The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has won national accreditation for its civil and structural engineering courses, earning formal recognition from some of the country’s leading assessment bodies.

Both UCLan’s BEng Civil Engineering Honours degree course and its Masters degree course in Construction Project Management have received formal accreditation from the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), giving the opportunity for students to now graduate with enhanced nationally recognised qualifications.

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The new accreditation is backed by the country’s leading engineering bodies including the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Institute of Highway Engineers, and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (on behalf of the Engineering Council UK).

The national recognition for the courses follows rigorous assessments of UCLan’s teaching facilities and its training methods for students which have seen notable steps forward in the past three years.

In 2019, UCLan opened its brand new £35m Engineering Innovation Centre at its Preston campus, providing state-of-the-art learning and training facilities for engineering students at the University.

The new accreditation for UCLan’s courses means that students will now have the endorsement of the country’s top engineering organisations as well when they graduate.

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Dr Paul Watson, Principal Lecturer at UCLan’s School of Engineering said: “This is tremendous news for our students as it means that they will now graduate with a degree which is backed by the oldest and most respected professional engineering institutions in the UK.

“It also reflects the fact they are taught by civil engineering professionals recognised for their areas of specialism in civil engineering, using the very latest civil engineering laboratory equipment and software in our new Engineering Innovation Centre.”

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In addition, the new accreditation will also open upon additional opportunities for students to undertake more on the job training, through part-time study and degree apprenticeships.

The courses also include the chance to take part in residential field trips to the Western Lake District for Geology, to the Central Lake District for team building, and to North Norfolk for Constructionarium and the opportunity to construct a mini iconic structure.

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The new accreditation is a reflection of the work put in by both students and staff during the past three years.

Paul added: “This is a great accolade for UCLan’s civil engineering students, graduates and staff. It reflects all the hard work that has been put in to ensure we have created the best civil engineering learning environment possible.

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“We really are proud of this achievement as it is the ultimate seal of approval which means we are delivering engineering courses to students that are now recognised and accredited at the very highest level.

“Our students will graduate with the knowledge they will be recognised by the very best institutions across the industry. Institutions that could also be their future employers.”

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Are you an engineering student? Tell us what you think of the new accreditation in the comments below.