Civil and Environmental Engineering

Civil and environmental engineering addresses the infrastructure and natural systems on which human life depends. Civil engineering designs and builds the roads, bridges, water supply networks, drainage systems, buildings, and coastal defences that societies need. Environmental engineering works within and alongside that built environment to protect and manage natural systems, treating contaminated land, minimising the environmental impact of construction and operation, and ensuring that the infrastructure we build respects the ecological limits within which it sits.

The combination reflects the reality that no modern infrastructure project can be designed without considering its environmental implications.

At the University of Leeds, this four-year full-time MEng gives you a comprehensive training in both disciplines. You will study how civil and environmental engineers design for safety, sustainability, and environmental protection, working across topics from structural design and geotechnics to hydraulics, transportation, and environmental assessment. The sandwich year provides extended professional experience in a civil or environmental engineering practice, and a year abroad broadens your technical and cultural perspective.

Work placement is integrated throughout, and the integrated masters qualification prepares you for the full professional requirements of the discipline. Leeds' strong research base in civil and environmental engineering informs the teaching and connects you to current challenges in the field.

The breadth of the civil and environmental combination means you can contribute to a wide range of projects, from transport infrastructure and urban development to water management and environmental remediation.

Graduates go on to careers as civil engineers, structural engineers, environmental engineers, water engineers, and sustainability specialists across the public and private sectors. The MEng provides a direct route to chartered engineer status with the Institution of Civil Engineers, and many graduates go on to postgraduate research in specialist areas of civil or environmental engineering.