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Building Surveying at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Open days

7Dec
University of Portsmouth Open Day
Undergraduate

Course summary

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 As a building surveyor, you'll be at the heart of decision-making in construction projects that could transform the built environment or contribute to a more sustainable world. You'll advise on the specification of exciting new development proposals and be responsible for assessing the success of repairs and renovations. On this BSc (Hons) Building Surveying degree course, you'll develop the technical skills and experience you need for a specialist career as a chartered building surveyor. You'll also have the expertise to consult and lead on facilities management, project management and building conservation. Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), graduating from this degree course is the first step to becoming a Chartered Building Surveyor. Course highlights

  • Learn from practising building surveyors and guest speakers, including leading industry professionals and members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
  • Benefit from our links to industry through our professional advisory board, a collection of professionals in relevant industries who help shape our course content
  • Simulate projects you'll do in your career, with practical surveying sessions in residential and commercial test environments
  • Work collaboratively with students from other courses to complete projects, preparing for a career working in multidisciplinary project teams
  • Put theory to the test on field trips to locations such as the Passivhaus standard housing development, school refurbishment projects and The National Self Building and Renovation Centre
  • Get the opportunity to visit a European city and develop a research project around the city's built environment
  • Develop your knowledge of building information modelling (BIM) techniques on industry-standard software
Accreditation This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Careers and opportunities 90% of our graduates are in work or further study 15 months after graduation and 95% are working in highly skilled roles in areas of architecture, surveying, construction, engineering and management. What's more, graduates from all our building courses are earning an average salary of £27,000 after 15 months, and £38,500 after 5 years. What jobs can you do with a Building Surveying degree? Roles you can go onto include:
  • building surveyor
  • assistant building surveyor
  • project manager
  • facilities manager
  • BIM coordinator
  • historic building conservationist
  • property developer
When you finish the course, our careers and employability service can help you find a job that puts your skills to work in the industry. We'll give you advice and support for up to 5 years after you graduate, to help you get the best start to your career.

Modules

Year 1 Core modules in this year include:

  • CAD & BIM (20 credits)
  • Construction Design & Sustainability (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Law for the Built Environment (20 credits)
  • Multidisciplinary Project (40 credits)
  • Property Economics & Financial Accounting (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Applied BIM (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Project Management Principles (20 credits)
  • Planning Procedures & Practice (20 credits)
  • Procurement & Pre-Contract Practice (20 credits)
  • Professional Studies & Applied Project (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year currently include:
  • Heritage Property (20 credits)
  • Urban Regeneration (20 credits)
Year 3 Core modules in this year include:
  • Building Pathology (20 credits)
  • Contract Administration, Claims Management & Dispute Resolution (20 credits)
  • Energy and Environmental Management (20 credits)
  • Individual Major Project (40 credits)
  • Professional Practice (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Placement year (optional) On this course, you can do an optional work placement year after your 2nd or 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. 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.

Assessment method

You’ll be assessed through:

  • written exams
  • web assessments
  • essays and reports
  • presentations
  • an individual project
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future. The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
  • Year 1 students: 43% by written exams, 8% by practical exams and 49% by coursework
  • Year 2 students: 35% by written exams, 25% by practical exams and 40% by coursework
- Year 3 students: 28% by written exams, 23% by practical exams and 49% by coursework

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • Chartered Surveyors, Royal Institution of

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
PTE Academic62An overall score of 62 with a minimum of 59 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
75%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
90%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £19200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2024/25): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,385 EU – £1,385 (including Transition Scholarship) International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Building Surveying at University of Portsmouth - UCAS