DEGREE GUIDE

Robotics

What do Robotics degrees involve?

Robotics degrees teach you how to design, build, and program intelligent machines that can interact with the world. You will explore key areas such as mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence, control systems, sensor technology, and autonomous systems. These courses help you develop programming, problem-solving, and engineering skills while understanding how robots are used in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and space exploration. You will also learn how to work with robotic hardware, simulate real-world applications, and improve machine learning capabilities. Many degrees offer hands-on projects, industry placements, and research opportunities, preparing you for a future in robotics, automation, and AI-driven technology.

Example
Modules

Programming for Robotics: Learn to write code using languages like Python or C++ to control robotic behaviour, movements, and responses in real-world environments.

Electronics and Sensors: Explore how robots perceive their surroundings through sensors that detect motion, distance, light, and sound using electronic components.

Engineering Mathematics: Apply algebra, calculus, and matrices to analyse, model, and control the functions of robotic systems and automation tools.

Common Degree Names

💼 Placement years are widely offered in tech, automation, research or engineering companies.
🌍 Study abroad is available at some universities.

BEng (Hons) Robotics
BSc (Hons) Robotics
MEng Robotics
BEng (Hons) Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
BEng (Hons) Mechatronics and Robotics

Robotics is offered as BEng or BSc, depending on the technical or computing emphasis. MEng is a four-year integrated Master’s degree that combines undergraduate and Master’s level study in one course.

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

Robotics degrees combine mechanical engineering, electronics, computer science, and artificial intelligence to design and build intelligent machines. This is a highly technical degree requiring strong maths and science skills.

You'll need:

Mathematics – essential for all Robotics courses
Physics – required or strongly preferred by most universities

Subjects that can strengthen your application:

Further Mathematics – valuable for more competitive courses and integrated Master's programmes (MEng) if available at your school
Computer Science or Computing – directly relevant for programming and AI
Electronics – useful for understanding robotic systems
Design and Technology (Engineering) – practical making skills
Chemistry – helpful for understanding materials

✨ Maths and Physics together are required by most courses. Further Maths and Computer Science are highly valued for competitive universities and MEng programmes.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Engineering, usually alongside A-level Maths
T-Levels in Engineering, Manufacturing, Processing and Control; Maintenance, Installation and Repair for Engineering; or Digital Software Development. A-level Maths may still be required alongside
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside A-levels that meet the subject requirements above
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with Mathematics at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three), alongside your Career-Related Study; an Engineering pathway would be directly relevant

Many Robotics courses are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), supporting your path to becoming a Chartered Engineer. Always check specific course requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE or equivalent)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths (or equivalent) – Maths often required at grade 5 or 6. Equivalents include Scottish National 5s, BTEC Level 2, or IB MYP certificates
GCSE Physics or Double Science (or equivalent) – usually required

📋 Strong Maths is essential for Robotics. Some universities specify minimum Maths grades higher than the standard requirements.

💬 Interviews

Interviews are not usually required, but some universities may invite you for a short conversation, either online or in person, to learn more about your interest in the subject.

📝 Admissions Tests

Most courses don't require a test, but if you're applying to UCL for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, you'll need to sit the TARA (Test of Academic Reasoning for Admissions). It assesses critical thinking and problem-solving rather than subject knowledge.

🔍 Work Experience

You don't need work experience to apply for Robotics. If you have a school placement to fill, an engineering firm, automation company, or research lab gives you a sense of how robots are designed and used in practice. But building your own projects — whether that's programming, constructing mechanisms, or experimenting with sensors and control systems — is more valuable than any placement.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What aspect of robotics fascinates you - is it the mechanical design, the programming, the sensors and control systems, or how all these elements come together? Robotics is genuinely interdisciplinary, so thinking about what draws you to it specifically will strengthen your application. If you've built robots, entered competitions, programmed autonomous systems, or simply spent time figuring out how existing robots work, reflect on what challenges you encountered and what you learned from solving (or not solving) them. Admissions tutors want to see curiosity, persistence, and genuine enthusiasm for the problem-solving process.

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 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 a Robotics 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: Engineering principles sit at the core of Robotics. You'll study how robots are built as physical machines: motors, gears, sensors, actuators, mechanical structures, and the electronics that let the hardware respond to the world around it.

Technology, Computing & Digital Systems: Computing is what makes a robot intelligent. You'll program robot behaviour in languages like Python and C++, work with embedded systems, and study artificial intelligence and machine learning so that robots can perceive their surroundings, make decisions and learn from data.

Mathematics, Patterns & Data: Mathematics runs throughout the degree. You'll use linear algebra for how robots move in space, calculus for dynamics and control, and probability and statistics for sensor fusion and machine learning. If you enjoy using maths to understand how real things work, that's the kind of maths you'll find throughout the degree.

Students who thrive in a Robotics 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.

Making and Crafting

You love hands-on work: building, shaping, or creating physical objects. Whether it's working with tools, materials, or your own hands, you're happiest when you can see and touch what you've made. The process of turning raw materials into something finished gives you a deep sense of satisfaction, and you'd rather make something than just talk about it.

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.

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.

What makes Robotics click for the students who love it?

There's a joy in making something that moves, senses and responds on its own. They love the hands-on build, wiring up motors and parts until a design becomes a machine that does what it's told, and they don't flinch at the hard bit: tracing a misbehaviour back through mechanics, electronics, control and code to find the one thing that's off. A robot does exactly what it's set up to do and nothing more, so precision counts at every step. Creating something that didn't exist before is what they're in it for.

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 building things that actually do something — not just models or designs, but machines that move, respond, or work on their own?
Do you like coding and find it especially satisfying when your code controls something physical, rather than just appearing on a screen?
Do you find yourself naturally trying to work out why something isn't working — whether it's a mechanical problem, an electronics issue, or a software bug?
Do you like the idea of combining very different skills — a bit of engineering, a bit of electronics, a bit of programming — to create something new?

Careers a Robotics degree could lead you to

Robotics

What do Robotics degrees involve?

Example Modules

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 a Robotics degree could lead you to

Example
Modules