Civil Engineering
With the support of your employer, our HNC in civil engineering will open the door to your future career.
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Key Course Details
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Start Date
September
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Location
Pontypridd
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Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£785*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
If you thought university wasn’t for you but the world of work has made you think again, our HNC in Civil Engineering might be for you. It’s a vocational qualification, equivalent to the first year of a degree and offered part-time while you work.
DESIGNED FOR
Have you started in your career and suddenly feel as though you’re stuck without the qualifications you need to progress? If that sounds like you, our HNC in Civil Engineering could be the next step you need. You’ll be working in a relevant field with an employer who’s on your side.
Accredited By
- This qualification is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) comprising the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Institute of Highway Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and the Permanent Way Institution on behalf of the Engineering Council to fully meet the academic requirement for registration as an Engineering Technician (EngTech)
Career Paths
- Civil engineering
- Flood management
- Project management
- Mechanical engineering
- Structural engineering
- Accountancy / finance
- Teaching
Skills Taught
- Structural mechanics and design
- Project management
- Engineering communication
- Analytics
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Course Highlights
Module Overview
Over two years, you will learn the foundations of civil engineering. Working at a pace that enables you to balance your studies with your job, you’ll cover six modules that give you an introduction to the study of civil engineering and practical opportunities to test what you learn.
Year 1
Engineering Mathematics
Professional Engineering
Thermo-Fluid Mechanics
Year 2
Engineering Communication
Structural Analysis and Design
Civil Engineering Materials
In your first year, you will learn engineering mathematics, professional engineering and thermo-fluid mechanics, which includes an introduction to the concepts and definitions of energy, heat and work.
Engineering Mathematics
Cover advanced algebra, trigonometry, and calculus, enhancing understanding of data and statistics.
Professional Engineering
Gain an understanding of professional engineering ethics, roles and sustainable development impacts.
Thermo-Fluid Mechanics
Learn foundational thermodynamics and fluid dynamics concepts, heat transfer and fluid properties.
In your second year, you’ll cover engineering communication, structural analysis and design and civil engineering materials. Across all modules, you’ll learn theory and develop your professional skills by putting the theory into practice.
Engineering Communication
Develop graphic communications skills in engineering design and data analysis and report writing.
Structural Analysis and Design
Learn integrated structural analysis and design principles, emphasising safety and sustainability.
Civil Engineering Materials
Consider sustainable construction materials, emphasising carbon management in civil engineering.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
When it comes to civil engineering, you need to test your learning outside the classroom. That’s why we combine the teaching of the theory with practical opportunities to apply your knowledge. You’ll have access to the university’s dedicated resources to complete practical tasks and projects and create opportunities with your employer to apply your knowledge in your work. We collaborate locally, nationally and internationally with partners from industry and academia.
Assessments include assignments, coursework, class tests, presentations and exams.
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Teaching staff
Our teaching team comes from a mix of industry and academia. No matter where you might dream of working in the future, someone on our faculty will have a connection there. The previous Dean of the faculty was a former student, which we think is a ringing endorsement of the Civil Engineering department at the University of South Wales.
The skill mix of our lecturers is vast. Our combined experience includes conducting research, presenting at conferences, publishing their work, and informing your studies with the latest insights. You will also benefit from guest speakers from the engineering world.
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Placements
You’ll already be perfectly placed to apply your newly acquired skills and knowledge in the workplace through your existing employer. You’ll also have access to industry experts from across the world of civil engineering, enabling you to develop your work experience and your career goals.
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Facilities
Our civil engineering labs are equipped with the latest computer-aided and controlled machinery. Over the next two years, you’ll have the opportunity to be part of a live structural project as we build our new teaching site. It will feature more than 40 teaching, learning and research spaces and you’ll get the chance to be a part of it, bringing your experience as a student and your newly acquired technical knowledge to bear on the development.
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Top in Wales
Civil Engineering at USW is top in Wales for Student Satisfaction.
National Student Survey 2024Innovation Hub at USW
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
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 with a minimum of 48 UCAS points
Additional requirements include:
The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs including Mathematics and English at Grade C/Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
Students with industry experience will be considered on an individual basis.
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
£785
per 20 credits*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.
Investing in your future
We are investing in the future of STEM at USW with an exciting new Computing, Engineering and Technology building at our Pontypridd Campus.
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.
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.