Key information
Typical offer:
A second-class honours degree in a relevant subject, or equivalent
Showing content for section Overview
Overview
Build on your engineering knowledge, while you work, and develop your skills in the design and management of engineering systems in this degree apprenticeship.
As engineering systems grow more complex, the sector demands more professionals with an understanding of supply chains, design and simulation of systems, and applied systems thinking techniques. As you study for this Master's in Systems Engineering, you'll be studying topics like these, and you'll be encouraged to bring concerns and issues from your organisation in as projects to work on and solve.
We've developed the course with input from our industrial advisors to meet the needs of the current and future systems engineering sector, and of the busy professionals who work in it. You'll spend about 6 hours a week in guided learning on this course, and you'll have flexibility to fit the further reading and research around your workload.
You won't pay fees for this course; the Government or your employer cover the costs over the three years.
When you graduate, you'll have a professional mastery of managing complex systems and engineering teams - and evidence of putting your learning into practice.
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Contact information
Contact Degree ApprenticeshipsEntry requirements
September 2025 start
Qualifications or experience
- A second-class honours degree in a relevant subject, or equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications.
All applicants will be required to complete a Skills Gap Analysis before completing an application form.
All applicants will be invited to attend an academic interview and may be asked to submit a portfolio of work or undertake additional assessment.
All applicants to the Degree Apprenticeship courses must have an acceptable Level 2 qualification in English and Mathematics. Acceptable qualifications include GCSE with grade C/4 or above and Functional Skills with Pass. Please note that we are not able to accept all kinds of Level 2 qualifications, so if you are unsure whether you have a suitable qualification, please get in touch.. If you do not have an acceptable qualification you may be required to take an additional assessment during the application process.
If you're applying as an international student with a non-UK degree, you’ll need to show you meet the UK entry requirements listed above.
To find out if your non-UK degree or other qualification is accepted, please visit our page for your country and view the UK equivalent of your qualification.
You and your employer
When you begin studying for your degree apprenticeship:
- You need to be 18 or over
- You should be able to satisfy government requirements on residency:
- you must be a citizen or have the right to live in the UK/EEA
- you must have been a resident in the UK/EEA (not the Channel Islands or Isle of Man) for a minimum of 3 years
- you must not need a Student Route visa, and must not have been on a Student Route visa within the past 3 years
- You need to have the right to work in the UK, and to spend at least 50% of your working hours in England
- Your job should meet the requirements of the apprenticeship standard relevant to this degree – we can advise you and your employer on this
- Your employer needs to have registered an apprentice service account – we can help your employer with this if needed
If you aren't currently working in a relevant field, you can apply for a job and degree apprenticeship simultaneously. Read more about applying for this degree apprenticeship.
Course costs and funding
Tuition fees
The payment of the course fee is shared between the Government and some employers, meaning no cost to you as the degree apprentice. Total tuition fees are £21,000.00 over 3 years.
Please see our degree apprenticeships page for further information.
Modules
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.
You need to study modules worth a total of 180 credits. For example, 4 modules worth 30 credits and 1 module worth 60 credits.
Modules studied
Core modules
In this module, you'll learn methodologies for applying systems thinking in engineering projects. You'll learn to analyse an engineering system, predict its behaviour and problem areas, and design solutions to those issues. Importantly for your future career, you'll also learn to communicate your analysis verbally and visually for project stakeholders.
You'll analyse supply chains for efficiency, resilience and responsiveness in this module, then create and optimise model supply chains using modern tools and techniques. You'll explore emerging technology, ethics and environmental concerns, and specialised supply chain methodologies from agile to fully-integrated.
On this Research Portfolio module, you'll explore research methods and critically review various literature sources.
Core modules
In this module, you'll assess and optimise complex manufacturing systems, using mathematical modelling techniques and lean management thinking. Through case studies, presentations and group discussions, you'll look at bottlenecks and Industry 4.0 solutions - then learn to reconfigure a production process with efficient, cost-effective and sustainable systems.
In this module, you'll learn to create simulations of engineering systems, using professional tools and techniques. You'll then use your simulations to assess the systems' performance, and to suggest improvements. You'll emerge from the module with the foundations for a simulation role in systems engineering.
On this Research Portfolio module, you'll look at planning, preparation and design of system engineering projects.
Core modules
You'll demonstrate your accomplishments across industry and nontechnical (soft) skills in this module, preparing yourself for professional roles that demand teamwork, critical thinking, progress reporting, communication skills and risk management abilities.
On this Research Portfolio module, you'll work with data collection, critical analysis, evaluation and interpretation.
Optional modules
In this module, you'll apply in-depth knowledge of control systems to analyse complex design specifications, then propose and test your solutions. You'll use computer-aided engineering (CAE) packages to simulate systems, and solve industrial control issues.
You'll examine energy potential and the limitations of wind, solar, tidal, wave, hydro and geothermal energy solutions, aw well as exploring energy efficiency, sustainability, and the environmental and economic aspects of energy.
How you'll spend your time
We recognise that you'll probably be juggling more demands when you do your Master's degree, as you may be working or you may have family responsibilities.
We'll give you as much indication here as we can of how much time you'll need to be on campus and how many hours you can expect to spend in self-directed study, but please note that these indications are always subject to change. You should receive your full timetable several weeks before you start with us.
Course structure
This degree apprenticeship will take 3 years of part-time study.
You can expect:
- 10–15 hours of independent study each week
- 6 hours of teaching time every week
Term dates
September start
The Master's academic year runs from September to the following September. There are breaks at Christmas and Easter.
Career development
Careers this Master's prepares you for
On this industry-focused degree apprenticeship, you'll be learning techniques and applying sector knowledge from your studies throughout your course. You'll prove that you're able to bring intelligent solutions to complex engineering issues, and that you're committed to increasing your knowledge and skills for a career in systems engineering management.
Through working with academics whose work is connected to industry needs and latest developments, you'll grow your professional network and your awareness of roles you may move into in future. You'll be building a portfolio that can contribute to IEng or CEng applications, and contributing to solutions in your organisation and your industry.
Supporting you
Master's study is more focused on independent learning than undergraduate study, but you'll get lots of support via video, phone and face-to-face from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:
Types of support
Your personal tutor helps you make the transition to postgraduate study and gives you academic and personal support throughout your course.
As well as regular scheduled meetings with your personal tutor, they're also available at set times during the week if you want to chat with them about anything that can't wait until your next meeting.
You'll have help from a team of faculty learning support tutors. They can help you improve and develop your academic skills and support you in any area of your study in one-on-one and group sessions.
They can help you:
- master the mathematics skills you need to excel on your course
- understand engineering principles and how to apply them in any engineering discipline
- solve computing problems relevant to your course
- develop your knowledge of computer programming concepts and methods relevant to your course
- understand and use assignment feedback
All our labs and practical spaces are staffed by qualified laboratory support staff. They’ll support you in scheduled lab sessions and can give you one-to-one help when you do practical research projects.
During term time, Faculty Academic Skills Tutors (AST) are available for bookable 1-to-1 sessions, small group sessions and online sessions. These sessions are tailored to your needs.
Support is available for skills including:
- University study
- Getting into the right study mindset
- Note-taking and note-making skills
- Referencing
- Presentation skills
- Time management, planning, and goal setting
- Critical thinking
- Avoiding plagiarism
If you have a disability or need extra support, the Additional Support and Disability Centre (ASDAC) will give you help, support and advice.
Our online Learning Well mini-course will help you plan for managing the challenges of learning and student life, so you can fulfil your potential and have a great student experience.
You can get personal, emotional and mental health support from our Student Wellbeing Service, in person and online. This includes 1–2–1 support as well as courses and workshops that help you better manage stress, anxiety or depression.
If you require extra support because of a disability or additional learning need our specialist team can help you.
They'll help you to
- discuss and agree on reasonable adjustments
- liaise with other University services and facilities, such as the library
- access specialist study skills and strategies tutors, and assistive technology tutors, on a 1-to-1 basis or in groups
- liaise with external services
Library staff are available in person or by email, phone, or online chat to help you make the most of the University’s library resources. You can also request one-to-one appointments and get support from a librarian who specialises in your subject area.
The library is open 24 hours a day, every day, in term time.
The Maths Cafe offers advice and assistance with mathematical skills in a friendly, informal environment. You can come to our daily drop-in sessions, develop your mathematics skills at a workshop or use our online resources.
If English isn't your first language, you can do one of our English language courses to improve your written and spoken English language skills before starting your degree. Once you're here, you can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme to improve your English further.
How to apply
Unlike undergraduate applications, which go through UCAS, applications for this Master's course are made directly to us.
There's no deadline for applications to this course. We accept applications right up until the start dates in September and January, as long as there are places available. If you wait until your start month to apply, you may find that the course is full.
You can find more advice about applying in our Master's application checklist.
How you apply depends on whether you’re currently employed or not.
How to apply with your current employer
If you’re in full-time employment and would like to do a degree apprenticeship with your current employer, ask them to contact us so we can discuss with them how we can work together.
You might find it useful to share our information for employers page with them.
How to apply with a new employer
If you’re not employed full-time or not working for a company that can fund and support your degree apprenticeship, you'll need to apply for a degree apprenticeship with a company that offers them.
You'll follow their standard recruitment process and we'll assess your academic suitability for the course once you've applied.
We can let you know when there are degree apprenticeship vacancies available with companies we work with – contact us to give us your details.
If you have questions about degree apprenticeships, please get in touch with us.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Portsmouth, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.