The department is regarded as a very social environment, with highly approachable lecturers and a very active departmental society, EESoc, who organise regular social events, film screenings, pool competitions and dinners for students within the department. However, the department does suffer from divisions which form between the the principle national groups, who tend to specialise in different aspects of the subject.

The workload in the first year is quite light, providing an introduction to the subject, plus compulsory courses in management, maths and computing. Approximately thirty percent of the year consists of lab experiments, some of which should have been abandoned thirty years ago, whilst others are based around the latest computer simulation techniques. Although the simulated approach allows much more rapid changes to be made to circuit design, the fun of seeing your design take shape and operate in your hand is lost.

The first two years of all courses are common, providing a basis for more specialised study in the third and fourth years, with lectures seemingly taught by whoever volunteers to take them. However, in later years, as the courses become more complex and dependant on the latest innovations in the subject, the expertise and specialisation of the teaching staff begins to shine through.

At the end of the second year those on the four year course have the option to enter either the technical or the management stream. In practice, this allows either specialisation in one or two aspects of the course; the substitution of management for half of the third and fourth year course; or to keep your options open with a broad selection of both technical and non-technical courses. The list of options available is reviewed annually, but generally tends to cover practically every aspect of modern electronics...Although all students continue lab work throughout the final two years, those who choose the technical stream are mostly assessed through lab work, including a large project during the summer term of the third year.

The two options help to break the course down to accommodate the two principle careers that electrical engineering graduates tend to pursue. As a result of the options for extensive management and economics training many graduates move into banking, the City or the Civil Service. Equally, the specialist final year technical courses are deliberately angled towards industry, leading graduates into engineering fields. As a major research centre, the department is also a popular destination for those wishing to continue their studies, leading to a PhD.

The department encourages all applicants to seek industrial sponsorship, and looks favourably on students who wish to take a year-out in an industrial placement. They assist by providing a list of contact details for all companies with a history of sponsoring students at Imperial.

As far as A-levels are concerned, the department asks for maths and physics, and a thorough knowledge of both is very important. In particular, there is a very high quota of applied maths in the course, so an additional further maths A-level is advantageous.