Engineering
Engineering is about designing processes and making products to solve real-world problems. Our course enables you to develop your engineering knowledge, skills, imagination and experience to the highest levels in readiness for your future career.
| UCAS code | H100 MEng/E |
| Duration | Four years |
| Colleges | Available at all Colleges |
| 2011 entry | Applications/places: 5 Number admitted: 344 |
| Open days and events 2012 | College open days (sciences) Cambridge Open Days - 5 July, 6 July Subject Masterclass - Engineering: Above the Earth |
| Related courses | |
| Contact details | 01223 332625 ugrad-admissions@eng.cam.ac.uk www.eng.cam.ac.uk |
Overview
Engineering at Cambridge
The Cambridge course is unique. It isn't a 'general' course but allows you to keep your options open while equipping you with all the analytical, design and computing skills that underpin modern engineering practice.
Part I provides a broad education in engineering fundamentals, enabling you to make a genuinely informed choice about the area in which to specialise from your third year (many students change direction as a result). Part II then provides in-depth training in your chosen professional discipline.
Department and facilities
The Department is a leading international centre for research, consistently ranked the highest amongst British universities. We also have strong links with industry, with many research projects funded by industrial companies.
Our facilities are excellent: the Design and Project Office is equipped with more than 80 workstations; the library has 30,000 books and takes about 350 journals; and extensive mechanical and electrical workshops are available. The Department's Language Programme for Engineers offers specialised courses at all levels in French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.
Accreditation
The course is accredited by all the major institutions, including the Institutions of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Engineering and Technology (IET), Civil Engineers (ICE), and Structural Engineers (IStructE), the Institute of Measurement and Control, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. An appropriate combination of Part II papers is required in each case.
Industrial experience
You're required to complete four weeks of industrial experience by the end of the second year, and a further four weeks by the end of the third year, obtained by deferring entry or during vacations. Our full-time Industrial Placement Co-ordinator helps deferred entrants and undergraduates to find suitable placements (in the UK and abroad) and sponsorship.
Exchange programmes
About 10 per cent of our students spend their third year studying abroad through our exchange schemes with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), École Centrale Paris, the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Technical University of Munich.
Careers
When you graduate, you're fully qualified in your chosen area, knowledgeable across the range of engineering disciplines, and able to apply new technologies in novel situations, giving you an advantage over engineering graduates from other more narrowly focused courses. Employment prospects are typically excellent, with 98 per cent of our students finding a job within six months of graduating. The average starting salary of Cambridge Engineering graduates in 2010 was £27,400.
Course outline
Teaching is provided through a mixture of lectures, practicals, projects and supervisions, and in Year 1 you can typically expect around 22 hours of teaching each week.
Part I
The broad foundation of the first two years gives you an understanding of the basic principles of a wide range of subjects, together with an appreciation of the external pressures under which these ideas are likely to be applied.
Year 1 (Part IA)
You take four papers and sit a three-hour written exam in each:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Structures and Materials
- Electrical and Information Engineering
- Mathematical Methods
You also undertake several coursework activities and projects, on topics including structural design, product design, presentation skills, drawing, laboratory experiments and computer programming.
Year 2 (Part IB)
You study eight papers on core subjects at a more advanced level:
- Mechanics
- Structures
- Materials
- Thermofluid Mechanics
- Electrical Engineering
- Information Engineering
- Mathematical Methods
- Business Economics
In the third term, you select two topics from seven engineering disciplines plus a language option. These topics emphasise engineering design and introduce the more specialised work of the third year.
Coursework includes laboratory experiments and computing exercises. Several experiments are linked around the common theme of earthquake-resistant structures. A highlight of the year is the compulsory Integrated Design Project where you work in teams to design and build robot vehicles which are then tested against each other.
Year 3 (Part IIA)
Professional specialisation begins in earnest and you study 10 papers from an extensive portfolio, from which a core is associated with one of the following disciplines:
- Aerospace and Aerothermal Engineering
- Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Electrical and Information Sciences
- Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Engineering for the Life Sciences
- Information and Computer Engineering
- Instrumentation and Control
- Mechanical Engineering
In the final term, you choose two from a variety of design and computer-based projects, projects in a foreign language or a surveying project. A few students graduate after three years with the BA Hons degree.
Year 4 (Part IIB)
Progression to Part IIB is dependent on examination achievement in Parts IB and IIA, and successful completion of Part IIB leads to the BA and MEng degrees.
In Part IIB, further specialisation is possible and you select eight papers from nearly 100 options which vary each year.
These papers benefit from the Department's research and are taught by experts in the particular field. As a result you graduate with a masters-level appreciation of theory and practice in your chosen area.
A major project occupies about half of your time throughout the final year. Many projects are associated with current Department research and have direct industrial input and application. Recent projects include: remarkably shaped structures; preliminary design of a solar electric vehicle; strategy development for fuel restricted F1 races; medical imaging and 3D computer graphics, and the aerodynamics of power kites.
Entry requirements
Typical offers require
A Level: A*AA or A*AAA or A*AAB
IB: 40-42 points, with 776 or 777 at Higher Level
For other qualifications, see our main Entrance requirements pages.
Course requirements
Essential A Level/IB Higher Level Mathematics and Physics
Highly desirable A Level/IB Higher Level in a third mathematics/science/technology subject
Further Mathematics is strongly encouraged. If unavailable or you've recognised its desirability too late, we'd advise you to do as much additional pure maths and mechanics as possible, eg by taking stand-alone units or Further Mathematics AS/IB Standard Level.
Please refer to the Department of Engineering's Guide to Undergraduate Admissions for the views and preferences of individual Colleges concerning academic requirements for admission to Engineering.
All Colleges, except Trinity, welcome applications from students taking A Level Mathematics and a suitable vocational qualification in an engineering discipline, eg a BTEC Higher National or National Diploma, BTEC Foundation Degree, Double Award Advanced VCE. Applicants are expected to achieve the highest possible grades in A Level Mathematics and one of these qualifications. Those taking the Single Award Applied A Level in Engineering must also be taking A Levels in Mathematics and Physics.
The Advanced Diplomas in Engineering and in Manufacturing and Product Design are acceptable for Engineering providing you've taken A Level Physics and the Level 3 Certificate in Mathematics for Engineering within the Additional Specialist Learning component. Offers are based on performance in the Principal Learning units, Additional Specialist Learning and the Extended Project. See the Department of Engineering's Guide to Undergraduate Admissions for details.
Check College websites for College specific requirements. See also Entrance requirements and our Subject Matters leaflet for additional advice about general requirements for entry, qualifications and offers.
Admissions tests and written work
The table below sets out the ways in which each College assesses applicants for this subject. For more information about these methods of assessment and why we use them, see the main Admissions tests and written work page.
| College | Assessment of applicant for this subject |
|---|---|
| Christ's | Interview only; Possible STEP requirement |
| Churchill | Test at interview |
| Clare | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA); Preparatory study at interview |
| Corpus Christi | Test at interview |
| Downing | Mathematical test at interview |
| Emmanuel | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| Fitzwilliam | Test at interview |
| Girton | Interview only |
| Gonville & Caius | Interview only |
| Homerton | Test at interview |
| Hughes Hall | Test at interview |
| Jesus | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA); Preparatory test at interview |
| King's | Class at interview; Test at interview; Problem solving during interview |
| Lucy Cavendish | Test at interview |
| Magdalene | Test at interview |
| Murray Edwards | Interview only |
| Newnham | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA); Test at interview |
| Pembroke | Preparatory test at interview |
| Peterhouse | Test at interview; Problem solving at interview: Possible STEP requirement |
| Queens' | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| Robinson | Test at interview |
| St Catharine's | Interview only |
| St Edmund's | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| St John's | Short maths test at interview; Preparatory study prior to interview; Possible STEP Requirement |
| Selwyn | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| Sidney Sussex | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| Trinity | Test at interview |
| Trinity Hall | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) |
| Wolfson | Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA); Test at interview |
How to apply
If you are interested in applying for this course, please see our Applying section for more details.
Further Resources
Find out more about Engineering at Cambridge
- Course website - Explore the Engineering degree in more detail on the course website.
- Staff profiles - Find out more about the people who'll be teaching you during your Engineering degree.
- Course FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about the Engineering course.
- Why Engineering? - The key question you should be able to answer!
- Why Cambridge? - The advantages of studying Engineering at Cambridge in particular.
- Teaching style - Information about the styles of teaching used in the Engineering degree course.
- Facilities - Information about the facilities available to Engineering students.
- Course guide - A detailed guide to the Engineering degree.
- Engineering Department newsletters - News about Department staff, students, alumni and research.
Improve your knowledge of Engineering
- Preparatory reading - Guidance on preparatory reading for applicants interested in Engineering.
- Maths notes for teachers - Guidance for teachers on the maths skills that Cambridge is looking for in Engineering applicants.
- Gap year info - Information about potential gap year activities for prospective Engineering applicants.
- engNRICH - Mathematical conundrums with an engineering twist.
Tools to help you with your Engineering application
- Application information - A detailed guide to applying to study Engineering at Cambridge.
- Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) Preparation - Resources to help prepare for the TSA (required for Engineering at some Colleges). Includes practice tests, suggested textbooks and further reading.
Engineering and your future
- Graduate profiles - Some recent graduates reflect on their experience studying Engineering at Cambridge and on their subsequent careers.
- Career opportunities and industrial experience - Information about the career opportunities available to you after studying Engineering at Cambridge, and information on opportunities to build up industrial experience during your degree.
- Course accreditation - Information on the accreditation of the Engineering degree by professional bodies.
- Transferable skills - A guide to the transferable skills you can develop during the course of an Engineering degree.
The student experience
- Student profiles - Some current students describe their experience of studying Engineering.
- Extra-curricular activities - Information about the various extra-curricular activities Engineering students get involved in to further enjoy and learn about their subject.