Construction Management

Construction management is the discipline responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering the built environment. It combines technical knowledge of buildings and infrastructure with skills in project management, finance, procurement, health and safety, and leadership. Construction managers work at the point where design becomes reality, overseeing the processes and people that turn plans into completed structures, on time, within budget, and to the required standard.

This programme at the University of Reading includes a foundation year for students who need a preparatory route into the degree, as well as a sandwich year and work placement, making the practical dimension of your training exceptionally strong. The foundation year ensures you arrive at the core degree ready to engage with technical and professional content, while the sandwich year places you on live construction projects, giving you experience that employers consistently identify as among the most valuable a graduate can have. You will study structural engineering principles, construction technology, project planning and scheduling, contract law, quantity surveying, and the environmental sustainability of buildings.

Reading has well-established industry connections in the construction and built environment sectors, which enriches both the curriculum and the placement opportunities available to you.

Construction management graduates are highly employable, with strong demand from contractors, developers, consultancies, and public sector clients. Career paths include site and project management, quantity surveying, programme management, and eventually director-level roles within major organisations. The discipline also offers routes into specialist areas such as infrastructure, residential development, commercial fit-out, and sustainable construction.

For those who want formal professional recognition, the programme provides a pathway toward chartered status with bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Building. Postgraduate study in project management, quantity surveying, or sustainable construction is also an option.