Heriot-Watt University

The course

UCAS code
H210
Duration
4 years
Location
Edinburgh
Delivery type
Full-time
Find out how to apply More about this subject area

Contact

Overview

The course offers a thorough grounding in the major branches of Civil Engineering but with a focus on aspects most relevant to Structural Engineering. The aims of the course are similar to those for Civil Engineering but with a stronger emphasis on the analysis, skills and knowledge appropriate to Structural Engineering design. In addition, the course aims to cultivate skills for the creative development of designs for construction projects. An unrivalled range of specialist options is available in Year 5 and students complete a professional design project.

All Structural Engineering courses are supported by the Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from major multi-national employers offering advice, guidance and work placement opportunities.

Accreditation

Accredited by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Accredited by the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Accredited by Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Accredited by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer and partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Detailed course information

Course content

Detailed course guide

Year 1

Note that the below course structure is provided to illustrate distribution of teaching and is subject to developmental change.

For more information and image galleries of field trips and workshops visit our 'Further Information' webpage.

Semester 1

  • Mechanics A
  • Civil Engineering Applications 1
  • Construction Technology 1
  • Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists 1

Semester 2

  • Mechanics B
  • Introduction to Materials
  • Introduction to Engineering Design
  • Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists 2

Students take part in site visits to a range of construction sites

Year 2

Semester 1

  • Analysis of Determinate Structures
  • Hydraulics and Hydrology A
  • Surveying and Monitoring in the Built and Natural Environment
  • Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists 3

Semester 2

  • Civil Engineering Materials
  • Stress Analysis and Element Strength
  • Design Studies A - Problem Solving
  • Statistics for Science

Students also have the opportunity to participate in the week-long Constructionarium course, where they get hands-on construction experience of the civil engineering industry.

Year 3

Semester 1

  • Design of Steel Elements
  • Transportation Engineering A
  • Indeterminate Structures
  • Geology and Soil Properties

Semester 2

  • Hydraulics and Hydrology B
  • Geotechnics A - Introduction to Soil Mechanics
  • Design of Concrete Elements
  • Environmental Engineering A

Year 4

Students complete a research dissertation and engage in subjects in more depth. Students also undertake a design project involving collaborative work with students from other disciplines within the built environment professions.

Semester 1

  • Dissertation 1 Civil Engineering Discipline
  • Geotechnics B - Soil Strength
  • FEA and Stress Analysis A
  • Structural Element Design

Semester 2

  • Dissertation 1 Civil Engineering Discipline
  • Analysis of Indeterminate Structures
  • Foundation Engineering
  • Structural Engineering Design Project

Employability

Work and study

This is what our BEng (Hons) Structural Engineering students are doing six months after graduating:

  • 84% are working
  • 12% are studying
  • 0% are working and studying.

Managerial/professional position

  • 90% of those working are in a professional/managerial position six months after graduating.

Salary

  • The average salary of students six months after graduating: £26000
  • The average UK salary of students six months after graduating from a similar course: £25000

Jobs

These are the most common jobs students go into six months after graduating:

  • Engineering professionals
  • Business and public service associate professionals
  • Elementary occupations
  • Managers, directors and senior officials
  • Sales occupations

Entry requirements

Year 1

Standard entry requirements 
  • Highers AABB/ABBBB (including Mathematics)
  • A-Levels BBC (including Mathematics at B)
  • Int. Baccalaureate 31 points (with Mathematics at Higher Level 5)
  • BTEC DDM (in relevant engineering course)

Minimum entry requirements*

  • Highers BBBC (including Mathematics at B)
  • A-Levels BCC (including Mathematics at B)

* Minimum: under our Fair Access Policy, we will relax our standard entry requirements for some Scottish students depending on their circumstances. Our minimum requirements will apply if you:

  • live in an area within the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation lowest 20% (SIMD20), or
  • are care experienced.

We can also make exceptions for some Scottish students with grades above minimum but below standard. Read more about our Minimum and standard entry requirements

Year 2

  • Advanced Highers BB (including Mathematics plus AABB/ABBBB at Higher)
  • A-Levels ABB (including Mathematics)
  • Int. Baccalaureate 35 points (with Mathematics at Higher Level 6)
  • HNC Civil Engineering A in graded unit (with at least SCQF Level 7 or NQF Level 4 in a relevant Mathematics course)
  • BTEC DDD (in relevant engineering course)

Year 3

HND Civil Engineering AB in graded units (with A in final graded unit and at least SCQF Level 7 or NQF Level 4 in a relevant Mathematics course)

Additional information

English language requirements

  • If English is not your first language, you have to show that your English is good enough to succeed on your course. Please see our English language requirements.

Fees

Tuition fees for 2019 entry (by residency status)
Status* Scotland / EU** England / Northern Ireland / Wales*** International
Fee Paid by SAAS £9,250 £18,480

* Your residency 'status' is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course. Find out more about tuition fees.

** European Union countries (not including England, Northern Ireland or Wales).

*** 'Rest of the UK' (RUK) students entering at Level 1 receive a fee waiver of one year's tuition fee. Normally this will be the final year, or a year during which students study abroad (either at a partnership institution, or at one of Heriot-Watt's overseas campuses).

Additional costs

You may incur additional costs in the course of your studies at Heriot-Watt over and above tuition fees in an academic year. Depending on your programme of study, these may include: protective equipment, field trips, professional memberships, studio fees, required course texts or other study resources.

Scholarships and bursaries

Featured scholarships

Bursaries for students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales starting undergraduate degree courses in 2020

In addition to government loans and grants towards the costs of fees and living costs, we are offering generous financial support to attract and support eligible students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales:

Merit Awards for international students starting undergraduate degree courses in 2019

If you are an international fee-paying, self-funded applicant and have achieved, or are on course to achieve, the minimum entry requirements for the programme you wish to study you may be eligible for:

View our full range of undergraduate scholarships.