allows you to put into practice and further develop the skills that you have learnt in the modules. The individual project is practical in nature and based on a research inspired engineering problem with a professional approach.

Modules

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.


How you'll learn

We place an emphasis on activity-led learning, with comprehensive student support throughout.

You should benefit from access to a variety of study materials that provide you with the opportunity to understand and reflect on engineering science, as well as develop established and research-inspired skills that could be applied to practical problems, for a future career in engineering.


Teaching contact hours

This course consists of five 20-credit modules (composed of 200 hours teaching each) and two 10-credit modules (composed of 100 hours teaching each).

As a full-time undergraduate student, you will study modules totalling 120 credits each academic year. A typical 20 credit module requires a total of 200 hours study. This is made up of teaching contact hours, guided and independent study.

Teaching hours:

Teaching hours vary each semester, year of study and due to module selection. During your top-up year you can expect 9-12 teaching hours each week. You will also have the option to attend optional sessions including time with a progress coach or to meet with staff for advice and feedback. As you progress through your studies, teaching hours may reduce.

Guided and independent study:

Throughout your studies, you will be expected to spend time in guided and independent study to make up the required study hours per module. You'll be digging deeper into topics, review what you've learnt and complete assignments. This can be completed around your personal commitments. As you progress through your studies, you'll spend more time in independent study.

Online learning:

As an innovative university, we use different teaching methods including online tools and emerging technologies. So, some of your teaching hours and assessments may be delivered online.


Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

The assessment methods may include:

  • formal examinations
  • phase tests
  • essays
  • group work
  • presentations
  • reports
  • projects
  • coursework
  • exams
  • individual assignments.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.


Entry requirements

Typical entry requirements:

You will need to have, or expected to achieve, a FHEA Level 5/SCQF Level 8 Foundation Degree (FD), DipHE, or HND in Engineering. Successful completion of two years appropriate academic study in higher education. 5 GCSEs at grade 4 / C or above to include English and Mathematics.

Alternatively, you will need to have a recognised equivalent where there is a substantial component of mechanical engineering/science or a closely related discipline.

Other qualifications and experience

Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, each with a unique story. We recognise a breadth of qualifications. If your qualifications differ from the above, contact our Admissions Team who will be happy to discuss your qualifications and routes into your chosen course.

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Contextual offers and Fair Access Scheme

If you meet the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme, you could automatically receive a contextual offer that may be up to 24 UCAS points lower than our standard entry requirements. View the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:


You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.0 overall, with no component lower than 5.5.

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

Student Full-time Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year
Not available
EU 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year with EU Support Bursary**
2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year without EU Support Bursary**
Not available
International 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year
Not available

If you choose to study this course with a professional placement2 or study abroad year, you will need to pay a tuition fee3 of £1,250 to cover your academic support throughout your placement year.

For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see the university’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permits an increase in tuition fees, the niversity may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

  • any optional overseas field trips or visits: £400+ per trip
  • any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

Find out what's included in your tuition costs.

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.


Facilities

Your studies will be centred in high-specification learning environments that benefit from extensive social learning facilities, well-appointed laboratories, industry-standard equipment, lecturing facilities and classrooms, facilitating our innovative teaching methods across a diverse suite of courses.

A student in blue overalls using equipment in the metals workshop.

Metals Workshop

Participate in technical work in a hands-on way. The workshop includes lathes, milling machines, fabrication equipment for sheet metal work, CNC machines, work benches, welding lines and a fitting assembly area.

A student looking from a balcony over the engineering centre

High Performance Engineering Centre (HPEC)

Home to flight and driving simulators, a chassis design assembly and test facility and wind tunnels. The centre also houses a fleet of CNC manufacturing machines.

Student in blue overalls in the metrology lab.

Metrology Laboratories

Coventry University is a recognised leader for independent measurement expertise and services in the field of metrology. Facilities in our metrology laboratory include an impressive range of dimensional metrology equipment.

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.


Careers and opportunities

Successful completion of this course will top-up your existing qualifications to BEng (Hons) degree level. You should also gain the engineering and mathematical, managerial, academic and practical skills that are relevant to current engineering sectors.

We aim to help you develop a rigorous problem-solving approach to engineering challenges, influenced by a rich mix of academic and industrial experience.

Upon successful completion of the course, you should be able to deal with complex issues that require a high degree of innovation through the development of transferable skills. You will also have opportunities to gain vital professional technical and managerial skills that could enable you to work both individually and as a team effectively and responsibly.

This degree should provide you with the skills to work within a broad range of engineering and associated sectors.


How to apply