Information for engineering offer holders
Welcome to the School of Physics, Engineering, and Technology, and congratulations on receiving an offer! We're looking forward to welcoming you soon.
We've put together some resources to help you prepare to study with us, including videos about our courses and life in our School, as well as samples of current undergraduate teaching.
What should I bring with me?
PC equipment, software and computers
Though there is no requirement to bring any computer equipment, the University has produced a guide on the Minimum PC specification you'll require in order to be able to engage fully with online activities on your course.
We have four in-house PC rooms that are open 24/7, and the university has over 800 computers available across campus for general use. We also have our own in-house Mac suite for iOS development.
All software you will need for your course is provided in our PC rooms. Overall, we recommend that you delay any major purchases of computing equipment until you are clear what your real needs are. The University has a number of preferred suppliers who offer educational discounts to our students, so waiting could save you money.
Where needed, some funding is available for students to help with the costs of purchasing computer equipment - please speak to your academic supervisor for more advice on this once you arrive.
Textbooks
For all taught modules, supporting materials will be provided. Lectures for most modules are video-recorded so that you can watch them again for revision. All teaching material for the lab sessions will be provided. Any textbook that is required reading will be made available through the University library.
Calculators
In general, you can use whatever calculator you wish, but the Casio FX-83GTX Casio FX-85GTX are the calculators provided by the York Examinations Office for use in all University Closed examinations. You could consider buying one of these (or a closely compatible version) so that you're familiar with its operation.
Preparing to study
Before starting our Foundation Year courses, we'd encourage you to revise some GCSE Maths.
Our suggestions would include:
- BBC Bitesize
- Khan Academy
- GCSE revision books and resources
All Foundation Year students take exams in Maths and Physics in December which must be successfully passed in order to progress to the next stage. More information about this will be given at the Foundation Year Introductory Meeting during your first week.
First year students only
Preparing to study
As an incoming undergraduate, we're giving you the opportunity to engage with interesting and useful engineering content over the summer to prepare you for university-level teaching. Though these activities aren't compulsory, they should be a useful resources, so we encourage first year students to give them a go.
We've created some exercises for first year students to complete weekly to sharpen up your maths skills. It will be really good for you to be familiar and confident with algebra and basic functions before starting your degree.
Maths exercises and answers
Though these exercises aren't compulsory, we'll be covering most of the areas they touch upon in your first few weeks.
| Maths Worksheets | Solutions |
|---|---|
| Maths Revision Worksheet 1 | Worksheet 1 Solutions |
| Maths Revision Worksheet 2 | Worksheet 2 Solutions |
| Maths Revision Worksheet 3 | worksheet 3 solutions |
Test your knowledge with our Quiz App
Dr Dave Pearce has built an interactive Quiz App to help our students practice some of the key concepts in electronics and physics. Some of the topics might be familiar to you already, others not so much - but don’t worry, we cover all of this and more in the first year of all our courses.
Learn Python Programming and Computer Aided Design (CAD)
We would encourage first year students to get familiar with Python programming and Computer Aided Design over the summer.
If you are not already familiar with Python, we would encourage you to explore it before arriving at York as this will help to prepare you for work in your first year.
Our recommendations are:
- Enrol on LearnPython's online learning course (no downloads required)
- Watch Programming with Mosh's beginner course in Python on Youtube
Computer Aided Design is a great skill for engineers.
Our recommendation is:
- Download Inventor, a 3-D drawing package (free for students)
First and foundation year students
Prof Andy Hunt, one of our very own Music Technology Lecturers, is in the process of writing a book: Surviving and Thriving at University.
He's agreed to give our students access to a sample of the book, which includes these Chapters:
- 1: Book introduction
- 2: Differences between School and University
- 3: Top 10 Habits to develop (covers eating, sleeping, exercise, attendance, note-taking, managing your work, planning your days and weeks, working towards long-term goals, and communicating with other)
Taster lectures
Get a taste of our teaching with our sample lectures, taken from our current undergraduate modules.
