The UK currently has some of the best engineering schools in the EU. This is not surprising, considering that Great Britain was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution that started in the 1750s and continued for about a century.
In the paragraphs that follow we are going to have a closer look at several of the UK’s most affordable engineering schools for undergraduate students. The average tuition rates for domestic and foreign students will be quoted in bold at the beginning of each new section. The quoted values represent average tuition fees in GBP per academic year.
Cheapest Engineering Schools in the UK
1. Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol
The beginnings of this engineering school can be traced back to 1908 when Merchant Ventures’ College and the University College merged to form what is now known as the University of Bristol Faculty of Engineering.
Today, the Faculty of Engineering is neatly organized into two major schools – School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and the School of Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Engineering Math.
Before you start your undergraduate studies, it’s a good idea to apply for their two-week preparatory course called “Gearing Up for Engineering” that starts in mid-September each year. The course consists of a theoretical part (one week), while the second half is lab practice.
2. The University of Manchester, Faculty of Science and Engineering
The Industrial Revolution that we mentioned at the beginning of this article started precisely in the city of Manchester. University of Manchester’s Faculty of Science and Engineering was one of the first academic bodies of the university that started functioning in the year of its foundation, 1824.
Today, the faculty is organized into two major schools – the School of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences. The former school has four departments and the latter has five. The most popular undergraduate programs that this cheap engineering school in the UK offer are in the fields of Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
3. The University of Leeds, Faculty of Engineering
The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Leeds is organized into eight different schools, each offering several undergraduate programs in its respective field. Some of these schools include the School of Chemical and Process Engineering, the School of Mechanical Engineering, and the School of Physics and Astronomy.
In fact, the School of Physics and Astronomy was established more than 140 years ago. It is currently ranked the sixth-best school in astronomy and physics in the UK. Some of the most popular Bachelor’s programs that it offers include Physics with Astrophysics, Physics, and History and Philosophy of Science and Physics.
One of the most popular scholarships that Leeds University offers to international students is the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust. It amounts to 3,000 GBP a year and is available to overseas students pursuing an undergraduate degree.
4. School of Engineering, University of Warwick
According to the prestigious newspaper The Guardian, this is the fifth-best engineering school in the UK. Its graduates are headhunted by some of the largest industrial corporations in the world. Moreover, the University of Warwick’s School of Engineering is consistently in the top ten of all college charts in the UK.
All of their freshmen receive a solid general engineering background before selecting a major in their preferred academic area at this cheap engineering school in the UK. The school’s devoted tutors provide numerous exciting opportunities for individual and group work on a wide variety of challenging projects.
5. University of Swansea College of Engineering
Swansea University is reportedly one of the top universities in the UK for Engineering, and also one of the most affordable. Their research centers are equipped with all the software and hardware a budding engineer may need to visualize and test their ideas.
Its College of Engineering offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate study programs. The most popular undergraduate programs are in the field of Chemical Engineering. The young people who enroll in these programs are trained to become the future captains of the British industry. And the students who successfully complete their programs are prepared to meet the engineering challenges of tomorrow.
6. University of Surrey’s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Surrey currently has more than 6,800 students and over 6,200 of them come from overseas. What makes the faculty unique in the whole of Europe is the Surrey Research Park – a tech hub with more than 100 companies operating under its cap. In this cheap engineering school in the UK, all freshmen can test the knowledge they have required against the best practices in the field.
According to a recent survey by The Guardian, the University of Surrey’s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences is the second-best place in the UK to pursue an undergraduate degree in Precise Electronics and Electrical engineering. Other popular engineering majors include Aerospace Engineering, Automotive Engineering, and Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, to name a few.
7. School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh
The School of Engineering with The University of Edinburgh is by far the most expensive engineering school on our list. The reason for their rather high tuition fees, especially for overseas undergraduate students, is that a recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) review ranked the School as UK’s Best Engineering College.
The School of Engineering now has seven different research institutes such as, for example, the Institute of Bioengineering and the Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, among others. The department of Civil and Environmental Engineering currently offers the largest number of undergraduate programs.
We hope that this article on cheap engineering universities in the UK was helpful. Make sure to also check out the Available Programs in the United Kingdom!
