Mining Engineering BEng (Part-time)

Program Overview

BEng Mining Engineering (Part-time) - 2026 entry

Overview

This course has been developed to help upskill those already holding roles within the mining industry, who want to develop their career. Gain a University of Exeter degree while working and earning a salary. Students will study a broad range of topics: the underlying maths, digital, geology and physics skills that inform engineering, then mine design, operations, processing, automation, risk, safety, economics, environment and social governance.

Entry requirements

• Typical offer: A level: AAB-ABB, IB: 34/665-32/655, BTEC: DDD-DDM
• Contextual offers: Specific subject requirements must still be achieved where stated above. Find out more about contextual offers.
• Other accepted qualifications: View other accepted qualifications
• English language requirements: International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B3. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

How to apply

This programme does not follow the standard UCAS application process. Students will need to already have a position or job offer from a mining company that is willing to support the application. Please get in touch with us to proceed with an application.

Course content

As we move towards a world of carbon neutrality there has never been a greater need for the metals that enable renewable energy generation, like copper, lithium, steel and aluminium. That demand translates directly to good jobs for mining engineers.

Our ambition is for our students to graduate, academically ready to grow into senior roles. Students will gain the knowledge and experience to enable them to:

• Understand the mining lifecycle and the investment and fundraising environment
• Design all aspects of mining operations to be safe and productive
• Address the challenges of environmental sustainability, governance and social responsibility

The course involves approximately six hours a week of remote learning, up to four weeks of on-site activity per year and the implementation of this knowledge via practising skills and behaviours in the workplace. Students can expect to be stretched and challenged but supported throughout as they develop the academic skills required to rise through the ranks in the mining, tunnelling and allied industries.

Year 1

• Compulsory modules:
  • CSM1288DA: Mining Life Cycle and Professional Practice (30 credits)
  • CSM1289DA: Engineering Fundamentals (30 credits)
  • CSM1290DA: Mine Challenge Project (30 credits)

Year 2

• Compulsory modules:
  • CSM1291DA: Resource Characterisation (30 credits)
  • CSM2320DA: Digitisation and Automation (30 credits)
  • CSM2321DA: Material Processing (30 credits)

Year 3

• Compulsory modules:
  • CSM2322DA: Resource Development (30 credits)
  • CSM2323DA: Energy and Sustainability (30 credits)
  • CSM3404DA: Environmental and Social Governance (30 credits)

Final year

• Compulsory modules:
  • CSM3405DA: Excavation Design and Optimisation (30 credits)
  • CSM3406DA: Economics and Risk Management (30 credits)
  • CSM3407DA: Feasibility and Business Improvement Project (30 credits)

Fees and funding

• Please note: The fees for students starting in 2026 have yet to be set. The fees provided below are the fees for students starting in 2025 and are for guidance only. We will post the fees for 2026 entry shortly.
• The employer fully covers the cost of this programme; students do not pay for any of the eligible training costs. The student will be an employee of the organisation, gaining a University of Exeter degree alongside working and earning a salary.

Learning and teaching

On average, approximately six hours per week of a learner’s contractual working time will be given over to directed learning, typically consisting of around six hours per week of remote learning and up to four weeks per year of site visits and residentials on various mines and at Cambourne School of Mines (CSM).

The first year provides fundamental knowledge underlying mining engineer including mathematics, mechanics and fluid mechanics. The mining business is also introduced, and students undertake a challenge project alone or in small groups at their place of work.

In the second year, further basic skills are acquired, such as electrical engineering, geology and geomatics, and the course starts to move into the core mining subjects such as excavation design, geomechanics and safety and hazard management. The third year continues the pairing of core mining subjects including tunnelling and underground space, and ventilation with important related subjects such as mine closure and risk management.

In final year, the focus moves to tools for strategic thinking: economics, business evaluation, planning, and environmental and social governance, and the year ends with a major project, to put into practice all the skills learnt in the four years of study. Students will complete an individual or group project in the final year: an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills to devise an engineering solution at a professional level. The individual or group project should be done in collaboration with employers, giving the company a tangible benefit.

Residentials will consist of two-week study blocks and on-site introductions to mining topics. The opportunities to meet as a group will allow students to share learning from their own experiences and their own mines and to grow their technical peer network.

During and outside of this time students will also be able to meet one-to-one with their academic mentor, as well as participating in progress review meetings with both their academic and workplace mentors approximately every six weeks.

Your future

Students on this course will be a full, salaried member of an organisation. Much of the learning will take place at work, either through projects linked to academic content or time set aside for distance learning. Students will be working in an exciting and relevant job from day one of their studies, meaning when they graduate, they'll have both the professional and academic experience sought after by employers.

Employer-valued skills

Solid industry experience is what employers look for when recruiting. The structure of the course means that students will gain knowledge, skills and behaviours to be a fully-fledged mining engineer at the end of the programme. They will have gained experience in areas including mine design, operations, geotechnical, business, safety, environment, tactical and strategic thinking – all routes to careers within mining and related industries.