Civil Engineer

You’ll help provide technical and management input on a civil engineer apprenticeship course to develop design solutions for complex civil engineering problems.

As a civil engineer apprentice, you will collaborate with a team of engineers and other construction professionals to plan, design, construct, commission, operate, maintain, and decommission civil engineering infrastructure.

You will learn a wide range of skills that will allow you to work in fields such as sustainable construction, structural integrity, geotechnics (engineering behaviour of earth materials), materials, tunnelling, marine and coastal engineering, water, waste management, flood management, transportation, and power.

Local governments, central government departments and agencies, engineering consulting businesses, contracting firms, and research and development organisations are examples of public and private sector employers. You will get a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

What you’ll learn

On a civil engineer apprenticeship course, you’ll learn to:

• Evaluate the impact of civil engineering infrastructure on society and the environment while considering the needs of businesses, customers, and end-users in the design, management, and use of infrastructure. Examples include utilising the CEEQUAL toolkit, performing environmental impact assessments, and designing and constructing built infrastructure to ensure that it is safe, usable, appropriate, and cost-effective.
• Address welfare, health, safety, and sustainability early in civil engineering infrastructure life cycle using techniques such as CEEQUAL and environmental impact assessments.
• Model, analyse, design, test, build, and manage civil engineering infrastructure by defining engineering and other constraints, detecting risks, and deciding how to solve them via design. Some examples include building information modelling, structural engineering design and analysis, computational fluid dynamics, and geographic information systems software.
• Provide innovative, safe technology solutions to civil engineering problems by using research techniques, market data, and best practices. Examples include the ability to collect and analyse data using various research methods to produce well-founded practical results for implementation and the ability to perform literature searches.
• Interpret and execute design and quality standards, including codes of practice, and legal and regulatory frameworks, in developing civil engineering solutions, determining construction methods, and the technical components of site operations. Some examples include building and infrastructure planning, design, construction, and maintenance in compliance with current rules, standards, laws, industry norms, and the use of Risk Assessment Method Statements.
• Manage and execute safe work processes, which involve taking personal responsibility for one’s health, safety, and welfare, assessing and managing risk, and adhering to health, safety, and welfare regulations and best practices. 
• Recognise civil and infrastructure projects’ health and safety components, assess associated hazards, and choose appropriate safety measures in site work and construction activities. Apply risk management principles from civil engineering and construction companies.
• Use appropriate management systems, and manage the planning, budgeting, and organisation of activities, people, and resources while following agreed-upon quality standards, project timelines, and budgets while keeping within legal, contractual, and statutory limitations.
• Manage teams and educate workers to meet evolving technical and managerial needs.
• Communicate and assist others effectively using design models, calculations, reports, drawings, specifications, presentations, digital media, and interactions with individuals within and outside the industry.
• Carry out and record the continuous professional development necessary to maintain and enhance one’s knowledge and abilities as a civil 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.
• Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this before taking the end-point assessment.

Assessment methods

The End Point Assessment comprises three distinct assessment methods: 

• Written Report
• Presentation and interview
• Written examination

Duration, level, subjects and potential salary upon completion

Apprenticeship standard

More information about the Level 6 Civil Engineer Apprenticeship standard can be found here.

Apprenticeship end point assessment

For more information about the End Point Assessment Process, please read the Institute of Apprenticeships’ information page.