Software Engineering - BSc (Hons)

This is an archived course for 2021 entry
2023 courses

This degree looks at software development including methodologies used in medium to large enterprises.The programme offers you a solid base of computing skills, equipping you for a wide range of future careers from programmer to systems analyst, software developer to computer scientist.

Overview

Our programmes are taught by leading researchers who are experts in their fields.

Our degree programme

All of our programmes have a similar structure, and are divided into three stages.

In your first year, you are introduced to programming, web and databases. You begin with core fundamentals such as web and object-oriented programming using Java, human-computer interaction, and then build on that knowledge, learning and practicing advanced software engineering methodologies, from agile to structured approaches used in large software projects.

In your second year, you further develop your programming skills and address the engineering of large software systems. In your final year, you can pick from a wide range of options, widening your knowledge of e-commerce, computer security, e-health, data mining and the semantic web. You learn how to apply computing concepts to complex systems.

Year in industry

Many students choose to take a year in industry after the second year of the programme. This gives you work experience, a salary and the possibility of a job with the same company after graduation.

Extra activities

Apart from core learning towards your degree, we provide access to a wealth of other activities such as entrepreneurship (including business start-up opportunities), community engagement, public lectures, participation in short research projects and assistance in obtaining summer placements.

The School of Computing also hosts events that you are welcome to attend. These include our successful seminar programme where guest speakers from academia and industry discuss current developments in the field.

Professional networks

Our programmes are informed by a stakeholder panel of industry experts who give feedback on the skills that employers require from a modern workforce.

Our two dedicated placement co-ordinators help students obtain and benefit from high-quality work placements. Previous year in industry participants have worked with leading companies such as BAE Systems, Citigroup and The Walt Disney Company. Many return to their final year with the security of an employment offer – testament to the high esteem in which our graduates are held by industry.

We also have a dedicated Employability Coordinator who is the first point of contact for students and employers.


*The University of Kent's Statement of Findings can be found here.

Entry requirements

Please also see our general entry requirements.

  • medal-empty

    A level

    ABB-BBC

  • medal-empty GCSE

    Mathematics grade 4/C

  • medal-empty Access to HE Diploma

    The University will not necessarily make conditional offers to all Access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. 

    If we make you an offer, you will need to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above.

  • medal-empty BTEC Nationals

    Distinction, Distinction, Merit - Distinction, Merit, Merit

  • medal-empty International Baccalaureate

    34 points overall or 15 points at HL including HL or SL Maths at 4 or SL Maths Studies at 5

  • medal-empty International Foundation Programme

    Pass all components of the University of Kent International Foundation Programme with a 50% overall average including 50% in Programming and 50% in LZ013 Maths and Statistics (irrespective of whether GCSE Maths or equivalent has been obtained in pre-foundation studies).

International students should visit our International Student website for further specific information. International fee-paying students who require a Student visa cannot study part-time due to visa restrictions.

English Language Requirements

Please see our English language entry requirements web page.

If you need to improve your English language standard as a condition of your offer, you can attend one of our pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes before starting your degree programme. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.

Course structure

Duration: 3 years full-time

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.  

All modules listed at Stages 1 and 2 are compulsory.

Stage 1

Compulsory modules currently include:

CO323 - Databases and the Web

CO322 - Foundations of Computing 1

CO520 - Further Object-Oriented Programming

CO328 - Human Computer Interaction

CO320 - Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming

CO337 - Computers and the Cloud

CO383 - Problem Solving with Algorithms

CO325 - Foundations of Computing II

Stage 2

Compulsory modules currently include:

CO532 - Database Systems

CO548 - Software Engineering Process

CO655 - Software Project

CO539 - Web Development

CO518 - Algorithms, Correctness and Efficiency

CO557 - Computer Systems

CO559 - Software Development

CO558 - Introduction to Cyber Security

Stage 3

You choose one of the following compulsory modules:

CO600 - Projector 

CO650 - IT Consultancy Project*

Optional modules currently include:

CO636 - Cognitive Neural Networks

CO659 - Computational Creativity

CO656 - Computational Intelligence for Business, Economics & Finance

CO634 - Computer Security and Cryptography

CB742 - Creating Your Own Enterprise

CO649 - Data Mining

CO639 - Electronic Commerce

CO816 - eHealth

CB729 - Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

CO645 - IT Consultancy Practice 2*

CO644 - Semantic Web

CO662 - Signal Analysis for Computing

*participation is subject to interview.

Fees

The 2021/22 annual tuition fees for this programme are:

  • Home full-time £9,250
  • EU full-time £15,400
  • International full-time £20,500

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* 

Your fee status

The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.

Additional costs

General additional costs

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Funding

We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.

Search scholarships

University funding

Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details. 

Government funding

You may be eligible for government finance to help pay for the costs of studying. See the Government's student finance website.

Scholarships

General scholarships

Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.

The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence

At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. 

The scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of A*AA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications (including BTEC and IB) as specified on our scholarships pages.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Within the School of Computing are authors of widely used textbooks, a National Teaching Fellow and Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) Award-winning scientists. Programmes are taught by leading researchers who are experts in their fields.

Teaching is based on lectures, with practical classes and seminars, but we are also introducing more innovative ways of teaching, such as virtual learning environments and work-based tuition. Work includes group projects, case studies and computer simulations, with a large-scale project of your own choice in the final year.

Overall workload

Each stage comprises eight modules. Most modules run for a single 12-week term. Each module has two lectures and one to two hours of classes, making 14 formal contact hours per week and eight hours of 'homework club' drop-in sessions each term.

Academic support

We provide excellent support for you throughout your time at Kent. This includes access to web-based information systems, podcasts and web forums for students who can benefit from extra help. We use innovative teaching methodologies, including BlueJ and LEGO© Mindstorms for teaching Java programming.

Teaching staff

Our staff have written internationally acclaimed textbooks for learning programming, which have been translated into eight languages and are used worldwide. A member of staff has received the SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education. The award is made by ACM, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society.

Assessment

Assessment is by a combination of coursework and end-of-year examination and details are shown in the module outlines on the web. Project modules are assessed wholly by coursework.

The marks from stage one do not go towards your final degree grade, but you must pass to continue to stage two. 

Most stage two modules are assessed by coursework and end-of-year examination. Marks from stage two count towards your degree result. 

Most stage three modules are assessed by a combination of coursework and end-of-year examination. Projects are assessed by your contribution to the final project, the final report, and oral presentation and viva examination. Marks from stage three count towards your degree result.

Percentage of the course assessed by coursework

In stage three your project counts for 25% of the year's marks. 

Contact hours

For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours.  The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Programme aims

The programme aims to:

  • attract those who have an interest in applied computing and those contemplating a career involving information technology
  • provide an understanding of the principles of applied computing 
  • provide general skills of lasting value in a constantly changing field
  • offer modules covering the foundations of information technology
  • offer options that enable students to study selected areas in depth
  • provide teaching informed by current research and scholarship
  • enable students to engage with aspects of the field that are at the frontiers of knowledge
  • develop critical, analytical and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a range of different settings.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

  • hardware: the functional components of a computer system
  • software: programming languages and practice; tools and packages; computer applications; structuring of data and information
  • communications and interaction: concepts of computer communication networks; communication between computers and people; the control and operation of computers
  • practice: problem identification and analysis; design development, testing and evaluation
  • organisations: their environment and their management with options to study the management of people, operations management, finance, marketing and organisational strategy.

Intellectual skills

You gain intellectual skills in:

  • modelling: the modelling and design of computer-based systems and an understanding of the trade-off involved in design choices.
  • reflection and communication: verbal and written discussion of key themes, the communication of project work to a range of audiences; presenting rational and reasoned arguments
  • requirements: the ability to identify and analyse criteria and specifications for specific problems and plan strategies for their solution
  • criteria evaluation and testing: the ability to analyse the extent to which a computer-based system meets the criteria defined for its current use and future development
  • methods and tools: deploying appropriate theory, practices and tools for the specification, design, implementation and evaluation of computer-based systems.
  • professional responsibility: be guided by the professional, economic, social, environmental, moral and ethical issues involved in the sustainable exploitation of computer technology
  • computational thinking: demonstrating a basic analytical ability and its relevance to everyday life
  • critically evaluating arguments and evidence
  • analysing and drawing reasoned conclusions concerning structured and unstructured problems.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in:

  • design and implementation: how to specify, design and implement computer-based systems
  • evaluation: how to evaluate systems in terms of quality attributes and possible trade-offs presented within the given problem
  • information management: how to apply the principles of information management, organisation and retrieval
  • tools: how to deploy the tools used for the construction and documentation of software.

Transferable skills

You gain transferable skills in:

  • communication: the ability to make presentations to a range of audiences about technical problems and their solutions
  • information technology: effective information-retrieval skills (including the use of browsers, search engines and catalogues) and use of general IT facilities
  • self-management: managing one’s own learning and development including time management and organisational skills.

Independent rankings

Computer Science at Kent scored 90% overall in The Complete University Guide 2021.

For graduate prospects, Computer Science at Kent scored 92% in The Times Good University Guide 2020The Guardian University Guide 2020 and The Complete University Guide 2021.

Over 92% of Computer Science graduates who responded to the most recent national survey of graduate destinations were in professional work or further study within six months (DLHE, 2017).

Careers

Graduate destinations

Graduates who have both IT knowledge and business skills can expect excellent career prospects. Our graduates have gone on to work in:

  • software engineering
  • mobile applications development
  • systems analysis
  • consultancy
  • networking
  • web design and e-commerce
  • finance and insurance
  • commerce
  • engineering
  • education
  • government
  • healthcare. 

Recent graduates have gone on to develop successful careers at leading companies such as:

  • BAE Systems
  • Cisco 
  • IBM
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • Citigroup 
  • BT.

Help finding a job

The University has a friendly Careers and Employability Service, which can give you advice on how to:

  • apply for jobs
  • write a good CV
  • perform well in interviews.

The School has a dedicated Employability Coordinator who is a useful contact for all student employability queries.

Career-enhancing skills

To help you appeal to employers, you learn key transferable skills that are essential for all graduates. These include the ability to:

  • work independently or as part of a team
  • analyse situations and troubleshoot problems
  • communicate your ideas and opinions
  • think critically.

You can also gain extra skills by signing up for one of our Kent Extra activities, such as learning a language or volunteering.

Apply for Software Engineering - BSc (Hons)

This course page is for the 2021/22 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of undergraduate courses we offer.

Contact us

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United Kingdom/EU enquiries

Enquire online for full-time study

T: +44 (0)1227 768896

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International student enquiries

Enquire online

T: +44 (0)1227 823254
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk

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School website

School of Computing

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