Swansea University
Physics with a Year in Industry BSc (Hons)
Swansea University

Key Course Facts

Student Reviews

Overall student satisfaction
65 /100
40 total respondents

Primarily based on data from undergraduate degree students.

The NSS is commissioned by the Office for Students

Salary

Salary of Graduates in Physics and Astronomy

Important: Salary data below is not course specific, but contains data of all students of Physics at the university. Due to data collection methodology, salary data is mainly based on data related to undergraduate students.

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £26000 £23500 £28500
25-75 percentile range £21000 - £31500 £18000 - £28000 £20000 - £35500


Salary of all UK Graduates of Physics and Astronomy

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £28994 £29015 £34497
25-75 percentile range £24988 - £33170 £22931 - £36583 £26874 - £45969

Course Description

Physics is an exciting subject which seeks answers to the biggest questions, covering everything in our universe, from the building blocks of matter to the vastness of the cosmos.

Employers seeking physics graduates include academic institutions, government research organisations and industry, including aerospace and defence, education, energy, engineering, instrumentation, manufacturing, oil and gas, science, communication, space exploration and telecommunications. Many physics graduates pursue a career outside physics, for instance in consultancy, IT, the environmental industry, financial services, the legal sector, transport and utilities.

Our degrees reflect our cutting-edge research and the Swansea Physics group achieved the trapping of anti-matter. Studying in this dynamic research-led environment will help you learn how fundamental physics is applied across disciplines and is contributing to advances in fields such as engineering, medicine and mathematics.

Based at our superb seafront campus close to the magnificent Gower Peninsula, you will have the opportunity to study an exciting and flexible range of modules which could include astronomy and cosmology, electromagnetism, atomic physics, the frontiers of nuclear physics, the quantum world and climate physics.

In addition to the new laboratories, the facilities include IT and teaching rooms; scanning probe microscopy (SPM) systems; scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) systems; laser spectroscopy systems based upon fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy; atomic force microscopes (AFM); and Beowulf computer cluster, with 130 CPU cores connected by a low-latency infiniband network.

You will spend the third of your four years on a paid industrial placement, putting your skills into practice and greatly enhancing your employability.

All of our Physics degrees are accredited by the Institute of Physics.

As a physics student, you will also benefit from exceptional project supervision, small group teaching, and opportunities for summer studentships and projects at the CERN Particle Physics Laboratory.

Our notable Physics alumni include Professor Lyn Evans, leader of the Large Hadron Collider project at CERN, while Professor Peter Higgs, Swansea University Honorary Fellow and Physics Nobel Prize winner, proposed the Boson particle, and has strong links with the department.

“Studying Physics at Swansea University has definitely been one of the best decisions I have made. The location is incredible, the people are simply inspiring, and the standard is extremely high. I have a lot of praise for all of the staff here and their hard-work, meticulous care, and excellent teaching. Without them, there are certainly a few things that would not have been possible!”

  • Georgina Jackson, BSc Physics with a Year in Industry

Accredited by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for the purpose of partially meeting the educational requirement for Chartered Physicist.

Jobs & Career Perspectives

15 months after graduation, graduates of this course were asked about what they do and, if they are working, about their current job and their perspectives.

Current jobs

Required skill level of job after 15 months

Jobs of graduates of this course (15 months after graduation)

Example below based on all graduates of Physics with a Year in Industry BSc (Hons) at Swansea University

15% Therapy professionals
10% Caring personal services
10% Skilled trades occupations
10% Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations
10% Managers, directors and senior officials
10% Sales occupations
10% Teaching and Childcare Associate Professionals
5% Welfare and housing associate professionals
5% Customer service occupations
5% Elementary occupations

Grading & Study Time

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, laboratory work, examples classes and weekly small group classes. You will be assessed through regular problem solving in small groups and individual study, online assessment custom designed for each lecture module, keeping a laboratory diary and preparing scientific reports in practical modules. Final year projects are assessed through the preparation of a dissertation and presentation of your research, either as a poster in a conference-like forum or an oral presentation.

Grading Distribution

Students of the course received the following grades

Entry Requirements / Admissions

UCAS Tariff of Accepted Students for Physics

Requirements for international students / English requirements

IELTS academic test score (similar tests may be accepted as well)

    • 6.5
    • All Degrees

http://www.swansea.ac.uk/science/international/
Get advice on which foundation courses are best for you to still study Physics with a Year in Industry, BSc (Hons), if you do not meet the minimum requirements in terms of UCAS score, A levels, or English language requirements.

Costs

Average student cost of living in the UK

Rent £518
Water, gas electricity, internet (at home) £50
Supermarket shopping £81
Clothing £35
Eating out £33
Alcohol £27
Takeaways / food deliveries £30
Going out / entertainment (excl.alcohol, food) £24
Holidays and weekend trips £78
Transport within city £17
Self-care / sports £20
Stationary / books £13
Mobile phone / internet £13
Cable TV / streaming £7
Insurance £51
Other £95
  
Average student cost of living £1092

London costs approx 34% more than average, mainly due to rent being 67% higher than average of other cities. For students staying in student halls, costs of water, gas, electricity, wifi are generally included in the rental. Students in smaller cities where accommodation is in walking/biking distance transport costs tend to be significantly smaller.

How to apply

Application deadline:

January 1, 2025

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Possible Entry Points:

  • year 1 (Default entry point)

University Rankings

Positions of Swansea University in top UK and global rankings.

Rankings of Swansea University in related subject specific rankings.

Natural Sciences

    • #2 
    • #17 
    Physics
    The Guardian University League Tables by Subject
    [Published 09 September, 2023]

See all 27 university rankings of Swansea University

About Swansea University

Swansea University was established in 1920 and is located in the large city of Swansea, in Wales. There are two campuses, the flagship campus is located between Singleton Park, with its green parkland and botanical gardens, and Swansea Bay beach. The more recent Bay Campus on the other hand is located on an extensive beachfront property on the eastern side of town, past the marina. Apart from a vibrant academic life, students can attend the numerous yearly festivals that take place in Swansea, guaranteeing plenty of opportunities for getting out and about in your free time.

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Where is this programme taught

Singleton Park Campus
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