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Welcome to Surveying and Planning

The School of Surveying and Planning is part of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture. We have one of the most comprehensive ranges of property courses in London, which combined with 3 totally unique RICS accredited courses in Art Market, Historic Building Conservation and Residential Property offers you the opportunity to gain a professional interdisciplinary learning experience no matter which of our courses you choose. Our built environment programmes are underpinned by entrepreneurship and sustainability at the core, which ensures you have the practical skills and understanding needed for an interesting and successful career. The school has been awarded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning status.

 

Professional Recognition

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredit all of our undergraduate and postgraduate courses, while our planning courses are also accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). We were one of the very first universities to achieve Partnership status with the RICS, and this year we have been awarded RTPI Partnership status in recognition of the schools quality in teaching and learning. We also offer a range of highly valued short courses to help graduates prepare for their RICS final Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), as well as a series of continuing professional development lectures and seminars. Our graduates are well regarded within the industry both national and internationally.

 

Get Involved

Our teaching is underpinned by our strong links in the real estate and planning sectors, enabling you to develop innovative thinking and practical skills as well as theoretical knowledge.  This is delivered through integrating field trips and site visits, real life projects and industry supported pitching projects, such as the DTZ Challenge. Kingston University is one of the best universities in the country for student entrepreneurship enabling our graduates to be change-makers in the property industry.

 

Social, environmental and economic sustainability is also vital for the property industry and as such we have integrated it throughout the curriculum. This has lead to the school achieving the award of Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning status. We have since founded the university’s Sustainability Hub and continue to deliver future focused teaching and research. Our academic staff are involved in a wide range of academic research funded by the research councils, industry including the RICS and the public sector.

 

About the school

Teaching

Our teaching is very much practice orientated ensuring you develop life skills essential to becoming a work-ready graduate. In order to gain real world experience in your discipline we have developed a series of practical assessments involving site visits, project development and client pitching. You will give numerous presentations throughout your degree providing you with the experience and confidence to speak directly with clients upon graduation. A highlight in this area is our undergraduate DTZ Challenge which culminates in a pitching event to DTZ as the client, following which a winning team and proposal is selected.

 

Sustainability is at the heart of our teaching enabling you to develop the innovative thinking and key change management skills necessary to participate in the transition of the built environment industry into the green economy. From the moment you start you will be supported in developing your understanding of the interdisciplinary role of your chosen subject and the opportunities that surround sustainability within the profession.

 

Centre for Sustainable Communities Achieved through Integrated Professional Education (C-SCAIPE) – the ‘home’ of the school - provides a dedicated learning environment solely for the use of students and staff within the department. This space enables collaborative group work and provides personal study space as well as social space, and is used to host a variety of events including careers fairs and evening lectures to support your study.

 

Additionally we offer you the opportunity to advance your learning following completion of our undergraduate courses with specialised masters programmes. We also offer a suite of ‘conversion’ masters programmes, aimed at providing graduates from other disciplines with routes into the profession.

 

Staff

We provide you with a range of support throughout your course covering all aspects from subject knowledge development to key skills, employability and entrepreneurship. When you arrive you are allocated a tutor who stays with you from the first to the last year of your course. We also operate an open door policy and are contactable during work hours for advice and guidance.

 

Our staff are active in a variety of academic research sectors within the built environment ranging from sustainable communities and heritage assets to nuclear power. We also run a series of seminars and conferences, including the very successful Future for Town Centres: Death or Evolution conference.

 

Links to practice

We have strong links with practice and run many training programmes for practitioners, including a wide range of courses for those studying for the Assessment of Professional Competence. Through C-SCAIPE we also work with many industry bodies towards the promotion of more sustainable towns and cities and through the WestFocus consortium we work with other Universities and small and medium sized businesses to promote innovation, partnering and knowledge exchange.

 

Employability

Helping you build up a range of contacts in industry is key to supporting your employability. We develop this through our annual Careers Fair, range of inter-professional events, visiting lecturers and our position as ‘home’ of the Surrey RICS Matrics Association. In collaboration with our Careers team we also run a series of skills session including speed networking, CV writing and assessment day practice.

 

Alumni

Our alumni work internationally as well as in the UK and Europe and in a variety of built environment sectors. We keep in touch with them regularly through a series of events and their involvement with guest lecturing and research. Some of our alumni also offer mentorship opportunities for students and each year our most recent graduates come back to Kingston for our annual Kingston’s Got Talent Awards.

 

International perspective

Many of our students and graduates work internationally including Dubai, Australia, Canada and throughout Europe. We are developing links with European and Eastern universities to deliver our programmes internationally and have recently launched our new MSc Real Estate in Warsaw.

 

Kingston location

Kingston’s location in South West London provides an excellent backdrop to study Surveying and Planning with a range of key historical and new landmark buildings within close proximity. It also acts as a great base for students to undertake site visits to locations in London, the South East and even further afield including Stonehenge, Cardiff and Dublin.

 

As a place to live Kingston’s river side location and proximity to both Bushy Park and Richmond Park provide endless opportunities to get out and about and try new sports. The school has its own Run and Cycle clubs which take part in annual industry events and many students also take the opportunity to attend the annual Surveying Sevens Rugby Tournament just down the road in Twickenham.

 

As the safest borough in London you’ll enjoy taking advantage of the town’s well-known retail experience and great night life, as well as getting involved with the extensive community and environmental initiatives that are being established as part of Transition Town Kingston.

 

 

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