Computer Systems Engineering (Including Foundation Year) BEng (Hons)

University of Essex

Our BEng Computer Systems Engineering (including foundation year) is open to Home and EU students. It will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your English language and academic skills.

This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study four academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory English language and academic skills module.

You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.

After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.

Computer systems can be found everywhere: inside a mobile phone, at a hospital bedside, and inside your TV, washing machine and games consoles. Computer systems engineers explore how this works – what is needed to convert machines and machinery into useful computing. We’re for people who want to figure out what goes on inside the box.

Our course gives you a thorough introduction to computer science before focussing on systems engineering. You study areas including:

• Writing programs, programming embedded microprocessors and designing embedded microprocessor systems in C
• The design and function of modern operating systems
• The functionality hardware needs to provide for an operating system

We emphasise the importance of practical learning, and you also have the opportunity to undertake a major project or product development specified either by a member of academic staff or a partner company.

In addition to these topics, you also have the flexibility to explore other areas our department specialises in, such as computer security, Big Data, and robotics.

Programming at Essex

Teaching someone to programme is about opening a door. In Year 1 at Essex you will study a module that introduces you to programming using Python. We assess your ability to think in a programmatic way in the very first week of term and if you require additional support, we offer classes which will boost your skills and confidence with programming.