3-Term Pathway - Foundation Certificate in Science and Health - Continue to Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Computer Systems Engineering (Placement Year)

For students who've finished high school but don’t meet the entry requirements for university, a Foundation Certificate can help them gain entry to an undergraduate degree. After completing this pathway option students qualify for progression to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree at the University of Essex.

A student’s course length is determined mainly by their English language level (UKVI IELTS score). Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. Students taking a course longer than 2 terms, will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Computer Systems Engineering

This course gives students a thorough introduction to computer science before focusing on systems engineering. They study areas including:

• Writing programs, programming embedded microprocessors and designing embedded microprocessor systems in C • The design and function of modern operating systems • The functionality hardware needs to provide for an operating system

The Department emphasizes the importance of practical learning, and students also have the opportunity to undertake a major project or product development specified either by a member of academic staff or a partner company.

In addition to these topics, students also have the flexibility to explore other areas the department specializes in, such as computer security, Big Data, and robotics.

They are ranked top 25 for electronic engineering (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020), and more than two-thirds of their research rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014).

Programming at Essex

Teaching someone to program is about opening a door. In their first year at Essex students will study a module that introduces them to programming using C. They assess students’ ability to think in a programmatic way in the very first week of term and if additional support is required, they offer classes which will boost students’ skills and confidence with programming.