Aeronautical Engineering MEng

Course in brief

This course enables you to develop specialist aeronautical engineering knowledge, supported by a solid foundation of mechanical engineering knowledge and skills.

The MEng is an integrated qualification giving you opportunities to study at an in-depth masters level.

Your learning will be supported by a strong foundation of mechanical engineering and a mix of theory and practice. The MEng course will extend your technical understanding and knowledge of business processes and management expertise. You will benefit from gaining project management skills during team projects alongside industry.

The course is designed with input from industry and accrediting bodies to provide you with the most up-to-date, relevant programme and hands-on experience. You will also benefit from access to our specialist laboratories and the option of a year’s paid placement.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

UCAS code H416

Full-time 4 years
With placement year 5 years

Accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology

Book your open day place

Meet our students, see our accommodation and find out more about your course.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

A-levels
BBB including maths and a physical science. General studies excluded.

BTEC
DDM. Must include maths for HE or further engineering maths or equivalent.

International Baccalaureate
30 points, specified subjects including maths and a physical science at higher level.

GCSE (minimum grade C)
GCSE grade C or above in a minimum of five subjects including English language, maths and a physical science.

Foundation degree/HND
may enable you to start the course in year 2.

ATAS requirements
The JACS code for this course is H410, meaning that students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland will have to apply for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate before they apply for a visa. Details can be found on the gov.uk website.

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 6.0 overall, with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

Course structure

In Year 1, a major design project will familiarise you with your course and your colleagues. Other modules provide a broad foundation in mechanical engineering.

In Year 2, subjects including management and aeronautical computer-aided design and modelling are introduced.

Design modules include hands-on workshop practice and transferable skills training. Industry-standard computer-aided engineering software is used throughout the course.

After your second or third year you may also opt to take a year-long industrial placement.

The final two years include specialist options at BEng final year and masters level. You will also embark on major individual and team projects which are often supported by industry. These options benefit from the strong industrial links established by many of the staff.

Second year students put learning into practice on the Robot Wars project.

Year 1

In year 1, a major design project will familiarise you with the course and your colleagues.

Other modules provide a broad introduction to mechanical engineering.

Modules

Design and Applications Project (EA1)
Aircraft and Automotive Systems
Computer-aided Engineering and Design
Materials and Manufacture 1
Mathematics
Engineering Concepts

Year 2

In year 2, you will be introduced to mechanical and aeronautical engineering in more depth.

Design modules include hands-on workshop practice and transferable skills training. Industry-standard computer-aided engineering software is used throughout the course.

Modules

Fluid Dynamics
Thermodynamics
Materials
Manufacturing Engineering
Computer-aided Engineering
Dynamics
Aeronautical Instrumentation
Mathematics and Control
Engineering Design Management

Placement year

You have the option to spend a year in industry or study abroad for a year.

The placement year will significantly enhance your CV and boost your employability. You will be able to use your newly acquired skills in the workplace on real projects and situations – and you might use this experience to inform your final year project/dissertation. Work experience enables you to build contacts in the industry before you finish studying. Some of our graduates even come back to the university with a job offer for after they graduate.

Spending a year abroad will broaden your horizons, enabling you to examine aeronautical engineering from a different viewpoint and to experience a different university culture. You may improve your foreign language skills, and widen your studies by exploring varied subjects.

Final two years

Your final two years include specialist options at BEng final year and masters level. These options benefit from the strong industrial links established by many of the staff.

You will also embark on major individual and team projects which are often supported by industry.

Modules

Advanced Fluid Dynamics
Aircraft Propulsion Systems
Aircraft Design
Control Systems
Product Innovation and Management
Project
Integrating Case Study
Major Team Project
Operations Management for Logistics
Flight Simulator Technologies
Engineering with MATLAB
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Avionics and Communication Systems

Careers and employability

The additional management and business training you receive on an MEng course is recognised as an ideal route into management positions early in your career.

Recent graduates are working in companies including McAlpine Helicopters Ltd, Marshall Aerospace. Lucas Aerospace and MSX International. Some graduates choose to go on to further study or research.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 9,000 GBP

International (full-time) 13,800 GBP

If you choose to take the professional placement (sandwich) year offered on this course you will pay a reduced fee during this year. Our fee for the professional placement year is £1,000 for home students and £2,000 for international students. This fee may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from the university’s student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Just two miles north of Brighton city centre and the seafront, Moulsecoomb is the largest of our five campuses with more than 8,000 students. A wide variety of subjects are taught here, from engineering and product design to business and law.

Students benefit from many professional-standard facilities, including a flight simulator, design and digital media suites, and specialist research laboratories. The campus library, Aldrich, offers long opening hours and a diverse collection of books and journals for students from all subject areas.

Sports enthusiasts will enjoy our basketball and badminton courts, fitness suite and climbing wall. The campus is also a few minutes walk from the South Downs National Park, providing a great place to relax during the summer months.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Brighton, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field

Moulsecoomb Place

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Moulsecoomb campus map

Unistats

Unistats and key information sets

Unistats is an organisation that collects specific data about university courses in the UK which enables you to compare information that is important in your decision-making when choosing a university. All universities publish Unistats data on their online course pages.

Wherever we can we have provided extra information here to help put the data into context so that it is as useful as possible when you are making decisions.

Programme specification

Programme specifications are the official university documents that describe each course in detail. They reflect the course as it is being taught to students who started their course in this academic year. They are updated every summer, and give a very detailed breakdown of what your course might look like.

Programme specification