
Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
30 Jun 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,535 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students: £9,535 per year | international: £19,600 for the first year
Key Summary
Introduction
Prepare for a future career in aircraft engineering
At Cardiff and Vale College, our Aircraft Engineering BEng (Hons) students benefit from the outstanding facilities provided by our training centre, ICAT (International Centre for Aerospace Training).
ICAT is a purpose-built aerospace campus and a recognised centre of excellence in education and training. It has gained approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as a Part-147 Aircraft Maintenance Training Organisation.
Our ICAT campus is fully equipped with classrooms, laboratories and specialist equipment. It also has an aircraft hangar containing a portable Aero Wind Tunnel, Hydraulic Training rigs and equipment, and two aircraft: A Bulldog TMk1 Basic Flying Trainer and a Jetstream TMk2 multi-engine observer trainer.
You will have the opportunity to train in our Gas Turbines area, which houses a range of Gas Turbine Engines. These include Rolls-Royce RB211 Triple Spool High By-pass ratio, Avon Turbojet and Ardour Twin Spool Low By-pass ration engines.
Why choose this course?
Are you considering a career in aircraft maintenance? This degree will set you on the path to becoming an aircraft maintenance engineer in the future.
Your studies will include hands-on experience of aircraft component and equipment replacement, inspection, condition monitoring, fault diagnosis and rectification. You'll become familiar with the work environment and the legal requirements relating to commercial aircraft.
You’ll also study aircraft design, materials, manufacturing, vibration theory and thermofluids. And become familiarised with computer-aided design and project management skills, to ensure you graduate with the skills you need to succeed in a demanding and rewarding engineering career.
Accreditation
This is the only UK degree that mirrors the requirements of CAA Part-147 approved courses. As such, it is accredited by the Royal Aeronautical Society as meeting the requirements for IEng registration with the Engineering Council.
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
We want to ensure anyone with potential and drive has the opportunity to study with us, no matter their background or financial situation. That's why each year, we provide a number of bursaries to help our undergraduate students gain their degree.
- The Kingston bursary
- Bursaries for care leavers
- Bursaries for estranged students
- Bursaries for young adult carers
- Bursaries for Sanctuary Scholars
- Chancerygate Foundation bursary
- Salutem scholarships
- AVSH scholarship
Curriculum
Alongside academic modules, work-based modules provide you with hands-on experience of aircraft component and equipment replacement, inspection, condition monitoring, and fault diagnosis and rectification. You will gain an understanding of the work environment and legal requirements relating to the operation of commercial aircraft.
The course covers all the knowledge requirements specified in the EASA category B1.1 aircraft maintenance engineering licence syllabus (Part 66). It introduces you to practical and maintenance skills, and provides you with opportunities to practise and develop these skills.
This course is designed specifically to set you on the path for a career as an aircraft maintenance engineer in the aviation industry. It will give you the confidence and skills necessary to become a maintenance manager of the future.
Foundation year - Engineering
If you would like to study one of our engineering degrees at Kingston University but are not yet ready for Year 1 of an undergraduate course, a foundation year is ideal.
Year 1
In Year 1 you will also gain higher education study skills and other interpersonal skills necessary for completion of the course.
Core modules
- Electrical Engineering Fundamentals
- Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight
- Navigating Aircraft Engineers
- Mathematics and Physics for Practitioner Engineers
- Aircraft Electronic and Digital Systems
- Sustainability in Aircraft Engineering
Year 2
In Years 2 and 3, you will develop these skills to improve your career prospects and enable you to complete further study.
Core modules
- Professional Practice for Aircraft Engineers
- HE Study Skills and Explore
- Practical Engineering Skills and CAD
- Aircraft Electrical & Avionics systems
- Aircraft Structures and Their Mechanical Systems
- Aircraft Materials, Hardware and Maintenance
Year 3
In Years 2 and 3, you will develop these skills to improve your career prospects and enable you to complete further study.
Core modules
- Aviation Economics
- Applied Business Management
- Aircraft Propellers
- Individual Project
- Turbine Engines
- Aircraft Maintenance Practices
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates from this course go on to work as aircraft maintenance engineers, aircraft maintenance supervisors, air service people and programme managers. Employers include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM UK Engineering and Monarch Airlines.
The forerunner to this course, the Aircraft Engineering Foundation Degree, plus the BSc (Hons) top-up, was delivered for 13 years (2001 to 2013). During that time, many hundreds of students achieved the foundation award and went on to careers in the aircraft maintenance industry. In addition, several hundred practising licensed engineers completed the honours top-up to complement their vocational licence.
Therefore, you will most likely find an ex-Kingston aircraft engineering student in almost every maintenance organisation in the UK, as well as in many organisations overseas.
How to become a licensed aircraft engineer
Categories of licence and the routes to gaining them
Category B is the mainstay licence qualification for aircraft maintenance staff under EASA. Category B Licences are available in two main categories:
- B1 – mechanical (aircraft structure, power plant and mechanical and electrical systems) which is divided into four sub-categories.
- B2 – avionics (communications, navigation, radar, instrument and electrical systems).