6th form or college for engineering future?
Hi, this is my first post here. I would like to become an engineer in the future and want to ask if its better to go to sixth form and then uni or study an engineering course at college then go to uni? The guy at the college who interviewed me said that college is better cuz you get the more practical and hands on side of engineering compared to the written work in A levels, and would struggle with certain aspects in uni if I did A levels, is this true? thanks
where are you professional aspirations in Engineering?
Craftsperson?
Technician ?
Professional Engineer IEng/CEng /EurIng ?
have a look at the Engineering council website and the websites of the relevant Engineering Institution to the field of Engineeewring you would want to work in ?
historically Craftspersons came through apprentice routes as did many Techs and going back agood few years so did quite a few IEng (incorporated) and a small number of None Grad CEng (Chartered)- -but this was a route through post O level apprenticeships and lots of night school + Supportive employers - with stuff like the apprenticeship levy and Degree appreticeships we may see this becoming the normal again for Techs and IEng
more recently and relevantly most new IEng and the vast Majority of CEng candidatres have at least a BEng and for Charterered likely an MEng or BEng + MSc
Craftsperson?
Technician ?
Professional Engineer IEng/CEng /EurIng ?
have a look at the Engineering council website and the websites of the relevant Engineering Institution to the field of Engineeewring you would want to work in ?
historically Craftspersons came through apprentice routes as did many Techs and going back agood few years so did quite a few IEng (incorporated) and a small number of None Grad CEng (Chartered)- -but this was a route through post O level apprenticeships and lots of night school + Supportive employers - with stuff like the apprenticeship levy and Degree appreticeships we may see this becoming the normal again for Techs and IEng
more recently and relevantly most new IEng and the vast Majority of CEng candidatres have at least a BEng and for Charterered likely an MEng or BEng + MSc
(edited 12 months ago)
Original post by Chelsea4Life03
Hi, this is my first post here. I would like to become an engineer in the future and want to ask if its better to go to sixth form and then uni or study an engineering course at college then go to uni? The guy at the college who interviewed me said that college is better cuz you get the more practical and hands on side of engineering compared to the written work in A levels, and would struggle with certain aspects in uni if I did A levels, is this true? thanks
It’s better if you want to be a technician, not an engineer.
if you want to be an engineer, the typical goal is to be a chartered engineer (CEng).
You need to do an accredited degree at masters level for this.
College is typically for technician level roles (level 1-3) and those bridging the gap to an engineering degree (level 4-5). For context, GCSE’s are level 2 and A levels are level 3 equivalent. If you did A levels you could skip college and study a degree full time or as an apprentice.
A bachelors degree is level 6, and a masters degree level 7.
I did a level 3 engineering technician course instead of A levels and then did a degree apprenticeship in engineering for my degree.
hope this helps
(edited 12 months ago)
Original post by Chelsea4Life03
Hi, this is my first post here. I would like to become an engineer in the future and want to ask if its better to go to sixth form and then uni or study an engineering course at college then go to uni? The guy at the college who interviewed me said that college is better cuz you get the more practical and hands on side of engineering compared to the written work in A levels, and would struggle with certain aspects in uni if I did A levels, is this true? thanks
If you want to be an engineer and work on the innovation and development side of things then go to university and get a good degree, focus on developing strong maths skills primarily.
If you want be involved in a hands on capacity more of a technician or field engineering position then going to college or an apprenticeship is a very good path.
I would say the best prep for engineering is maths & further maths A-level, whilst there is some hands on stuff in an engineering degree, it is more limited to the early stages (i.e. years 1 and 2) and more about demonstrating and understanding of the practical nature of engineering applications. Engineering at university will mostly be evaluating and teaching you how to harness and apply the laws of physics to different types of systems (i.e. mechanical/electrical/structural...) and as such the bulk of the degree and where your degree will be assessed is really on the physics.
(and frankly hands on skills are very different to what engineers do, technicians often spend several years building there expertise and can do it better and faster then professional engineers).
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