Overview
Civil engineers make the bridges, flood defences and railways that everyone else takes for granted. At Aldermere you learn the theory in tutorials and test it on real structures, including the timber footbridge our students built across the Mill Reach.
The course is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators and leads to chartered status.
- 24 mTimber footbridge built by students
- JBMAccredited MEng
- 1Field week on a live construction site
Course structure
The outline below shows a typical path through the course. Options change a little each year as tutors join and research moves on.
Year 1
- Engineering Mathematics
- Structural Mechanics
- Surveying
- Design and Build I
Year 2
- Geotechnics
- Hydraulics
- Structural Design in Steel and Timber
- Site field week
Year 3
- Water and Flood Engineering
- Transport
- Concrete Structures
- Group design project
Year 4
- Individual research project
- Options, e.g. Resilient Infrastructure, Coastal Engineering
How you will learn
You will have two tutorials a week with one or two other students, where you discuss the essay or problem set you wrote that week with a tutor. Lectures, seminars of ten to twelve students and practical classes fill the rest of the week. Each student has a personal tutor for the whole degree.
Assessment
Examinations, design coursework, laboratory reports and project work.
Entry requirements
- A levels: A*AA, including Mathematics and Physics
- International Baccalaureate: 39 points, with 6 in Higher Level Mathematics and Physics
We make contextual offers, typically one grade lower, to applicants from schools that send few students to university. If your qualifications are not listed, the admissions office will tell you what we would expect.
Fees and funding
Tuition for 2027-28 is $38,400 a year, including college membership. Under the Aldermere Promise, students from families earning under $85,000 a year pay no tuition, and partial awards continue up to $150,000. Every undergraduate also receives a $2,000 grant each year for books, travel and equipment.
Careers
Graduates of this programme go on to a wide range of careers. Recent destinations include:
- Structural engineering
- Water and flood management
- Transport planning
- Construction management
- Government infrastructure
- Consulting
Walking across a bridge you helped design never stops feeling slightly unreal.
Sam Okoro Class of 2026
Questions
Can I change programme after I arrive?
Yes, at the end of the first year, if there is space on the programme you want to move to and your tutors agree. Around one student in twenty does.
Is there an interview?
Yes. Shortlisted applicants have a conversation of about twenty-five minutes with two tutors in December, in person or online. It is about how you think, not what you have memorised.
