Construction Management

This is a Connected Degree
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Overview
Build your leadership potential in the construction industry with management skills that encompass the full process of construction, from financial planning and technical possibilities to safety on site, personnel management and sustainability of your structures.

On this BSc (Hons) Construction Management degree course, you'll develop the skills you need to manage innovative projects and teams that contribute to the built environment and to best practice in the construction industry. You'll visit potential future workplace environments and apply your knowledge to practical scenarios from real companies, working through development proposals and examining the suitability of suggested designs, simulating the responsibilities required of a successful construction manager.

Graduate with the technological, interpersonal and management skills you need to launch into a career in this rapidly changing field.

Course highlights

• Focus on new construction technologies that offer new solutions to building site challenges.

• Become confident in key theories and principles that contribute to construction practice, through practical work on field studies and labs in areas including measurement, materials and site surveying

• Develop your understanding of financial methods and managerial logistics, from health and welfare to procurement, delivery and safe disposal of site waste.

• Have the option to study modules that match your interests and career ambitions such as practical diving and underwater engineering, sustainability, heritage property and applied building information modelling (BIM)

• Benefit from the expertise of our Industrial Advisory Committee, a network of construction organisations and senior practitioners who inform your modules and offer placement opportunities

• Have the opportunity to take a work placement year abroad

Careers and opportunities
Working in the construction sector means joining a continually changing profession with an enormous impact on our economy and society. You’ll graduate with the skills to contribute to this £117bn sector, and with the knowledge to enter many graduate engineering programmes.

You can expect a starting salary from £26,000 (Prospects 2022), which can increase considerably with experience. You could earn over £50,000 as a senior or chartered construction manager, depending on the project scale and location.

What areas can you work in with a construction management degree?
Previous construction students have gone on to work in areas such as:

• project management

• site engineering

• site management

Construction graduates have also achieved membership of the Chartered Institute of Builders, the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

Graduate destinations
Our construction graduates have worked for companies such as:

• Balfour Beatty

• Ministry of Defence

• Peter Marsh Consulting

• Multiplex Construction Limited

• British Army

What jobs can you do with a Construction Management degree?
Roles they've taken on include:

• civil engineering contractor

• construction engineer

After you graduate, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Year 1

Core modules in this year include:

• CAD & BIM (20 credits)
• Construction Management & Practice (20 credits)
• Introduction to Construction Measurement (20 credits)
• Introduction to Law for the Built Environment (20 credits)
• Materials in Construction (20 credits)
• Professional Development 1 (20 credits)

Year 2

Core modules in this year include:

• Introduction to Project Management Principles (20 credits)
• Numerical Skills and Economics (20 credits)
• Procurement & Pre-Contract Practice (20 credits)
• Professional Development 2 (20 credits)
• Safety Management On Site (20 credits)

Optional modules in this year include:

• Applied BIM (20 credits)
• Energy Resources & Infrastructure (20 credits)
• Fieldwork for Construction (20 credits)
• Heritage Property (20 credits)

Year 3

Core modules in this year include:

• Corporate and Contract Management (20 credits)
• Individual Project (40 credits)
• Project Evaluation & Development (20 credits)
• Project Management for Construction (20 credits)
• Sustainable Construction (20 credits)

Placement year (optional)

After your second or third year, you can do an optional study abroad or work placement year to get valuable longer-term work experience in the industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your aspirations. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.