Built Environment
Boost your career prospects and deepen your skills and knowledge in construction with our HNC in Built Environment degree.
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Key Course Details
Sharpen your skills and develop vital knowledge in construction, where you’ll learn everything from building, and renovation to demolition. This part-time HNC is designed to fit alongside work and features the latest sector insights from specialist lecturers and industry guest speakers.
DESIGNED FOR
If you’re already in the construction industry and eager to accelerate your career, this part-time HNC provides the skills and knowledge to advance. It combines theory with practical application including the use of industry-standard software and technology to give you the edge.
Career paths
- Project manager
- Site manager
- Consultant
- Quantity or building surveyor
Skills taught
- Construction technology and software skills
- Leadership, communication and teamwork
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Course Highlights
Module Overview
Studying part-time, you’ll build on your existing construction knowledge and skills in the construction sector. You’ll also develop commercial awareness, communication, leadership and project management skills through working on live project case studies. Further study can top up your HNC to an honours degree.
You’ll study with full-time students from the other construction courses. Your industry experience will be valued as you study construction fundamentals, alongside placements to see how your learning translates into real-world practice.
Built Environment Principles
Explore the concept of the built environment and the impact construction has on it.
Development and Society
Discover how space and the built environment evolve. Consider how development is constrained and challenged through social, political and geographical processes.
Construction Technology
Your introduction to the function, performance fundamentals and common construction techniques used for the major components of domestic dwellings.
Build on the fundamentals from your first year with insights into relevant law, economics, and digital technologies using live project examples. Get hands-on with industry-standard kit and continue to apply what you’ve learned during placement opportunities.
Built Environment Law
Learn about the wide range of laws applicable to the UK construction industry and the built environment.
Built Environment Economics
Get to grips with the numbers behind construction. Understand the general economy and built environment economy; develop your understanding of economic theory.
Digital Technologies
Use a 3D laser scanner, laser measurer, drone and VR headsets as you survey, draw, measure and analyse.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
Expect a mixture of lectures including guest lectures, group work and workshops. Site visits bring theory to life, and you’ll be expected to work independently to prepare for classes and complete project work.
We focus on helping you develop analytical decision-making and project-solving skills through practical activities rather than just reading about them – so you’ll get plenty of concrete experience.
Assessments range from exams and coursework to problem-based exercises using real-life scenarios.
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Teaching staff
Learn from experienced industry professionals who work hard to make the course theory relevant. We also invite guest speakers from the industry to give talks on relevant topics to help keep the course content fresh and pass on insights about current issues and practices.
You’ll also have a personal academic throughout your studies to help you organise your work and support you with any personal concerns.
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Facilities
You’ll have access to industry-standard technology and software in our dedicated computing labs. Think Revit, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Autodesk QTO, CostX, Synchro, and Navisworks.
We use the latest digital technology, including drones, thermal imaging cameras, and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) – all increasingly common in the industry.
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98%
of USW Built Environment and Civil Engineering graduates are in employment and/or further study 15 months after graduation
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS points: 48 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: DD
- Welsh BACC: Grade D and D at A Level
- 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
Additional requirements include:
Three GCSEs at grade C/Grade 4 or above, including Mathematics and English language
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 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing 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
Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. 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 travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
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Introducing Calon
We are investing in the future of STEM at USW with an exciting new Computing, Engineering and Technology building at our 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.
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.
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.
