This four-year course in Aerospace Engineering combines our taught course with an opportunity to spend your third year at an English-speaking partner university abroad. This course adds an overseas dimension that reflects the multinational nature of the modern aerospace industry.
There is no direct entry into this course. If you achieve the required grades in your first two years and are selected, you will spend your third year at a partner institution abroad, for example in Sweden, the Netherlands, USA, Singapore or Australia. To find out more about studying abroad, visit Centre for Study Abroad.
You will study a wide range of subjects, organised across four main themes: aerodynamics, structures and materials, dynamics and control, and systems and design. You will apply your knowledge and professional engineering skills to diverse applications such as fixed and rotary wing aircraft, spacecraft and space missions, and renewable energy.
The first two years of the course are devoted to core concepts, which are taught via lectures, supported by practical experience through coursework, and computer and physical lab activities. In addition to core theoretical knowledge, you will develop wider skills, such as teamwork and presentation skills, as part of our design-build-test project.
Your third year will be spent at our partner university; the course content will be equivalent to the same year at Bristol. You will rejoin the course in Bristol for your final year.
The degree is capped off by a group design project in the final year. This is an industrial-focused project where you will work in groups to undertake the design of a whole aerospace vehicle and replicate processes found in industry. You could be asked to design a hydrogen-powered civil aircraft, a future uncrewed aerial vehicle, or even an interplanetary science mission.
In the final year, you also select optional units, which allow you to specialise in the areas that most suit your interests and career plans. You can also choose to undertake a research project, tackling an open-ended challenge and working closely with academics who are world-leading specialists in their research areas, and make use of our extensive facilities.
Bristol lies at the heart of aerospace engineering in the country, and our Industrial Liaison Office organises company engagement through all years of the course, making the most of nearby aerospace companies.
The diversity of topics in aerospace engineering makes this a challenging degree, but the reward is a uniquely broad education which equips you for an exciting career in solving the problems of the future.
