Apply through Clearing

It's not too late to find your dream course and apply. There are still places available at the University of South Wales for September 2026. Call our admissions team to secure your place: 03455 76 06 06.

Call Us How to apply
BSc (Hons)

Building Surveying including Foundation Year

Play your part in developing the buildings of tomorrow. Hone your skills and gain vital knowledge and experience for a career in building surveying.

How to apply Apply through Clearing Book an Open Day Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    K23F

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £9,790*

  • International students

    £17,200*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Make an Enquiry

Building Surveyors manage the evolving Built Environment and their role is crucial as urban space demands increase. This course teaches you about building control, conservation, defects, planning, and construction, which is key knowledge in this sector.

DESIGNED FOR

The Building Surveying degree at the University of South Wales is ideally suited for individuals aspiring to become professional building surveyors. This program is tailored for students with a strong interest in construction, property, and a desire to gain the skills and knowledge required for a career in building surveying

Career Paths

  • Construction Project Manager
  • Quantity Surveyor
  • Building Surveyor
  • Construction Estimator
  • Site Supervisor

Skills taught

  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • IT/Digital Skills
  • Working with Others
  • Employability

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

Two surveyors in blue hard hats and orange high visibility jackets use land surveying and measuring equipment on a construction site outside
Miranda Thomas, Built Environment Lecturer, talking to camera in classroom
Two civil engineering students wearing yellow high visibility jackets use a piece of surveying equipment at an outdoor building site in Treforest
A surveyor in a yellow hard hat and an orange high visibility jacket inspects the inside of a building with a computer tablet
A person in a hi-vis and a hard hat is stood reviewing documentation.
A surveyor wearing a blue hard hat, safety glasses and a high visibility jacket shows building plans and talks to a colleague

Course Highlights

Full Time or Part Time Delivery

Students can complete their studies full-time or part-time whilst gaining valuable industry experience.

Focus on Employability

We engage Industry as a key stakeholder in developing our course material, inviting them in to deliver industry relevant guest lectures

Visit Industry

You will get chance to engage with industry by visiting local companies, allowing you to see how everything you have learned in the classroom plays out in the workplace environment

Desirable Skills Which Address Industry Shortages

You will develop skills in communication, problem solving, IT digital skills, and collaboration.

Professionally Accredited

The Building Surveying course is accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

Module Overview

In your Foundation Year, you’ll explore real-world challenges, build practical, academic, and teamwork skills, and develop curiosity, confidence, and problem-solving abilities to prepare for future study and impact.

Starting your University Journey 
This module helps you develop academic, personal and professional skills for university study. You’ll reflect on your progress, build confidence, and create an evidence-based portfolio to support your future learning. 

Engineering in Action: From Theory to Practice 
Explore real-world engineering challenges as you develop your theoretical knowledge, including core mathematical and scientific principles. Learn key skills through tutorials and seminars before applying them in immersive laboratories and workshops. 

Shaping Smart, Sustainable Built Environments
Step into the built environment and explore roles from surveying to construction management. You’ll discover how sustainability and smart tech shape decisions, while building the skills and confidence for your degree. 

The Impact Challenge 
You’ll work in teams with other Foundation Year students to tackle real-world challenges, developing solutions through research, curiosity, collaboration, and responsible problem-solving while building skills that will support your future studies. 

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

You’ll learn by doing, through real-world activities that help you understand how learning works at university. You’ll be encouraged to ask questions, explore new ideas and work with others, as well as independently. Teaching builds confidence, critical thinking and reflection, supported by digital tools. Regular feedback helps you track progress, plan next steps and build resilience and a strong sense of belonging as you prepare for higher-level study. 

How you’ll be assessed

You’ll be assessed in different ways, including short tasks, coursework, presentations, and group work. Early assessments are designed to support your learning and help you understand what is expected at university. Most assessments are coursework-based and help you develop key skills such as research, academic writing, teamwork, and communication. You’ll also reflect on your progress and use university systems and digital tools. Clear, timely feedback will help you understand how to improve and support your next steps. 

 

Placements

We recommend you spend a year working in the construction industry as part of your project management degree. During this sandwich year, you’ll get hands-on experience that will make you a more attractive candidate to employers and will inform your studies in your final year.

Our dedicated careers placement officer can assist you in finding placements during the holidays.

 

Facilities

For added experience, you’ll use industry-standard facilities on campus. These include computing laboratories with engineering software such as Revit, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Autodesk QTO, CostX, Synchro, and Navisworks.

You will also be introduced to the latest digital technologies such as drones, thermal imaging, Virtual and Augmented Reality.

 

Accredited By

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
quantity surveyor Anna Chappell standing in front of a building site wearing an hi-vis jacket and hard hat

  • Building courses at USW are top in Wales for overall student satisfaction. (National Student Survey 2025)

98%

of USW Built Environment and Civil Engineering graduates are in employment and/or further study 15 months after graduation 

(Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021/22)

  • Building courses at USW are top in Wales for overall student satisfaction. (National Student Survey 2025)

Innovation Hub at USW

A photo thumbnail for the

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

Building Surveying offers excellent career opportunities in the UK and internationally. As a graduate, you’ll have the skills and confidence to begin a career as a Building Surveyor and work towards corporate membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Graduates can progress into roles across private practice, property and construction companies, development organisations, and central or local government, or choose to become self-employed. Supported by strong industrial and commercial links and over 40 years of experience developing industry-ready professionals, the course prepares you with the knowledge and skills employers value across the built environment sector. 

 



Possible career paths

Construction is one of the largest industries in the world, and none of it would be possible without surveyors and project managers. Our strong industrial and commercial links mean we know what employers want from you when you graduate. We have a proud history of developing industry-ready graduates for over four decades. 

the time you graduate, you could work in private practice, property departments, construction and development companies, central and local government organisations, or become self-employed.

Careers support

You will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after graduation. Built Environment has a dedicated careers advisor.

We have online resources for help with considering career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students - you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.

Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.

 

 

 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS points: 48 (or above)

Typical qualification requirements:

  • A Level: DD
  • Welsh BACC: N/A
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass or BTEC Diploma Pass Pass
  • Access to HE: Pass Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points
  • T Level: Pass (D or E)

 

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£9,790

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£17,200

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Bursaries Cost of Living Support

Additional Costs

Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of stationery, printing, or equipment during your foundation year.  For costs after you progress to year 1 of your degree programme, please see the list below.

student-25
Read about campus developmentsOur new STEM Hub

Introducing Calon

We are investing in the future of STEM with the exciting new Calon building at the heart of our Pontypridd Campus.

Introducing Calon Pontypridd Campus

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).

Advanced entry

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.

International admissions

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
 

Related Courses

Building Surveying - BSc (Hons) Learn more

Next Steps

How to apply
Apply Through UCAS
Book an Open Day
Chat to Us