Why It Matters Now
The UK is in urgent need of engineers—particularly in defence and security, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, and green technology.
At the same time:
» Young people from excluded backgrounds are disengaging from university education.
» The value of a traditional university education is increasingly being questioned by students, the taxpayer and employers.
» Swathes of the UK host local populations with no access to good quality higher education and the opportunities that follow.
» Employers are crying out for graduates who are ready to work—not just to pass exams.
NMITE addresses all of these head-on.
We are nimble, employershaped, and socially committed. We cost less and we are proving our model works.
What Makes NMITE Different?
» Accelerated Degrees: 3-year MEng and 2-year BEng programmes. No long summer breaks. Students graduate work-ready and with less debt.
» No Traditional Lectures or Exams: Team-based, project-led learning aligned with real industry challenges.
» Wider Access: We admit for potential, not just grades. Many of our graduating cohort would have been rejected by a Russell Group university.
» Employer Embedded: Every learner works directly with industry throughout their education. They learn in a way that feels like a job: 9 – 5 Monday to Friday timetable, 46 weeks per year, working in teams.
Our aim is not to deliver marginal improvements for people with many HE options in front of them; it is to deliver transformational change to their skills, opportunities and life chances.
What We’ve Achieved So Far
» Graduated our first Master’s students in May 2025 – with a celebration at Hereford Cathedral.
» All students in that first cohort are now employed, in professional engineering jobs. This is unheard of in traditional universities.
» Local companies are actively recruiting NMITE graduates.
» They came from all backgrounds: school leavers, farm hands, trainee teachers. They are local and from further afield. We are finding talent, wherever it is hiding.
» Now establishing our reputation as one of the most innovative providers in UK higher education.
» Partnering with top-tier employers including BAE Systems, Octopus Energy, AWE, Airbus, Hitachi, Mondelēz, Balfour Beatty and Network Rail.
NMITE: A new programme portfolio that offers wider access, accelerated delivery, flexibility and work-ready graduates
The NMITE programmes
» MEng available in three years
» No requirement for Maths or Physics A-level
» Selection based on personal characteristics
» More than 30 workplace projects with employers
» All interdisciplinary –including liberal arts, business, and ethics
The NMITE courses 2026
» MEng (Hons) Integrated Engineering
» MEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering
» MEng (Hons) Autonomous Robotics
» BEng (Hons) Integrated Engineering
» BSc (Hons) Construction Management
» Foundation Year
NMITE’s partnerships powering industry ready graduates
Fin Neate
Cadbury (Mondelēz)
“I can’t imagine being sat in a lecture hall somewhere where it’s all very theory based, not having the opportunity to put things into practice in the way we do.”
“NMITE has enabled me to change careers.”
Mahmoud Awad
Balfour Beatty
“Every opportunity gets shared with students and graduates. The academics even walked the extra mile to recommend jobs they thought were a perfect fit for me.”
“NMITE has been a transformative experience.”
NMITE’s partnerships are redefining how talent enters industry, with graduates already delivering value in the organisations that helped shape their education.
James Willis
BAE Systems
“The industrial partnerships we have and the connections we have with external clients is one of the biggest things this degree offers… that really excels the graduate experience.”
“NMITE is one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Jonathan Whitting
Dogtooth Technologies
“I’ve learned a lot of skills and done some really cool systems-based projects. That led straight to my employment designing and building strawberry-picking robots.”
“I’d definitely recommend NMITE. It was what I needed.”
Traction and Prospects
» Buildings and Infrastructure in place
» Two new buildings now under construction
» Academic sprints delivered in partnership with major employers including BAE, Heineken, Balfour Beatty, Octopus, AWE, Network Rail, Airbus, Hitachi, Mondelēz
» NMITE graduates all secured degree level engineering jobs – many before their course ended.
“
In the South-East, up to 70% of young people go to university. In Herefordshire, it’s just 27 per cent. Our mission at NMITE is to change all this. We want to create phenomenal opportunities for young people from here and elsewhere. But not only that: we want to change the nature of university education itself, to make it far more ambitious and effective.
The Rt Hon Jesse Norman, The Chair of NMITE’s Board of Trustees and MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire
”
Coming soon
MEng (Hons) Autonomous Robotics (2026)
» Rapidly growing demand for civilian and military drones, technologies and applications
» National need to respond to the war in Ukraine and future threats to UK
» Severe shortage of capable drones-related engineers
» Specific opportunity to leverage distinctive skills and capabilities in Hereford to create a local drones testing and development ecosystem
Radio Frequency Engineering (2027)
Software Engineering (2027)
Civil Engineering (2028)
Creating a vibrant learning campus in the heart of Hereford
Creating a University City: new buildings, civic amenities and sustainable transport
Image credit: Speller Metcalfe
Our Vision: A Nationally Significant Engine for Opportunity
NMITE will remain small in Hereford, but its impact will be large.
By 2030, we aim to:
» Grow our student numbers to around 500 – big enough to be sustainable, small enough to keep cohort intimacy and support.
» Replicate NMITE - take our model to another under-served region of the UK.
» Create a new national standard for what engineering and technology education can be.
» Establish our model as a key driver of regional economic impact.
Making It Happen
NMITE still needs financial support to deliver its mission
Philanthropic and Impact Investment
» Funding to help grow academic capacity – creating new academic posts to support more students
» Support for outreach work – helping reach a wider schools audience to break down barriers to higher eduction locally and nationally
» Working capital support to set the institution on a path to financial sustainability
Bursaries and Scholarships
» Funding to reduce barriers to entry for more students – especially local people
» Funding for targeted bursaries to support key under-represented groups to benefit them and employers (e.g. career changers, female applicants and military leavers)
» Support for current students to help deal with the cost of living and increase their chances of success
Curriculum Support and Employment Opportunities
» Provision of relevant “engineering challenges” to support the academic curriculum
» Work experience and project opportunities for NMITE students
» Join the Jobs Pledge - making conditional job offers to current students before they graduate
» Support student preparation for work - as NMITE builds its careers support service
NMITE is proud of its association with supporters and happy to co-brand its activities, projects and buildings with supporters.
www.nmite.ac.uk nmite nmite.ac nmite.ac nmite.ac
