BSc Internet Systems

Key facts

3 years full-time / 4 years full-time with integrated placement year

UCAS Code: H620

Typical offers:
A Levels: Offers based on BBB (300 points) determined by the specific subjects studied
Combinations of A levels and AS level subjects accepted
Additional AS levels are taken into account when confirming places
Offers are based on each individual’s potential as revealed by the information provided on the UCAS application form.

Specific subject requirements:
A level: Science or Maths or a Technical subject
Mathematics preferred at AS level if not offered at A level
DTEC: Normally DMM in relevant National Diploma
GCSE: English, grade C // Maths, grade B

Tuition fees: £3,290 for UK/EU students (2010). More on fees

Applicants receiving offers are invited to an open day.

Key benefits

Created to meet the growing professional and technical demands of the internet industry

Specialise on the hardware and software systems of the internet

Designed to produce immediately employable graduates in this area

Extensive lab-based tuition throughout the course

24 hour access to high-spec internet facilities

Course outline

Internet technologies allow us to experience more ideas in new and unexpected ways. Used wisely the internet transports information effectively and efficiently and presenting instant information for human interpretation through the integrated use of text, audio, graphics, animation, video and human-computer interaction.

But how do these technologies work? What makes them tick? How are they going to develop in the future? Clearly digital electronic, computing and communications technologies form the tangible products we use to gather information, record, transport, interpret and store the data, to present the finished product wherever it may be viewed. The interaction between hardware and software is the crucial element defining the way these products will evolve, which will be successful, which will fall by the wayside.

Subject guide & modules

BSc Internet Systems is for those of you who want to contribute to the internet revolution at the conceptual level. It considers the internet and the end-systems in all their various forms. It is not just web-page design but the whole system from clients, servers, communication channels to end-user systems using every medium. It encompasses software and hardware design, the communications infrastructure, the protocols and procedures required and the key network management skills.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3 - Optional placement year

See placement year section or find out more about the Aston placement year.

Final Year

Specialist electives including:

Learning, teaching & assessment

You will benefit from a range of teaching methods and learning styles, including formal lectures; laboratory and design classes, and seminars; computing classes; small groups tutorials with a personal tutor; computer-aided learning and virtual learning environments. You can expect an exciting learning experience with practical work and taught material integrated throughout the degree course.

During the year you will find a sequence of formative assessments to re-enforce and enhance the taught material. The overall assessment is a collation of marks from examination, classroom and laboratory exercises, internet-based practical assessments and oral presentations.

Professional accreditation

Our courses have been developed in collaboration with the electronics and telecommunications professions. All courses in the Electronic Engineering Academic Group are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET, formerly the IEE).

Placement year

Well-paid placements for sandwich students are offered each year with companies both large and small, local and nationwide. Currently about half the students in electronic and computing subjects elect to take a sandwich year. Graduates attract offers to work in multimedia, internet and communications industries at high levels of remuneration.

Find out more about placement years at Aston.

Career prospects

Graduates from Internet Systems have found employment in a diverse range of careers; business, commerce and the public sector, in Britain and abroad, need internet and computing expertise and find our students an attractive resource.

Facilities & equipment

You will have access to an extensive network of computer facilities including high performance PCs for industrial standard ECAD, suites of PCs, Unix workstations and Multimedia capable Macs for day-to-day work and a large number of embedded processors for lab work. These resources are complemented by specialist electronics, telecommunications and networked laboratories and research facilities.

Further information

EAS Undergraduate Admissions Office
+44 (0)121 204 3400
engineering@aston.ac.uk