Acoustical and Audio Engineering with Foundation Year

We come into contact with acoustics and audio every day. From headphone moments and live music to the vibrations and loud noises made by our transport systems, sound – good or bad – makes a difference to our wellbeing. By studying the fascinating field of acoustics, you can open up exciting career opportunities where you can create, shape and manage sound, noise and vibration.

Learn to create a better sounding world Located in our Peel Park campus, minutes from buzzing central Manchester, our acoustical and audio engineering degree will guide you through this creative blend of science and engineering. We use small-group teaching to deliver carefully-designed modules that embed theoretical knowledge and creative application, and help you to build technical and transferable skills for your future career.

Our Foundation Year route is designed to prepare your knowledge base and skills, so you're ready to study our full BEng (Hons) Acoustical and Audio Engineering degree. During an initial year of introductory study, you will develop your mathematics and physics knowledge, and build essential higher education study skills, so you are ready to succeed.

On successful completion of the foundation year, you will progress on to the full degree, where you will expand your understanding of acoustics, exploring analogue electronics, digital signal processing and microphone and speaker design. You will shape your degree around your interests, choosing optional modules in areas such as psychoacoustics, environmental noise and room acoustics.

Build skills using world-class facilities At the forefront of audio and acoustics teaching and research for over 60 years, we are home to some ground-breaking, world-class facilities. During your studies, you will develop your hands-on skills in laboratories and studios used for industry testing and research. This includes an anechoic chamber and two semi-anechoic chambers, a transmission suite, reverberation chambers, an ITU standard listening room, a 3D Ambisonic listening booth and audiometric test facilities.

Get closer to industry With the legendary Manchester music scene on our doorstep, you will have plenty of opportunities to see acoustics and audio in action. Along with a network of major media companies surrounding our MediaCity campus, you will be in the right place to add some practical experience too. On the full BEng degree, you also have the option to include an industry placement year between years two and three, and add 'with professional experience' to your final degree award.

Features • Build essential knowledge and skills, so you can progress to study a fascinating BEng course that combines physics, computing, engineering and psychology • Complete experiments and projects in our world-class acoustics facilities and laboratories that include one of the few fully anechoic chambers in the UK • Explore acoustic design principles behind smartphones, cars and loudspeakers, as well as recording studios, public spaces and live venues • Discover how music, speech and other sounds are perceived, and how this influences the design of applications, products and buildings • Gain professional-level knowledge and skills by including a placement year to apply your knowledge and develop additional transferable skills • This course is recognised by the UK Institute of Acoustics as a route to future Chartered Engineer status

This course is not open to international students.