Curious about studying Civil Engineering with Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)at Birmingham City 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 Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
City Centre Campus (The Curzon Building)
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
Are you ready to shape the world around you, from essential infrastructure and transport systems to innovative buildings and public spaces? Our BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering degree offers a comprehensive and future-focused education that prepares you to design, build and maintain the structures and systems that keep society running. This course gives you a strong grounding in the core disciplines of civil engineering, including structural analysis, geotechnics, materials, and construction management, giving equal focus to infrastructure, transportation, and buildings. Whether you're interested in developing sustainable housing, designing efficient transport networks, or maintaining large-scale infrastructure, you'll gain the knowledge and skills to make a real impact.
Foundation YearThe Foundation Year course option enables you to study for our BSc (Hons) degree over an extended full-time duration of four years by including a Foundation Certificate (year one of four) in your studies. The Foundation Certificate provides a broad study programme that underpins the follow-on degree. In order to progress to the next year of the degree, it is necessary to achieve a pass in all modules of the Foundation Certificate. ###
What's covered in this course?Throughout your studies, you’ll apply theory to practice in our well-equipped labs, using the latest industry-standard tools such as CAD, BIM, and FEM software. You’ll also explore how digital innovation, environmental responsibility, and climate resilience are transforming the future of civil engineering - and how you can contribute to the change. With a strong focus on project-based learning, you’ll have opportunities to work on engineering problems based on real-life scenarios, from planning new motorways to designing sustainable buildings and managing construction sites. Site visits and guest lectures from practising engineers help bring your learning to life and connect you with current industry practice. You’ll also develop vital professional skills, including problem solving, communication, teamwork, and project planning, that are highly valued by employers. Optional work placements or summer internships will allow you to gain industry experience and strengthen your CV before you graduate. Join us and start building a future where your ideas become the structures, systems, and spaces we all depend on!
You will explore the fundamentals of modern manufacturing, gaining the knowledge and skills to contribute to this dynamic field. This module introduces core manufacturing processes, focusing on the design, production, and improvement of products to meet societal needs. You will develop technical skills, including the use of CAD tools, material selection, and safe operation of workshop machinery. Hands-on activities will enhance your proficiency with measurement tools and quality control techniques, ensuring precision and reliability in your work.
The module aims to provide you with the knowledge and problem-solving skills in science to enable you to progress to Level 4 of an engineering degree. The science theme contains the material normally encountered in a BTEC/A-level physics course which is relevant to entry to an engineering degree. The Level 3 Science module concentrates on the theoretical and practical aspects of physical science. The subject material stream includes laboratory exercises linking engineering to the real world.
The module aims to provide you with the knowledge and problem-solving skills in physical science to enable you to progress to Level 4 of an engineering degree. The science theme contains the material normally encountered in an BTEC/A-level physics course which is relevant to entry to an engineering degree. The Level 3 Science module concentrate on the theoretical and practical aspects of physical science. The subject material stream includes laboratory exercises linking engineering into real world.
This module introduces you to electrical and electronic engineering through a hands-on, project-based learning approach. You will design, build, and test small-scale electrical and electronic circuits, integrating key components into functional systems that perform real-world tasks. Through practical labs and collaborative projects, you will develop technical skills in circuit design, prototyping, and system implementation, while enhancing your problem-solving and teamwork abilities. You will explore core engineering principles, applying them to circuit analysis, component selection, and system integration.
Digital construction is an integral component of contemporary design, development and maintenance of modern residential development. Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology is at the forefront of the progressive movement towards total digitalisation of the built environment.
Civil Engineering is a practical discipline, whose output is typically described in the form of design reports. Civil Engineers are required to analyse competing solutions to engineering problems, often relying on incomplete data and contradicting requirements. Moreover, the environmental impact of civil engineering projects is considerable, and it is our social responsibility to minimise it. Civil Engineers need to communicate and justify their design decisions using a variety of media, such as text, calculations, drawings, models, as well as presentations to clients and other stakeholders. Finally, Civil Engineering is a discipline that typically requires working in teams: effective and transparent teamwork is the key to a successful Civil Engineering project.
Civil Engineering is a discipline that covers wide range of subjects and knowledge, essential to solving real-world problems, such as climate change and the environment impact of infrastructure. This requires a solid understanding of a wide range of Civil Engineering areas such as fluid mechanics, engineering geology, sustainability, and the applied practices of civil engineering science
Civil engineering infrastructures must be designed in order to resist environmental loadings and impacts. This requires fundamental knowledge of structural analysis of civil engineering structures and behaviour assessment of civil engineering materials subject to various types of loadings and stresses.
Mathematics plays a key role in establishing and grounding the skills of an engineer, and the ability to communicate the ideas of engineering that are expected of an engineering graduates. The primary aim of this module is to provide the fundamental mathematical knowledge and techniques needed in order to enable you to use and apply such mathematical techniques for the evaluation, analysis, modelling and solution of realistic engineering problems. Application of these data sets has to include their interpretation both to and from the mathematical language. In addition, this module will introduce students to mathematical modelling software package. This will be used to plot, annotate basic signals and write simple programs to compute mathematical problems. This module will develop your ability to both work on and communicate engineering realities to a wider audience, at a professional standard.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that provides built environment professionals with the insight and tools to help plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. In this module, you will be encouraged to explore the potential of BIM in helping to understand the social, economic and environmental benefits associated with co-ordinated infrastructure and complex structure development.
In accordance with the programme philosophy and aims, this module has been designed to enable you to use problem-based learning to understand the Technology of Civil Engineering and innovations now being applied. It investigates a civil engineering project from its inception to its construction and identifies the methods and techniques used in constructing a range of structures and infrastructure.
In accordance with the programme philosophy and aims, this module has been designed to enable you to use problem-based learning to understand the geological materials and effects of soil mechanics on Civil Engineering and relate it to information about the geotechnical tests and reports. It includes opportunities to complete laboratory tests to define certain properties of soils. The module follows the Civil Engineering programme philosophy of developing your intellectual and practical competence in technical, theoretical and environmental aspects of civil engineering. Similarly the learning and teaching philosophy incorporates learning through formal lectures including, seminars, tutorials, laboratory tests and problem based scenarios. Learning is practice-based, knowledge applied and work related including project based activities.
In accordance with the programme philosophy and aims, this module has been designed to enable students to use problem-based learning to understand the properties, behaviour, and uses of materials of Civil Engineering. The module follows the Civil Engineering programme philosophy of developing your intellectual and practical competence in technical, theoretical and environmental aspects of civil engineering. The learning and teaching philosophy emphasises practical work. Laboratory activities consist a major part of the module, covering all common Civil Engineering materials. These are supplemented by seminars, group work activities, and problem-based scenarios. Students are encouraged to plan their own work schedules, manage their time and extend their presentational skills.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and research-informed project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. In agreement with your supervisor, you will decide upon your topic which will take the form of a practical outcome (artefact) with accompanying contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be aligned to the programme you are studying, and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development. At this level, you will be expected to work independently but you will receive additional one-to-one support from your supervisor, who will be familiar with your chosen topic area. As you progress on the module, extra support will be available and this may take the form of group seminars, workshops and online materials that will help to develop your project.
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