A WILTSHIRE-based institute of engineering and technology founded by vacuum cleaner giant Dyson is now awarding degrees.

The milestone comes three years after the institute was founded as an alternative to a traditional degree education.

The company has invested £31.5 million into The Dyson Institute to date. Applications for the September 2021 intake, who will be the first to receive a degree, opened today.

Undergraduate engineers pay zero tuition fees and earn a full salary. As well as their degree studies, they work on real-life projects alongside world experts in Dyson’s global engineering, research and technology teams. From day one they contribute to new technologies to improve lives all around the world. It is more than a job, and more than a degree, and although the aspiration is that they remain long after graduation, they are not tied to Dyson.

Dyson founder and chairman James Dyson said: "Being able to award Dyson degrees is a testament to the pioneers who have joined the institute.

"It was born out of my frustration at the shortage of engineers and scientists and the appalling debt that students incur at university. We’ve been flattered that the undergraduates and their parents have trusted us to take on this important role when they had many options open to them.

"This is not a traditional university education, it is not for the faint hearted. Technology is developing at such speed that rigorous academic study benefits from immediate application.

"Dyson undergraduate engineers work in a global team, with the best labs, working alongside the most ingenious practising engineers and scientists, solving big problems.

"We have a culture where they are free to experiment and learn through failure. I’m confident that we are educating the best engineers in the world and I hope they choose to stay at Dyson for many years to come."

The Dyson Institute is a new model for education: the academic rigour of a traditional university combined with the hands on, real-world experience and pace of working in a global technology company. To date, the programme has been delivered as a successful partnership between Dyson Technology and WMG, the University of Warwick.

The degree covers the fundamentals of engineering in years one and two and delivers more specific electronics and mechanical engineering lessons in years three and four, all supplemented by real experience working at Dyson across different projects and technologies.

Each cohort at The Dyson Institute is comprised of approximately 40 undergraduates. The fourth cohort joined The Dyson Institute at the start of September, taking the total population to 150 undergraduates - of which a third are female, compared to the average 18 per cent on UK engineering undergraduate courses.

Alongside their studies, last year Dyson undergraduates helped develop backpacks which use sensors to monitor and record air quality data.

This enables Dyson’s scientists to better understand air quality around the world; from how the bushfire season in Australia affects the day-to-day air pollution in Sydney, to travelling on Delhi’s most polluted metro lines in India.

The technology builds on one of the most detailed studies of localised air quality in the world, educating people about the pollution that exists in everyday life.

The Dyson Institute’s receipt of new degree-awarding powers means that it will now be able to deliver and award every aspect of the programme itself using its own teaching departments, professional services teams and governance structures. The Dyson Institute is the first provider to be awarded the right to award its own degrees under the this new powers route established by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

The institute's chair of council Mary Curnock Cook said: "This is forging a very exciting new path in higher education. There is simply no other degree like this.

"The combination of hard-core academic study, combined with real work application in one of the most exciting technology companies in the world, makes it a compelling choice for academically minded polymaths with an entrepreneurial flair."

It sits at the heart of 136 labs and research spaces on Dyson’s campus in Wiltshire and is a centre for thousands of engineers and scientists as well as over 4,000 square metres of dedicated education spaces, equipped with the latest technology.

First year undergraduate engineers live in the Dyson Village. Designed by James Dyson and Chris Wilkinson,it comprises accommodation and recreation areas including a café, bar, gym, cinema, kitchens, communal spaces, laundry rooms and outside space.

Fourth year undergraduate Halimah Ershad said: "I almost fell into the trap of going to a traditional university just because every single person from my sixth form applied.

"On this degree we will learn a mathematical equation in the morning in class and apply it in real life in the afternoon. This type of learning makes abstract concepts instantly real and useful.

"Dyson engineers have been so supportive and welcoming. They mentor you in your studies, but also challenge you at work. They are very receptive to ideas and I have been contributing to projects since the day I started."