A young male university student in a hard hat and lab coat holding a clipboard while examining a stainless steel distillation column with pressure gauges and steam rising from pipework in an industrial pilot plant, representing the process engineering focus of Chemical Engineering degrees

DEGREE GUIDE

Chemical Engineering

What do Chemical Engineering degrees involve?

Chemical Engineering degrees teach you how to design and develop processes that transform raw materials into valuable products safely and efficiently. You will explore key areas such as process engineering, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, reaction kinetics, and materials science. These courses help you build strong problem-solving, mathematical, and analytical skills while understanding how to optimise industrial processes in sectors like pharmaceuticals, energy, and food production. You will also learn about sustainability, safety regulations, and emerging technologies in chemical engineering. With hands-on lab work, industry placements, and large-scale engineering projects, you’ll gain practical experience that prepares you for careers in manufacturing, energy, and environmental engineering.

Example
Modules

Process Heat Transfer: Study how heat moves through industrial systems, exploring conduction, convection and radiation, and comparing heat exchanger designs.

Advanced Fluid Mechanics: Apply maths and physics to analyse fluid flow in pipes, pumps and reactors, solving problems in laminar and potential flow conditions.

Colloids and Interface Science: Understand how tiny particles interact at surfaces and interfaces, and learn how to measure forces in colloidal systems.

Common Degree Names

💼 Placement years are widely available, often in the chemical, pharmaceutical or energy sectors.
🌍 Study abroad is available at some universities.

BEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering
MEng Chemical Engineering
BEng (Hons) Chemical and Energy Engineering
BEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering
BEng (Hons) Chemical and Process Engineering

MEng is a four-year integrated Master’s degree and a common route toward Chartered Engineer status.

A laptop displaying a process flow diagram with batch reactors and heat exchangers alongside a chemical reaction engineering textbook, glass distillation apparatus, piping diagrams, safety data sheets and goggles in an engineering laboratory, illustrating the industrial process design skills developed in Chemical Engineering degrees

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Chemical Engineering applies chemistry and physics to design industrial processes, from pharmaceuticals to renewable energy. The degree is highly mathematical and requires strong science foundations.

You'll need:

Maths – essential for all Chemical Engineering courses
Chemistry – also essential at nearly all universities

Subjects that strengthen your application:

Physics or Further Maths (or IB AA HL) – strongly recommended, particularly for competitive programmes
Biology – sometimes accepted as a second science, but less commonly than Physics

✨ Maths, Chemistry, and Physics is the ideal combination. Courses focusing on energy, materials, or industrial processes especially value Physics.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Engineering or Applied Science (being phased out), usually alongside A-level Maths and often A-level Chemistry
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside A-levels that meet the subject requirements above
T-Levels in Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing, or Science (rarely accepted), may require A-Level Maths AND Chemistry; may be considered for foundation year entry
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with Maths and Chemistry at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three), alongside your Career-Related Study; an Engineering pathway would be directly relevant

Requirements can vary slightly between universities, but Chemistry and Maths are always essential. Be sure to check individual university websites for specific subject and grade requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most Chemical Engineering courses require:

GCSE Maths and English at grade 4/C or above, or equivalent qualifications like National 5s or MYP
GCSE Science (or equivalent), usually at least grade 5/B or higher, particularly in Chemistry

📘 Some competitive universities may ask for a grade 6/B or higher in Maths, due to the high level of maths involved in the degree.

💬 Interviews

Interviews are not usually required, but some universities interview as part of the selection process. These are typically a chance to discuss your interest in the subject and how you approach problems, rather than a test of what you already know.

📝 Admissions Tests

Most courses don't require a test, but if you're applying to Cambridge or Imperial, you'll need to sit the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test). It covers Maths and science subjects to assess your readiness for the course.

🔍 Work Experience

Not required, but any hands-on experience with science, engineering, or problem-solving can help demonstrate your interest. This might include STEM clubs, engineering projects, lab work, or even exploring how everyday products are made. Industry experience is a bonus but not expected, and there are often age restrictions that limit what you can do. What matters is showing curiosity about how chemical processes are used to create real-world products and solutions.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What area of chemical engineering interests you — pharmaceuticals, food production, energy systems, sustainable materials, or something else? Chemical engineering is about scaling up: taking reactions that work in a lab and making them happen safely and efficiently at an industrial scale. If you've wondered how everyday products are actually manufactured, thought about the chemistry behind processes like water treatment or fuel production, or explored how engineering could tackle sustainability challenges, reflect on what sparked that curiosity. Reading about how chemical engineers are working on problems like cleaner energy, biodegradable plastics, or more efficient food production can show you're thinking about the field's real-world impact. Admissions tutors want to see you understand this isn't just chemistry; it's applying maths, physics, and engineering thinking to production challenges that affect millions of people.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Engineering or Science

Many universities offer an engineering foundation year if you don't have the required Maths and Chemistry grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Engineering or Science)

Accepted by some universities. Make sure your course includes strong chemistry, maths and physics content, and aim for Distinctions in your graded units — Chemical Engineering courses typically have high entry expectations.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships such as Science Manufacturing Technician or Engineering Technician carry UCAS tariff points from 2026 and can support a university application, particularly when combined with a foundation year.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

Start Your Journey → £3 a month

Full access to all self-discovery tools and guides. Cancel anytime.

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

Context sentence

Heading 6

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Heading 6

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

custom skills note goes here

Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a Chemical Engineering degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

Machines, Structures & How Things Are Engineered: Chemical Engineering is about scaling processes from a small laboratory reaction to an entire industrial plant. You'll study how reactors, separation columns, heat exchangers, and pipelines are designed to transform raw materials into useful products safely and efficiently.

Chemicals, Materials & Reactions: The chemistry of the discipline is as central as the engineering. You'll study reaction kinetics, the thermodynamics of chemical systems, how catalysts work, and how molecular behaviour translates into decisions about how a process is designed.

The Environment & Sustainability: Modern Chemical Engineering is reshaping around process sustainability. You'll explore green chemistry, carbon capture, biofuels, and how whole-life environmental impact and circular-economy thinking change the way industrial processes are designed today.

Students who thrive in a Chemical Engineering degree are often motivated by

Precision and Thoroughness

You feel satisfied when work is done accurately and completely. Whether it's getting calculations exactly right, spotting errors others miss, or making sure every detail is correct, the pursuit of precision gives you a sense of accomplishment. Sloppy or "good enough" work frustrates you, and you take pride in getting things right first time.

Intellectual Challenge

You're energised by pushing your mind to its limits, tackling difficult questions, and wrestling with problems that don't have easy answers. You're drawn to work that requires deep concentration and rigorous thinking. The harder the problem, the more satisfying it feels to work through it, and you'd rather be stretched than comfortable. Easy work bores you rather than relaxing you.

Sustainability and Environmental Care

You're energised by work that makes things better for the planet: developing green technology, reducing waste, protecting ecosystems, restoring habitats, or helping people and organisations shift to more sustainable ways of living. You feel most engaged when your effort is doing something measurable about environmental problems, not just thinking or caring about them. Seeing a real-world result, whether that's cleaner energy, less waste, or an ecosystem that recovers, is what carries you through the harder parts of the work.

Practical Problem-Solving

You're energised by finding fixes to real-life issues, whether they're mechanical, technological, or social. You're motivated by problems you can see, touch, or experience directly, and you get satisfaction from solutions that work in practice, not just in theory. You'd rather build a prototype than write a report about one.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

Creativity and Innovation

You're energised by the act of creating something new or finding a fresh way to approach a problem. Whether it's designing, writing, building, or experimenting, you feel most alive when you're generating original ideas rather than following established methods. The possibility that something has never been done before excites rather than intimidates you.

What makes Chemical Engineering click for the students who love it?

Take a reaction that works in a test tube and make it run safely at the scale of a factory: that is the problem Chemical Engineering hands them, and they find the difficulty motivating rather than off-putting. It pulls chemistry, physics and maths together, and they enjoy understanding how a process behaves, then redesigning it to run better. Get the conditions wrong at that scale, and it turns dangerous, so the margins are taken seriously. More and more, the pull is green chemistry: cleaner energy and processes that take less out of the planet.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you enjoy understanding how processes work — not just what goes in and comes out, but why it happens and how to make it work better?
Do you like the idea of working in a lab where chemistry meets real-world engineering — experimenting with reactions, materials, and systems at scale?
Do you find yourself drawn to precision — caring about getting calculations and details exactly right, especially when it really matters?
Do you enjoy using maths and science to predict how something will behave before you build it?

Careers a Chemical Engineering degree could lead you to

Chemical Engineering

What do Chemical Engineering degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

Heading 6

Heading 6

Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a Chemical Engineering degree could lead you to

Example
Modules