University of Plymouth - Built Environment

A fantastic start to 'Careers Week' at the University of Plymouth!

Today we welcomed an inspiring mix of local and national built-environment businesses, all here to showcase exciting career paths and opportunities available to our students.

With over 90% employability across our built-environment degrees, this week is the perfect chance for students to start building connections, explore opportunities, and kick-start their future careers.

We'd like to thank everyone who joined us today — and to those who will be taking part throughout the week. Let’s keep the momentum going!

🎨 Model-Making Week! 🏗️
Our first-year Architectural Engineering students brought their artists' retreat designs to life through hands-on model making. Using a variety of materials, they explored form, structure, and creativity in miniature.
A brilliant way to gain fresh perspectives on building design and construction! 👷‍♀️✨

We’re proud to share some fantastic news!

In the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS), the University of Plymouth Built Environment degrees have been ranked highly for "teaching on my course".

- 3rd (out of 38 universities) in the UK for Civil Engineering degrees (Architectural Engineering)
- 6th (out of 59 universities) in the UK for Building related degrees (Quantity Surveying, Construction Project Management & Building Surveying)

These results reflect the dedication of our staff, students and visiting professionals, and our commitment to delivering an outstanding learning experience.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this success — we’re excited to build on this momentum for even more success stories in the year ahead! 🚀

We had a great day introducing our Built Environment Degrees to our new fresh faced first years today. Dr Olugbenga Oladinrin led an icebreaker session with the students, challenging them to design and construct a tower out of lego bricks. Despite some structural mishaps... the students had fun we had a room full of ingenious designs. Well done to team 1, who succeeded with the best tower!

Check out our latest video showcasing Built Environment degrees at the University of Plymouth.
https://youtu.be/UGpDI4-8cpU?si=B2-vt0yLHYDXQPDA

Do get in touch if you'd like to learn more.

Voices of Built Environment - University of Plymouth Find out what it's really like to be a Built Environment student! Hear directly from students about how helpful and experienced their tutors are, what the fa...

Great to have Josh Huitson, Senior Site Manager at Morgan Sindall, back on campus!
Josh delivered an insightful guest lecture on site management to our first-year Built Environment students, supporting their interdisciplinary group projects focused on a residential development at Prince Rock Playing Fields, Plymouth.
A proud graduate of our Construction Project Management programme, Josh completed his degree 10 years ago — fantastic to see alumni giving back and inspiring the next generation!

Week 8 of our Year 2 Design Project module was a fantastic opportunity to welcome Peter Everitt from Kier, who delivered an insightful session on construction management, along with Raadiyah Rifath from AtkinsRéalis and Shelley Oliver from Cocreate Architects, who provided valuable feedback on our students’ design proposals. A huge thank you to our guest speakers for sharing their expertise.

As part of our programme, some students take a placement year after successfully completing their second year. To support them, we organise career weeks, help them secure placements, and visit them in their workplaces to see how they're getting on and offer any support needed. These are paid roles, and many students even return to their placement companies after graduation!

Here are some snapshots from our recent visits, where we caught up with eight students across the South West, South of England, and South Wales.... great to see them thriving in industry!

We were delighted to welcome Karl Parsons from QODA Consulting and Elijah Bennett from Kier Group, who delivered insightful sessions to our second-year students on Passivhaus for retrofit projects and advanced digital technologies in building design and construction. We're proud to have industry professionals support our modules, ensuring real-world challenges and requirements are embedded in the student learning experience.

Our first-year students are measuring sound levels and lighting conditions in and around the Roland Levinsky Building as part of their Building Physics module. Their collected data will contribute to a coursework report, presented as a professional document for an assumed client.