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FORWARD
University
Under review

Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and Energy Transition Systems

Uganda is entering commercial oil production at precisely the moment the global energy system begins to turn away from it. Pretending either fact away would be a disservice to students. This programme trains people who can operate the petro...

BSc (Hons)Hybrid4 years (8 semesters)Intake August 2027176 credit units

The four facts

What you actually need to compare

Award and entry
BSc (Hons)
U
Duration and mode
4 years (8 semesters)
Hybrid. Includes 12 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
Cost
UGX 3,000,000 per year
Tier 2 laboratory classification. Includes UGX 600,000 annual laboratory premium.
Outcome targeted
Petroleum production and facilities engineer, process engineer, pipeline and terminal engineer
Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Fee structure Key dates 176 credit units

Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard

Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and Energy Transition Systems fee

UGX 3,000,000 per year

Laboratory tier
Tier 2
Annual premium
UGX 600,000
Per semester
UGX 1,500,000
Whole programme
UGX 12,000,000
Approximate USD
≈ USD 3,158

What this fee includes

  • Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
  • The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
  • All learning materials
  • Every examination, including first resits
  • Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
  • Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
  • Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
  • Online application

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

  • Petroleum production and facilities engineer
  • process engineer
  • pipeline and terminal engineer
  • HSE and environmental compliance officer
  • energy economist and transition analyst
  • downstream and logistics manager
  • regulator
  • petrochemical operations engineer.

Employer types

  • Upstream operators and service companies
  • the refinery and pipeline projects
  • the Petroleum Authority of Uganda and the Ministry of Energy
  • downstream distributors
  • energy trading and logistics
  • development finance and sovereign funds
  • and consultancies.

Target outcomes we hold ourselves to

  • A domestic sector entering peak recruitment, with an explicit transition skills differentiator that protects graduates over a forty year career.

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

Read the co-op commitment

Am I eligible?

Check yourself against the published requirements

7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and Energy Transition Systems. 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.

Question 1 of 70%

What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?

Requirement tested: A completed upper-secondary qualification (UACE, A-level, IB, high-school diploma or recognised equivalent), or a post-secondary award.

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

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1Year 1
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 101
AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work
Both
42-2-0
ECE 110
Engineering Mathematics I
Objective
54-2-0
ECE 111
Geology for Petroleum Systems
Both
53-2-2
ECE 112
Chemistry and Thermodynamics
Both
53-2-2
ECE 113
Technical Drawing, Data and Field Practicum
Performance
31-0-4
TERM 2 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 2Year 1
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 102
Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence
Both
42-2-0
ECE 130
Engineering Mathematics II
Objective
54-2-0
ECE 131
Fluid Mechanics and Transport
Both
53-2-2
ECE 132
Reservoir Rock and Fluid Properties
Performance
52-2-4
ECE 133
Energy, Development and Resource Governance
Objective
32-2-0
COP 190
Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recess term)
Performance
00-0-0
TERM 3 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 2, SEMESTER 1Year 2
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 201
Ethics, Society and the African Context
Both
42-2-0
ECE 210
Drilling Engineering and Well Systems
Both
53-2-2
ECE 211
Reservoir Engineering
Both
53-2-2
ECE 212
Production Engineering and Artificial Lift
Performance
52-2-4
ECE 213
Statistics, Uncertainty and Decision Analysis
Both
31-2-2
TERM 4 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 2, SEMESTER 2Year 2
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 202
Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams
Both
42-2-0
COP 290
Co-operative Education Placement I
Performanc
100-0-0
ECE 230
Surface Facilities and Process Engineering
Performance
63-2-4
ECE 231
Process Safety and Risk Management
Objective
21-2-0
TERM 5 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 3, SEMESTER 1Year 3
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 301
AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing
Both
42-2-0
ECE 310
Pipelines, Terminals and Midstream Systems
Both
53-2-2
ECE 311
Petroleum Economics and Project Evaluation
Both
53-2-2
ECE 312
Environmental Management, Spill Response and Biodiversity
Both
42-2-2
ECE 313
Digital Oilfield and Production Analytics
Performance
41-2-4
TERM 6 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 3, SEMESTER 2Year 3
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 302
Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy
Both
42-2-0
COP 390
Co-operative Education Placement II
Performanc
100-0-0
ECE 330
Refining, Petrochemicals and Value Addition
Both
64-2-2
ECE 331
Local Content, Contracts and Revenue Management
Objective
21-2-0
TERM 7 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 4, SEMESTER 1Year 4
21 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 401
AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance
Both
31-2-0
ECE 410
Gas Systems, LPG and Gas to Power
Both
53-2-2
ECE 411
Energy Transition Scenarios and Stranded Asset Risk
Both
53-2-2
ECE 412
Carbon Management for Hydrocarbon Operations
Both
42-2-2
ECE 413
Specialisation Elective I
Objective
43-2-0
TERM 8 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 4, SEMESTER 2Year 4
25 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 402
Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation
Both
31-2-0
ECE 430
Energy Systems Capstone: Real Operator or Regulator Commission
Performance
90-2-16
ECE 431
Decommissioning, Legacy and Just
Both
42-2-2
ECE 432
Engineering Economics and Project Management
Both
53-2-2
ECE 433
Professional Practice, Ethics and HSE Certification
Objective
43-2-0

Total credit units: 178

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 Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and Energy Transition Systems

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

Mandatory live session Flexible bite-sized lesson Optional event

Curriculum explorer

Drill into the degree, step by step

Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.

Step 1, choose a year

Step 2, choose a term

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1

Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU

Cumulative

22

Programme total

176

22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)

Step 3, choose a course

Pick a course to see the detail

Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.

The twelve Forward capabilities

What this programme develops in you

Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.

  • C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading

Critical capabilities for this programme: Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Disciplinary Mastery · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.

Programme Learning Outcomes

What you will be able to do

Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.

  1. PLO 1Explain petroleum geology, reservoir behaviour and production systems.
  2. PLO 2Design and evaluate surface facilities, separation and processing operations.
  3. PLO 3Apply process safety, environmental management and spill response to international standard.
  4. PLO 4Model project economics under oil price, carbon price and demand decline scenarios.
  5. PLO 5Analyse local content, revenue management and resource governance in the Ugandan context.
  6. PLO 6Plan gas to power, petrochemical or downstream diversification of a hydrocarbon asset.
  7. PLO 7Manage the workforce and asset consequences of energy transition.

Why this programme exists

Uganda is entering commercial oil production at precisely the moment the global energy system begins to turn away from it. Pretending either fact away would be a disservice to students. This programme trains people who can operate the petro...

Admission requirements

UACE with two principal passes in Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics (at least two), plus UCE with five passes including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and English. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.