Civil Engineering

Civil engineering shapes the infrastructure on which modern life depends. From bridges and highways to flood defences, water treatment systems and urban drainage networks, civil engineers design, construct and maintain the physical systems that allow communities to function. The discipline demands rigorous quantitative reasoning alongside a practical understanding of materials, ground conditions, hydraulics and the constraints of real projects.

Northumbria University's extended degree in civil engineering runs over four years of full-time study, giving you additional time to develop both breadth and depth compared with a standard three-year programme. The extended format allows for more thorough development of core engineering sciences, structural analysis, geotechnics, fluid mechanics and project management, as well as greater engagement with professional practice and the social and environmental responsibilities of engineering. A sandwich year in industry is incorporated into the programme, providing you with substantial professional experience within a civil engineering organisation before your final year of study.

A year abroad is also part of the programme, expanding your perspective on how civil engineering is practised in different national contexts. Work placement experience is embedded alongside these structural features, ensuring that by the time you graduate you have developed a rounded professional profile as well as strong technical foundations.

Civil engineering trains you to think rigorously about complex systems, to hold together quantitative precision and big-picture awareness of stakeholder needs and environmental impact, and to communicate technical information clearly to a range of audiences. These skills are as relevant to the management of large infrastructure projects as they are to detailed structural design.

Graduates enter careers across structural and geotechnical consultancy, major infrastructure contractors, transport and utilities authorities, local and national government and environmental engineering. The extended degree and professional experience provide a strong foundation for working towards chartered engineer status with the Institution of Civil Engineers.