Retail, manufacturing, defence, healthcare, education – most sectors of government and industry rely heavily on software systems, and professional, competent and creative software engineers are needed to develop and maintain them. The University of Bolton’s BEng (Hons) Software Engineering with foundation year, taught at our London Academic Centre by our learning partners Regent College London, offers you the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in this field.

Key information

Award:

BEng (Hons)

Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

4 years

Location:

Regent College London

UCAS points:

UCAS code:

G531

Start date:

To be confirmed

Course Details

Congratulations. You’re considering a career in the world’s most in-demand profession*. Concerned with the building and maintenance of software systems and other computer-based solutions, software engineering is a truly global activity. By examining all elements of the process (from an initial understanding of the problem to be solved, through analysis, design, and development, to testing, documentation and maintenance) this degree offers you a focused education in software engineering, ready to impress potential employers.

The foundation year is the first year of this degree, offering an excellent grounding in the fundamentals of computing, programming and mathematics. It's designed to prepare you for degree-level study.

Our dedicated staff team offers a balance of academic rigour, industrial experience and advanced technical expertise. We'll support you to explore the underlying principles of software engineering while helping you gain knowledge and practical experience of the latest technologies. You'll be encouraged to appreciate both the technical and human aspects involved in areas such as the lifecycle of software systems, software design, systems analysis, programming, database specification and design, and system security.

Our focus is on helping you develop industry-relevant knowledge and skills so that you're well prepared for a career in software engineering.

* http://www.michaelpage.co.uk/minisite/most-in-demand-professions/index.html accessed on 26 February 2021

Highlights

Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small so that you have plenty of opportunities to us ask questions and get help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
We have well-established links with the software engineering industry. Our experts continually monitor and update the course to make sure the content is industry-relevant and introduces you to the latest thinking and innovations.
We're committed to helping you develop your employability and career network. You'll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry and contribute to your professional development.
By designing the course assignments and projects so that they mimic industry pipelines and standards, we aim to give you a real feel for a career in software engineering.

Key Features

We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support.
We want to work with you as an individual, giving you access to the help and support you need to succeed.
Our dedicated IT suites feature industry-standard hardware and software.
Many of our computing facilities can be accessed across the internet, allowing you to work on your assignments whenever and wherever you choose.
We'll help and support you to develop a portfolio of work that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.
In addition to technical knowledge and expertise, you'll have opportunities to gain experience in team working, communication and presentation, problem-solving and time management.
Free Pre-sessional English classes are available if you need support to improve your English language skills to meet the English language requirements for your chosen course.
You'll benefit from dedicated student and academic support during your time at our London Academic Centre.
We offer Success, Character, Opportunity and Progress Enhancement (SCOPE) sessions that are designed to support your growth and enable you to develop wider thinking across your curriculum.
You'll be able take advantage of our Thinking into Character (TiC) suite of educational programmes that focus on helping you to think bigger, aim higher and achieve your dreams.
A link tutor provides academic communication between our London Academic Centre at Regent College London and the University of Bolton’s academic school so that the experience you receive as an off-campus student is equivalent to that of an on-campus student.
As an off-campus student you'll also have access to the support of the University’s dedicated off-campus team and resources, to help make you truly feel part of the institution.
You’ll also have access to the University’s e-learning resources, an extensive e-library and the support of University librarians.

48 UCAS points. Please see our guide to the UCAS Tariff for examples of how to achieve these points.
Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3.
You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics. If you didn’t study GCSEs or don’t have the required grade in English Language or Mathematics, please contact us for details of other acceptable qualifications.
If you have non-traditional entry qualifications and relevant experience, or a suitable portfolio of work that we consider a reasonable substitute for the qualifications we typically accept for this course, then we will be happy to consider your application.
You’ll be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work. As part of your interview, you may be asked to undertake additional assessment(s) to determine your suitability for the course.
Every application will be considered on its individual merits.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 5.0 with no less than 4.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details. Where we think you’ll benefit from English language tuition, we’ll support you to improve your English language skills as part of your foundation year. This will help you to succeed at degree level.
Please visit www.rcl.ac.uk to find out more about our London Academic Centre and Regent College London.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

Software engineers may work at any stage of the software development life cycle. Duties can include producing project requirements, writing algorithms, coding, testing, deployment, or maintenance.

A software engineering graduate will have developed a wide range of technical and transferable skills such as advanced IT skills, analytical skills, communication, creativity and innovation, independence, logic, numeracy, project management and organisation. The demand for skilled and qualified software engineers is increasing. This is fostered by a transforming economic landscape, driven by the need for computing technology solutions.

What can I do with this qualification?

Software engineering graduates who are new to the field often start out as programmers and work their way up to positions of greater responsibility, whether it’s as an architect or a project manager. Jobs directly related to a software engineering degree include games development, systems development, web design, web development, search engine optimisation, information systems management and business analysis.

There are also a wide variety of career options available within the sectors of business, engineering, health care, gaming, publishing, IT, retail, education, medicine, aerospace and cybersecurity.

Alternative career options

Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Some of these careers include:

Advertising, marketing and PR
Banking, finance and accountancy
Energy and utilities
Manufacturing and production
Public sector and defence
IT consultancy
Radio and TV production
Systems analysis
Telecommunications
Multimedia programming
Digital copywriting
Network engineering

Course fees

Home Fees	Year of study					Total
Entry year	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	2026/27
2022	£9,250	£9,250	£9,250	£9,250	-	£37,000

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance eligibility 2022-2023 policy on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

For 2022-2023 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year. The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2022-2023 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:

If you wish to apply for multiple institutions or multiple courses at Bolton for September entry, then apply through UCAS

You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £27. Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's fee of £22.50 is applicable.

The online application form and guidance notes are available on the UCAS website.

You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:

Institution Code Name: BOLTN
Institution Code Number: B44

UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Tel: 0870 1122211
Web: www.ucas.com

If you wish to apply for a single course offered by the University of Bolton for any intake, you can apply directly

If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for you, you may apply directly to the University using our online application form shown below.

A direct application to Bolton provides the following features:

Free of charge to apply
Secure, simple and streamlined
Contact us directly for any admissions queries
Regular updates on your application directly from the University
Invites to offer holder events and taster sessions where you can meet your future tutors and get a flavour of university life

NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.

For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS if we accept you on this course. We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.

If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.

Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.

If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select the correct application link from the list below.

Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:

Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk

International applications are not possible for this course

As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.

We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.

University of Bolton Group Partners

Bolton College
University Collegiate School
Alliance Learning
University of Bolton

For valued members of the University of Bolton Group and progressing students, we try to make our application process as simple and as fast as possible.

If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for you, you may apply free of charge to the University. By selecting the appropriate link from the list shown below, you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this, and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your personal statement when you apply.

When you are asked to add a contact email address, please ensure you add your college/university email account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact address, we will be unable to identify you as a partner and offer you the benefits of being part of our group.

If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.

Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.

If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select the correct application link from the list below.

Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:

Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including email addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk

We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!

Lectures will be used to introduce the core course content, while practical laboratory sessions will give you practical experience and help consolidate your learning. Tutorials will allow you to ask any questions you have to ensure you understand the topics covered in lectures and laboratory sessions. We use case studies and practical scenarios as a means to help you learn to apply academic theory to real-life practical scenarios, allowing you to gain insights into software engineering in industrial environments.

Guest lectures/presentations by a variety of visiting speakers from relevant employment areas will offer you the chance to further develop your knowledge and understanding.

In terms of assessment, you can expect time-constrained exams and coursework, such as essays, reports, presentations, portfolios, and others. These contribute to your final marks and allow you to demonstrate that you've met the learning outcomes for the course.

We also use other forms of assessment to help you learn, provide you with feedback and inform your development, though these do not count towards your final marks. For instance, you might be asked to complete quizzes or undertake programming exercises. You'll also receive feedback on assessment drafts. These will help to identify any areas that would benefit from extra attention on your part, or where you need extra support from your tutor.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

Fundamentals of Programming
Logical Analysis and Problem Solving
Computer Systems
Foundation Project
Introduction to Software Development
Computing Infrastructure
Databases
Fundamentals of Software Engineering
Advanced Programming
Data Structures and Algorithms
Software Engineering
Advanced Databases and Big Data
Undergraduate Project
Agile Programming
Enterprise Systems Development
Machine Learning

Assessment methods

Level	Assesment method
Level one	Coursework 94%, Written exams 6%
Level two	Coursework 100%
Level three	Coursework 100%

Learning activities

Level	Learning activity
Level one	Guided independent study 66%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 34%
Level two	Guided independent study 77%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 23%
Level three	Guided independent study 77%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 23%

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.