General Engineering

General engineering takes a deliberately broad approach to a discipline that is often taught in narrow specialisms. Engineers design and build systems, devices and processes that shape the material world, from infrastructure and energy systems to consumer products and medical technology. A general engineering degree acknowledges that many of the most interesting and important engineering problems sit across traditional disciplinary boundaries and that the ability to move between mechanical, electrical, civil and software dimensions of a challenge is increasingly valuable in a profession that demands collaborative, interdisciplinary thinking.

At the University of Leicester this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad and embedded work placements, giving it a strong connection to professional experience alongside the academic core. Leicester's description captures the ambition well: from prosthetic limbs to exploratory spacecraft, engineers design and build extraordinary machines, products and systems, and doing so often requires more than specialist expertise. The programme allows you to personalise your studies by choosing the areas that fascinate you most, giving you both a broad engineering foundation and the opportunity to develop depth in areas of particular interest.

You will study fundamental engineering principles including mathematics, mechanics, materials, electronics and design, alongside more applied areas in which you will work on real engineering problems and develop your ability to think across disciplinary boundaries. The sandwich year and placements bring real professional experience into the degree, and the year abroad adds an international dimension to your engineering education.

Graduates move into careers across the full range of engineering sectors, including aerospace, automotive, civil infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, defence and technology consultancy. The breadth of a general engineering degree also prepares graduates for roles that require systems-level thinking and the ability to collaborate across technical specialisms. Many pursue chartership with professional engineering institutions, and postgraduate study in a specialised engineering field is also a common next step.