Building

By Neda Mostafavi

Published: 15 August 2004

What do you come out with? BSc.

Why do it? Because it leads straight into a job. Because it's not what you've done at school. Because you can work abroad. Because your family is in the business - or you are and your firm is sponsoring you. Because you can "help change the world" says Brian Wood at Oxford Brookes. There is also a shortage of graduates so starting salary is around Â£18,000-Â£27,000.

What's it about? Turning architect's ideas into real buildings. If you do construction engineering and management at Ulster you learn about building techniques, building science, computer-aided design, construction law and production management. If you take the innovative building design engineering degree at Strathclyde, you can combine the creative design of buildings with the technical stuff about how to ensure they stand up. At Westminster, you combine the technical aspects - the way buildings are put together, the fabric and structure - with the management of building work; UMIST has a similar approach to construction management although it also includes areas of the law and economics. All courses are tied to the professional institutions. Reading offers four courses in the "building" area in construction management, construction management and surveying, quantity surveying and building surveying.

How long is a degree? Four years at Ulster and Oxford Brookes; one year is spent in industry shadowing professionals. At Oxford Brookes the course can also be completed in three years if the student has prior experience within the field. Four years at Strathclyde. Three years everywhere else unless you're doing a year in practice. Part-time course at Westminster takes five years.

What are the students like? Mostly male, although there are more women on a course like Building Design Engineering and Reading says the number of female student is constantly increasing. Students of construction management at Salford are sponsored by companies, such as Kvaerner and Bovis. At Ulster, one half come in through BTEC or qualifications other than A-levels. Many at the University of Westminster are mature students at work on part-time courses. Oxford Brookes tries to tackle the predominance of males by working with the Oxford Women's Training Scheme which encourages women onto the course.

How is it packaged? At Ulster, 70 per cent of the course is examined and 30 per cent is coursework. At Strathclyde it's more like 50:50. UMIST splits into 25 per cent coursework and 75 per cent exam. Oxford Brookes employs a modular system where approximately half of the modules have exams and throughout the course coursework counts for around 75 per cent and exams for about 25 per cent.

How cool is it? Not. Building degrees are in decline as more and more students opt for specialist courses in quantity surveying or property management. At Salford, numbers on building-only courses are down to single figures.

What A-levels do you need? Anything goes at Westminster, UMIST, Oxford Brookes and Salford. Reading also, but they do not accept general studies and ask for a minimum of grade C in GCSE English and maths. Maths and physics are considered desirable at Ulster and Strathclyde.

What grades? BCC at Salford. BCC at Strathclyde or ABBC/BBBB in Scottish Highers; CCC at Ulster and Oxford Brookes; CCE at Westminster; BCC at UMIST.

Will you be interviewed? Usually at Salford. Not at Ulster or Strathclyde, though at the latter you will be invited to an open day where you will do the interviewing. You will be interviewed at Westminster if there's a question mark about you.

Will it keep you off the dole? Should do, though how quickly you get work depends on the economy. Graduates join construction firms as junior production managers or quantity surveyors while they undertake their professional qualifications leading to membership of the Chartered Institute of Building; some contractors even sponsor students.

What do students say? Michael Hermes, who studied at Strathclyde. " I switched to building design engineering from architecture. I liked it because it's more practical. It's a fairly small course, so you get to know everyone quickly."

Where's best for teaching? Kingston scored 24 out of 24; Oxford Brookes and Plymouth scored 23; Coventry, College of North West London, Nottingham Trent, UMIST, Luton, Northumbria and Westminster scored 22.

Where's best for research? Loughborough and Salford got tip-top 5*, Reading, Sheffield, Heriot-Watt, Cardiff and Ulster got a 5; Cambridge, De Montfort, Liverpool, Umist, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford Brookes, UCL and Strathclyde got a 4.

Where's the cutting edge? Building for the disabled at Salford. The application of IT to design at Strathclyde which is one of the leaders in application of computers, multimedia and virtual reality. Thin-bed masonry construction (using glue to stick bricks together instead of mortar) and new management techniques at Oxford Brookes. Foster's Gherkin in London where every piece of glass is a different size, technology is changing and architect's dreams still need to be realised.

Who are the stars? Professor Martin Betts, strategic IT, and Professor Mustafa Alshawi, e-commerce, both at Salford; Professor Jim Shields, fire engineering, and Professor Alan Woodside, highway engineering, Ulster; Professor Tom Maver, IT boffin at Strathclyde; at Loughborough, Professor Ron McCaffer; Professor Malcolm Hollis, building pathology and Professor Roger Flanagan, construction management and economics and president to be of the Chartered Institute of Building in 2005, both at Reading.

Related courses: At Strathclyde, you can do a BEng in environmental engineering; ditto at Ulster as well as degrees in architectural technology and management, and surveying; at Westminster you can do a degree in quantity surveying; at Salford there are degrees in building surveying, quantity surveying, property management and investment.

Added value: Westminster is cosmopolitan: students hail from Germany, Spain and America. Strathclyde has one computer for every four students; Salford makes everything relevant to industry.

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