Subject Advice Guide

Engineering

Overview

The undergraduate course is a general engineering course in which you study a broad range of different engineering disciplines. This is quite different from most other engineering courses in which you’d find yourself specialising from the start. To quote the department “We offer this unified course because we believe the future of engineering innovation will benefit from broad foundations as well as specialised knowledge”.

 
 

Choosing Your Course

Compulsory to have maths and physics and further maths is recommended. Only 3 A-Levels are necessary. Typical offers are usually 2A*s and an A.

During the application process, you sit the Physics Aptitude Test (PAT). It is a two-hour paper on mathematics and physics at A-Level standard. The syllabus can be found on the Oxford Physics Department website: www.physics.ox.ac.uk.The admissions team use the scores from this to help decide which candidates are given interviews. For interviews, you typically have two separate interviews, usually at more than one college.

Advice for choosing this course:

  • Consider engineering if you feel skilled at maths and you are interested in understanding the real-life applications of maths and physics principles.

  • Read around the subject and watch lectures.

  • Attending a UNIQ summer school or STEM or ETrust courses will give a taster of engineering at University.

  • Oxford is one of the few universities which offers the general engineering course. It is beneficial to gain a multidisciplinary understanding of engineering with elements from electrical, civil, mechanical and chemical engineering. A good choice for students who are unsure which engineering they want to go into.

Career Prospects

An engineering degree will provide you with many skills and open a range of career options beyond the obvious engineering routes. It can also provide a solid foundation for working in consultancy, data analysis, banking, finance, entrepreneurship and more.

Those interested in engineering-based research choose to do a PhD which requires a 1st or high 2:1.

 
 

What to Expect

Year 1: 2-4 hours of tutorials, 8-10 lectures and typically a 5-hour laboratory session each week.

Year 2: 2-4 hours of tutorials and 8-10 lectures each week and usually a 5-hour laboratory session fortnightly.

Year 3: 2-4 hours of tutorials and 8-10 lectures each week. A few laboratory sessions across the year and weekly team project meetings in addition to an individual project.

Final year: A year-long individual project as well as regular lectures and tutorials.

Course Structure

Year 1: Compulsory modules in Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Structures and Mechanics and finally Energy. There are compulsory laboratory classes each week. End of year exams do not count towards your degree but students must pass to progress to the second year.

Year 2: Follows the same structure as Year 1, except the end of year exams and laboratory classes do count towards your degree.

Year 3: Students begin to specialise and select modules according to their interests such as biomedical or electrical engineering. The end of year exams, a team project and an individual project count towards your degree.

Final year: Students further specialise within modules of interest. End of year exams and a year-long individual project count towards your degree.

 
 

Recommended Reading

Book recommendations

  • One of the first-year lecturers actually has a pre-university book which is suitable for prospective students. Its titled ‘Professor Povey’s Perplexing Problems’ by Professor Thomas Povey.

  • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction by David Blockley

  • Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

  • The New Science of Strong Materials by JE Gordon introduces the properties of materials used in engineering. It explores the theory of why certain materials have these properties and how a sound understanding of this allows engineers to build reliable structures. These topics are delved into in much greater detail in the Mechanics modules of the engineering degree at Oxford, so the book is great for developing your interest in this area before coming to university.

  • Flying Buttresses, Entropy and O-Rings' by James L. Adams - this book takes the reader on a journey through the different processes required for engineers to develop their ideas into products. It gives a grasp of the logistical side of the industry, outlining how engineers design their products, develop tests, acquire patents, etc. It is a great book to for those looking to appreciate and understand the more practical nature of engineering

Videos, podcasts and other content

  • Twenty Days- Amy Johnson (audio diaries you can find on the BBC detailing her solo flight to Australia

  • The Engineering Student Experience (podcast)

  • A trip to Bletchley Park could also inspire you!

  • For a taster of PAT, interview and tutorial-style questions, visit: http://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/ and https://isaacphysics.org/.

  • Visit the following websites for engineering and technology news, keeping on top of developments in the engineering sector may be useful, particularly for the interviews: New Scientist, Interesting Engineering and The Engineer.