BEng Civil Engineering with a Year in Industry
2025 entry
Course summary
If you are creative, enjoy design and aspire to improve the world around us, then civil engineering is for you. This degree will equip you to find solutions to global environmental problems and design large and unique structures, such as buildings, bridges and other critical infrastructure assets that shape society — for example, water supply and treatment systems, transport networks and renewable electricity generation.
The course balances deep theoretical knowledge with practical application. At Bristol, you will have access to our world-class laboratory facilities, including the most advanced earthquake shaking table in Europe.
The Year in Industry degree provides the opportunity to spend your third year applying the knowledge gained in your first two years of study in an industrial environment. There is no direct entry into this course but you can transfer from BEng Civil Engineering if you reach a high academic standard and are successful at a placement interview.
The first two years provide a strong foundation in engineering, including mathematics, structures, soil and fluid mechanics, computing and surveying. In your final year, you will undertake a major individual research project and continue to develop key practical and professional skills such as project management, entrepreneurship, economics and risk analysis.
Design is central to the course and this is reflected in the projects and real-world challenges you will face. In the first year, you will develop a sustainable solution to an open-ended problem, such as designing and making a model bridge. The second year includes designing with steel, concrete and timber, geotechnical design and water engineering.
We work closely with industry to ensure we equip you with the skills and experiences needed to become a future leader in civil engineering. Our graduates are highly sought after by top employers, including civil engineering consultancies and construction companies, utility companies, the military, public transport, power generation, supply companies and environmental management.
A student who completed a year in industry shares how her placement year boosted her confidence, career prospects and appreciation for university life. Find out more about Yasmin's story.
Course structure
First-year students studying Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and Design Engineering all start their degrees with a broad knowledge of the fundamentals and a command of the skills that underpin modern engineering.
You will share common units with your peers in other disciplines and work on an interdisciplinary project, based on global challenges and inspired by Engineers Without Borders.
You will meet and work closely with more people from the start of your degree, broadening your social circle and long-term professional network. Interdisciplinary working is now the norm in industry, and a good understanding of disciplines other than your own will serve you well when you enter the workplace.
Starting your degree with a broad foundation of knowledge will expand your frame of reference, enabling you to be more creative as you progress with your course and become more specialist in later years of study. The skills-based approach will provide you with technical abilities that will enable you to be successful in your degree and your career.
Entry requirements
We accept a wide variety of qualifications and welcome applications from students of all backgrounds. Below is a guide to the typical offers for this course.
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Selection process
- Regulations and codes of conduct we abide by to create a positive environment for learning and achievement are found in the University admissions policies and procedures.
- If applying with extenuating circumstances please see our policy.
- Full information about our selection processes for Civil Engineering with a Year in Industry can be found in the Admissions Statement:
Admissions statement