Software Engineering - MSc/Postgraduate Diploma/Postgraduate Certificate

The full Master's course comprises 180 credits divided into three 60 credits stages: Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, and Master's. Students work incrementally through the three stages and must pass all modules at each stage in order to progress to the next.

• Lifecycle Models and Project Management (15 credits) - In this module you become aware of, and apply, a variety of project planning and control techniques, evaluate project management functions and learn to understand the contexts and advantages of different predictive or adaptive lifecycle models for project planning and control.
• Requirements engineering (15 credits) - A critical understanding of the engineering dimension to the Requirements Engineering (RE) process, with emphasis on legal, social, ethical and professional issues. It also examines RE processes, methods, modelling techniques, derivation of functional and non-functional requirements, formal requirements specification, validation/verification and change management.
• Object-oriented analysis, design and programming (15 credits) - Understand and develop critical knowledge of the typical characteristics of object-oriented software systems and software design criteria. You'll apply object-oriented analysis and design techniques to analyse and design object-oriented systems, use Java-programming skills to design and implement object-oriented software solutions, and evaluate Java language features.
• Quality and Configuration Management (15 credits) - Taught collaboratively with industrial partners along with associated case studies, this module looks into the relationships between CM, Quality Management (QM), software quality standards, quality metrics, and their role in assessing software quality attributes, and their limitations.
• Enterprise and System Architecture Modelling and Development (15 credits) - A study of enterprise-scale software systems and their development, software patterns, plus the theory and concepts of components, interfaces, and services. We look at various modelling notations, applying and evaluating them in relation to the analysis and design of enterprise-scale software systems development.
• Group Software Development Project (30 credits) - You'll devise and participate in strategies for effective group working, and show project management skills and techniques in a group-based setting. This is a project to produce a high-quality software product that shows critical understanding and consideration of legal, social, ethical and professional issues.
• Emerging Topics in Software Engineering (15 credits) - By reviewing research of emerging topics in software engineering literature, you will identify and elaborate on future research directions for software engineering in selected topics.
• Dissertation by Research and Development (60 credits) - This is your chance to show your grasp of a complex and specialised area of knowledge, and your software engineering skills, by addressing a research problem with theoretical and methodological approaches.

You can take individual modules as short courses, without committing to the full MSc so you can collect credits to gain a Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma or full MSc.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved we will inform you.

All modules are classroom-based, with extensive use of UWE Bristol's virtual learning environment, Blackboard. You also attend the campus to sit your exams.

For more details see our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

You can study this course full-time or part-time, starting in September.

Flexible study options are key to this course, and it's structured to support full-time and part-time learning. This means you can complete your studies around your personal and professional commitments.

Full-time students complete 120 credits (seven taught modules) and begin their dissertation in January for submission in September.

Part-time students typically do four taught modules or 60 credits each academic year. Students complete the dissertation in the second or third year depending on which best suits their individual circumstances.

Most taught modules have written coursework and exam components. Coursework includes, but is not limited to, critical problem-solving components, advanced programming tasks, critical essays in relation to particular software engineering aspects, and group projects.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.