Quantity Surveying MSc
Why choose this course?
Quantity surveyors play a key role in the construction industry, ensuring that development costs are appropriately and accurately managed. Kingston University is a long-established Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors partnership university, and this course will equip you with the skills and knowledge to start you on a career that offers enormous scope for team working, travel and financial rewards.
| Mode | Duration | Attendance | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full time | 1 year | 2 days a week | September 2021 |
| Full time | 2 years including professional placement | 2 days a week plus placement year | September 2021 |
| Part time | 2 years | 1 day a week | September 2021 |
| Location | Penrhyn Road |
2020/21 entry
If you are planning to join this course in the academic year 2020/21 (i.e. between August 2020 and July 2021), please view the information about changes to courses for 2020/21 due to Covid-19.
Continuing students
Students who are continuing their studies with Kingston University in 2020/21 should refer to their Course Handbook for information about specific changes that have been, or may be, made to their course or modules being delivered in 2020/21. Course Handbooks are located within the Canvas Course page.
Reasons to choose Kingston University
- You will develop the core competencies required of the Chartered Quantity Surveyor.
- You will be able to attend a week-long field trip to a major national/international destination (students will pay for travel and accommodation).
- A background in construction is not a requirement of this course.
Accreditation
This course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
The MSc programme delivered at our partner institutions is not currently accredited by the RICS or CIOB.
What you will study
This conversion masters provides an opportunity to graduates from disciplines other than surveying to convert their transferable skills and extend their abilities in a critical way to the quantity surveying profession. You will develop in-depth knowledge and understanding of procurement, construction contracts and their administration. You will acquire sound knowledge of construction economics and cost planning. The curriculum further places emphasis on the EU and UK legal framework relating to construction, sustainable construction technology and project management. In addition to the core taught modules, you will receive training on research methodology and undertake a dissertation (research project).
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.
For a student to go on placement they are required to pass every module first time with no reassessments. It is the responsibility of individual students to find a suitable paid placement. Students will be supported by our dedicated placement team in securing this opportunity.
Modules
Core modules
Applied Sustainable Construction Technology and Measurement
30 credits
This module aims to help you gain in-depth working knowledge of construction technology and a systematic understanding of regulatory and procedural matters relating to the sustainable construction of low and high rise buildings. The module further seeks to enable you to apply your developed construction technology background on the quantification of building work. You will gain working knowledge of the current methods of measurement and critical understanding of specifications. Delivery is by a series of lectures, tutorials and workshops. The module is assessed by two pieces of coursework and a written examination.
Contract Law Administration and Practice
30 credits
The module aims to enable you to develop deep understanding and critical knowledge of the development process and the roles of key parties in procurement and contractual arrangements as they apply primarily in the UK construction industry. In addition, you will gain deep and broad knowledge of standard contract forms used in the UK and abroad and the legal duties and responsibilities of the parties involved in construction contracts. The module is taught by a series of lectures and tutorials and you will be expected to take an active part in applying your knowledge to worked examples within the tutorial format. Assessment will comprise two pieces of coursework and a written examination.
Design Economics and Cost Planning
30 credits
The module seeks to help you develop deep understanding of the principles of construction economics and building price estimating and their application in the UK construction context. Emphasis is placed on cost planning techniques based on elemental analysis and the relationship between building morphology and costs. You will develop the ability to critically appraise the use of techniques such as value management, whole-life costing, risk management and bench marking and be able to competently apply the concepts and practice of construction pricing in real-life scenarios. The module is taught by a series of lectures, tutorials and workshops. Assessment is by two pieces of coursework.
Management Consultancy
30 credits
This module aims to explore theories and applications of management consultancy in the context of delivering corporate objectives. In doing so, the module enables you to gain in depth knowledge of project management principles with emphasis on project programming, planning and control techniques. The subject material further places emphasis on development appraisals and sources of funding enabling you to develop a systematic approach to the preparation of a residual valuation and development appraisal. In the context of this module you will be offered a stimulating experience involving a week-long study visit (field trip) to a major international destination in which you will be expected to apply the knowledge you have gained in this and other modules to a consultancy practice scenario. The module is delivered through a series of lectures, tutorials and simulated role play. Assessment is by two pieces of coursework. Please note the costs of the field trip are not included in your tuition fees.
Research Principles and Application
30 credits
This module aims to provide you with a sound grounding in research principles and methodologies that are commonly applied within the built environment. Throughout a series of lectures and seminars, supported by tutorials you are encouraged and enabled to develop their critical reasoning powers and to gain practice in researching ideas and knowledge and in the design of relevant research instruments.
Research Project/dissertation
30 credits
This final module provides you with the opportunity to design and execute an original research ‘capstone' project related to your own discipline specific interests, which synthesises their learning. You will develop a theoretically informed body of work that integrates both theory and practice. It may take the form of a dissertation, practice project, or experiment-based project. Following submission you will present your findings at a Masters Students Event.
Optional modules
Professional Placement
120 credits
The Professional Placement module is a core module for those students following a masters programme that incorporates an extended professional placement. It provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in an appropriate working environment, and develops and enhances key employability and subject specific skills in their chosen discipline. Students may wish to use the placement experience as a platform for the major project or future career.
It is the responsibility of individual students to find and secure a suitable placement opportunity; this should not normally involve more than two placements which must be completed over a minimum period of 10 months and within a maximum of 12 months. The placement must be approved by the Course Leader, prior to commencement to ensure its suitability. Students seeking placements will have access to the standard placement preparation activities offered by Student Engagement and Enhancement (SEE) group.
Read more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.
The information above reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. Updates may be made on an annual basis and revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year. The regulations governing this course are available on our website. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this may not be offered.
Work placement scheme
Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to take the option of a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Tier 4 visa.
Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.
Entry requirements
Teaching and assessment
Who teaches this course?
This course is delivered by the Department of Construction and Surveying which is part of the School of Natural and Built Environments in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing.
The Faculty's wide selection of undergraduate and postgraduate courses covers a diverse range of subject areas, from aerospace to geography; from maths and computing to biotechnology; and many more. Our collaborative set-up provides new opportunities for our students, and we design our courses with industry professionals to ensure you stay up to date with the latest developments.
Department of Construction and Surveying
The Department of Construction and Surveying offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in building surveying, construction management and quantity surveying focusing on providing a strong foundation for students' future careers and an enhanced learning experience. We have built a reputation for the quality of our courses and have successfully embedded the concept of sustainable development in all of our degree courses
Fees for this course
Our modern teaching environment
There is a wide range of facilities for practical work at our Penrhyn Road campus, where this course is based. You will have access to a modern environment with the latest technology and industry-standard equipment, including:
- extensive materials and structures facility for concrete, masonry, steel and timber;
- geotechnical and hydraulics testing facilities; and
- surveying equipment, such as satellite global-positioning systems.
Dedicated computer-aided design facilities include:
- a range of CAD/CAM packages, such as Ideas, SolidWorks and AutoCad;
- finite element analysis
- computational fluid dynamics; and
- virtual instrumentation.
What our students say
What this course offers you
- This course develops the core competencies required of the Chartered Quantity Surveyor and prepares you for a career in this area. There is an emphasis on project and team work.
- The dissertation/research project allows you to focus on an area of interest to yourself and gain valuable research skills.
- You also have the chance to attend a week-long field trip to a major international destination.
- The course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building.
- All members of staff are research active or professional practitioners, which keeps your learning cutting edge (read more in the Research areas section).
- The modules aim to equip you with a range of professional skills. Alongside your academic studies, you improve your skills in:
- problem solving and organisation;
- data collation, review and synopsis;
- communication (oral, written and electronic);
- time management;
- computing; and
- co-operation and teamwork.
- We offer a part-time study option to help you fit your MA around other commitments.
Engineering research
Many academic staff are engaged in a range of research and consultancy activities funded by the Research Councils, the European Union, the government, trade unions and industry. These activities ensure our staff are in touch with the latest industry thinking and bring best practice to your studies.
