Parent’s survival guide

Engineering at Warwick

Student comments

After visiting Warwick on an Open Day, I knew it would be ideal for me:

the structure of the course, combined with the leafy campus

environment meant it was an obvious choice. It hasn’t disappointed.

The course at Warwick is highly enjoyable. The variety of topics covered

early on in the course helps to explore what areas are of interest to you,

as well as the group work and various methods of assessment, resulting

in a worthwhile experience.

Studying Engineering requires commitment and discipline to keep up

with the workload, but the rewards are worth it-

I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Parent’s survival guide!

• Making your choice of University

• Narrowing 5 UCAS choices to 2 (firm & insurance)

Agenda for this talk:

• What to look for

• Engineering at Warwick

• Pastoral care for students

• What happens next

What to look for

Selecting firm and insurance offers

What to look for

University

• League table rankings

• Campus based or not

• Accommodation

• Distance from home

• Pastoral care

Engineering course

• League table rankings

• Accreditation by

Institutes of Engineering

• Flexibility versus

specialisation

• Work experience

The University of Warwick is a top 10

university • Consistently in the top 10 of UK universities

• Ranked 7th in UK Research Assessment

Exercise (RAE)

• According to a 2013 High Fliers Research

Ltd. survey, reported in the Daily Telegraph

January 17th 2013, Warwick is the “top

target for graduate employers”

2013 Guardian

University League Table

1 Cambridge

2 Oxford

3 London School of

Economics

4 St Andrews

5 Warwick

6 UCL

7= Durham

7= Lancaster

• Easy transition to 1st year

– Campus based

– Plentiful on-campus accommodation

• Good value and support for all 3/4 years

– Structured course, tutors will help with academic progress

– Good pastoral care, more later…

Easing the transition from school

Generous bursaries

Family income Annual help with tuition fees

Annual help with living expenses and course costs

Annual total

£0–£25,000 a year Warwick National

Scholarship of £2,000

This reduces tuition fees to £7,000.

Warwick Bursary of

£2,500 £4,500

£25,001-£36,000 a year

- Warwick Bursary of £1,500

£1,500

£36,001-£42,611 a year

- Warwick Bursary of £500

£500

We guarantee an automatic fee waiver of £2,000 (Warwick National Scholarship) to full-time students with family incomes of £25,000 a year or less, who are eligible for a tuition

fee loan from the UK Government and who have undertaken their sixth form education within a state school or college in England.

Financial support from Engineering

• Free text books for all core modules in the first year

• Free lab coat and safety shoes

• Free calculator

• Merit scholarship for the first year for firm choice

offer holders

– £1,000 (paid in January 2014)

– Maximum of 100 awarded based on students’ A-Level

results or equivalent

What to do if all the offers are similar?

• Is there BEng / MEng flexibility

• Has there been flexibility on grades in August

• Is the course flexible

• Where do you think you will be happiest

Engineering at Warwick

Why choose our engineering courses

Student comments

I am pleased to say my first year has been a sea of opportunities! I feel

the degree is tailored perfectly to the needs of the industry, and this is

achieved particularly through the Business module.

I came into university very unsure of what I wanted to become, or even

what I wanted to study. I was only sure that I was interested in

technology, its changes and business. And Warwick was the university for

me that offered a good combination of engineering and business

studies.

The main appeal of studying engineering for me at Warwick was how you

don't have to make a decision of which engineering discipline you want

to study until the end of your second year.

2013 Guardian

University League Table –

General Engineering

1 Cambridge

2 Imperial College

3 Bournemouth

4 Oxford

5 Exeter

6 Warwick

7 Leicester

8 Loughborough

Why Engineering at Warwick?

• Consistently in the top 10 for general

engineering

• Ranked 5th in UK Research

Assessment Exercise (RAE)

• Unified approach to teaching

engineering

• Common 1st year leaves you time to

decide on your choice of specialist

engineering course

Undergraduate engineering

degrees at Warwick

• Engineering

• Automotive Engineering

• Civil Engineering

• Electronic Engineering

• Mechanical Engineering

• Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering

• Systems Engineering

• Engineering and Business Management

• Engineering and Business Studies

Structure of the degrees

• Our courses are flexible

• Students can adapt as they

discover their strengths and

passion for certain

disciplines

• Project work is an important

part of the course

Flexible degrees at Warwick

• One intake for all Engineering courses

• Gap year students welcome

• BEng and MEng courses

• Final choice made at end of 2nd year

• MEng students must achieve 2i performance

• Options at end of years 1 & 2 to change degree course

• Ability to take a year in industry at any point after year 1

• Exchange years for MEng 3rd year

• Current partners in Europe and Australia

Measuring student performance

• First year

– Does not count to final degree

– Students must pass exams at end of year

– Tutors monitor performance weekly to

address any issues early on

• BEng

– 2nd year: 30% of final degree based on exams and course work

– 3rd year: 70% based on exams and course work

• MEng

– 2nd year: 20% of final degree based on exams and course work

– 3rd / 4th years equally important

• 40% each based on exams and course work

Reaching Chartered Engineer status

Accredited

MEng

(4 years)

Accredited

BEng

(3 years)

Structured Training &

Responsible

Experience

Chartered

Engineer

CEng

Additional

Learning

For UK students MEng offers Masters level study at undergraduate

rates with Government loans

Accreditation

• MEng engineering courses are accredited as fully satisfying

the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng)

• BEng engineering courses are accredited as partially satisfying

the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng)

• BEng Engineering Business Management and BSc Engineering

& Business Studies are not accredited as they do not contain

enough engineering

3 year BEng or 4 year MEng?

• MEng degree has 4 years of study

– UK students have access to Government

funded student loans for all 4 years

– Courses automatically meet the

academic CEng requirements

– Employment rates are normally higher

• To become chartered from a BEng degree:

– Typically involves taking an accredited MSc course

• 1 year versus 9 months of study

• Individual research project versus group project

• MEng degree integrated, MSc stands alone

• UK/EU students have no access to Government funded student loans

for MSc courses

Engineering employment statistics

6 months after graduation

• 68.7% in work

• Including 11.1% combining work & study

• 13.1% in further study

• 14.6% still seeking work

• 3.5% not available/other

• Median salary, six months after graduation, is

£25,000

• Warwick is 4th in the Russell Group for graduate

level jobs and 3rd in the highest average salary

Recent graduate destinations

• Civil – AECOM (formerly Faber Maunsell), AmeyMouchel, Atkins, Balfour Beatty,

Halcrow group, McAlpine, Network Rail,

• Mechanical, Automotive, Manufacturing – BAE Systems, Cummins diesel, GE Aviation, Jaguar Land Rover, Marshall

Aerospace, Ricardo, Rolls-Royce plc,

• Electronic, Systems, Computer – Dorset Software, Morgan Stanley, Renishaw, Siemens, Telent

• PhDs in – Atmospheric Physics, Fluid Dynamics, Material Science, Medical Physics,

Mobile Robotics, Power Electronics

Life at Warwick & pastoral care

Helping students settle in and making the

most of their opportunities

Student comments

Taking part in societies and sports clubs is one of the best aspects of

being at university. Most students I know are part of at least one society

and one sports club. With over 75 sports clubs and 250 societies,

everybody finds something to their liking. I wouldn’t consider university a

complete experience without trying out several new activities!

Last year I participated in Warwick Hitch, a 1500 mile hitchhike to

Morocco where I raised nearly £500 for charity. I met so many amazing

people and experienced Europe & Africa in a way I never would have as

a tourist.

On the way I was lucky enough to drive over the tallest bridge in the

world which for me, as I am studying Civil Engineering, I found absolutely

fascinating.

Life at Warwick

• Sports

– From £45 / year for sports hall, swimming

and fitness

– Football & rock climbing to frisbee

& ball room dancing!

• Culture

– Warwick Art Centre, for theatre,

cinema, art

• Students Union

– Over 230 societies including curry club

and belly dancing

– Cultural, political and religious societies

Pastoral care

What support is available? • Director of Student Support & Senior Tutor

• Engineering Personal Tutor

Meetings every Wednesday during 1st year,

with progress checks on academic work

Pastoral care in later years, meeting at start

and end of every term

• Residential tutors & wardens

• Counselling Service

• Disability Services

• Mental Health

• Health Centre

• Students’ Union Advice Centre

Pastoral care – Other allied services

• Student Funding

• International Office – Immigration Service

– Police Registration

– Banking

– Trips and Social events

• Chaplaincy

• Security – We have our own policeman for the campus

• Student Careers and Skills

Pastoral care - Finally

• Our contract is with the student, an adult, and we

have to abide by the UK Data Protection Act

• We will have to ask permission from the student to

be allowed to talk to their family

What happens next

Accommodation and other information

Parent’s survival guide to the UCAS

process

• Our experience is that parents are often less well

informed than applicants, and may not know

– What else the applicants have to do

– What happens in August

– What happens in September/October

UCAS important dates

• When candidates have had decisions from all their chosen universities, they will be asked by UCAS to select their Firm and Insurance offers

- Deadline for this is set by UCAS

- 8th May if all decisions received by 31st March

- 6th June if all decisions received by 9th May

- Some universities press applicants to make quick choices

Accommodation

• 6458 rooms in self catering halls

• Firm and insurance choice offer holders apply online for accommodation by 31st July

• Students are asked to select their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of accommodation

• Priority for firm choice offer holders

• All recent students, firm and insurance, placed in Hall for their first year

• Flexible letting periods 30 or 39

• Weekly costs from £78 to £150

Accommodation after 1st Year

• We support students for their whole stay not

just first year!

• Plentiful, quality off-campus housing

• Found via Warwick’s Accommodation Office,

estate agents & friends

• 42 to 48 week lets typical £60-£80 per week

• Add £15-20 per week for utility bills

• Buses every 10 to 15 minutes

• Can return to hall in final year

Coventry

Leamington Spa

What happens in August?

• On Thursday 15th August 2013 the A-level results will be published

• University staff try to confirm the places of students holding them as their firm or insurance offer by Thursday 15th August 2013, the day results are available to students

• For non A level qualifications:

• If results received before 15th August and offer met the place will be confirmed

• If offer not met decision may be held until 15th August

What happens if they miss their offer

• In Engineering we aim to accommodate all firm offers

– We will review all results that just miss the offer and in some cases automatically accept you

– If you applied for MEng but miss grades we expect to be able to offer you a BEng if you meet these grades

• If you hold us as insurance and miss your firm offer

• If you have been rejected and met our offer you place will be confirmed automatically

• If there is no decision – phone us

• If all else fails go to clearing!

Many applicants do get their firm

choice!

In a typical year 1st year engineering students at

Warwick came from:

– 10% deferred places from previous year

– 80% held Warwick as their firm choice

– 10% held Warwick as their insurance choice

What to do on 15th August 2013

• Make sure you have

– Good internet access and telephone

– Able to buy a UK newspaper with clearing places listed

• Check UCAS website for decisions from early morning

• In UCAS > CF to UF

• Conditional Firm to Unconditional Firm

• Student accepted, place confirmed at firm choice

• Where students meet the offer of their firm choice university they are guaranteed a place

• They just need to confirm they accept their place via UCAS

What happens to students

in clearing? • As soon a student has been rejected by both the firm and

insurance universities, UCAS offer clearing

• Students need to act immediately

- get A level results from school as early as possible

- phone Universities where offers were made but declined and ask if any spaces

- check for clearing places on UCAS website or newspaper

- places allocated on first-come-first-served basis and assume most will be allocated on 15th August

- likely to be at the back of the queue for University accommodation

What is UCAS adjustment?

• An “adjustment period” is for students who meet and exceed the terms of their conditional offer

• i.e. AAA against an AAB offer

• Students have 5 (calendar) days to seek a place at another university while firm place is held for them

• May enable the student to go to a higher ranked university

• But they may be at the back of the queue for University accommodation

What happens in September/October?

• Students will be sent information on where they will be living and when their course starts

• Students move into their accommodation over the weekend before the start of term

• Warwick does not have a “fresher’s week” for home students, but has a “soft start” to the first week of term, to allow students to get settled in and to make friends before the academic side starts

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed our open day and found it useful

Please have a safe journey home

I am happy to answer any final questions