MSc — 2025 entry Structural Engineering with Industrial Practice
Structural engineers create the 'bones and muscles' of human-made structures. Our Structural Engineering with Industrial Practice MSc will equip you with advanced knowledge and skills in designing, analysing, and optimising structures to ensure their safety, durability, and sustainability.
2,450+ people have created a bespoke digital prospectus
Why choose
this course?
Running since 1966, our MSc allows you to choose from a rich and varied selection of specialist structural engineering modules.
You’ll be taught by forward-thinking academics at the top of their field, as well as practising engineers from consultancies, legislative bodies and local authorities. You’ll also benefit from the exceptional facilities we have to offer, such as our Air Quality Lab and Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering.
You'll also have the opportunity to undertake a postgraduate placement year, allowing you to gain crucial workplace experience. We’ll support you in finding a placement with a company most suited to your career goals.
This course is offered as standard full-time study, with part-time and distance learning options available.
Accreditation
What you will study
Our well-established and fully accredited MSc will enable you to develop advanced capabilities in analysis and codified design in the specialised areas of structural engineering, building on the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired from your undergraduate studies.
If you’re a practising engineer engaged in the planning, design and construction of structural engineering works, this course will provide you with an opportunity to update your knowledge of current design practice and become familiar with new developments in codes and methods of analysis.
Facilities
As part of your learning experience, you’ll have at your disposal a wide range of relevant software, including ABAQUS, ANSYS, CRISP, DIANA, Integer SuperSTRESS, LUSAS, MATLAB, PertMaster DRACULA, SAP 2000 and VISSIM.
You’ll also benefit from a range of highly specialised facilities in our School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering. These include our:
- Air Quality Lab
- Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering, a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for water quality and health
- Geotechnics and Geology Laboratory, recently upgraded with a £450,000 investment
- Materials and Structures Laboratory
- Surrey Advanced Geotechnical Engineering (SAGE) Lab
- Wind tunnel facilities.
The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:
General course information
Contact hours
Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.
Timetable
New students will receive their personalised timetable in Welcome Week. In later semesters, two weeks before the start of semester.
Scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week (Monday – Friday), with part-time classes normally scheduled on one or two days. Wednesday afternoons tend to be for sports and cultural activities.
View our code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF) for more information.
Location
This course is based at Stag Hill campus. Stag Hill is the University's main campus and where the majority of our courses are taught.
We offer careers information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University.
Our course will open up a huge range of career opportunities, not only with major consultancies and contractors, but across other sectors such as management and business consultancy.
Recent MSc graduates have been employed by:
- AECOM
- Arcadis
- ARUP
- Blue Engineering
- Fluor
- General Electric Oil and Gas UK
- Jacobs
- Opus
- Rise Consulting Structural Engineering
- SDS Ltd
- Severfield UK
- Symmetrys Limited.
UK qualifications
A minimum of a 2:2 UK honours degree in civil engineering (or mechanical, aerospace, offshore, naval architecture or other related engineering subjects), or equivalent recognised international degree.
Applicants will be considered on an individual basis, based on strength in specific subjects related to the MSc programme and/or professional experience.
English language requirements
IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall with 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in each other element.
These are the English language qualifications and levels that we can accept.
If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
International Pre-Masters
Prepare for postgraduate study and boost your career prospects. This is an intensive programme of academic subjects, study skills and English language preparation designed to help you succeed.
Recognition of prior learning
We recognise that many students enter their course with valuable knowledge and skills developed through a range of ways.
If this applies to you, the recognition of prior learning process may mean you can join a course without the formal entry requirements, or at a point appropriate to your previous learning and experience.
There are restrictions for some courses and fees may be payable for certain claims. Please contact the Admissions team with any queries.
Placements
This two-year MSc includes a placement year which enables you to gain invaluable professional experience working within an organisation.
After a year of full-time study at Surrey, you'll spend up to an additional 12 months on placement. You'll be responsible for securing your own placement, but we’ll support you in your search with a series of employability workshops and individual coaching.
We work closely with potential employers to help facilitate your successful placement. In addition to this, our award-winning Employability and Careers team are always ready to help, and they can provide you with a range of specialist resources and advice.
Scholarships and bursaries
Discover what scholarships and bursaries are available to support your studies.
Fees per year
Explore UKCISA’s website for more information if you are unsure whether you are a UK or overseas student. View the list of fees for all postgraduate courses.
September 2025 - Full-time (with placement) - 2 years
- UK
- To be confirmed
- Overseas
- To be confirmed
- These fees apply to students commencing study in the academic year 2025-26 only. Fees for new starters are reviewed annually.
Payment schedule
- Students with Tuition Fee Loan: the Student Loans Company pay fees in line with their schedule (students on an unstructured self-paced part-time course are not eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan).
- Students without a Tuition Fee Loan: pay their fees either in full at the beginning of the programme or in two instalments as follows:
- 50% payable 10 days after the invoice date (expected to be October/November of each academic year)
- 50% in January of the same academic year.
- Students on part-time programmes where fees are paid on a modular basis: cannot pay fees by instalment.
- Sponsored students: must provide us with valid sponsorship information that covers the period of study.
The exact date(s) will be on invoices.
Funding
You may be able to borrow money to help pay your tuition fees and support you with your living costs. Find out more about postgraduate student finance.
Apply online
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Please note that we may have to close applications before the stated deadline if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. We advise you to submit your application as soon as it is ready.
ApplyAdmissions information
Once you apply, you can expect to hear back from us within 14 days. This might be with a decision on your application or with a request for further information.
Our code of practice for postgraduate admissions policy explains how the Admissions team considers applications and admits students. Read our postgraduate applicant guidance for more information on applying.
About the University of Surrey
Need more information?
Contact our Admissions team or talk to a current University of Surrey student online.
Terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Surrey, you are agreeing to follow our policies and procedures, student regulations, and terms and conditions.
We provide these terms and conditions at offer stage and are shown again at registration. You will be asked to accept these terms and conditions when you accept the offer made to you.
View our generic registration terms and conditions (PDF) for the 2025/26 academic year, as a guide on what to expect.
Disclaimer
This online prospectus has been published in advance of the academic year to which it applies.
Whilst we have done everything possible to ensure this information is accurate, some changes may happen between publishing and the start of the course.
It is important to check this website for any updates before you apply for a course with us. Read our full disclaimer.
Subject to validation
This programme is subject to approval. This means that it has received initial agreement from the University and is currently undergoing a detailed final approval exercise, through the University’s quality assurance processes.
These processes are a requirement for all Higher Education Institutions within the UK, to ensure that programmes are of the highest standard. Occasionally there may be instances where the University may delay or not approve the introduction of the programme.