Applied Artificial Intelligence
Build, evaluate and deploy machine learning systems into environments with real constraints, patchy data, thin bandwidth, and consequences.
The four facts
What you actually need to compare
- Award and entry
- BSc (Hons)
- Entry requirements are published on /admissions.
- Duration and mode
- 4 years (incl. co-op)
- Hybrid. Includes 12 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
- Cost
- See the published fee table
- The complete 147-programme table is published at /fees.
- Outcome targeted
- Machine learning engineer, Applied AI engineer, Data/ML platform engineer
- Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Machine learning engineer
- Applied AI engineer
- Data/ML platform engineer
- AI solutions engineer
Employer types
- African technology companies and scale-ups
- Banks, insurers and telecom operators
- Global firms hiring remote engineering talent
- Public-sector data and statistics agencies
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- 85% of graduates in a named role within 6 months
- Median starting salary at or above the national engineering benchmark
- 100% completing 12 months of paid co-op before graduating
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Two placements: one engineering team, one deployment-side organisation. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Applied Artificial Intelligence. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
The curriculum volume for this programme is still in preparation
This degree is listed in the Complete Programme Directory, but neither pathway has been signed off against the Curriculum Compendium yet. Rather than publish an invented course list, we publish nothing until the volume is submitted to the National Council for Higher Education.
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Applied Artificial Intelligence
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum detail is being published
This programme's term and block tables are not in the current compendium export yet.