Welcome to Civil & Structural Engineering at Sheffield
Congratulations on gaining a place to study Civil and Structural Engineering here in Sheffield - we can't wait to see you! We know that going to university is a big step and so we've put together this guide to answer many of the questions you might have, before starting your university experience.
Preparing to start university in Sheffield
Part of the excitement of starting university is the chance to discover things for yourself and the freedom to explore a new city. We want to make your transition to university life as easy as possible so on this page, we're giving you some resources to help you prepare before you arrive in Sheffield.
Get ready for Sheffield by completing your to-do list tasks from this helpful student checklist
Make sure you’re registered
Registration is the number one task before starting your studies. You should have already received information separately about the registration process and related activities that are run centrally by the University. If you haven’t please go to the registration homepage to find out more. You must complete online registration prior to arriving in Sheffield.
If you haven't registered by Friday 27 September 2024, you must get in contact with us (civil-support@sheffield.ac.uk).
The deadline for registering is Monday 21 October to start your course, and the in person appointment deadline is Friday 18 October 2024.
Semester dates 2024 - 2025
| Detail | Dates |
|---|---|
| Welcome Week | 23 - 27 September 2024 |
| Autumn Semester | 30 September 2024 - 8 February 2025 (vacation 21 December 2024 - 19 January 2025) |
| Autumn Semester examinations | 20 January - 7 February 2025 |
| Spring Semester | 10 February - 14 June 2025 (vacation 6 April - 27 April) |
| Spring Semester examinations | 26 May - 13 June 2025 |
Welcome Week
This is a week of events before teaching begins. It is full of important information and social events, so do make sure you attend. Your Welcome Week will begin on Monday 23rd September 2024.
- Monday 23rd September
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Time Location Activity 9.00 - 10.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 5 Welcome to the School - Professor Sam Clarke (School Director of Education) 10.00 - 10.30 The Diamond, lecture theatre 5 Health, Safety and Wellbeing 10.30 - 11.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 5 Meet the Societies 11.30 - 13.00 Arts Tower, Floor 13, Room 13.19 Introductory Meeting for Structural Engineering and Architecture students 12.00 - 13.00 Broad Lane, Lecture theatre 12 Introductory Meeting for Architectural Engineering students 13.00 - 13.30 Broad Lane, Lecture theatre 12 Meet the Architeers 13.30 - 14.00 Heartspace, D Floor, Student Support Office Collect 'Little Book of Thermofluids" 14.00 - 15.00 Online Whole School Welcome event - Tuesday 24th September
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Time Location Activity 11.00 - 13.00 The Diamond CR-1 MASH Intro and Diagnostic Quiz 14.00 - 17.00 Pam Liversidge Building E05 Interactive Icebreaker Activity - Wednesday 25th September
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Time Location Activity 10.00 - 10.30 The Diamond, lecture theatre 6 ELTC Introduction - an overview of the support available for students who do not speak English as a first language 10.30 - 10.40 The Diamond, lecture theatre 6 MLTC Introduction - an overview of the Modern Language Teaching Centre 10.40 - 11.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 6 Library introduction 11.00 - 12.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 6 Student Expectations - Professor Sam Clarke (School Director of Education) 12.00 - 13.00 See allocated slot for time & location. Meet your Personal Tutor
You should only attend the session your have been assigned to. - Thursday 26th September
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Time Location Activity 10.00 - 11.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 2 Introduction to Diamond labs 11.00 - 12.00 See allocated slot for time & location. Meet your Personal Tutor
You should only attend the session your have been assigned to. - Friday 27th September
-
Time Location Activity 10.00 - 11.00 See allocated slot for time & location. Meet your Personal Tutor
You should only attend the session your have been assigned to.11.00 - 12.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 2 Consent Conversations 12.00 - 13.00 The Diamond, lecture theatre 2 Race Conversations
Below is a list of books that previous students have found to give a useful introduction and background to civil engineering (and engineering in general), prior to starting at University. We suggest selecting one or two titles that take your interest (but we do emphasise that these books are NOT required reading for the course – you don't have to buy any books before you come to Sheffield, and you will find copies of these in our library when you do).
| Title | Author | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
|
Civil Engineering: A Very Short Introduction |
D.M. Wood. | OUP Oxford, 2012. ISBN 019957863X. |
|
Structural Engineering: A very Short Introduction |
D. Blockley | OUP Oxford, 2014. ISBN 0199671931 |
|
The New Science of Strong Materials – or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor |
J.E. Gordon | Penguin, 1991. ISBN: 0140135979 |
|
Structures – or Why Things Don't Fall Down |
J.E. Gordon | DaCapo Press, 2009. ISBN: 0786730358 |
|
Why Buildings Stand Up |
M. Salvadori | W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 1990. ISBN: 0393306763 |
|
Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail |
M. Levy and M. Salvadori | W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 2002. ISBN: 039331152X |
|
Stuff Matters: The Strange Stories of the Marvellous Materials that Shape Our Man-made World |
M. Miodownik | Penguin, 2014. ISBN: 0241955181 |
|
How Structures Work |
D. Yeomans | Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. ISBN: 1119012279 |
|
Sustainable Materials – With Both Eyes Open Available as a free download from http://withbotheyesopen.com/read.php |
J. Allwood and J. Cullen | UIT Cambridge Ltd., 2012. ISBN: 190686005X |
|
Engineering in Society Available as a free (pdf) download from https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/engineering-in-society |
R. Lawlor | the Royal Academy of Engineering, 2013 |
| Thinking in Systems | A Primer. D. Meadows | Earthscan, 2009. ISBN: 1844077268 |
| Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things | W. McDonough and M. Braungart | Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. ISBN: 1429973846 |
Some places you might look for second hand books:
Abe Books, Amazon Marketplace, Biblio, Blackwells, Ebay
Maths revision
A good background in mathematics will make your first year at Sheffield easier and more enjoyable. If you want to revise, these Level Up Your Maths Skills pages provide an excellent revision opportunity available to you before you start officially as a University student.
Laptop advice
In terms of equipment, we would recommend a laptop of a higher specification as most engineering types of programs require a higher specification. Ideally, an i5 processor with 8GB of RAM should be enough but for future proofing and to be on the safe side, if budgets allow, we would recommend an i7 processor with at least 8GB of RAM. Many engineering type software is limited to Windows operating systems. Some do run with MAC OS but to avoid any compatibility issues in the future we would advise a Windows laptop of a medium to high specification. An alternative option would be to run MAC OS and Windows as a dual boot system but this would need configuring and doesn't always run reliably.
Software
The University offers great support to students, making available free of charge a wide range of software, including Microsoft Office, various programming suites, statistics and plotting packages, and referencing software for use on their own computers (click here for a full list). You’ll be able access all of these once you have registered with the University.
Support
You will be well supported by the University during your time with us:
- Our Library Services have excellent online access to resources, as explained here.
- The Sheffield Students’ Union is a hub of much student life, but it’s not all cafes and bars. It supports the student societies and provides a lot of student support, such as the Student Services Information Desk (SSiD). SSiD offers a one-stop shop for lots of student enquiries, from academic verification to a Jobshop, to council tax exemption!
- The University Health Service is a National Health Service (NHS) GP practice for students and their families. You can register with UHS during your course registration or anytime on their website. UHS staff won't share your information with other University departments, including our department, without your consent.
- The University’s Disability and Dyslexia Support Service (DDSS).
- And, should you ever need it, mental health support through the University’s Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service service.
Your guide to Sheffield
Whether you already live in Sheffield, or you're coming to us from elsewhere, there's plenty to see. From the stunning Peak District right on our doorstep to the trendiest cafes and bars all the way to Tramlines music festival, we've got it all.
We have a full guide to Sheffield, including food and drink, sports, arts and culture and how to get around.
Another guide to the city can be found here, which includes information on our festivals, augmented reality art trail 'Look Up' and an alternative LGBTQ+ guide to the city.
There are also maps of Sheffield and information on local public transport to help you navigate the city. In fact, we have a range of different maps to help you find your way around and find what you need:
International undergraduate scholarships
We offer a generous package of financial support for international undergraduate students, including scholarships worth £10,000 towards the annual tuition fee.
Applications are open for existing offer holders for an undergraduate degree programme starting in autumn 2025.