do you need good grades to be an engineer?

Question: do you need good grades to be an engineer?
- Keywords:
  career advice,
  Grades
Asked by TillyF to Sarah-Jane, Rob, Magdalena, Emily, Anna on 28 Mar 2021.
- Sarah-Jane Potts answered on 10 Mar 2021:
  
  It depends on the course and the university, but in my case I needed AAB to get onto my course. However, if your grades aren’t good enough, you can do a one year foundation degree in engineering. That will help bring your skill level up to what is needed and give you the chance to try out lots of engineering types before deciding on a specific course. I’m not sure what grades are needed for apprenticeships but they will probably depend on the company.
- Emily Rowe answered on 11 Mar 2021:
  
  More choices and opportunities are available to students with better grades in any subject or career. However, there are lots of different levels of entry into engineering (and other careers) and some do not need as good grades as others.
  
  There are always other routes and options that somebody can take if they do not get as good grades as they wanted or think they needed. You might have to do an extra year of study and that should not be seen as a bad thing (it shows determination and commitment), or you might be able to go to college or start an apprenticeship, instead of going to university.
  
  My advice is don’t aim for particular grades, just try as hard as you can!! And whatever your grades, there will always be options if you are willing to try hard.
- Anna Garcia-Teruel answered on 22 Mar 2021:
  
  I studied in Munich in Germany, and there, with good grades you were able to apply for the University and get accepted. If you had medium good grades you would be invited to an interview and they had a selection process – but at the end there was quite a mix of people in terms of the grades they had in my class although I don’t think you could have less than a B- average. But then there will be other universities that will have different requirements and so where you can go even if you don’t have good grades.
  In Spain it goes by demand, so if a lot of people apply to study, for example, Mechanical Engineering, they will take the people with the highest grades first, and go in order until they have filled the spaces. That is the process for anything you want to study though, not only engineering.
  In any case, if you want to study Engineering, I think maths is always extremely useful, so regardless of the grade I would try an learn as much as you can (also physics will be quite useful) – so as Emily says just do your best.
- Magdalena Grzybek answered on 26 Mar 2021:
  
  I would rather say marks partially matters. useful for your future if you like to carry on with your education or become a doctor one day. But as an engineer you should also focus on your personal and technical skills.

Question: do you need good grades to be an engineer?

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