Urban Planning and Development with a Professional Placement Year
Entry requirements
A level
Extended Project
For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example an AAB offer would be "AAB from 3 A levels or ABB from 3 A levels and a grade A in the EPQ". Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
You must have or be working towards English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent (if you require a Tier 4 visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements) and GCSE Maths grade C/4 or equivalent qualification (subject and grade). If you are taking A-level Maths (or equivalent), GCSE Maths is not required. Core Maths may also be accepted in place of GCSE Maths.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
32-31 overall or 665-655 in 3 HL subjects.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
In a BTEC Extended Diploma in Travel and Tourism. We will consider BTECs in alternative subjects alongside other academic qualifications and any relevant work or volunteer experience.
T Level
Accepted subject: Design, surveying and planning for construction.
The Advance Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the A Level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**Overview and aims of the Programme**
What could be more exciting than the challenge and responsibility of shaping the places in which we live, work, and play?
Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), this programme focuses on the social, economic and environmental challenges of creating better places in which to live.
Planning impacts our everyday reality in so many ways, influencing the homes in which we live and the quality and availability of opportunities which can support our health, wealth and well-being. It can affect our public and community spaces and our professional and leisure spaces, as well as how we travel and move between them. You will examine how and why places, such as cities, towns, and the countryside, change and how they can be improved through planning practice and research.
This programme opens a wide range of exciting career opportunities in planning, development and surveying. Graduates have an excellent track record securing employment in these sectors as well as transport, economic development, environment policy, housing and urban regeneration.
With modules that involve practitioners, you will also have the opportunity to understand how your learning applies to the real world and consider the ways in which you can develop your professional profile and employability.
Increasing competitiveness in the graduate job market makes professional and practical experience invaluable in helping you to kickstart your career. The professional placement year allows you to put your lecture-based learning and skills into practice in a private or public sector organisation. It’s also an opportunity to build your professional profile, develop your network and identify your professional ambition
**Distinctive Features of the Programme**
- The opportunity to study in a School ranked 7th for Town and Country Planning and Landscape (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020) and consistently highly rated for its research excellence.
- Strong relationships and links with policy institutions in the UK, Europe and globally.
- Taught by internationally respected and research-active staff.
- Excellent relationships and links with planning institutions, especially in Wales.
- Engagement with experts from professional practice who assist in the delivery of several modules.
- Access to a laboratory with high-quality printing facilities, GIS (Geographic Information System) and Edina digimap mapping facilities.
- A year-long professional work placement in the third year. The placement may be paid or unpaid.
- An optional International field study visit (previous destinations have included Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Tanzania) to explore issues in real world case studies and to practically apply taught skills.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.
The Uni
Main Site - Cardiff
School of Geography and Planning
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Planning (urban, rural and regional)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Planning (urban, rural and regional)
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This subject includes degrees in urban studies and housing as well as planning qualifications. Be a little careful when looking at the stats, as most jobs in planning, especially in town planning, go to Masters students in the subject — planning is a very popular Master's degree (and even then we don't actually have enough graduates to meet employer demand). So if you want a job in planning, expect to stay on at university after you have finished your first degree. First degree graduates in planning are more likely to start working in surveying than planning roles - although that is partly down to our serious shortage of surveyors. This all adds up to a subject that is in demand - but do keep a look out for work experience opportunities to make your good prospects even better.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Planning (urban, rural and regional)
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£23k
£29k
£33k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here