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Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management

BSc (Hons)

UCAS code: KN22

Start dates: September 2023 / September 2024

Full time: 4 years, including 1-year work placement

Part time: Please contact us for details.

Location: Headington

Department(s): School of the Built Environment

Overview

Lots of people are involved in the construction process. But no matter how creative the design is, or how skilled the tradespeople are, there’s one factor that can’t be ignored: cost. That’s why quantity surveyors are vital in everything from preparing contracts to valuing the completed work.

Study Quantity Surveying at Oxford Brookes and we’ll help you develop the huge range of skills you’ll need to handle a variety of situations on and off site. We developed the course around the third-year work placement – we’ll help you quickly learn the practical knowledge to succeed in the working world and make the most of this opportunity.

Your degree will be accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Building. That means you can join as a student member and work towards chartered status. And by covering a wide range of topics, we’ve made sure other careers stay open to you. Years 1 to 3 are shared with our other construction courses so you can even change course up until year 4.

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Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management

Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Connect with employers

    We have great links with big names and specialist companies who offer placements and send in staff to share their experience with you.

  • Fast track your career

    We find that our graduates are ready to progress quickly in the workplace thanks to our focus on essential skills and their experience of the placement year.

  • Keep your options open

    The first 3 years are shared with Construction Project Management and Building Surveying so you can learn a range of skills and even switch course.

  • Expert teaching team

    Our staff are qualified and experienced in a range of fields. You’ll learn from surveyors, architects, civil engineers – and outside experts too.

  • Multiple field trips

    Site visits are essential to see things in practice. You’ll visit construction projects in Oxford in your very first week. In the second year, we’ll go to Europe.

  • Free language courses

    Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

  • Study abroad

    You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Most exchanges take place in the second year. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.

  • Accreditation(s)

    Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)

    • Chartered Institute of Building
    • Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Course details

Course structure

You’ll start the course with the essentials, covering topics like Introduction to Construction Practice. By year 2, you’ll start to develop more specialist skills for quantity surveying. As your classes will be shared with the other construction courses, you’ll learn about project management and building surveying too.

In year 2, we’ll also start to prepare you for your year in industry. You’ll develop practical skills, focusing on things that employers have told us are important to them.

Your work placement in year 3 is a real highlight of the course. We have great relationships with a range of companies so you’ll have lots to choose from. Some firms even offer their placement students a job before they’ve graduated.

In your final year, you’ll bring all your knowledge and experience together studying on specialist financial control and commercial management modules. You’ll also complete a dissertation to explore a topic in more depth.

Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management

Learning and teaching

Our supportive staff are experts in their field. You will learn in modern, well-equipped facilities. 

We design our teaching methods to develop your;

  • professional skills
  • personal skills
  • study skills.

Learning activities include;

  • practical work
  • simulated construction projects
  • presentations
  • small-group tutorials
  • lectures
  • demonstrations.

Assessment

We use a variety of assessment methods, including;

  • coursework assignments
  • laboratory and field practicals
  • class and web-based tests
  • oral presentations
  • group work
  • examinations.

Field Trips

There are a number of one-day UK field trips during the course to aid knowledge and understanding through live projects.

In the second year there is a mandatory European field trip aimed at broadening your understanding of construction design and management outside the UK. This is a mandatory field trip and comes at no additional cost. A separate fee will apply for any optional field trips.

Study modules

Year 1

Compulsory modules

Foundation Construction Law (15 credits)

Construction Communication and Information Technology I (15 credits)

Integrative Project I (15 credits)

Quantity Surveying Practice I (15 credits)

Introduction to Building Services (15 credits)

Building Design and Construction 1 (15 credits)

Building Design and Construction 2 (15 credits)

Year 2

Compulsory modules

Construction Technology I (15 credits)

Construction Practice and Procedure (15 credits)

Construction Technology II (15 credits)

Construction Procurement and Law (15 credits)

Construction CIT 2 (15 credits)

Integrative Project II (15 credits)

Design and Administration (15 credits)

Optional modules

Quantity Surveying Practice II (15 credits)

Construction Project Management (15 credits)

Building Pathology and Inspection (15 credits)

Languages modules (optional)

Year 3 (placement year)

Compulsory modules

Compulsory Work Placement Year

The compulsory work placement, taken in Year 3, provides a valuable learning experience and is an important part of the course, consolidating your knowledge and preparing you for your final-year studies. During this year you will work in the construction industry for a minimum of 36 weeks. Oxford Brookes has strong links with a variety of construction-based employers ranging from local house-builders to international construction companies. Hence work experience opportunities are broad; from managing the restoration of a country manor house to the commercial and project management of a multi-million-pound city office development. If you are a part-time student working in the industry in a suitable capacity, you will be exempt from industrial placement.

Year 4

Compulsory modules

Advanced Procurement and Dispute Resolution (15 credits)

Financial Appraisal and Commercial Management (double) (30 credits)

Commercial Management Dissertation (double) (30 credits)

Facilities Maintenance and Management (15 credits)

Project Financial Control (15 credits)

Optional modules

Innovation in Management and Technology (15 credits)

Independent Study (15 credits)

Project Management Studies (15 credits)

Building Pathology and Inspection studies (15 credits)

Quantity Surveying Studies (15 credits)

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Careers

The course is accredited, so you’ll be well on your way towards chartered status when you finish. Of course, being a chartered surveyor isn’t your only option. You’ll have a wide range of skills suitable for roles across the construction industry and beyond.

With the modules being shared across our building degrees, you’ll already have knowledge of construction project management and building surveying. You’ll find you can switch careers without much disruption. This understanding of different roles is just one of the reasons we think employers value Oxford Brookes graduates.

Past students are working on private, public and commercial projects around the world. Recent examples include:

  • AECOM,
  • Balfour Beatty,
  • CBRE,
  • Crossrail,
  • Gardiner & Theobald,
  • Morgan Sindall,
  • Ridge and Partners,
  • Taylor Wimpey,
  • Turner & Townsend,
  • TfL.

Entry requirements

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

Standard offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 112

A Level: BBC

IB Points: 30

BTEC: DMM

Contextual offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 88

A Level: CCD

IB Points: 27

BTEC: MMM

Further offer details

We welcome applications from candidates with alternative qualifications, and from mature students.

International qualifications and equivalences

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£14,600

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£15,200

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2022 / 23
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£14,600

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

2023 / 24
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,500

International full time
£15,200

International sandwich (placement)
£1,500

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Please note, tuition fees for Home students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Information from Discover Uni

Full-time study

Part-time study

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.