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This article is a rundown of all the essential information you’re looking for about studying software engineering at postgraduate level.
It’s a fast paced, competitive field that values and rewards graduates who are experienced, well-trained and ready to innovate. As a result, it’s important to find the postgraduate study pathway that best suits your academic needs and professional goals, helping you secure the graduate software engineering jobs you want.
This guide explores everything you need to know during this decision-making process. Whether it’s the type of qualifications on offer, what careers you could go on to, or the entry requirements for postgraduate study, we’ll help you find your perfect university for software engineering.
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Software engineering is an exciting sector that holds the spotlight in our modern economies due to the massive growth of new innovations, applications and digital economies – which show no sign of slowing down.
Studying software engineering is a popular choice for graduates of computer science or similar subjects, allowing them to specialise in the design, development and maintenance of new software products and systems.
As a professional in this field, you’ll have the opportunity to test your mind every day. Solving problems, identifying innovations and completing projects is the lifeblood of working in this field, and is a perfect match for learners with analytical minds and an eye for detail.
It’s a constantly changing industry, meaning you’ll always have the opportunity to get involved with exciting new technologies. The autonomy, high salary and potential for career progression make it a highly attractive option for many.
There are several different types of software engineering degrees that you could study at postgraduate level. Each qualification type comes with unique curricula, study methods and course lengths. The right course type for you may differ depending on your career goals, existing training and your academic interests.
Taught master’s degrees in software engineering are one of the most popular types of postgraduate degree in this field, encompassing the PGCert, PGDip, MA and MSc. These courses typically involve classroom and computer lab learning, designed to equip you with a broad range of knowledge and skills across software engineering.
Research qualifications, like the MRes and PhD, are typically for experienced students who are looking to move further into software engineering research. With fewer contact hours and an in-depth research project being standard for these course types, you’ll have the opportunity to develop new techniques, tools or discussions for commercial or academic application.
Software engineering is a rapidly growing sector, and employers are always looking for skilled, experienced professionals. As a graduate in this field, you’ll be ideally placed for a range of exciting and well-compensated software engineering jobs. Competition for junior positions can be high, so it’s always worth seeing how you can go the extra mile during your studies and stand out among other candidates.
Some of the tech roles you could go into include:
While these are software engineering jobs that you are directly qualified for, the transferable skills and technical knowledge you’ll develop during your studies can help you secure graduate roles in a number of other sectors too.
While each university for software engineering will set its own entry requirements for postgraduate study, the typical admissions criteria are as follows:
Taught master’s programmes, such as the PGCert, PGDip, MA or MSc usually ask for a minimum 2:2 grade at undergraduate honours level, in a related subject, or international equivalent. Relevant work experience may be considered alongside alternative or lower qualifications.
Applicants for a doctorate in software engineering will usually need a 2:1 or above at undergraduate level, in a relevant area, and should demonstrate a minimum competency in one or more programming languages.
You can check the entry requirements for courses you’re interested in on our university finder.
Within this field there are a wide range of courses on offer, each providing the option to focus on a particular area within software engineering or develop a certain set of professional and research skills. You might consider programmes like:
While each software engineering degree will have a unique combination of compulsory and optional modules, you can generally expect to study topics such as:
Your postgraduate studies in this field will equip you with the knowledge, skills and experience you’ll need to secure and succeed in a range of graduate software engineering jobs.
Fundamentally, your programme will allow you to build specialist knowledge of how to design software packages, the programming languages that underpin their creation and maintenance, knowledge of key supporting areas like database design and information system engineering and more.
Beyond technical skills, you’ll cultivate a range of personal skills that will help you thrive in whatever type of role you go on to. They include:
Teaching across the majority of software engineering master’s courses is commercially focused, seeing students engage in practical hands-on learning with industry-standard techniques and tools. Students will typically work on a number of coursework items throughout their studies, ranging from practical projects to written reports and portfolio pieces – though exams can also feature.
Students on postgraduate research qualifications will not have many, if any, contact hours, and will usually work on an extended project or research paper as the basis of their assessment.
This can vary according to course, however, so it’s always worth checking each individual programme page for details.
Your software engineering degree could range anywhere between two semesters and five years, depending on your qualification type and study pattern, so it’s important to know how long you’ll be studying ahead of time.
The shortest course in this area is a PGDip, lasting under a year if studied full-time. It’s perfect for students looking to add software engineering experience to their knowledge in related areas, or to upskill mid-career.
A master’s in software engineering will typically take one year if studied full time, but some programmes last two years.
A doctorate in software engineering will take three years, or up to six years if studied part-time.
There are around 50 universities offering postgraduate software engineering courses, with more than 80 different study pathways to choose from. You can browse all the options on our university search tool, as well as filter by university, course type or location. It has everything you need to complete your research, from entry requirements to course content, so you can easily find the best universities for software engineering.
You might also consider a few other related subjects during your research into software engineering degrees, such as:
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