Embedded Systems Engineering MSc

Postgraduate

Embedded systems are at the heart of many advanced technologies across all sectors. This course emphasises their practical applications, preparing you to lead the development of these technologies.

Year of entry

2025-26

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time
With Professional Placement

Duration

1 year full-time
Up to 2 years full-time with professional placement

Course code

EEST005

Start date

September 2025
November 2025
March 2026
May 2026
June 2026

How to apply

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Course overview

This course has been designed to offer a comprehensive education in embedded systems, covering extensive practical skills and the development of a wide range of current embedded system platforms, hardware and software tools.

Delve into advanced design of advanced electronics, including field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital system design, signal processing and intelligent wireless systems.
Develop skills in embedded systems programming, operating systems and hardware engineering.
Design robust, high-performance printed circuit boards (PCBs), implement effective strategies to minimise electromagnetic interference (EMI), and conduct rigorous failure analysis of electronic devices.

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

Ranked 9th Modern University in UK by the Times

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Ranked 8th for Overall Satisfaction in PTES

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2024

Why you should study this course

Course content emphasises applied technical work aimed at enhancing your engineering development skills.
We aim to incorporate real-world projects from companies into your coursework and projects.
Our activity-led learning approach means you’ll work individually and in groups on projects and laboratory exercises.⁴
We’ll help you learn the essential skills needed to pursue a career as a design engineer in various high-demand sectors such as aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics and telecommunications.
Gain practical experience and boost your CV with an additional professional placement. See the modules for more details.

What you'll study

Modules

Embedded Hardware Applications – 30 credits

Cover the full development cycle, from initial concept through design and testing to final hardware realisation. Different microcontrollers and HDL design tools relevant to industry will be utilised. Develop knowledge and experience of the engineering techniques and processes required for the realisation of complex embedded hardware systems.

Compulsory

Embedded Programming and Operating Systems – 30 credits

Expect substantial hands-on content involving the programming of a microcontroller and incorporating suitable software tools. Real-time embedded operating systems will be studied, to deal with complex issues in modern embedded devices. You will also learn real-time operating systems (RTOS) on a microcontroller and explore alternative embedded operating systems and platforms such as Embedded Linux running on a single-board computer.

Compulsory

Intelligent Wireless Communication Systems – 30 credits

Control and Signal Processing – 30 credits

Develop an advanced understanding of the concepts of control theory and signal processing in the frequency domain with applications in modern electrical and electronic industrial systems. Expect to develop the advanced skills necessary for the integration of control theory and signal processing methods in the context of up-to-date industrial applications.

Compulsory

Master’s with professional placement

If you successfully secure a placement in industry within your first semester, this master’s with professional placement option allows you to extend your 12-month master’s course up to an additional year to complete the placement before starting your final 60-credit module.

Gain valuable industry insights and skills as you apply your academic knowledge and skills to a professional placement.
The placement must be sourced and secured by you during your first semester. Our careers and employability team are available to support you with the sourcing process.
Start your professional placement after completing the first 120 credits of your course.
The professional placement will be integrated into your course learning and outcomes. This will take the form of a reflective diary demonstrating your learning and engagement with the placement experience.
The professional placement option is subject to additional fees, living costs, visa requirements, availability, competitive application and university approval of the placement.² For full terms and conditions please visit the extended master’s landing page.

Optional

Individual Project – 60 credits

This is your opportunity to put into practice the learning from your taught modules to solve a significant engineering problem in a professional manner. The project will be an industrial or research-based project that is technical in nature. You will work under the supervision of an academic member of staff. Although the project is essentially self-directed, independent study, you will be expected to acquire additional knowledge to undertake the project.

Compulsory

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

Teaching and learning methods may include:

lectures
seminars
tutorials
presentations
group projects
workshops
practical laboratory sessions.

Teaching contact hours

As a full-time postgraduate student, you will study modules totalling 180 credits each academic year. A typical 30-credit module requires a total of 300 hours of study. Study hours are made up of teaching contact hours, and guided and independent study.

Teaching hours

Teaching hours may vary, depending on where you are in your studies, but on average you will have between 8 and 12 teaching and learning hours each week. You will also have the opportunity to attend optional sessions including time with a Success Coach or to meet with staff for advice and feedback.

Guided and independent study

Throughout your studies, you will be expected to spend time in guided and independent study to make up the required study hours per module. You will be digging deeper into topics, reviewing what you’ve learnt and completing assignments. This can be completed around your personal commitments. As you progress to the end of your studies, you’ll spend more time on independent learning.

Online learning

As an innovative university, we use different teaching methods, including online tools and emerging technologies. So, some of your teaching hours and assessments may be delivered online.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods may include:

reports
tests
essays
exams
practical coursework
assignments
vivas
presentations.

The Coventry University assessment strategy aims to ensure that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Entry requirements

Typical entry requirements:

An honours degree 2:2 or above (or international equivalent) in a related discipline.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications; speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Typical entry requirements

An honours degree 2:2 or above (or international equivalent) in a related discipline.

English language requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall with no component lower than 5.5.

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

Fees and funding

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man	£11,200 £1,500 professional placement fee (if placement secured)	Not available
EU	£11,200 per year with EU Support Bursary £1,500 professional placement fee (if placement secured) per year with EU Support Bursary £18,600 per year without EU Support Bursary £1,800 professional placement fee (if placement secured) per year without EU Support Bursary	Not available
International	£18,600 £1,800 professional placement fee (if placement secured)	Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees³and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page and see the university's Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

Any optional overseas ﬁeld trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

Electronics Laboratories: there are three electronics labs with industry-standard equipment from brands in the field such as Tektronix and Keithley. They include bench power supplies, multi-meters, signal generators and oscilloscopes. One of these labs contains a large variety of old and new bench equipment, allowing you to get experience on multitude of test and measurement equipment.  
 
Prototyping and manufacturing capabilities: a dedicated prototyping facility is used for soldering and desoldering and is equipped with a CNC machine used for manufacturing simple printed circuit boards. There is also a reflow oven for automated soldering of surface mount components on simple boards. All the facilities are well stocked with all the relevant development boards (including our own university development platform – ePIC board), such as STM32, ESP32, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, PIC boards and a large variety of smaller add-on boards used for developing and testing all manner of different embedded, IoT systems and robotics systems (sensors, drivers, communications, input/output, displays modules).   
 
Printing: there are seven 3D printers, three of them are for polylactic acid (PLA) printing, two are more advanced and can use a multitude of materials, and the last two are resin printers for high resolution printing. Objects can be printed for your projects at any stage in your studies. Each laboratory has a fully equipped soldering station or a re-work station available, including fume extractors magnifiers and a couple of microscopes for more precise work.  
 
In-house development board for embedded systems: to support activity-led learning, you will have access to the experimental Peripheral Interface Controller (ePIC) board, developed by the electronics team of Coventry University. The board provides flexibility of using different microcontroller with other peripherals such as motors, sensors and LDC screens.    
 
Electrical Laboratory: equipped with industry-standard high voltage equipment allowing experimentation on topics related to power generation and regulation, motor control and motor investigations of behaviours under load.  
 
Physics and Robotics Laboratory: facility for testing robotics prototypes. There are several platforms in use for postgraduate projects.  

People walking in front of a building which has a big library sign

The Library

You will benefit from our support designed to help you succeed and our industry-relevant teaching and resources. These include our modern library and computing facilities, dedicated careers advice and Your Students’ Union.

Beautiful building surrounded by trees on a sunny day

Jaguar Centre

The Jaguar Centre has been specifically designed to provide facilities and services to support our postgraduate students including social spaces, computer suites and separate areas for small group study.

Glass modern building with a spire in the background

The Hub

The Hub is the centre of student campus life. It's also home to the Health and Wellbeing Centre, the Spirituality and Faith Centre, the Tank Studio, Student Success Coaches and the Enterprise Hub.

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Careers and opportunities

Embedded systems are now ever-present, influencing all aspects of technological life. This course aims to prepare you to work in areas such as consumer electronics, household robots, internet of things (IoT), mobile communication devices and video game consoles amongst others. Other destinations include digital system design, robotics and associated activities and microelectronic applications.

On successful completion of this course, you will have knowledge of:

principles of embedded systems engineering and their relationships to real-world applications
advanced analysis and design tools and processes relevant to embedded microelectronics and communications
the implementation and critical evaluation of design solutions through simulation and practical applications
the main approaches to research design, sampling and analysis appropriate to construct research questions or hypotheses.

You should also be able to:

conceptualise complex technical aspects of embedded systems engineering
conduct detailed and systematic technical analyses of aspects of embedded systems engineering
devise technical solutions to problems in the design and implementation of embedded systems engineering
critically evaluate literature and solutions relating to problems arising in the design and implementation aspects of embedded systems engineering
select, apply and critically appraise tools and techniques of advanced analysis and design
implement appropriate software and hardware solutions and simulations and critically evaluate the outcomes.

How to apply

UK students

To apply to study for a postgraduate course at Coventry University, you can apply online. Please read the entry criteria page before applying.

Full-time applications

For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

+44 (0)24 7765 2222

ukadmissions@coventry.ac.uk

Complete our contact form.

International students

Full-time international students should apply directly to the university. Please read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.

How to apply

For further support for international applicants applying for postgraduate degrees view our International hub.

You can also download our international mini guide for an overview of study options and why you should study with us.

Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.

+44 (0)24 7765 2152

applications.io@coventry.ac.uk

Complete our contact form.

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London, Coventry University Wrocław, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough, and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the University) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

¹Accreditations, partnerships and memberships

The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply. See the relevant body website for more details). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships are subject to successful renewal in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery. If the accreditation, recognition or membership of this course changes, we will seek to notify applicants and students as soon as possible.

Where relevant, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) module content is undergoing assessment by the CMI to confirm that all criteria are met to the required standard. Whilst it is expected that students who successfully pass the module will be eligible to be considered by CMI for the CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice as an additional qualification, we cannot confirm this until the accreditation is approved. This is a normal part of the continuous improvement process for our courses to ensure they remain up-to-date and reflect best practice.

²UK and international opportunities

Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or international opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be unpaid and/or subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel, public authority guidance, decisions or orders and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand any visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

³Tuition fees

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

⁴Facilities

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the current 2024/2025 contract is available on the website for information purposes however the 2025/2026 contract will apply for the 2025/2026 intake. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.