Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management with Foundation BSc Honours

Course summary

Our degree courses with Foundation year offer the opportunity to prepare you for advanced study before you progress on to a full honours degree at the University of Westminster.

Whether you do not feel ready for degree-level study, don’t have the right qualifications, want to change your subject specialism or return to study after an absence from education, we aim to encourage a broad range of students to undertake our Foundation year in order to progress onto their full honours degree with us. 

The Foundation year is designed to give you the opportunity to explore new ideas, opening up new perspectives on the key debates within your chosen field. Core modules accelerate your academic and professional development, bringing together like-minded students to think about the ‘big ideas’ within your discipline. You will also take modules from areas closely related to your chosen field, giving you the chance to develop a cross-disciplinary perspective on your course. 

On successful completion of the Foundation year, you will be able to move on to study for the Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management BSc Honours degree over a further three years study.

The growth in global construction is fuelling the demand for professional quantity surveyors and construction commercial managers who can take a holistic view of construction projects – overseeing costs, contractual and procurement matters – from inception to completion. Our project-based approach to learning exposes you to live and past construction projects from the outset, preparing you to accurately predict and control project costs.

This professionally focused degree will prepare you to confidently and effectively manage the commercial aspects of building and civil engineering projects across the property and construction industries. Whether you’re already working in construction or looking to enter the industry, you can start your journey to becoming a certified quantity surveyor or commercial manager.

Fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), it will equip you with the professional and technical skills to ensure projects are delivered on time, to the required quality and within budget. This involves early cost planning, procurement evaluation, tendering, estimating, contractual routes, project cost control and commercial management.

Our central London location and numerous industry contacts, which include Great Portland Estates, Mace, Lendlease, The Portman Estate, Wilmott Dixon, Multiplex, Transport for London and The Crown Estate, enable us to invite practising professionals to give guest lectures and regularly contribute to the course. They provide buildings as case studies for coursework, learning materials (drawings, reports, clients briefs etc.) and come into the University to give face-to-face formative feedback on students’ work. We aim to create authentic learning activities to ensure you are business-ready for employment or can further progress in your existing careers.

Our construction courses share a common ‘Level 4’; the first year of the full-time course or the first two years if studying part-time. Shared core modules allow you to gain knowledge of the different professional roles and the interdisciplinary nature of the modern construction industry. At the end of the Level 4, you’ll be better placed to choose the course-specific modules in later years of study that emphasise the knowledge and skills for your chosen profession. It also means that, should your interests change, you can switch course.

The course also offers practical experience opportunities, with the option to spend a year in industry between Year 2 and Year 3. Alternatively, you'll have the chance to explore international perspectives through a year abroad, providing you with valuable real-world experience.

Top reasons to study with us 

• Fully accredited by RICS, CIOB and CABE
• Professionally focused course designed to produce graduates capable of dealing with the technological and managerial processes associated with pre and post-construction building lifecycle
• Put theory into practice on a year-long work placement or gain international experience studying abroad
• Taught by a knowledgeable, approachable and multicultural teaching team, who are professionally qualified having come from professional practice and/or construction research
• Take part and visit major construction and infrastructure projects, in the UK and abroad. Recently we have visited off-site manufacturing facilities and major London projects, such as Crossrail, Battersea Power Station, Google Headquarters
• Street walks and talks – a series of guided walks around Marylebone, Fitzrovia and Kings Cross, which have a wealth of historic buildings, modern buildings, examples of adaptation and reuse of buildings, such as Coal Drop Yard in Kings Cross
• Outstanding facilities include the Fab Lab, used to build models, test construction materials and for 3D printing, photographic facilities and simulation through virtual and augmented reality

Course structure

This course provides you with knowledge and understanding of the context, core concepts and theories relevant to quantity surveyors and commercial management in the design, creation and maintenance of a sustainably built environment to meet the needs of clients both nationally and internationally. Ever mindful of your route to professional practice, we pay particular attention to developing the behaviour and attitudes required of modern construction professionals. Core modules cover subjects that cross the industry, such as health and safety, site practice, construction technology, design and form, materials and building science, structures and digital construction. Specific modules covering course and profession specific content are delivered as study progresses.

The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course.

• Foundation
• Year 1
• Year 2
• Placement Year
• Year 3

Professional recognition

This course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the world's leading professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property, infrastructure and construction. Successful completion fulfils the academic requirements to become a professional member with the designation MRICS after gaining experience in the workplace and passing the Assessment of Professional Competence. Additionally, the course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), which has granted Westminster Business School ‘Accredited Centre Status’. Graduates from this course can apply, with appropriate experience, for membership of CIOB and the designation MCIOB. The course is also accredited by the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).