About this course
The HNC Mechanical Engineering course offers a comprehensive education designed to enhance technical, communication, and management skills for aspiring engineers. This course is ideal for those already working in the engineering sector who want to advance their careers, as well as for individuals looking to enter the field. With a focus on real-world applications, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle contemporary engineering challenges.
Delivered both full-time and part-time, the course combines theoretical learning with practical experience, ensuring you can apply engineering concepts to real-life scenarios. The curriculum covers a broad range of topics, from engineering design and fluid mechanics to thermodynamics and production engineering, preparing you for a variety of roles in the engineering industry.
NTU in Mansfield is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including an Engineering Lab and CAD suite, to support your learning. With expert tutors and a strong focus on employability, the course provides a clear pathway to career progression in roles such as design engineer, engineering technician, and project manager. The course also offers opportunities for further study, such as progression to an HND in Mechanical Engineering.
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You'll have access to a state-of-the-art Engineering Lab, equipped with the tools and technology you need to prepare for a career in Engineering. -
The course is delivered full-time and part-time - enabling you to fit learning around your work and other commitments. -
This course prepares you to progress to a range of roles in the engineering industry and the opportunity to continue your studies with the HND. -
Our small classes provide a friendly, flexible, more personalised learning experience.
What you’ll study
You'll study the underpinning engineering theory and get to apply it through practical sessions in our engineering facilities. To develop your engineering skills you'll be applying your skills to real-world situations and problems, making you think and work like a professional engineer.
The modules will focus on relating theory to current engineering topics and issues. You'll explore developing and future technologies so you'll be at the forefront of what's happening in industry.
Engineering Design (15 Credit Points)
You’ll learn how to prepare an engineering design specification that satisfies your stakeholders’ requirements, implement best practice when analysing and evaluating possible design solutions, prepare a written technical design report, and present your finalised design to a customer or audience.
Topics included in this module: Gantt charts and critical path analysis, stakeholder requirements, market analysis, design process management, modelling and prototyping, manufacturability, reliability life cycle, safety and risk, management, calculations, drawings and concepts and ergonomics.
Engineering Maths (15 Credit Points)
Develop your skills in the mathematical principles and theories that underpin the engineering. You’ll be introduced to mathematical methods and statistical techniques in order to analyse and solve problems within an engineering context.
Managing a Professional Engineering Project (15 Credit Points)
Learn the techniques and best practices required to successfully create and manage an engineering project designed to identify a solution to an engineering need. While carrying out a project you’ll consider the role and function of engineering in our society, the professional duties and responsibilities expected of engineers together with the behaviours that accompany their actions. Fundamentals of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines.
Mechanical Principles (15 Credit Points)
Discover the essential mechanical principles associated with engineering applications. You’ll cover behavioural characteristics of static, dynamic and oscillating engineering systems, bending moments, torsion, linear and angular acceleration, conservation of energy and vibrating systems; and the movement and transfer of energy by considering parameters of mechanical power transmission systems.
Fluid Mechanics (15 Credit Points)
Fluid mechanics is an important to engineers of many disciplines, not just those working directly with fluid systems. During this module you’ll measure viscosity in fluids, understand the characteristics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids and examine fluid flow phenomena, including energy conservation, estimation of head loss in pipes and viscous drag.
Fundamentals of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines (15 Credit Points)
Investigate fundamental thermodynamic systems and their properties in this module. You’ll get experience of applying the steady flow energy equation to plant equipment, examining the principles of heat transfer to industrial applications, and determining the performance of internal combustion engines.
Production Engineering for Manufacture (15 Credit Points)
Develop your knowledge and understanding of the production technologies available and their advantages and disadvantages. You’ll study the requirements of the production system operation and the interaction between components of the production system.
Quality and Process Improvement (15 Credit Points)
Discover the importance of quality assurance processes in a manufacturing or service environment and the principles and theories that underpin them. You’ll cover tools and techniques used to support quality control, testing processes, international standards for management (ISO 9000, 14000, 18000), European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), principles, tools and techniques of Total Quality Management (TQM) and implementation of Six Sigma.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
How you're taught
The course is delivered full-time and part-time, enabling you to fit learning around your work and other commitments.
The full-time course is studied over one year.
The part-time course is studied over 18 months (one day per week).
The course is predominantly coursework-based with some practical assessments and class tests.
Outside of timetabled sessions, you'll need to undertake self-directed independent study. This will include preparing for seminars, researching, completing coursework, and directed reading to expand your knowledge.
Seminars and lab sessions
You'll have seminars and lab sessions, where you'll apply theory learned to real-world situations. These sessions involve active learning and are driven by collaboration with your tutors and classmates. Due to the smaller class sizes, this approach enables individualised support to ensure you reach your learning potential.
Careers and employability
This course focuses on specialist technical skills and knowledge and provides you with a clear set of skills and goals for entering employment. Following this course, you can enter a wide range of engineering roles, including:
- CAD / CAM Designer
- Engineering Technician (Design of Rail Rolling Stock)
- Technical Engineer (Metal Packaging Production)
- Design Engineer (Aerospace Connectors).
As this is a vocational course part-time students would typically already be working in industry. This course is suitable for applicants planning to progress to the first level of supervisory responsibility in their career.
Further study
Students who successfully complete the HNC Mechanical Engineering course will have the opportunity to progress onto HND Mechanical Engineering.
Employability team
Our expert Employability team will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice. You can benefit from this service at any time during your studies and for up to three years after completing your course.
NTU Enterprise
You'll also have the opportunity to turn your ideas into a viable business with help from NTU Enterprise, NTU's purpose-built Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, a support centre to help students create, develop and grow their own businesses.
Campus and facilities
As an NTU Mansfield student, you’ll benefit from the latest facilities and modern technology to support your studies and help you get the most out of student life.
We are continually investing in our facilities and enhancing our learning and teaching environment to make it an inspiring place for students.
Plus, as an Engineering student at Nottingham Trent University in Mansfield, you will have access to an Engineering Lab, a high-performance CAD suite, industry-standard robotics, hydraulics and pneumatics test equipment and electronics equipment.
Facilities and services include:
- University Centre
- Teaching and Learning Centre
- Engineering Lab with robotics, 3D printing, CNC machining and automation equipment
- CAD suite
- Electronics equipment
- Library
- Dedicated study zones, including PC suites
- On-site café
- Social spaces
- Sports facilities
- Student Support Services
- Nottingham Trent Students Union (NTSU) drop-in events.
Entry requirements
UK students
- Standard offer: 64 UCAS Tariff points from three A-levels or equivalent including Maths grade C
- Other requirements: GCSE English and Maths grade C / 4.
To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.
Additional requirements for UK students
The following qualifications will also be considered:
- Other related Level 3 qualifications
- Access to Higher Education Diploma from an approved further education institution
- Relevant work experience, or an international equivalent to the above qualifications.
Contextual offers
If you don’t quite meet our entry requirements, we might be able to make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and your individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer, and we get data from UCAS to help make these decisions. We do this because we believe everyone with the potential to succeed at NTU should have the opportunity to do so, no matter what barriers you may face.
Meeting our entry requirements
Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS Tariff points attached to specific grades, including A-levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to three different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our Tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.
Other qualifications and experience
NTU welcomes applications from students with non-standard qualifications and learning backgrounds, either for year one entry or for advanced standing beyond the start of a course into year 2 or beyond.
We consider study and/or credit achieved from a similar course at another institution (otherwise known as credit transfer), vocational and professional qualifications, and broader work or life experience.
Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route. If you wish to apply via Recognition of Prior Learning, please contact the central Admissions and Enquiries Team who will be able to support you through the process.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form.
International students
This course is not suitable for student who require a student visa.
Additional requirements for international students
We accept qualifications from schools, colleges and universities all over the world for entry onto our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. If you’re not sure how your international qualification matches our course requirements please visit our international qualifications page.
We have undergraduate Engineering courses which are suitable for Student Visa applicants. Here is a list of all the undergraduate courses we offer.
English language requirements
View our English language requirements for all courses, including alternative English language tests and country qualifications accepted by the University.
If you need help achieving the language requirements, we offer a Pre-Sessional English for Academic Purposes course on our City campus which is an intensive preparation course for academic study at NTU.
Other qualifications and experience
If you have the right level of qualifications, you may be able to start your Bachelors degree at NTU in year 2 or year 3. This is called ‘advanced standing’ entry and is decided on a case-by case basis after our assessment of your qualifications and experience.
You can view our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy which outlines the process and options available, such as recognising experiential learning and credit transfer.
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Getting in touch
If you need advice about studying at NTU as an international student or how to apply, our international webpages are a great place to start. If you have any questions about your study options, your international qualifications, experience, grades or other results, please get in touch through our enquiry form. Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world.
Policies
We strive to make our admissions procedures as fair and clear as possible. To find out more about how we make offers, visit our admissions policies page.
