Chemical engineering addresses many of the world’s greatest challenges faced by society in areas such as energy, environment, health, water and food. The ability to design and optimise processes and solve problems means that chemical engineers are in high demand.

As we move to a more technologically advanced and sustainable future, chemical engineers will provide the innovation and leadership to decarbonise industry, manufacture products from sustainable feedstocks, advance healthcare by designing and manufacturing personalised medicines and digitally transform the chemicals industry.

Our team of expert academics will educate you in core chemical engineering subjects, along with chemical engineering practice and design. You’ll have the opportunity to learn advanced chemical engineering topics such as digital design, machine learning, intensified processes and product formulation – disciplines that are the future of chemical engineering.

Studying a chemical engineering degree at Leeds will provide you with the fundamental concepts and new skills used by the modern chemical engineer. You’ll develop the specialist knowledge, skills and experience you need to begin your career in this highly valued profession and make a real impact in the field of chemical sciences and engineering.

Industrial placement year

This programme gives you the opportunity to undertake a paid industrial placement year as part of the course. Our close industry links give you the platform to apply to a number of major organisations such as P&G, Johnson Matthey, Bentley Motors, EDF Energy, Unilever, AstraZeneca and Sellafield Ltd.

Why study at Leeds:

This course is accredited by the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Our globally-renowned research here at Leeds feeds into your course and shapes your learning with the latest thinking.

Enhance your career prospects and give your CV that competitive edge before you graduate with a paid industrial placement year.

Experience expert teaching delivered by a programme team who specialise in a wide range of chemical and process engineering disciplines and have extensive industry experience.

Access excellent facilities, including our renewable technologies teaching lab and the virtual engineering environment that gives you hands-on experience in chemical plant operations.

Tailor the course to suit your career ambitions and interests through our pathways in digital manufacturing and processes, energy, nuclear and materials.

Make the most of your time at Leeds by joining our ChemEng society where you can meet more of your peers and lecturers, whilst gaining guidance and invaluable insight from industry professionals at regular talks and networking events throughout your degree.

This course offers you the chance to learn and practice the fundamentals of chemical engineering with the flexibility to tailor the degree to your interests through specialist pathways in digital manufacturing and processes, energy engineering, materials engineering and nuclear engineering.

Embedded within your chemical engineering programme are opportunities to develop your professional skills such as teamwork, communication, presenting, report writing, project management, self-learning and ethics. In addition to technical competency, these skills are highly desired in industry.

During your degree, you’ll have lots of opportunities to develop laboratory skills. Chemical engineering labs go from the basic skills training in year 1, to you running several unit operations yourself in year 2. Then, it’s onto a challenging discovery lab in year 3, where you’ll design the experiment to test a hypothesis, collect and analyse data before iterating your approach to get to the solution.