Construction Management (Top-Up)

This level 6 Top-Up is ideal for people who want to combine employment with continued learning and professional development. There is a shortage of suitably qualified professional at this level and graduates from the BSc (Hons) in construction management top-up programme would be well qualified to meet this need. This course aims to provide sound knowledge, both core and applied, and skills for students aspiring management career in construction thus enabling them to manage projects, people and business success. The course offers a mix of tutorial support and in-College learning. You will be expected to attend College approximately sixteen full-day sessions over the first year; this will be a mix of examination dates as well as structured lectures.

The programme is designed to develop your ability to enter into a wide range of career opportunities that are available in the domestic, industrial and commercial sectors as construction managers, project managers, managers of off-site construction, contracts managers and site managers/agents. On completion of the BSc(Hons) Construction Management, opportunities to apply for chartered status and to continue studies to masters level are available.

Year 1
Year one of the BSc(Hons) Construction Management establishes core knowledge in construction management and planning; sustainability and innovation; research methodologies; and project management. You will also be supported in acquiring skills in developing research methods which will assist in making an informed choice of your research project in year two.

Year 2
Year two of the course encourages you to build on your knowledge base in different aspects of the construction management industry. To extend knowledge you are required to apply theory to practice-led engagement with local construction organisations. Developing a practice-led theoretical approach provides you with active in-depth insight into your chosen specialist field. Contract practice and administration, and corporate management and finance from two of the three remaining core modules, the programme concludes with a dissertation module which allows you to focus on your chosen specialist field linking to your future progression.

During the programme, you should experience a variety of formative and summative assessment tasks which challenge a broad range of your skills and understanding. The main types of learning through assessment are categorised below:

Practice-led – You are set a brief which asks you to demonstrate your learning through the completion of predominantly skills-based exercises. These often need to be backed up by support work through the use of journals/blogs.

Presentation – Either an individual or a group talk which is specifically structured to communicate relevant information. As well as content, the performance may be assessed (e.g. how effectively you communicated and how well a group worked together)

Project proposal – A formal account of the planning and intended scope of a project, written early in the development cycle. Also known as a ‘brief’.

Report/journal – A write-up of a project using a formal and concisely structured style or the recording of the creative journey in the form of a sketchbook or blog

Essay/dissertation – A piece of writing that explores a topic in detail, including the development of your own ideas. Written in a formal, organised style usually with a minimum and maximum word limit.

Self-assessment – An opportunity to reflect on individual performance and development – often tracked through a notebook/sketchbook log

Peer assessment – Students assessing other students – often used when undertaking summative group projects as a stimulus for thinking about own performance in relation to others. Group criticisms offer a valuable opportunity for formative responses to portfolio work.

Vlog – Either an individual or a group present a video log specifically structured to communicate relevant information. As well as content, the performance may be assessed (e.g. how effectively you communicated and how well a group worked together).