Curious about studying Quantity Surveying 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
Want a career in the construction industry? Study our BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying with Foundation Year degree. With our quantity surveyor training, you will work collaboratively with tutors, practitioners, theorists and designers who will equip you with everything you need to help shape the future of the built environment. Today’s construction industry is facing the challenges of globalisation, climate change, demanding clients and a complex regulatory framework. The growing importance of technology and integrated delivery plays an increasingly important role in the industry. This surveying course will give you the skills to deal with these challenges and more. With innovation at the core of the programme, you will learn through creative problem solving and working with our industrial partners. You’ll also develop the intellectual and practical competencies required by professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). You’ll leave with a broad knowledge of the legal, technical, managerial, economic, social and environmental aspects of construction projects, and able to confidently manage both commercial and civil engineering projects. This course is taught by experienced staff with a wealth of industry experience. A flexible approach to delivery allows construction professionals to study alongside their professional role. You'll gain expertise in cost management, procurement and quantification skills. You’ll also develop expertise in risk management, costing techniques, design economics, buildability, procurement, ability to add value and an appreciation of people from different cultural backgrounds and construction disciplines.
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). The Foundation Certificate provides a broad study programme that underpins the follow-on degree. In order to progress to the next year of your degree, it is necessary to achieve a pass in all of the modules of the Foundation Certificate.
The Built Environment is a complex, unpredictable and unique in its own way. This module aims to provide an introductory platform towards understanding the elements and factors that influence the built environment, which support shaping the context of built environment. This module will also walk you through different built environment professions.
Within the built environment, many traditional and modern techniques are being incorporated in order to cope with the nature and functional requirements of a building. This module aims to draw focus upon high level elements that are present in every building including building structure, enclosure, materials and environmental factors. Building on the knowledge that you developed from “Built Environment Context and Practice”, this module compliments the importance of different professions within the built environment
The use of computing and technology have become an essential part in our daily routines. This module aims to focus on many of the daily utilised computing technologies such as ICT, programming, graphics and effective use of visualisation tools. It then draws the attention towards built environment computing technologies, demonstrating how different professions utilise it to communicate, exchange and interpret information. Regardless of the built environment profession that you aim to specialise in, this module embeds computing technology-related knowledge that will support you at different levels during your degree.
The use of numbers within the built environment is inevitable, unavoidable and impactful in many ways. This module aims to provide an overview over the use of quantitative methods within the built environment and their relationship to different scenarios and identifying their value allowing you to develop the necessary foundation skills. This module acts as a preparatory stage in terms of both enhancing and developing your mathematical and quantitative abilities before commencing to Level 4. It also develops your awareness of the quantitative-related matters within different professions.
This module introduces students to the role of digital technologies and systems thinking within the contemporary built environment. The module explores the increasing digital transformation of the construction and property sectors, highlighting how digital tools and information systems support informed decision-making, risk reduction, collaboration, and performance improvement. Students are introduced to key concepts such as systems thinking, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Common Data Environments (CDEs), and digital workflows, emphasising that digital technologies operate as part of wider technical, organisational, and information systems rather than as isolated software tools.
During the journey within higher education, developing your independent study is an essential skill to support shaping the knowledge to become more useful and applied within practice. This module aims to provide you with necessary skills and tips that should support you to work independently within your discipline and to successfully apply project management tools and techniques to a mini project related to your subject discipline.
This module explores how key ‘actors’, including professional bodies, landowners, developers, investors, politicians, members of the public, and the state, etc. influence the development of the built and natural environment.
This module introduces, for all of the built environment professions, a range of concepts relating to the technology of construction. It provides you with an understanding of modern and sustainable methods of construction. We use the example of low rise residential construction as it is relatively straightforward and allows us to introduce and explore these issues appropriately.
This module is delivered to all of the undergraduate programmes in the built environment disciplines and provides you with the basic legal concepts and principles you will need throughout your professional career.
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.
The built environment is continuously evolving through advances in construction materials, products and construction techniques. For future built environment professionals, it is essential to understand how material properties and performance requirements influence design decisions and the selection of construction methods, including modern and innovative approaches, while recognising key sustainability considerations such as durability, efficiency and waste reduction.
In this module you will be introduced you to the core Quantity Surveying skill of quantification and cost. This introductory module provides you with an understanding of the procedures for costing, via the development of the skills of measurement and interpretation of construction drawings. You will apply the measurement principles, Industry standard descriptions and develop specifications to enable you to prepare and manage cost estimates.
In this module you will cover core areas required in designing and setting up a contract. It is designed to give you an understanding of the procurement process and how it can deliver on a range of benefits to clients, contractors and other stakeholders involved with the development process. During the module, you are required to develop your knowledge on issues that affect the choice of a procurement strategy by evaluating various projects and the best management and procurement approaches to be adopted. You will also learn about how the choice of procurement strategy will impact on time, cost, viability, quality and sustainability issues. Current issues influencing procurement, such as international markets, legislation and sustainable procurement, will also be covered
This module is pivotal in the curriculum as the ability to understand the process and techniques appropriate in cost planning in accordance with professional codes of practice and the RICS core competences is a principal role of the QS. As cost managers within the construction industry, you will need to demonstrate the ability to achieve a depth of understanding of how construction projects are cost managed at design stage and valued through the use of internal and external sources of information and cost data. This allows development of technical skills to a level, which will enable in depth knowledge of how the cost estimating and cost planning structure of projects can be applied to cost advice for both new build and refurbishment works.
This module will explore the wider implications of the key factors which affect the selection of both traditional and new building methods and materials used in the construction of new build commercial and industrial buildings and introduce environmental and mechanical services systems which need to be installed in these buildings.
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.
This module aims to facilitate both knowledge and professional practices involved in commercial management at an undergraduate level. The module acts as a major platform for both the quantity surveying and construction management professions in preparing you for level 6.
This module will further develop your core Quantity Surveying skills of quantification and cost. During the module you will measure steel structural frames and In situ concrete construction. You will apply the measurement principles, Industry standard descriptions and develop specifications to enable you to prepare and manage cost estimates for more complex work and drawings. This module directly relates to earlier work in your previous studies and will feed forward into your level 6 modules.
Further deepening your knowledge and understanding of contract law and procurement, this module will provide you with the hands on experience of designing and executing a contract, which is a core requirement of you, as a construction professional. This module will introduce you to the various forms of contracts and the responsibilities of the people involved in executing a contract.
This module is the final module in helping to develop your core Quantity Surveying skills of quantification and cost. This module will test your ability to understand the management procedures and techniques appropriate in pricing a tender document in accordance with the RICS/CIOB. You will be required to work as managers gaining an in-depth understanding of how design and construction projects are tendered and valued through the use of internal and external sources of information. You will develop technical skills which will enable in-depth knowledge of how pricing structure of projects can be applied to cost control by tendering companies.
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.
This module will provide you a critical perspective on the nature, and a number of essential aspects of construction projects together with the approaches and techniques to manage them. The module will establish construction projects as an organisational entity, and highlight the two main approaches to the management of projects. The first one is the functional management approach which is largely based on structured techniques and methods, and the second one is the organisational management approach which sees management as an ongoing social and organisational process. You will be introduced to both approaches, and shown how to use them in a balanced way for the successful management of construction projects. While the organisational management approach to project management will provide you the intellectual skills that you need for project management, the functional management approach will equip you with the technical skills.
This module will focus on extending and providing appropriate evidence of your professional skills and development. Within an applied socially responsive framework, you will examine a range of issues related to the client, the site, planning, financial/development appraisal, design technology, legal and regulatory, health and safety etc. These will be covered in conjunction with other professional courses or your own discipline as appropriate, given that all built environment professions and recent reports such as the Farrell Review place increasing stress on interdisciplinary understanding and working.
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