Why study this course

The Engineering Foundation Year course is specially designed to give you the necessary knowledge you will need for an engineering degree.

Although the Foundation scheme lasts for one year, it must be considered as an entry route to one of our degree courses. It is not a stand-alone year, but the initial part of a programme of study leading towards a BEng or MEng degree. Once you successfully complete the Foundation Year you will progress to the first year of your chosen degree course, as long as you achieve an average of at least 50%.

The course is designed to expose you to the broad spectrum of engineering disciplines through lectures, tutorials and case studies. These include aspects of mathematics, physics and information technology that are relevant to engineering. The practical nature of the course contrasts with the way such subjects may have been presented at school. Assessment is by project work, continuous assessment and end-of-semester examinations.

When you have successfully passed the foundation year you can choose which engineering specialism you are most interested in and you will join the first year of that course.

There is a great deal of choice available to you at the Cardiff School of Engineering as it is one of only a few schools to offer full-time MEng and BEng degree courses in various branches of engineering, such as architectural, civil, electrical, mechanical, medical and integrated engineering. Many of these offer a sandwich year option working in industry.

Learning and assessment

Teaching is through lectures, examples classes and extensive laboratory, IT and practical work. The taught modules in the first two years are largely compulsory, but options are usually available in year three. All students must complete a 30-credit individual project in year three, for which they are allocated a supervisor from among the teaching staff. There are opportunities for interactions with potential employers.