Structural engineer

You can do a degree or postgraduate course in:

• structural engineering
• architectural engineering
• civil and structural engineering

You might have an advantage if you do a course that includes an internship or a year in industry placement. Your university careers service can advise on how to find relevant work experience.

You can find accredited courses through the Engineering Council.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including maths and a science for a degree

• a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
• student finance for fees and living costs|https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
• university courses and entry requirements|https://www.ucas.com/

You could do a college course in civil engineering. This might help you to find work as a trainee structural engineer. You'll then need to do more training on the job to qualify.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

You could apply to do a Civil Engineer Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship and take professional training afterwards to qualify as a structural engineer.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship

More Information

• guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
• equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels

You could start as a civil engineering technician and study for a degree qualification while you're working.

Career Tips

If you're 9 to 18 years old, you can do 'taster' days and short residential programmes with the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) .

This will give you an idea of what it's like to study and work in engineering.

Professional and Industry Bodies

You can become a member of The Institution of Structural Engineers .

Further Information

You can find out more about careers in structural engineering from The Institution of Structural Engineers and Go Construct .

As a structural engineer  you could:

• develop engineering plans using computer software
• investigate the properties of building materials like glass, steel and concrete
• work out the loads and stresses on different parts of a building
• use computer models to predict how structures will react to the weather
• inspect unsafe buildings and decide whether they should be demolished
• work out why and how buildings have collapsed

We've identified this as a potential green job

For a structural engineer to be a green job, you could:

• create energy efficient building designs
• recommend the use of low-carbon materials like sustainably sourced timber and recycled steel
• design structures which can be used to generate sustainable energy

Find out more about green careers

You could work in an office, at a client's business, on a construction site or on a demolition site.

Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time and at height.

You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.