MEng Civil Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

Civil engineering at Manchester enables you to lay the right foundation for a career in civil engineering with a five-year course that will not only lead to a Master of Engineering (MEng) qualification, but also arm you with the skills, knowledge and confidence gained from working for a year in real-world industry.

Civil engineering deals with the design, construction and maintenance of our built environment, from buildings to bridges, roads to railways - and considers what this means for the future of our planet and society.

During the first two years, your course is broad-based and covers topics such as structural analysis, hydraulics, geotechnics, construction materials, engineering design, project management and mathematics.

In later years, you have considerable flexibility to steer your degree towards your interests by taking optional subjects such as renewable energy systems, fire engineering, earthquake engineering and computational hydraulics.

In your third year, you will undertake an individual research project on an emerging topic in civil engineering, and, in your final year, you undertake an industry-supervised group design project and advanced units on civil engineering design and water engineering.

After your second or third year, you will embark on a year working in the civil engineering profession. This is a structured industrial placement assessed and monitored by the Department, with support in finding a placement provided.  This degree will equip you to enter the civil engineering professions and fully satisfies the educational base for becoming a Chartered Engineer (CEng). 

The course aims to:

• Give you hands-on experience of working in civil engineering professional practice, and knowledge of the practices and operation of engineering companies
• Provide you with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of engineering science, analysis and management
• Give you an in-depth understanding of design
• Help you to learn important transferable skills such as problem solving, team working, creativity, IT skills, oral and written communication.
• Develop your understanding of the economic, social, ethical and environmental contexts relevant to becoming a professional civil engineer
• Give you a strong base of practical skills (eg in surveying and specialist computer software)

Foundation Year available

You can prepare for the full degree course in you do not have the appropriate qualifications for direct entry by undertaking our foundation course first. 

At Manchester you will be taught by academic staff who are leading experts in civil engineering, in a diverse and inclusive learning environment.

We use a combination of teaching and learning methods, including lectures, tutorial classes, practical laboratory sessions and computer-based sessions.

There is a design project each year, which involves teamwork in small groups, and allows you to apply and develop your problem-solving and project management skills.

In the third year, you will undertake an individual project, allowing you to pursue an emerging subject or application area in greater depth.

Most course units are assessed through an examination (at the end of the semester) and coursework which is undertaken throughout the year. Parts of the coursework are, in many instances, associated with practical laboratory sessions, whilst others may be based on problem sheets, reports etc. A few subjects, for example Design, are assessed purely on coursework. For detailed information about how different subjects are assessed, please see the course unit specifications below.

Would you like to discover authentic stories when it comes to life at, and after, The University of Manchester? Engage with our student community at @uomscieng on Instagram and TikTok, and tune into our conversations with students, lecturers, and industry professionals on our popular podcast, Big Sisters in STEM .

Come to our Home of Engineering and Materials - a place like no other. This is where engineers, material scientists, and fashion students collaborate, innovate and make their mark on the world. Unleash your potential in our creative, academic playground that signals the evolution of a proud history of innovation spanning almost 200 years.

In this very special place, we’re ripping up the rule book, offering you a truly innovative teaching and learning experience. As well as our creative classrooms, you’ll also have access to world-leading sustainable research facilities in our new buildings.

Our variety of spaces allows for greater collaboration for all our students, and it is the place to connect and tackle real-life challenges together. So, a civil engineer designing futureproof buildings will bump into aerospace engineers researching satillites and drones, and a chemical engineer sat alongside a materials scientist working on clean water. It is a place like no other for interactions and one of the biggest communities of engineers and materials scientists in any University in the world.

Dive into a world of possibilities, whether you are interested in aerospace, robotics, or sustainable fashion, there’s a home for you here. 

Explore  Our Home for Engineering and Material Science . 

What's more, our strong, ever-growing links with industry not only help to inform our courses, but also boost our excellent teaching and research facilities. These include: 

• National Instruments Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory 
• Cocrete Labs
• Hydraulic Labs
• High Voltage Lab
• Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre 
• Oxford Instruments VG Semicon Molecular Beam Epitaxy facility 
• National Graphene Institute
• Dalton Nuclear Institute
• Computer Clusters equipped with industry-leading software

The University of Manchester also offers an extensive  library and online services , helping you get the most out of your studies.