This course will give you a solid grounding in the design, construction and management of civil engineering work.

We have great links with industry and high levels of graduate employment. You’ll enjoy regular visits to iconic construction sites in London as well as professionally monitored field study courses and projects.

Entry level is 96 UCAS points, and you don’t need A2 maths. You’ll take a top-up module in your first year that will underpin and extend your GCSE maths knowledge.

You can also gain advanced entry on to the final year of this BSc course by completing our two-year Foundation degree in civil engineering.

This makes our course ideal for students who, while not necessarily ‘maths geniuses’, nevertheless have good basic skills in that area and aspirations to develop a career in management or a range of technical fields.

This course will prepare you for a range of technical and professional careers within civil engineering. We’ve developed it carefully through regular consultation with industry experts.

At the core of your degree, throughout which you’ll combine academic and practical learning, is a thorough grounding in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, roads, bridges, canals.

We’ll also give you a firm grounding in structural engineering – the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads.

Other areas you’ll study include geotechnical engineering, the behaviour and stability of materials such as soil and rock, and water engineering, which involves coastal engineering, treating and distributing water as well as managing waste water and sewage disposal.

You’ll study similar sub-disciplines of civil engineering to those covered in the BEng course, but with a different, more pragmatic approach. There’ll be a mixture of theoretical and practical work, with access to fully equipped civil engineering laboratories such as concrete and soil labs.

Collaborative or group projects are a key part of the course – as they are in the profession. In your final year, you’ll produce an individual piece of research.

Our staff bring a huge amount of research expertise to bear on their teaching, so you can be sure that what you study reflects the most up-to-date thinking and practice. Alongside strong academic credentials, many have extensive industrial experience as practising civil engineers.

Each term, we’re visited by around 20 local industry professionals – known as the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) – to update us on changing recruitment requirements for graduates and to advise on coursework, projects and field trips etc.

Current members of the IAB include Atkins, Thames Water, Watermans, Hardman Structural Engineers, Morrish & Partners, SRK Consulting and the London Borough of Newham.

Every year, our civil engineering and construction management students visit the Constructionarium at the National CITB Training Centre in Norfolk. There you’ll work as a team with a sponsoring contractor and design engineer, building scaled-down versions of famous bridges or buildings to gain hands on experience of what you have studied in the class.

Our Docklands campus is ideally placed for studying iconic projects in the capital, such as the Tate Modern Phase 2 Extension, the Canary Wharf Crossrail station and the reconfiguration of the Olympic Stadium.

Guided independent study

We are investing in key areas beyond your studies including our career services, library and well-being, to be available both face-to-face on campus and online with many of these available 24/7. We have new, modern library facilities on both campuses offering inspirational environments for study and research. Libraries contain resources in print and digital formats, a range of study spaces and dedicated librarian who can assist with your learning.

Academic support

Students are supported with any academic or subject related queries by an Academic Advisor, module leaders, former and current UEL students.
If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, maths or IT, our Skillzone and English for Academic Purposes we offer workshops, drop-in sessions and one-to-one appointments to help our students achieve their potential. You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses.
Our Student Support hubs in Docklands and Stratford feature centralised helpdesks to cater for your every need. UEL provides also support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).

Workload

Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.

The approximate percentages for this course are:
Year 1: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.
Year 2: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.
Year 3: scheduled teaching – 300 hours; guided independent study – 900 hours.

The size of classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work. You will receive your personalised timetable at the beginning of the academic year dependent on your course.

Who will teach on this course

Alex Apeagyei

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.

With a degree in civil engineering from UEL, you’ll be well placed to secure a stimulating and rewarding career.

The high quality of our teaching on the course is widely recognised, and the constant input from industry professionals ensures your studies will be highly relevant to employers once you graduate.

You might decide to specialise as a structural engineer, a hydraulic engineer, highway engineer or a geotechnical engineer. Your decision may be prompted by how your career develops in your first job and you start on the process known as Initial Professional Development, which takes between three and five years.

Some of our recent graduates have gone on to land jobs at the Highways Agency, Network Rail, Thames Water, Hardman Structural Engineers, Morrish & Partners, SRK Consulting, Kier Group and in local authorities.

Others have chosen to work in other professional areas such as finance, education, marketing and housing.

Around 20 per cent of our students are from overseas, with many returning to work for local authorities or government departments.

If you decide to continue your studies, you’ll have the option of taking a one-year MSc course in Civil Engineering to pursue Chartered Engineer status.

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