Welcome 2025 Students

Start Date

Welcome Week will take place between Monday 15 September and Friday 19 September 2025. During Welcome Week your course team will schedule activities for you to find out important information about your course, meet your lecturers and other students, and find your way around.

Teaching on your course begins from Monday 22 September 2025. Please check your timetable for details.

You will be able to see your timetable on iCity using your BCU login details as soon as they are released. You should have received your BCU login details when you were invited to enrol.

You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.

• Download app on iOS
• Download app on Google Play

International Students

We expect all international students to engage with the University from Monday 15 September 2025.

The final deadline to arrive in the UK to complete enrolment will be week 4 (w/c 13 October 2025).

Please check the guidelines on entering the UK from your country or territory before planning your journey.

Timetables

Course Leader

Faisal Saeed

Welcome Message

"Welcome to your MSc Artificial Intelligence! We have planned a range of activities for you to enjoy and to have fun meeting new people and engaging with our talks, workshops and union activities. These activities will help you find your way around the campus and also to enable you to meet your peers and tutors.

The Artificial Intelligence MSc course provides its graduates with practical experience with models, techniques and tools from the forefront of the discipline that drive innovation in the design of software-based systems within this domain.

On the course, academic members of staff will teach topics and supervise projects according to their personal research interests. This gives students a cutting-edge experience, one that opens up new opportunities for career advancement in industry. For students who show aptitude for research, there is also the possibility of continuing their studies on a PhD course.

The philosophy of the course is to promote lifelong self-learning by providing a curriculum that promotes a variety of approaches to study. The curriculum is designed to develop not only the academic knowledge, but also the engineering ethos and practical skills required by the modern AI professional.

To successfully complete the MSc Artificial Intelligence, students will need to demonstrate that they can:

Critically analyse key concepts, theories, approaches, techniques, and principles related to the design and development of Artificial Intelligence systems.
Identify and justify the use of different evaluation and analytical approaches to determine the effectiveness of a variety of data modelling practices.
Assess emerging trends in the field of artificial intelligence and consider their potential for organisational and societal impact.

Examine and appraise key ethical, social, and commercial considerations around the design of Artificial Intelligence systems. Understand and interpret the roles and responsibilities of a professional working in the Artificial Intelligence and Data Science professions.

Design and create interactive solutions to real-world problems through applying industry standard principles across a range of platforms and technologies

Critically assess the effectiveness of development libraries, platforms, and frameworks commonly used for building data-driven models.

Process, interpret, and analyse complex data (utilising multiple techniques) to evaluate the effectiveness of machine learning models and to construct data-driven decisions for future iterative work.

Work across disciplines to create data-driven intelligent solutions to real-world problems both individually and as part of a group; managing project activities under time pressure.

Communicate complex concepts effectively in oral presentations, interactive demonstrations, and written reports through appropriately tailoring descriptions for different target audiences."

Course Location

Your course will mainly be taught in:

STEAMhouse, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with CST)

Preparing for Welcome Week

Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.

Supporting your transition

During Welcome Week, you’ll get to meet our Student Ambassadors as soon as you walk onto campus. They’ll be there to support you with finding your Student Support Centre, collecting your ID card and guiding you in the right direction, and for a friendly hello!

First day on Campus

We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham City University!

You must have your ID card visible at all times when on campus, so if you have received yours before your first day, ensure you bring this with you. If you enrolled late you will need to collect one on campus during your first few days. Please remember that your ID card is for your use only. You must never let anyone else use it.

To complete your enrolment, you will need the following:

• Passport (or other form of photo ID if you are a UK/EU student)
• Original qualification documents if applicable (you will be emailed a list of the documents we need to see once you have completed your online enrolment)
• Visa (international students only)

What else? The rest is up to you! You will find a shop, café, pub, computer access and water fountains on campus, but we do recommend you bring the following on the first day:

• Laptop, if you have one
• Notepad and pen
• Reusable water bottle
• Snack
• Money

And remember, the weather in Birmingham can be changeable!