A young female university student in safety goggles using a soldering iron on a printed circuit board in a helping hands holder at an electronics laboratory bench, with an oscilloscope displaying waveforms and a multimeter beside her, other students working at similar benches in a modern university electronics lab with teal ceiling beams, representing the hands-on circuit design and testing focus of Electrical and Electronic Engineering degrees

DEGREE GUIDE

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

What do Electrical and Electronic Engineering degrees involve?

Electrical and Electronic Engineering degrees teach you how to design, build, and optimise the systems that generate, move, and process electricity and information. You will explore key areas such as circuits and electronics, digital systems and microprocessors, power systems and renewable energy, control and automation, signal processing, communications, and electromagnetics. These courses help you develop strong mathematical, analytical, and programming skills while using industry tools like SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink, FPGA platforms, and PCB design software. You’ll also gain hands-on experience in labs and through design projects—building prototypes, programming embedded systems, and testing hardware with oscilloscopes and other equipment. Many programmes include team projects with industry input and options for a placement year. With this mix of theory and practical experience, you’ll graduate ready for roles in electronics design, energy and renewables, telecommunications, robotics and automation, transport, aerospace and defence, and the fast-growing semiconductor and digital technology sectors.

Example
Modules

Electrical Circuits: Learn how to analyse and design AC and DC circuits using resistors, capacitors, inductors and power sources — a foundation of electrical engineering.

Digital and Analogue Electronics: Explore logic gates, microcontrollers, amplifiers and signal processing, building skills to work with both digital and analogue systems.

Engineering Mathematics: Develop core mathematical tools, including calculus, complex numbers, matrices and differential equations for solving engineering problems.

Common Degree Names

💼 A placement year is widely available in electronics, robotics, power generation, and tech companies.
🌍 Study abroad is offered at many universities through international engineering exchange programmes.

BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering
MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering
BEng (Hons) Electrical Engineering
BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering
BEng (Hons) Electronic and Computer Engineering

These are technical engineering degrees. MEng is a four-year integrated Master’s degree that combines undergraduate and Master’s level study in one course and supports progress toward Chartered Engineer status.

An oscilloscope displaying sine and square waveforms alongside a breadboard circuit with a microcontroller and lit LEDs, a printed circuit board beside a soldering iron, a digital electronics textbook open to logic gates and truth tables, a laptop showing a MATLAB Bode plot, a notebook with hand-drawn circuit schematics and a multimeter with probes, illustrating the practical electronics and systems design skills developed in Electrical and Electronic Engineering degrees

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

Electrical and Electronic Engineering is about designing the circuits, systems, and devices that power our modern world – from smartphones to renewable energy systems. Because you'll be working with complex calculations and understanding how electricity and signals behave, universities need to see strong foundations in Maths and Physics.

You'll need:

Maths – essential for all EEE courses
Physics – essential or strongly preferred

Subjects that strengthen your application:

Further Maths (or IB AA HL) – highly recommended for more theoretical programmes if it is available to you.
Computer Science or Design & Technology (Electronics) – useful supporting subjects

✨ Maths and Physics together keep the widest range of courses open for you. Further Maths is valuable for the most competitive programmes.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Engineering, usually alongside A-level Maths or with strong maths content within the BTEC
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 (which includes an Electrical and Electronic Engineering specialism), Engineering, Manufacturing, Processing and Control, or Maintenance, Installation and Repair
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with Maths and Physics at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three) alongside your Career-Related Study; an Engineering pathway would be directly relevant

Entry expectations vary by university, so always check specific requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language, Maths and Science at grade 4/C or above, or equivalents such as National 5s or MYP

📘 A strong Maths background is important, as EEE involves calculus, algebra, and problem-solving.

💬 Interviews
Interviews are not usually required, but some universities interview as part of the selection process.

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

🔍 Work Experience
You don't need work experience to apply for Electrical & Electronic Engineering. If you're someone who builds circuits, tinkers with electronics, or experiments with microcontrollers or coding at home, that hands-on curiosity is exactly what this degree builds on. Engineering competitions and robotics clubs are also good ways to explore the field. If you have a school placement to fill, anything in an engineering, electronics, or technology setting gives you useful context.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What draws you to electrical and electronic engineering - is it circuits, power systems, telecommunications, or something else entirely? This is a broad field, so being specific about what interests you helps. If you've built circuits, programmed microcontrollers, taken apart electronics to see how they work, or followed developments in areas like renewable energy or communications technology, reflect on what made you curious and what you wanted to understand better. You don't need sophisticated projects, but showing you're the kind of person who wants to know how things work at a fundamental level will strengthen your application.

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 Physics grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Engineering or Science)

Accepted by many universities. Make sure your course includes strong maths and physics content, and aim for Distinctions in your graded units — engineering courses typically expect high results.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships such as Engineering Technician, Electrical or Electronic Technical Support Technician or Mechatronics Maintenance 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

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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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 an Electrical and Electronic 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: This sits at the core of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. You'll study how circuits, motors, power systems, sensors and communication networks are designed and built, learning how electrical and electronic hardware moves from a circuit diagram to a working system.

Technology, Computing & Digital Systems: Computing is structural to the degree. You'll program microcontrollers and embedded systems, work with digital electronics and communications protocols, and build systems where hardware and software are designed together so that the device actually does what it's meant to do.

The Environment & Sustainability: Power electronics and renewable energy integration run through the degree: how solar and wind power feed into the grid, how smart grids balance supply and demand, how batteries store energy, and how electric vehicle charging works. The focus is on electrical energy systems, rather than the broader environmental science that suits a dedicated Environmental Science or Sustainability degree.

Mathematics, Patterns & Data: Mathematics runs continuously through the degree. You'll use calculus, complex numbers, matrices and differential equations to analyse circuits, signals and control systems. If you enjoy using maths to understand how real things work, that's the kind of maths you'll meet throughout the degree.

Students who thrive in an Electrical and Electronic 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 Electrical and Electronic Engineering click for the students who love it?

Almost everything modern runs on circuits most people never notice, and they want to understand those systems and design new ones. They thrive on the demanding maths and physics, and on the detective work of tracing why a circuit behaves as it does. A circuit that is almost right doesn't work at all, so close enough is never enough. They like build-and-test, the satisfaction of a system that finally runs. The biggest draw, for many, is the energy transition: smart grids, power electronics and storage for a renewable future.

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 electronic devices work — not just using technology, but figuring out what's going on inside them?
Do you like building things with circuits, components, or electronics — even at a basic level — and seeing them come to life?
Do you enjoy writing code and find it satisfying when a program you've written actually controls something in the real world?
Do you like using maths and science to work out why something behaves the way it does, and how to design it to work better?

Careers an Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree could lead you to

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

What do Electrical and Electronic Engineering degrees involve?

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Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers an Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree could lead you to

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