Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: £9,535 per year (£1,200 for placement year)
International/EU: £17,155 per year (£1,200 for placement year) -
How long will I study?
4/5 Years
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Where will I study?
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What are the entry requirements?
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What is the UCAS code?
AA15
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When do I start?
September 2025
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Placement year available?
Yes
Course summary
- Become a professional mechatronics and robotics engineer from day one.
- Use mechatronics and robotics knowledge to solve real-world scenarios.
- Apply artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technology to robots and mechatronics.
- Learn to solve problems experimentally, analytically, numerically and digitally.
- Explore multidisciplinary engineering perspectives to enhance your versatility.
- Prepare for the full degree with an extra foundation year at the start.
The course will develop and build your professional engineering skills to help you progress towards recognition as an accredited engineer with the relevant professional engineering institution. You’ll learn how to design advanced mechatronic systems and integrate mechanical, electrical and software components – contributing to the development of cutting-edge robotic systems across various industries.
This foundation year course is for those who don't meet the entry requirements for our BEng Mechatronic and Robotic Engineering course, or would like extra preparation before starting degree-level study.
Come to an open day
Visit us to learn more about our gold-rated teaching and why we were awarded the highest possible rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
How you learn
This course is designed for you to gain experience as a professional engineer from day one, developing your experience and skills from the very start. You’ll also critically reflect on your academic, technical and key skills, informing action plans to develop your skills through authentic work experience.
As well as technical skills, the course focuses on developing and building your graduate employability skills – providing opportunities for you to work in small and large teams. You’ll graduate with the knowledge and skills to progress towards recognition as an accredited engineer with the relevant professional engineering institution.
You learn through:
- Diverse lectures emphasising peer collaboration.
- Tutorials to practise and apply your knowledge ahead of assessments.
- Hands-on lab experience including computational modelling and simulation.
- Q&A and discussions for self-assessment and understanding.
- Support sessions for receiving feedback and preparing for assessments.
- Teamwork activities for collaboration in an innovative environment.
- Project-based learning to apply knowledge, creativity, design, critical analysis and professional skills to real-world projects.
Course topics
This course will develop your skills in the fundamentals of engineering and relevant mathematics, as well as practical and project skills. Building on those fundamentals, you’ll study, design and analyse various aspects of robotics and mechatronic systems.
The topics you’ll explore range from analogue and digital electronics to mechanical concepts engineering and the applications of mechatronics systems. You’ll also study advanced robotics, automation, machine vision and sensor fusion – plus AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), control and automation. You’ll then undertake an individual research project, developing the ability to project manage and solve real-world problems.
Assessment will use a balanced mixture of coursework and examinations, to support an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. This may be achieved through laboratory reports, short tests, virtual learning environment discussions, presentations and report writing.
Course support
- You’ll be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate level employment. This includes:
- Access to specialist support services to help with your personal, academic and career development.
- Access to our Skills Centre with one-on-ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments.
- The Engineering Café, a weekly drop-in session where you can ask questions and get advice from academics.
- A dedicated Maths and Stats Support drop-in session that runs twice a week.
Course leaders and tutors
Tim Spencer
Research FellowTim's research at MERI involves the application of theory and simulation techniques for the predictive modelling of real life systems that involve fluids.
Applied learning
Work placements
You’ll have the opportunity to undertake a year-long work placement between your second and third years. It's your chance to work as an engineer, applying what you've learned in a commercial environment. You’ll learn how the industry works and make valuable connections for your future career. You’ll also have the opportunity to graduate with an Applied Professional Diploma to add to your CV.
To complement this, you’ll have access to various support activities, resources, employer events and opportunities from your Careers & Employability Team – helping you make the most of your work experience opportunities during your degree.
Live projects
You’ll have the opportunity to work on live client-based projects and or national/international design challenges.
Previous students have worked on live client-based projects, such as data acquisition from the Formula Student car, using analytics to enhance vehicle performance.
Networking opportunities
You’ll be able to attend a presentation from The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) about the routes to becoming a professional engineer.
Throughout the course, you can attend scheduled events across the academic year and meet industry partners, employers, researchers, and alumni. Past events have included the Alumni Careers Panel, Careers Fair, Winter Research Poster Event, SHU Racing Launch and EngFest.
You’ll also have the opportunity to become a member of the Siemens Connected Curriculum, which organises visiting lecturers to Sheffield Hallam, competitions among universities and offers free access to industrial automation software.
Competitions
You’ll get the opportunity to take part in national and international engineering competitions
These include Formula Student – where you design and build a race car and race it at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix. There’s also the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Challenge – where you get hands-on experience in designing, building, and operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones).
And you’re welcome to join the Formula Student group and the Robotics Society at Sheffield Hallam.
Future careers
Employability development is explicitly embedded in key modules across each level. Course contents are regularly updated in light of technical developments and the changing needs of the industry.
This course prepares you for a career in:
- Automation and control
- Robotics
- Process
- Project engineering
- Manufacturing
- Energy
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Mechatronic engineering
- Project engineering
Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEquipment and facilities
You’ll learn in excellent teaching facilities, including an impressive range of professionally-equipped laboratories for teaching, projects and research.
- We have cutting-edge teaching space, laboratories and workshops for:
- Embedded systems – hardware and software facilities for advanced Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and microcontroller development (ARM and Arduino).
- Electronics and communications – modern digital oscilloscopes, function generators, power supplies and spectrum analysers.
- Control systems– Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), pneumatic and hydraulic kits with software for monitoring and control (supervisory control and data acquisition).
- Computer-aided design (CAD) and simulation software such as SolidWorks and SPICE.
- Analysis software such as Fluent, Abaqus, Ansys and MATLAB.
- Automation, industry 4.0 facilities and a wide range of fixed and mobile robots and cobots.
- Rapid prototyping equipment with laser cutters and 3D printers.
- Materials testing and manufacturing.
Entry requirements
All students
UCAS points
- 80
This must include at least 32 points from one A level or equivalent BTEC qualifications. For example:
- CDD at A Level.
- MMP in BTEC Extended Diploma.
- Pass overall from a T level qualification with C from core
- A combination of qualifications, which may include a maximum of one AS level, EPQ and general studies
You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.
GCSE
- English Language at grade C or 4
- Maths at grade C or 4
- Science at grade C or 4
*GCSE Equivalents
- Level 2 Literacy or Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Level 2 Numeracy or Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
• Access - an Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.
We may also accept you, if you have no formal qualifications but can show evidence of ability and a genuine commitment to studying the subject.
Some applicants may be invited to attend an informal interview with the course leader to ensure that the programme is suitable for themselves and their aspirations.
UK students may be able to claim financial support for the course.
If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills, or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.0 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.
Additional information for EU/International students
If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.
For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.
Year 1
Compulsory modules
Engineering And Mathematics In Practice
Foundation Mathematics, Mechanics And Electronics 1
Foundation Mathematics, Mechanics And Electronics 2
Fundamentals Of Materials And Manufacturing
Year 2
Compulsory modules
Engineering Principles
Fundamentals Of Analogue & Digital Electronics
Maths And Computational Methods
Professional Engineering Practice
Year 3
Compulsory modules
Analogue And Digital Electronic Design
Control & Automation For Mechatronics
Industrial Group Embedded System Project
Mechanical Concepts & Mechatronics Systems Applications
Year 4
Optional modules
Placement Year
Final year
Compulsory modules
Advanced Robotics, Automation, Machine Vision, And Sensor Fusion
Artificial Intelligence And The Internet Of Things
Project: Implementation
Project: Management And Scoping
Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate degree courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. These fees are regulated by the UK government and therefore subject to change in future years. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200.
We are currently reviewing our tuition fees for the foundation year stage of this course following the Government announcement of fee changes for some foundation year courses and will confirm fees as soon as possible.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
International students
Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £17,155 per year. During your placement year you will pay a reduced fee of £1,200.
Financial support for home/EU students
How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for School of Engineering and Built Environment (PDF, 142.7KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
