Aerospace Engineering with Foundation Year

This is a 4 year degree course. Please ensure that when you apply for this course you choose Point of entry 1 in your UCAS Hub.

BEng (Hons) Aerospace Engineering with Foundation Year at the University of Wolverhampton is designed for students who don't yet meet the grades for direct entry, giving you an extra year to build the maths, science and engineering foundations you need before joining the same industry-linked aerospace degree.

Your Foundation Year strengthens your maths, physics, computing and communication skills, alongside an introduction to engineering problem-solving through practical, electro-mechanical design work. From Year One, you're on exactly the same course as direct-entry students: mastering the underpinning engineering principles, with an introduction to airframes and aircraft propulsion, then progressing to design and test real components using industry-standard CAD, CFD, FEA and MATLAB software.

You'll test your designs in our subsonic and supersonic wind tunnels, including an F1-specification rolling road wind tunnel and an aircraft flight demonstrator, and get hands-on with our very own two-seater aircraft through the University of Wolverhampton Aerospace (UWA) club. UWA also lets you design, build and fly your own aircraft, competing in the national UAS Challenge and BMFA competitions.

The course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), built around the Engineering Council's AHEP 4 standards, and delivered from our £7m Springfield site, with composites, materials testing and metal 3D printing labs.

Industry is built into every year. Our relationships with RAF Cosford, MOOG, Marston's (Collins) Aerospace and Safran give you live projects and placement opportunities. Every student is guaranteed a professional placement as part of their degree, giving you real work experience before you graduate.

Course structure:
Foundation Year: Build your maths, physics, computing and communication skills, plus an introduction to engineering problem-solving.
Year 1: Master core engineering principles (statics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, materials, electronics) through hands-on lab work and an industry-linked group project.
Year 2: Specialise in aerospace, thermofluids, propulsion, instrumentation and control, plus a year-long Enterprising Group Innovation Project. Most students take their guaranteed placement at this stage.
Year 3: Design and build a complete aircraft system as a team, presenting at our annual Innovations Unleashed event, and complete an Individual Innovation Project of your own choosing.

Graduates go on to roles including Aerospace Design Engineer, Propulsion Engineer, Flight Systems Engineer, Structural Engineer and Test and Evaluation Engineer, across aerospace, automotive, defence and advanced engineering.

Wolverhampton was rated number one in the UK for teaching in Aerospace Engineering in the National Student Survey 2026*, and sits in the heart of the UK's engineering and manufacturing region, with strong academic and wellbeing support, including dedicated Prepare for Foundation Year days, throughout your studies.

*National Student Survey - NSS 2026 Results