Materials Science and Engineering with a Foundation Year

Successful innovation depends on the selection and performance of key materials. From cars, aeroplanes and cruise ships, to sports equipment and musical instruments, the right materials can help to define technological progress.

Materials Science and Engineering explores how the properties of matter can be controlled. It includes elements of physics and chemistry, connecting closely with most other areas of engineering.

The integrated Engineering Foundation Year programme can lead to any full engineering degree. It is not a qualification in its own right, but the first year of a four-year BEng degree.

This degree will prepare you for a rewarding career across engineering sectors including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, sports, and energy generation.

Develop your analytical abilities whilst gaining hands-on experience of advanced equipment, establishing skills which are vital to securing employment in industry.

Why Materials Science and Engineering at Swansea?
• 1st in the UK for Student Voice* (NSS 2024)
• 1st for Student Experience (The Times Good University Guide 2025)
• 3rd in the UK for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2025)
• 8th in the UK for Graduate Prospects (Complete University Guide 2025)
• 8th in the UK Materials Technology (The Times Good Univertsity Guide 2025)
• Top 131 in the World (QS World University Rankings 2025)

Our state-of-the-art facilities include world-leading equipment for the characterisation of mechanical properties of metallic, ceramic, polymeric and composite materials.

We also have an extensive range of laboratories housing scanning electron microscopes with full microanalysis and electron backscatter diffraction capabilities.

Visits to Tata Steel, Timet, Ensinger and Airbus will give you real industrial world insights. Our graduates also go on to have interesting and varied careers at companies such as, Tata Steel, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Atkins, GE Aviation, Mott MacDonald and Babcock International Group.

In Year 0 (Foundation Year), you will typically study areas including:
Fundamentals of Engineering Design, Fundamentals of Engineering Science, Chemistry of Materials, Foundation Mathematics for Engineers, Applied Engineering

In Year 1, you will typically study areas including:
Introduction to Materials Engineering, Materials Resources, Manufacturing Technology, Mechanical Properties of Materials, Instrumental and Analytical Chemistry

In Year 2, you will typically study areas including:
Software Engineering, Functional and Smart Materials, AI, Machine Learning and Data Analysis, Order and Disorder in Materials, Materials for Energy, Computational Materials

In Year 3, you will typically study areas including:
Advanced Optical Materials and Devices, Fracture and Fatigue, Individual Engineering Project, Microstructure and Characterisation, Propulsion, Composite Materials, Ceramics

Practical skills sessions, lab work seminars, and workshops predominantly take place in person, allowing for group working and demonstrations. We also operate virtual labs and Simulated Learning Environments which will facilitate greater access to training opportunities in the future. However, our approach also includes the use of some online learning to support and enhance traditional face-to-face teaching.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Materials, Minerals and Mining, Institute of