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The route into defence systems engineer

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • Physicsrequiredfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

IB Diploma

  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • Physics HLrequiredfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Design Technologyhelpsfor Aerospace Engineering

Advanced Placement

  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetismhelpsfor Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics
  • AP Computer Science Ahelpsfor Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Computer Science

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Aerospace Engineering

    Where a large share of aerospace graduates actually work, and a Saudi localisation priority.

    Four to five years. A master's is common and is close to expected for design roles.

  • Computer Science

    Software in defence and critical systems, a Saudi localisation priority.

    Three to four years in the UK, four to five in the Kingdom and the US, often with a placement year.

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

    Radar, communications and electronic systems, a growing localisation priority in the Kingdom.

    Four to five years, with a preparatory year common in the Kingdom.

  • Physics

    Sensors, radar and optics, where physics graduates are directly employed.

    Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard in the UK for research-bound students.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • ESAT or PATOctober

    Required at Cambridge, Imperial and Oxford for engineering; not required at most universities.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi engineering composite.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • Security clearanceAt employment, not admission

    Much aerospace work is defence-related and gated on nationality and clearance rather than on qualifications. Worth knowing which employers that opens and closes.

  • TMUAOctober

    Required or advantageous at Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick and others — and now carries Oxford's computer science admissions since the MAT was retired from 2026 entry.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12

    For US applications, where computer science is among the most competitive majors to be admitted directly into.

    • March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
    • August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
    • Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.
  • ESAT or TMUAOctober

    Required at Cambridge and Imperial; not required by most universities.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • IELTS, TOEFL or STEPBefore enrolment

    Determines whether a preparatory year is required at English-medium engineering colleges.

    • Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
    • 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
    • Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.
  • PATOctober

    Oxford's physics and engineering test.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge and Imperial, for natural sciences and physics.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including maths and physics2 yr
  2. undergraduateBEng or MEng in aerospace, electronic, mechanical or systems engineering3–4 yrs
  3. licensingSecurity clearance0–1 yrs
  4. practiceSystems engineer0 yr

LicensingSecurity clearance rather than professional licensure is the operative gate. Chartership is valued for progression but not required.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track (علمي)3 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc in an engineering discipline4–5 yrs
  3. licensingSaudi Council of Engineers registration and security vetting0–1 yrs
  4. practiceDefence systems engineer0 yr

LicensingSaudi Council of Engineers registration plus security vetting.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 3–5 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 2 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £54,000–70,000 of earnings deferred.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–6 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 2 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 280,000–440,000 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.