General Engineering HND (Full-time)

This HND BTEC Engineering (General Engineering) course is taught by Bolton College on behalf of the University of Bolton.

This Level 5 HND in General Engineering is designed to develop your knowledge and skills across a broad range of electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering technologies that are essential to businesses in this rapidly evolving and dynamic sector of the economy. The course also aims to help you gain key transferable skills that are highly valued by employers. 

Throughout the course, our team of dedicated experts will guide you as you gain knowledge and understanding, as well as practical, professional and subject specific skills. Your studies will focus on the core knowledge that is required by all engineers, such as engineering design, mathematics and science, and how to manage a professional engineering project. You’ll then build on this learning with specialist and optional units that concentrate on developing your understanding and skills in essential areas of electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering. 

We’ll help you learn the principles of lean manufacturing, and cover essential areas such as professional engineering management and advanced mathematical studies. You’ll also undertake an individual project, where you’ll have the opportunity to develop and apply your knowledge, practical ability and design skills. Overall, we’ll support you as you develop cognitive, intellectual and thinking skills, and gain valuable key, personal and transferable skills ready for employment or further study.

• The course provides opportunities for you to make progress towards achieving internationally recognised registration with a professional body regulated by the Engineering Council.
• We’ll encourage you to undertake a work placement during the summer break – this is recommended but is not a course requirement.
• On successful completion of this programme you’ll be awarded a Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Engineering (General Engineering).
• Bolton College scores highly in student satisfaction surveys for its HE provision, and we take pride in being able to offer you the opportunity to learn from industry-experienced staff.

• The course provides opportunities for you to make progress towards achieving internationally recognised registration with a professional body regulated by the Engineering Council.
• We’ll encourage you to undertake a work placement during the summer break – this is recommended but is not a course requirement.
• On successful completion of this programme you’ll be awarded a Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Engineering (General Engineering).
• Bolton College scores highly in student satisfaction surveys for its HE provision, and we take pride in being able to offer you the opportunity to learn from industry-experienced staff.

Qualifications in engineering within the UK are referenced against the Engineering Council, UK specifications which sets standards at Levels 3, 6 and 8. The Pearson BTEC Higher Nationals in Engineering are set at Level 4 and 5 and have been written with reference to the Engineering Council specification for Level 3 and 6.

Holders of the Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Engineering (General Engineering) meet the academic requirements for the Engineering Council Engineering Technician Standard (EngTech).

• 32 UCAS points. Please see our guide to the UCAS Tariff for examples of how to achieve these points.
• Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3.
• You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
• Entry to this course is also available to applicants who have extensive appropriate work experience in the engineering sector. If you don't possess the academic qualifications listed above but have extensive appropriate work experience, we'll be delighted to consider your application.
• You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
• If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 5.5 with no less than 5.5 in reading and writing (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
• If you intend to progress on to a top-up degree course at a university after completing this HNC, you will usually need GCSE Mathematics and English at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent). If you have not already achieved this, please speak to the course leader about taking GCSE Mathematics and/or English while completing this course.
• If you apply or enrol on this course, Bolton College and the University of Bolton will share the information you provide. You’ll also receive communications from both organisations.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

If you choose to complete a BTEC HND in Engineering it’s expected that you’ll be aiming to go on to employment or progress to a final year at university. Pearson developed these qualifications in close collaboration with experts from professional bodies, businesses, universities and colleges to ensure you gain the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed in the future – whichever route you take.

What can I do with this qualification?

This HND is designed to prepare you for a career in in areas such as control engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, sensors and data processing, avionics, mechanical, automotive, biomedical engineering, computing, telecommunications and mobile communications.

If you successfully complete the Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND in Engineering (General Engineering) you’ll be to progress onto a higher level qualification. For instance, you’ll be eligible to apply for advanced standing to bachelor’s degrees in a range of engineering disciplines.

Alternative career options:

Diploma holders can also use the qualification to enter a range of other careers, and for some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or further study may be required. Some of these careers include:

• Teaching
• Research and development
• Finance
• Business
• Intellectual property
• Government and Civil Service
• Military

Useful information

When completing your student finance application, please list your institution as ‘University of Bolton’, not ‘Bolton College’.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2021-2022 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance eligibility 2021-2022 policy on www.gov.uk for information. 

The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

For 2021-2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year. The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021-2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton undergraduate students.

The varied nature of this HND programme means that we use a wide range of teaching and learning methods. In order to ensure you acquire and develop the appropriate concepts, knowledge and skills, we combine timetabled classes with student-centred and independent learning. You can expect to attend lectures, practical sessions, workshops, tutorials and informal group study sessions. There will also be opportunities to go on site visits to view state-of-the-art projects, and attend guest lectures by specialists from industry, the professional bodies or other academic institutions.

There are significant opportunities to spend time with the tutors and technicians during timetabled classes, practical work and tutorials. However, we’ll still expect you to devote a significant amount of time to personal study. For example, this time might be spent engaging in general background reading, revisiting practical work, attending technical meetings and lectures provided by the professional bodies or working on assignments.

We use a range of assessment methods, depending on the learning outcome in question and the type of module content being assessed. You’ll have opportunities to test your understanding of subjects informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark or grade. Each module/unit will normally contain at least one piece of practice or ‘formative’ assessment for which you’ll receive feedback from your tutor. Practice assessments are developmental and any grades/marks you receive for them do not count toward your module/unit mark or grade.

There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module/unit. Methods include a range of coursework assessment such as exams, essays, reports, portfolios, presentations, and final year major project. The grades from the formal assessments count towards your module/unit mark or grade.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

• Engineering Maths
• Engineering Science
• Engineering Design
• Managing a Professional Engineering Project
• Electrical and Electronic Principles
• Electronic Circuits and Devices
• Instrumentation and Control Systems
• Automation, Robotics and Programmable Logic Controllers
• Research Project
• Professional Engineering Management
• Further Mathematics
• Lean Manufacturing
• Further PLCs
• Analogue Electronic Systems
• Sustainability

Assessment Methods

Learning Activities

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.

Gibson Jeremie
Programme Leader, Bolton College
Email: Gibson.Jeremie@boltoncc.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 482035

Peter Alstead
Head of Area, Bolton College
Email: Peter.Alstead@boltoncc.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 482035