Engineering

Engineering degrees are often over looked by many students. However they are an excellent degree, enormously respected by employers.

“The combination of rigour and practicality in their training, as well as the wide range of disciplines to which they are subjected during their studies, makes engineering graduates attractive to a wide range of employers in engineering, finance, commerce and other areas.”

You do not have to pursue an engineering career at the end. You do however need to have a strong aptitude in both physics and maths, taking both at A level. Further maths would also be valuable. The other thing to bear in mind is that they are not as popular as many other courses and therefore this is often reflected in lower university offers. Universities are also very keen to attract women onto their courses.

Engineering is a broad subject so you will have to decide whether to specialise in civil, chemical, electrical, aeronautical or mechanical engineering for example, or simply take a general engineering degree. If you specialise in a particular area (e.g. mechanical) you’ve got a higher chance of scoring a better job in that field, although it could be said to limit the breadth of positions available to you. Those who don’t specialise generally enter careers in commerce, teaching, the civil service and journalism where an engineering education is a useful preparation.

If you are unsure of the kind of engineering you wish to specialize in, many universities offer general engineering programs for the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, allowing students the opportunity to experience the different specialties before having to opt for one to complete their degree.