Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering with Intelligent Systems
The largest addressable domestic technology market in Uganda is software, and the largest single complaint from employers is that graduates can pass an algorithms examination but have never shipped anything to a user, never operated a syste...
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
- Software engineer
- backend, frontend and full stack engineer
- platform and DevOps engineer
- site reliability engineer
- cloud engineer
- mobile engineer
- solutions architect
- technical lead
- engineering founder.
Employer types
- Software firms and outsourcing houses
- banks and fintechs
- telecommunications operators
- regional and global technology employers hiring remotely
- government digital services
- and start ups, including the graduate's own.
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- Positioned for immediate employment and for remote engagement by international employers. The programme's explicit target is that a majority of graduates hold an offer before the final semester ends, generated through the second co-operative placement.
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
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering with Intelligent 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.
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
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 110 | Programming Fundamentals and Software Craft I Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 111 | Discrete Mathematics for Computing Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| AIC 112 | Computer Systems and Operating Systems Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 113 | Web and Interface Foundations Performance | 4 | 1-0-6 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 130 | Programming Fundamentals and Software Craft II: Data Structures Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 131 | Databases and Data Modelling Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 132 | Version Control, Testing and Code Review Practicum Performance | 4 | 1-0-6 |
| AIC 133 | Probability and Statistics for Engineers Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recess term) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 210 | Object Oriented Design and Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 211 | Algorithms and Complexity Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 212 | Networks and Distributed Communication Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| AIC 213 | Mobile and Offline First Engineering Performance | 4 | 1-2-4 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| AIC 230 | Cloud Native Engineering and Containers Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| AIC 231 | Requirements, Product and Client Practice Objective | 2 | 1-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 310 | Distributed Systems and Reliability Engineering Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 311 | Applied Machine Learning for Engineers Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 312 | Secure Software Engineering Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| AIC 313 | Agentic Development and AI- Assisted Engineering Performance | 4 | 1-0-6 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| AIC 330 | Platform Engineering, Observability and On Call Practicum Performance | 6 | 1-0-10 |
| AIC 331 | Software Economics and Estimation Objective | 2 | 1-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| AIC 410 | Building Production AI Applications Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| AIC 411 | Advanced Systems Engineering: Performance and Scale Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 412 | Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| AIC 413 | Engineering Leadership and Team Practice Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| AIC 430 | Software Engineering Capstone: Real Client Production System Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| AIC 431 | Legacy Systems, Migration and Technical Debt Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| AIC 432 | Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 433 | Professional Practice, Licensing and Contracts Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
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 Software Engineering with Intelligent 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
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 3 of 4, Independent
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. 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.
- PLO 1Design, implement, test and document software systems of realistic size and complexity, working in a codebase the student did not author.
- PLO 2Apply modern engineering practice: version control continuous integration, automated testing, code review observability and incident response.
- PLO 3Architect and operate distributed, cloud native systems with defensible trade offs in cost, latency, consistency and resilience.
- PLO 4Integrate machine learning and agentic components into production software, including evaluation, guardrails fallback and cost control.
- PLO 5Direct, review and be professionally accountable for machine generated code, including finding the defects it introduces.
- PLO 6Secure a software system by design, and reason about threat models appropriate to the deployment context.
- PLO 7Elicit requirements from a real client, negotiate scope, and deliver against a commitment.
- PLO 8Work effectively in an engineering team, including pairing review, on call rotation and blameless post-incident analysis.
- PLO 9Build for the constraints of the region: intermittent connectivity, low end devices, mobile money, and low bandwidth data.
Why this programme exists
The largest addressable domestic technology market in Uganda is software, and the largest single complaint from employers is that graduates can pass an algorithms examination but have never shipped anything to a user, never operated a system in production, never been on call, and never worked in a codebase they did not write. This programme is built as an apprenticeship in software craft. From Year 1 students work in a shared long lived codebase that persists across cohorts, inherit other people's code, review each other's work under professional protocol, and operate what they build. The intelligent systems spine reflects the actual change in the profession: the graduate's job is no longer to type code but to specify, direct, review and be accountable for code that is increasingly machine generated.
Admission requirements
UACE with two principal passes including Mathematics, plus UCE with five passes including Mathematics and English. A short practical build task is set at admission. 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.
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