Mechanical engineering foundation year or not?

Some will allow you straight in if you also have A level maths, so you could do that in a year instead of a foundation year.

From what I've seen of people who went to university for engineering from a BTEC, the biggest problem revolves around taking exams rather than anything else.

Hmm well I did do AS levels in my first year and was quite alright with doing exams, it didn't go so well because I didn't find myself interested in the sciences I was doing. Sadly I wasn't told I could possibly do A level Maths with my BTEC.

Do you know whether there is a high drop out rate for those who have done BTEC's? I just want to know how well they cope with the degree.

The drop out rate for BTEC students at my uni was really bad, but I've heard much better reports at other unis.

Which uni do you go to? And do you know which unis it was with better reports?
What course are you doing and how are you finding it?

I went to Sheffield, but I think they've done a lot of changes to the earlier part of the course which could have changed the situation.

I can't remember any of the other unis sorry, but I've seen people on here who have done it so they may be able to comment.

I'm doing Aerospace Engineering and am in my 4th year, it's pretty great, wouldn't change it for the world.

Oh nice, I did visit on the open day but the lady in charge of the foundation year didn't seem too welcoming.

No worries then.

That's great, so are you doing your masters this year? What did you get at A level? On a scale of 1-10, how difficult has it been? 10 being most difficult.

Well, master's year I guess because I'm on the MEng.

I got ABBab at A level but I did a foundation year which I got 71% in.

Difficulty is probably a 7 or 8, but Aero is the flagship course at Shef so it's supposed to be a bit more difficult. It's more than interesting enough to make that difficulty worth it though.

The drop out rate for BTEC students at my uni was really bad, but I've heard much better reports at other unis.

You're not wrong. Everyone who did BTEC on my course never made it to the third year. They were some who did foundation degrees who managed to cope though.

Damn, and could I ask which uni you went to?

University of Sussex.

I would highly recommend you do a foundation year just to give you a much more solid base. Like HelloWord95, I also did a foundation year and it was the best thing I ever did. It's not going to be the same as A-levels as it will be more tailored to engineering science and mine was fun but tough! It also taught me to work hard and here I am now as a graduate

Okay, I am probably going to go for a foundation year then, thank you so much. What did you do at A level?.

Also, do you know how it would work if I was to fail my third year for example, in terms of financing

Okay, I am probably going to go for a foundation year then, thank you so much. What did you do at A level?
Also, do you know how it would work if I was to fail my third year for example, in terms of financing.

It depends how bad you fail....If you failed a couple of modules (like maybe 2) you would get an opportunity to resit them in the late summer period but they are capped at 40% ,so even if you get higher than that it won't count.

If you didn't attend lectures and your performance was really bad throughout the year they may make you resit the whole year again in which case you'll be charged £9k x 2. However don't feel that because you're on a foundation year you can't do MEng....you can and student finance will cover that no problem

I'd also consider applying to a newer uni where coursework might be a great proportion of the degree. Some of these courses are more highly rated than RG unis for Engineering.

I was thinking that but I can only seem to find the lower ranking universities that do more coursework. Do you know which new universities do it like that? And a course higher rated than a RG uni course???

I think you need to do the research. I teach Maths and some of my good students have gone to Oxford Brookes to do Automotive and Motorsport Engineering. They have all walked into great jobs afterwards too. Generally look at unis with a year in industry as well.