Engineering Science

About the course

Engineering Science encompasses a vast range of subjects, from microelectronics to offshore oil platforms. The course involves the application of creative reasoning, science, mathematics (and, of course, experience and common sense) to real problems.

The Department of Engineering Science at Oxford has a top-level quality assessment rating for teaching and a world-class reputation for research.

We believe that future engineering innovation will benefit from broad foundations as well as specialised knowledge. Because of this, undergraduate teaching is based on a unified course in Engineering Science, which integrates study of the subject across the traditional boundaries of engineering disciplines. Links between topics - in apparently diverse fields of engineering - provide well-structured fundamental understanding, and can be exploited to give efficient teaching.

The Engineering Science programme is a four-year course, leading to the degree of Master of Engineering. The first two years are devoted to topics that we believe all Engineering undergraduates should study.

In the third and fourth years there is scope for specialisation into one of six branches of engineering:

• Biomedical
• Chemical
• Civil
• Electrical
• Information
• Mechanical.

Decisions about which of these will be your specialisation can be deferred until the third year.

The course is accredited every five years by the major engineering institutions. Engineering Science is currently accredited by IChemE, IET, IMechE, InstMC and JBM on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

• IET, IMechE, InstMC, IChemE: intakes up to 2027 
• JBM: intakes up to 2025, 2026-2027 intakes pending review summer 2025

Industrial experience is an extremely important adjunct to an academic engineering education, and undergraduates are strongly encouraged to obtain it. One way to do so is by being sponsored. Further information is generally available through your careers teacher, or from the engineering institutions. If your sponsoring company wants you to spend a year with them before university, you will be asked to declare this at your interview and in your UCAS application.

Astrophoria Foundation Year

If you’re interested in studying Engineering Science but your personal or educational circumstances have meant you are unlikely to achieve the grades typically required for Oxford courses, then choosing to apply for Engineering Science with a Foundation Year might be right for you.

Visit our Foundation Year course pages for more details. 

'I’m currently designing an offshore device that could convert wave energy in the sea into electricity, to be transmitted back to land. There are five people in my team, working on this for our third year project. I particularly enjoy it because I am putting into practice everything that I have been learning over the last two years. I was attracted by the academic challenge of studying at one of the top universities in the world, and the Engineering Science course at Oxford really caught my eye because students cover a wide spectrum of engineering before choosing specialised options. I was convinced that the course would provide me with a broad foundation to understand and tackle real-world engineering problems, which cannot be solved solely by one discipline of engineers.' Stephen		'This year I’m working on a project that involves designing and building wind turbines and the control systems behind it. The aim of my project is to maximise the efficiency of wind turbines. The project was actually sponsored by a Scottish company who approached Oxford University; they were looking for someone to cooperate with them in designing and building an unplugged house, which is a house powered by green energy alone. My project involves building the wind turbine systems… throughout this year I’ve developed a process which is better than existing systems by 5-6% and I think that’s a great achievement for a year’s work. Hopefully I’ll continue working with them after the term has ended and see my system become a reality.' Yuan Gao

Unistats information

Discover Uni course data provides applicants with Unistats statistics about undergraduate life at Oxford for a particular undergraduate course.

Please select 'see course data' to view the full Unistats data for Engineering Science. 

Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small. 

Visit the Studying at Oxford section of this page for a more general insight into what studying here is likely to be like.

Academic requirements

Wherever possible, your grades are considered in the context in which they have been achieved.

Read further information on how we use contextual data.

For candidates who are predicted A*AA, serious consideration will be given to extenuating circumstances, such as disruption to education or bereavement, which have led to under-performance in exams and which are described in their application. Any offer would be conditional on achieving A*A*A.

Subject requirements

If, and only if, you have chosen to take any science A-levels, we expect you to take and pass the practical component in addition to meeting any overall grade requirement.

If your personal or educational circumstances have meant you are unlikely to achieve the grades listed above for undergraduate study, but you still have a strong interest in the subject, then applying for Engineering Science with a Foundation Year might be right for you.

Visit the Foundation Year course pages for more details of academic requirements and eligibility.

Applying

All candidates must follow the application procedure as shown in Applying to Oxford. The information below gives specific details for students applying for this course.

Admissions test

All candidates must take the Physics Admissions Test (PAT) as part of their application. 

All the information you need to arrange to take your test as well as how best to prepare can be found on your test page.

Updates to the PAT

The test consists of maths and physics questions, which are mixed in sequence (there are not separate maths or physics sections). Formula sheets, tables and data books are not permitted. Calculators have been permitted since 2018.

Guidelines about the use of calculators along with details of the syllabus and links to supporting materials which candidates are encouraged to look at for preparation are available on the Physics website.

Written work

Applicants are not required to submit other written work as part of their application.

What are tutors looking for?

Enthusiasm for engineering combined with high ability in mathematics and physics is essential for those wishing to study any engineering course. These qualities will be tested at the interview and combined with an assessment of your predicted and attained examination performance (especially in mathematics and physics, and your PAT score) to decide who will be offered places.

Visit the Engineering Science website for more detail on the selection criteria for this course.

Fees

Additional Fees and Charges Information for Engineering Science

There are no compulsory costs for this course beyond the fees shown above and your living costs.