Our MSc Structural Engineering degree will develop your engineering expertise in line with the ever-changing demands of the profession.

We will enhance your knowledge in all the essential areas, from advanced structural analysis to soil-structure engineering, and we will ensure your research skills are sharp enough to give you the competitive edge when you embark on your career. This will be complimented with an industrial placement which will enhance your professional skills and improve your employability chances.

Our campus location in the heart of London’s Docklands will allow you to see close up the challenges, and opportunities, for the next generation of engineers such as intensive urbanisation and major economic regeneration. We have excellent links with major employers in the industry, including Atkins Consultants, Waterman Group, Thames Water and the London Borough of Newham.

We will get your engineering career off to the best possible start. Our MSc Structural Engineering courses enjoy widespread professional recognition and are accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) of the Institutions of Civil, Structural, and Highways and Transportation Engineers.

Read our fantastic blog about how studying engineering part-time can change your life!

This course also meets the requirements for Further Learning for a Chartered Engineer (CEng), for students with the right undergraduate qualifications.

This course is also available as a two year masters with an industrial placement year. The embedded industrial placement offers a unique opportunity to apply the skills learnt on real-life projects.  

All modules include coursework, for which you will have opportunities to apply your knowledge to engineering projects related to real-life situations.

This coursework will include analysis and design projects, research reports, group and seminar presentations and a research dissertation project. You will also attend lectures, seminars and tutorials and you will work both individually and in groups.

To support the hands-on nature of this course, we have an impressive range of facilities. Our modern, well-equipped laboratories include dedicated structures, soil mechanics and hydraulics labs. You will also have access to superb computer facilities and the very latest design and planning software.

Expert feedback and support are always on offer from our dedicated team of academics, all of whom are experts in their particular fields.

As well as having strong academic credentials, many have extensive industrial experience as practising engineers.

Dr Ali Abbas and his team have also been involved in research including coastal and river engineering, concrete structural analysis and design, water and environmental management, hydraulics and earthquake resistance.

Our MSc courses are some of the most flexible around. Engineers already employed in the industry have found that studying part-time can easily be tailored to suit their personal requirements.

The course includes a number of self-contained, taught modules organised around the various areas of structural engineering. The wide range of subjects covered includes Advanced Structural Analysis, Design in Steel and Concrete, Structural Stability and Dynamics and Soil Structure Engineering.

The taught modules are complemented by a research dissertation project that you will undertake at the end of your course. This dissertation is your route to becoming an accredited chartered engineer.

There is a highly practical emphasis to our MSc. You will learn the theory and then apply it through working on projects in our extensive laboratories and during fieldwork.

These projects will provide you with the learning opportunities and practical skills you will need in your future career. You will graduate with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the most up-to-date practices and theories in structural engineering.

About the industrial placement

This course is also available as a two year master's with an industrial placement year. The industrial placement is designed to address the demands of the profession and give students a competitive edge when it comes to their career. The industrial placement component is for a duration of an academic year, i.e., normally 30 weeks including minimum 24 weeks of delivery time. It starts after students have successfully completed the 1st year of study, i.e., all the taught modules and the dissertation component of the MSc course which together form 180 credits. Please refer to the course specification for the summary of the course structure and further information.

Students on the MSc with Placement courses must pass all taught modules of their respective course plus dissertation to gain 180 credits, before they become eligible to progress to the next stage and undertake industrial placement. Students on the MSc course with placement will also normally be required to fulfil the 80% attendance requirement (on all modules) to be eligible to progress to the industrial placement. Students unable to meet the above requirements to progress successfully will normally be moved to the one-year full-time version of the course and their student visa, if any, will be curtailed accordingly.

It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to secure their placement and the university cannot guarantee placements. The University will offer guidance and support and recommend students to many of our industrial partners that have expressed strong support and interest in the programme.

During the industrial placement period, you will undertake an internship within a partner organisation  (or by means of alternative arrangements such as projects led by industry and carried out on campus) and complete a zero-credit Industrial Placement Module.

There are additional fees for the placement module (in the second year of the course), in addition to the fees for the taught modules and dissertation.paid in the first year.

There is an acknowledged shortage of skilled structural engineers with the right qualifications and experience. We have designed this course to fill this skills gap and give you a competitive edge when it comes to your career.

Graduates from our MSc Structural Engineering course can expect to find work in a variety of consultancy and contracting roles in fields such as structural engineering, infrastructure projects, geotechnical engineering, highways and transportation.

The skills you will develop while gaining your MSc will also enhance your career prospects in other related areas such as research and management.

With access to our strong and diverse academic knowledge base and the opportunities to apply that knowledge professionally, we will give you the best-possible head start.

Our Docklands location means that we are uniquely placed for links to industry employers, and we have strong contacts with organisations in the local area, including Crossrail, Thames Water and the London Borough of Newham.

Our students have an excellent track record of employment and have landed jobs in sectors that include aviation, infrastructure, transport and construction.

Within our School we also have a dedicated careers advisory service as well as an active alumni network able to facilitate contact with prospective employers.

Our students have gone on to win fantastic industry leading awards, including three at the Concrete Centre awards - First prize in 2016 and 2018, and the sustainability award in 2019!

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal