Curious about studying Civil and Environmental Engineering BEng - BEngat Abertay University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Engineering - BEng
Abertay University
Full Time
Sep 2026
4 Year
Study Civil and Environmental Engineering at Abertay and gain the knowledge and skills you need to become a Chartered Civil Engineer. Our Civil Engineering undergraduate degree is vocational and has industry work placements integrated into the course. There is a big shortage of civil engineers in Britain and Europe, making you hugely employable as soon as you graduate.
You’ll gain a firm grounding across a wide range of civil and environmental engineering applications, with plenty of practical and hands-on experience through placements with industry partners such as Transport Scotland, Balfour Beatty and BEAR Scotland.
Practical, hands-on experienceYou’ll also get hands-on experience with a practical construction challenge in year two. This is where you work in teams to plan, project manage and construct a scaled-down version of real-world structures such as bridges, pavilions, wind turbine footings and other civil engineering projects.
Almost 100% employment after graduationYou’ll contribute to the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities, and societies by understanding interactions between buildings, infrastructure, and the environment. Due to smaller class sizes our approach is more personal, as it means we have more time to spend with each student. After following a common pathway for two years, you’ll take either the Standard or Applied route. The Applied route includes an 18-week work placement, crucial if you want to be a Biomedical Scientist in the NHS. This course ranked
1st in Scotland for teaching satisfaction (Guardian University Guide 2023).
AccreditationsIntegrated Masters: MEng Accredited CEng
This degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) comprised of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Institute of Highway Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and the Permanent Way Institution on behalf of the Engineering Council as fully satisfying the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng). See www.jbm.org.uk for further information.
Starting university is a big step, and every student arrives with different strengths and challenges. This module helps you reflect on your skills, identify areas for development and plan how to succeed academically and personally. Using the Abertay Discovery Tool, you'll review key areas such as study skills, careers and employability, digital confidence and wellbeing. You'll then create a personal action plan and choose further MySuccess modules to support your growth throughout your time at Abertay. Indicative Content - What Does a Successful Student Look Like? Reflect on your motivations, values and passions. Explore what makes a successful student, learn from different examples of success, and consider how stepping outside your comfort zone can help you grow. - Abertay Discovery Tool: Complete the Abertay Discovery Tool to identify your strengths and areas for development across five themes: studying at university, academic skills, digital skills, careers and employability, and wellbeing. - Fundamentals of University: Learn how university study works - from understanding modules and assessments to interpreting assignment briefs and using feedback to improve. - Expectations of University and You: Explore what's expected of you as a student, including the code of conduct, academic integrity, and independent learning. Understand blended learning and how the Abertay Attributes link to your development. - Successful Student Behaviours: Develop habits that support success: managing time, avoiding procrastination, preparing effectively for classes, taking good notes and building a growth mindset. Discover opportunities to get involved at Abertay and beyond.
This module focuses on developing professional communication and research skills, alongside an understanding of professional practice in civil engineering. You’ll explore how these skills are applied in the construction industry, with a particular emphasis on the pre-construction phase of a project. Indicative Content - Drawing and Visualisation: Learn how to create 2D drawings using industry software and hand sketching. Develop the ability to extract key data such as lengths, areas and volumes from drawings, and gain an introduction to 3D visualisation and data types. - Resource Management: Explore how construction organisations plan and allocate resources effectively across projects, focusing on time, cost and efficiency. - Pre-Construction Phase Activities: Get an overview of the key activities involved before construction begins. Topics include developing a client brief, procurement strategies and contract types, BIM principles, tendering processes, sustainable design and environmental management, ethical practice, and health and safety in civil engineering.
This module develops the core mathematical and analytical skills needed for civil and structural engineering. You’ll build a solid foundation in key areas of maths—including algebra, calculus, trigonometry, vectors and statistics—and apply these to real engineering problems. The module also introduces the fundamentals of structural analysis, covering forces, moments, stress, strain and equilibrium. By combining theory with practical problem solving, you’ll learn how to apply quantitative tools and logical reasoning to analyse and interpret structural behaviour with confidence. Indicative Content - Mathematics: Develop core mathematical skills essential for engineering. Topics include simultaneous equations, vectors and their applications to forces and moments, equivalent systems, and centres of area, mass and gravity. You’ll study functions and graphs (including exponential and logarithmic), trigonometry, and basic statistics. The module also covers matrix algebra, determinants and inverses, and methods such as Gaussian elimination. You’ll explore differentiation and integration techniques, including maxima and minima, partial differentiation, and solving first- and second-order differential equations. - Structures: Gain an understanding of the fundamental principles of structural behaviour. You’ll study quantities and units, structural elements and loads, elastic and plastic behaviour, and forces and moments. Learn how to analyse equilibrium in trusses, beams and frames, and construct shear force and bending moment diagrams. Explore direct stress and strain, the Modulus of Elasticity, and the behaviour of materials under different conditions, including thermal loading and composite sections. The module also covers simple bending theory, the second moment of area, the theorem of parallel axes, section modulus, horizontal shear stress in beams, and torsion in circular shafts. You’ll apply these principles using both manual calculation and computer-based tools.
This module introduces an integrated view of how organisations deliver value through processes and people. Bringing together the P-O-L-C (planning, organising, leading and controlling) management cycle with the HRM lifecycle, the module develops your ability to diagnose operations and workforce issues, use evidence alongside employment law and EDI principles, and design ethical, sustainable improvements in contemporary, digitally enabled workplaces. Indicative content Foundations of Management & HRM: You'll explore the key principles of management and Human Resource Management (HRM), including how people and processes support organisational goals. You'll also examine the roles of managers and HR professionals in making this happen. Organisational Context & Design: You'll discover how factors such as culture, organisational structure, technology and the wider environment can influence how effectively organisations operate. You'll also explore flexible approaches to designing work and teams. Core HRM Functions & Wellbeing: You'll explore essential areas of HRM, including workforce planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, reward and benefits, and employee relations. You'll consider how these connect with organisational strategy, fairness, transparency, wellbeing and inclusion. Contemporary Challenges & Innovation: You'll examine how management and HRM are adapting to a changing workplace, including digital working, AI adoption, diversity and inclusion, sustainability and organisational change.
Please note: ABE111: Numbers for Everyday Life will only be assigned as a core module if you do not have a minimum of a National 5 Maths qualification at grade C or an acceptable equivalent. This module helps you strengthen core numeracy skills, including percentages, decimals, fractions, appreciation, depreciation and rounding. Through problem-solving and reasoning, you’ll learn to analyse everyday situations and make logical, well-informed decisions. You’ll also gain a foundation in statistics—covering mean, median, mode and standard deviation—and develop financial skills such as budgeting, managing income and expenses, understanding interest rates, and making choices about saving and borrowing. By applying these skills to real-life contexts, you’ll build confidence in using numbers to solve problems, manage your finances, and support decision-making in both study and work. Indicative Content - Numerical Skills: Develop your confidence with key number skills, including percentages, decimals, fractions, appreciation, depreciation and rounding. - Problem Solving and Reasoning: Practice using maths to tackle everyday situations. Learn how to spot problems, rearrange equations, make logical connections and reach effective decisions. - Fundamentals of Statistics: Get to grips with the basics of statistics. Learn how to calculate and use mean, median, mode and standard deviation to interpret and compare data. - Financial Skills: Build practical financial know-how. Explore budgeting, managing income and expenses, understanding interest rates, and making smart decisions about saving and borrowing. Apply these skills directly to real-life situations.
This module introduces the fundamentals of geology, hydrology and geomorphology, with a focus on how these earth processes influence engineering and environmental practice. You’ll learn how landscapes are shaped, how water systems function, and how human activity affects the environment. The module also develops your surveying knowledge and practical field skills, enabling you to collect and analyse data safely and accurately for civil and environmental engineering applications. Indicative Content - Introduction to Earth Surface Processes: Explore the origin and structure of the Earth, including large-scale processes such as earthquakes and volcanoes, and how geological formations develop over long timescales. - Introduction to Geology: Learn to identify common rock-forming minerals and rocks, and understand their geological origins. Study the principles of stratigraphy and structural geology, including dip and strike, folds, faults and unconformities. - Introduction to Environmental Systems: Examine environmental systems and cycles, focusing on geomorphological and hydrological processes that shape the physical environment. - Human Forces Behind Environmental Issues: Analyse how population growth, technology and social factors contribute to environmental change and challenges. - Environmental Problems Related to Landscape Processes: Investigate major environmental issues such as air and water pollution, contaminated land, waste disposal, deforestation, soil erosion and urbanisation. - Surveying: Learn the principles of good practice in land surveying, understanding the levels of accuracy needed for different engineering and construction tasks. - Surveying Tasks: Apply standard field techniques and carry out calculations and data analysis for a range of surveying activities relevant to industry and construction. - Three-Dimensional Survey: Undertake a detailed three-dimensional land survey and produce a plan for a defined area. - Surveying Theory and Practice: Build a solid understanding of surveying theory and perform calculations to support accurate and effective surveying work.
This module introduces the core principles of environmental science for civil and environmental engineers. You’ll explore key Earth processes and the effects of human activity on the environment, developing an understanding of how engineers can address environmental challenges and support sustainable solutions that balance environmental, social and economic needs. Indicative Content - Contemporary Landscapes: Understanding the geology, rock and nutrient cycles and weathering which produce the 'hard' landscapes which are then colonised by plants and animals to produce ecosystems and contemporary landscapes found today. - Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability: Examine how ecosystems provide essential services, how human activity affects these systems through resource use and pollution, and how they can be managed sustainably. - Land Use and Stakeholders: Understand the competing interests of different stakeholders in environmental management and how conflicts over land use are negotiated and resolved. - Climate Change: Learn how climate models are developed and used to predict future scenarios, drawing on IPCC data and emission pathways. - Engineering Approaches: Discover how engineers apply both hard and soft engineering solutions to address current and future environmental challenges.
Practical application of civil and environmental engineering skills, techniques and knowledge. Indicative Content - Land Surveying: Learn a range of land surveying techniques, including topographical surveying using total stations and electronic data capture. You’ll process data using specialist software, produce survey plots, and perform calculations for plan positioning and setting out small projects. - Survey Reporting and Plans: Apply your surveying skills to real-world fieldwork. Prepare professional reports and detailed plan diagrams that demonstrate your understanding of surveying techniques and good practice. - Construction Practice: Gain experience in planning, executing and evaluating a civil engineering project. Explore temporary works, material and equipment selection, method statements, and resource management. Assess the role of health and safety and sustainability throughout. - Professional Reporting: Develop your ability to communicate engineering practice clearly through structured, professional reports. - Risk Assessment: Understand and apply the principles of risk assessment and health and safety management across engineering activities. - Sustainability Considerations: Explore how sustainability underpins modern engineering practice and learn how to integrate sustainable thinking into project design and delivery. - Conceptual Design: Learn how to interpret client requirements, create initial design concepts, and evaluate potential design solutions.
In this module, you’ll explore the fundamental principles of hydrology and hydrostatics and learn how to apply them to real-world problems in water resources and civil engineering. You’ll examine how water behaves as both a natural and managed resource, and assess how engineering solutions can impact the environment and society. Indicative Content - Hydrology: Explore the hydrological cycle and the key principles that govern it. Learn how to measure and analyse rainfall and evaporation, and understand how these influence water movement and availability. - Water Use and Quality: Study how water is used, reused, and conserved across human and environmental systems. Learn about water quality parameters, the factors that affect quality, and the importance of sustainable water management. - Water-Related Disasters and Sustainable Water Management: Examine the causes and impacts of floods and droughts. Discover approaches to sustainable catchment management and learn how sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are used to manage water effectively. - Fluid Properties: Understand how fluids behave under different conditions. Explore concepts such as flow types, velocity gradients, Reynolds numbers, and the differences between laminar and turbulent motion. - Fluid Statics: Learn how pressure varies within fluids and how to calculate hydrostatic and buoyancy forces on submerged surfaces. Explore stability and metacentric height in floating and submerged bodies. - Fluid Dynamics: Apply key fluid mechanics equations — including continuity, conservation of mass, Bernoulli’s and momentum equations — to analyse steady flow and solve practical problems in water systems.
This module applies the principle of environmental engineering in the analysis and management of environmental pollution. Indicative Content - Water Quality: Overview of the principles of air, water and land interaction and surface water quality management: Introduction of water quality and management; Fate of water pollutants in rivers and lakes; Drinking Water Quality standards, UK and EU Directives; Fundamentals of self-purification; Models used as quality predictive tools: Streeter Phelps equation. - Water Treatment: Coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection process. - Groundwater quality and management: Surface Water and Groundwater Interaction, Stream- Aquifer Interaction. Aquifer management. - Air quality and pollution management: Overview on sources of air pollution and monitoring and control of emissions of air pollutants; Dispersion of air pollutants in atmosphere; Air pollution modelling approaches and Indoor air pollution. - Environmental impact Assessment (EIA): EIA procedure. Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Case studies and EIA of developments.
Please note: If you are a Direct Entrant (new student) to this year of study and have not previously taken module ABE101, then you MUST take ABE201 as your Term 2 microcredential module. If you have previously taken ABE101, then you are NOT permitted to take ABE201 in Term 2. Starting university brings new opportunities and challenges, and every student’s journey is different. This microcredential helps you settle into life at Abertay and build the habits that lead to success. You’ll hear from current students sharing their own tips, and reflect on the areas you most want to develop. You’ll get to know Abertay’s systems, explore what makes a successful student and practise core skills such as time management, referencing, academic writing style and using support services. By the end, you’ll have the tools and strategies you need to thrive at university. Indicative content - Navigating Abertay Systems: Get to know the key systems you’ll use at Abertay—such as MyLearningSpace, MS Teams, OASIS and MyAbertay—and learn how to use them effectively. - Expectations of University and You: Explore what’s expected of you as a student and what you can expect from the university. Topics include the code of conduct, independent and blended learning, how courses are structured, health and safety, and the Abertay attributes. - Abertay Discovery Tool: Complete the Discovery Tool to identify your strengths and areas for development across five themes: studying at university, academic skills, digital skills, careers and employability, and wellbeing. - Fundamentals of University: Learn how modules work, how assessments are set, and how to use assignment briefs and feedback to improve your work. - Understanding, Searching and Evaluating Information: Develop strategies for finding and assessing reliable information, building your confidence in research and study skills. - Successful Student Behaviours: Practise the habits that help you succeed: managing time, avoiding procrastination, effective note-taking, preparing for classes, developing a growth mindset, and making use of student support services. - Referencing: Understand academic integrity and why referencing matters. Learn how to avoid plagiarism, create in-text citations and reference lists, and use digital tools to manage your sources. - Sounding Academic: Discover what lecturers mean by “academic style” and how to use the right language in your writing. Learn the rules of academic writing, how to paraphrase effectively, and how expectations differ between school/college and university. You’ll also explore how assessments, marking and feedback work.
Explore the wide range of career paths available within the engineering profession and build the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively in engineering project management. You’ll learn how engineering projects are planned, organised and delivered, and develop the professional and managerial skills required to contribute confidently within the workplace. Indicative Content - Health and Safety: Learn about the key health and safety legislation relevant to engineering, including CDM regulations. Understand the roles, obligations and responsibilities of professionals in maintaining safe working environments. - Procurement Strategies, Tendering and Construction Contracts: Explore how engineering projects are procured and managed — from design and tendering through to contract formation and delivery. Discuss common contractual challenges and current issues in procurement. - Project Control Tools: Develop practical skills in project planning, programming and control. Learn to use tools such as PERT to manage time, cost and quality, and understand how to deal with uncertainty in project delivery. - Economic and Sustainability Assessment: Examine methods used to assess project value and sustainability, including life cycle costing, cost–benefit analysis and tools such as CEEQUAL and BREEAM. Explore how sustainability indicators and multi-criteria analysis guide decision-making. - Professional Employability Skills: Build essential professional skills for the workplace. Learn about employer expectations, interview techniques, equality and diversity, and professional ethics — including how to apply codes of conduct and handle ethical dilemmas.
Deepen your understanding of structural behaviour and learn how to apply advanced methods of structural analysis and design. You’ll explore how structures respond under different loads and conditions, study the principles that guide safe and efficient design, and gain experience applying industry standards and codes of practice. Through hands-on lab work, you’ll test materials and analyse real-world structural performance to connect theory with practice. Indicative Content - Structural Analysis: Explore how compression members behave under load, including modes of failure, slenderness, and instability. Learn about Euler’s buckling load using examples such as timber columns. Study key concepts of statically determinate and indeterminate structures, and develop your understanding of flexibility and stiffness methods, influence lines, and symmetry in structural systems. - Structural Design: Gain insight into the fundamental requirements and philosophies of structural design. Learn how to account for loads, material strengths, and safety factors within the design process. You’ll be introduced to the design of timber columns, masonry structures, and temporary works. - Laboratory Work: Apply theory in practice by testing timber beams to destruction and studying the buckling behaviour of model struts to understand how real structures perform under stress.
In this module, you’ll explore the properties and uses of a wide range of construction materials, gaining an understanding of how they perform in real projects. You’ll be introduced to the core principles of highway design and discover how Building Information Modelling (BIM) is transforming the way engineers plan, design and manage construction. Indicative Content - Construction Materials: Properties and Uses of Materials: You’ll explore where different construction materials come from, how they’re identified and classified, and their key properties. You’ll also look at how materials are manufactured, processed and used in practice. Alongside this, you’ll learn how to test, select and specify materials, with a strong focus on sustainability. - Materials Testing: You’ll gain hands-on experience testing and evaluating common construction materials, helping you understand how they perform and why testing is essential in real engineering projects. - Highway Engineering: Road Alignment: You’ll study the theory and practice behind road alignment, including vertical and horizontal curvature. You’ll work on a road realignment project with sustainability in mind, use computer-based road design software, and consider how safety influences design decisions. - Highway Intersections: You’ll learn how to design and analyse different types of intersections, including priority junctions, roundabouts, signal-controlled junctions and grade-separated interchanges. You’ll also explore the materials and methods used in pavement construction, looking at flexible and rigid pavements, mix design, material specifications, and the impact of loading. Sustainability and recycling will be key themes throughout. - Highway Pavements: You’ll focus in more detail on pavement design and construction, comparing flexible and rigid pavements. You’ll study the use of bound and unbound materials, mix design, and specifications, while also considering pavement loading, performance, and the importance of sustainable and recyclable solutions. - BIMs: You’ll be introduced to Building Information Modelling (BIM) in practice, exploring how it’s used in cost estimation, project control and decision-making. You’ll see how BIM is transforming the way construction projects are planned and managed.
In this module, you’ll be introduced to the fundamentals of geotechnical analysis and discover how these principles are applied within civil engineering. You’ll start building the knowledge and skills needed to understand how soil and rock behaviour influences the design and construction of engineering projects. Indicative Content - Physical Properties of Soil: You’ll explore the key factors that control how rocks weather and soils form. You’ll also study important soil properties such as moisture content, density, void ratio, porosity, air content and saturation, and understand why they matter in engineering. - Soil Compaction and Re-use: You’ll learn about the theory and practice of soil compaction, and how engineers decide whether soils are suitable for reuse. You’ll also consider how reusing fill materials supports both engineering performance and sustainability goals. - Effective Stress: You’ll be introduced to the concept of total and effective stress, and how pore water pressure influences soil behaviour — a fundamental principle in geotechnical engineering. - Soil Shear Strength: You’ll study the theory of soil shear strength, including the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. You’ll also learn how to determine shear strength parameters for design purposes using tests such as the shear box and undrained triaxial. - Consolidation of Soils: You’ll investigate how cohesive soils consolidate, both in the laboratory and in theory. This includes measuring settlement, understanding the rate of consolidation, calculating over-consolidation ratios, and applying the e/log p′ graph. - Seepage: You’ll examine how water moves through soil, including flow net construction, seepage into excavations, seepage forces and piping — all of which are critical for safe and effective design. - Laboratory Work: You’ll gain hands-on experience in the lab by determining soil properties such as moisture content, Atterberg limits, compaction and shear strength of sand and/or saturated clay. You’ll also develop safe working practices essential for professional engineering environments.
In this module, you’ll be introduced to the principles of structural design in both reinforced concrete and steel. You’ll learn how these materials are used in real engineering projects, developing the knowledge and skills to design safe, efficient and sustainable structures. Indicative Content - Design Loads: You’ll learn how to calculate and apply design loads, focusing on the effects of wind and snow, and understand why these are critical for safe and reliable structures. - Reinforced Concrete: You’ll explore the properties of reinforced concrete, including the use of recycled aggregates, and study limit state design requirements, loads, and safety factors. You’ll also look at how different structural elements are designed, such as beams (singly and doubly reinforced), slabs (one-way and two-way), axially loaded columns, foundations, and cantilever retaining walls. - Design of Steel Structures: You’ll examine the properties and grading of steel, partial safety factors, and section classification. You’ll then apply this knowledge to the design of beams under uniaxial bending, columns, base plates, and steel connections, while also considering how steel can be reused in sustainable construction. - Plastic Collapse of Steel Structures: You’ll study how and why steel structures fail, including plastic hinge formation, plastic moment capacity, and section properties such as modulus and shape factor. You’ll also explore failure criteria, upper and lower bound theorems, and practise plastic analysis of indeterminate beams and portal frames. - Use of Computer Packages and Design: You’ll gain hands-on experience with specialist computer software to support structural design, helping you apply theory to practical, real-world scenarios. - Laboratory Work: You’ll develop practical skills in the computer lab, applying design methods and software tools to solve engineering problems in a professional environment.
Placement is a planned part of your education and training, designed to build on what you’ve already learned. It gives you the chance to take responsibility for your own personal and professional development, while gaining real-world experience that extends your learning beyond the classroom. Indicative Content - Introduction: You’ll prepare for the workplace by covering essential health and safety guidance and exploring why developing professional attributes is so important for your future career. - Placement: Your placement experience will depend on the organisation you’re working with, giving you the chance to apply your learning in a real-world setting. You’ll gain valuable work experience, and during this time your academic supervisor will visit you at least once to support your progress. - Debriefing: After your placement, you’ll take part in a debriefing session designed to help you reflect on your experience. This will give you guidance on how to build on what you’ve learned and encourage you to think about your ongoing personal and professional development as part of life-long learning.
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