Work at the cutting edge of emerging knowledge where the internet and mobile phone technologies meet
Year of entry: 2023 (September)
1 year full-time
September 2023 (semester dates)
Wednesday 7 June 2023
Join us to uncover what postgraduate life at York is all about.
Communications is one of the most exciting and rapidly-expanding subjects in engineering, with the internet and mobile phones revolutionising life for many people over the last few decades.
Increasingly, the internet and mobile telephone networks are converging, and an understanding of both systems, and the diverse information they carry, is required to fully appreciate the issues in modern digital communications.
Develop your ability to fully appreciate these complex communications systems. It is taught by internationally leading experts from our well-established Communication Technologies research group who draw on their wealth of experience to ensure you gain the skills you need to be an effective engineer.
You'll become an attractive candidate for employers throughout the field of modern communications. You will leave with experience in designing and building industry-standard tools, managing projects and teams, and conducting innovative research working at the cutting edge of communications.
Accredited by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council. Some employers recruit preferentially from accredited degrees, and an accredited degree is likely to be recognised by other countries that are signatories to international accords.
You will cover the latest techniques and issues in modern communications systems, along with a thorough grounding in the required technical and mathematical backgrounds, with an emphasis on wireless communications, signal processing, and cutting-edge technologies.
You'll be exposed to a balanced picture of modern communications technology and networks to obtain a sound theoretical and practical knowledge of radio communication techniques, signal processing and network protocols. You will have the opportunity to design and optimise communication networks and learn about new techniques and technologies as they are developed.
We take care to ensure our courses are relevant to your future career. Our professional development framework, designed in consultation with expert external advisors, will help to prepare you for industry, research or further study.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff.
For the project you will typically be working in a group of three to five students. You will apply professional skills in communications theory, programming, and modelling, combined with an understanding of engineering and communication systems and components, to independently solve technically challenging problems. The groups are supervised by academics, but you and your peers will be responsible for managing the project. You'll write a joint report in the middle of the project and then individual reports at the end. Usually, you will attend weekly project meetings with the academic supervisor, but in practice you can contact the supervisors at any time.
Recent examples of projects undertaken include:
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
The course has been designed so we learn the basic knowledge first, and gradually learn more deeply, which supports us to do more in-depth research. York gives us many opportunities to realise our dream. A strong academic atmosphere and friendly learning environment helps us study more easily and we can focus more on what we want to research here.Chentong, MSc Communications Engineering
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £11,770 | £27,200 |
Students on a Student Visa (formerly Tier 4 Visa) are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
All course text books and materials are available in the library or via the VLE. Depending on how you work, you may wish to pay for printing of notes and other material.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2023/24 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
If available, subject-specific scholarship opportunities for our taught MSc courses will be advertised on the School funding information page.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
You will be taught through a mixture of lectures, workshops and practicals.
You will have access to a range of facilities that will be useful for your studies which may include computer laboratories, electronics laboratories, meeting/study spaces and acoustic facilities if required.
The School for Physics, Engineering and Technology is based on Campus West. The majority of teaching takes place within Campus West.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
You will be assessed via a combination of exams, coursework (eg assignment reports or lab reports), and presentations.
The course covers mostly practical and also mathematical aspects of novel technologies: mobile communications, internet protocols, satellite communications and advanced wireless communications which gives you practical knowledge of different communication systems. Along with practical and theoretical modules, MATLAB lab sessions help you to understand all the materials very well.Mohamad, MSc Communications Engineering
Typical career paths might include: mobile communications industry (research and development, RF system design, coding, software radio, multiple access and networking, test and evaluation procedures, test-bed development, analogue and digital component design), information technology (signal processing, protocols, security, coding, hardware design), and in many industries applying communication technologies.
Previous graduates have gone on to work for a variety of organisations:
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:1 or equivalent in Electronics, or other engineering or computing courses with a significant mathematics and signal processing content. We are willing to consider applications from students with lower qualifications, particularly when the student has high marks in relevant modules or appropriate industrial experience. |
| International pre-masters programme | Pre-masters from our International Pathway College |
| Other qualifications and experience | As a minimum, students are expected to be familiar with concepts such as complex numbers, calculus, Fourier analysis, decibels and statistics. Offer holders without sufficient background knowledge of electronic communication systems will be given access to some online preliminary reading before starting the course. The preliminary reading is intended to give a detailed summary of the knowledge we will expect you to have before you come to York, as well as providing an introduction to some of the subjects that you'll be studying here. Some background reading before you arrive will enable you to make the best use of your time at York. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.0, minimum 5.5 in each component |
| C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency | 169, minimum 162 in each component |
| Duolingo | 105, minimum 95 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert International ESOL | B2 Communicator: Pass with 25/50 in each component |
| PTE Academic/PTE Academic Online | 55, minimum 51 in each component |
| TOEFL | 79, minimum 17 in Listening, 18 in Reading, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing |
| Trinity ISE III | Pass in all components |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
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