As a result of the flexibile credit based structure of degrees at Strathclyde the MSci can be completed in 4 years or may extend into a fifth year of study. There is a thriving Physics Club run by students which arranges popular lectures, excursions and social events. This system permits great flexibility by giving students the freedom to pick the selection of classes most suited to their interests and ambitions. All students are admitted as prospective Honours students. The first two years of the three degree courses are almost identical, with small differences in emphasis between them, and transfer between the courses is straightforward right up to the point where a student is entering his or her third year.
Teaching is principally by means of lectures supplemented by tutorials and laboratory work.
In the first year the tutorials play an important role in bridging the transition from school to University and each tutorial group typically consists of four students. This is a broad based physics course which aims to give the student coverage of a wide range of topics in physics with emphasis on modern physical principles. As the student proceeds towards his or her Honours Degree a larger fraction of the time is spent on physics with considerable flexibility in the choice of subjects available. The main objective of this course is to develop the skills necessary to solve practical problems in industry. It is designed around a core of fundamental physics and mathematics, linked to a programme of interdisciplinary applied physics and a wide choice of elective subjects and includes an industrial project during the vacation between third and fourth year.