Urban Planning BA Honours
UCAS Code: K421 (3 Years)

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The Haymarket, Newcastle City CentreA planning-related degree could be for you if you are:

  • interested in your surroundings
  • curious about how places change
  • concerned about sustainability
  • keen to influence the way our environment is developed or conserved

Newcastle provides the ultimate case study for planning students. The rise and decline of industry and the recent cultural renaissance have turned the city into a ‘living laboratory’ for exploration and study.  

There is a fantastic range of live planning projects on your doorstep and you will have plenty of opportunities to get out and about in the city and beyond through frequent projects and field trips. You may also undertake a European field trip in second year to examine planning issues in a European city.

Professional accreditation

Both of our planning degrees are professionally accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). This means they satisfy the standards set by the planning profession.

See the Route to Chartered Town Planner section below for more information about our RTPI accredited qualifications and the flexibility of the planning programme at Newcastle.

Quality and ranking

Newcastle is ranked in the top 5 UK universities for planning in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014, The Guardian University Guide 2014 and The Complete University Guide 2014. We also achieved an overall student satisfaction score of 91% in the 2013 National Student Survey.

Teaching and assessment

This programme is more vocationally oriented and this is reflected in the different methods of tuition we use. This means a typical week may involve lectures, seminars, and individual and group project work. Field trips in the UK and abroad are integral to the programme and form a key part of tuition and assessment.

Methods of assessment include individual essays and projects, group work, presentations, and examinations. Our innovative teaching and assessment techniques involve the use of film, posters and presentations, making learning a creative and dynamic process. Teaching and assessment methods may vary from module to module; more information can be found in our individual module listings.

Visit our Teaching and Learning pages to read about the outstanding learning experience available to you at Newcastle University.

Take time to see where your career interests lie

At Newcastle you have control over how far you want to take your planning education.

  • Our three-year Urban Planning BA Honours degree is professionally accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute. It offers a rewarding insight into urban planning and key environmental issues. You may use this qualification as a route into planning later in your career, following specialist postgraduate study. It can also be a launch pad into many other exciting professions. See the Careers section for more information
  • If you decide you wish to follow a career in planning you may transfer to our four-year MPlan degree. This involves a year of advanced study in Stage 4 which leads to an undergraduate Master of Planning qualification that satisfies the RTPI's educational requirements for Chartered Town Planner status

See the Route to Chartered Town Planner section below for more information.

Combine planning with another subject

It is possible to combine planning with another subject through our Joint Honours degrees.

  • Combine planning with architecture in our Architecture and Urban Planning degree, with potential transfer to our Single Honours courses at the end of Stage 1 should you decide you wish to pursue a career as a Planner or an Architect
  • Combine planning with geography in our Geography and Planning degree, with potential to transfer to our Master of Planning or Urban Planning BA Honours degree at the end of Stage 1

School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape

As a planning student at Newcastle you will be part of the School of Architecture Planning and Landscape. This is one of the few academic Schools in the UK specialising entirely in the built environment. The School has world-renowned expertise in:

  • urban planning
  • architecture
  • landscape architecture
  • urban design
  • digital architecture

As a founder member of the Association of European Schools of Planning, we also have strong European links. This gives you the chance to experience differences in planning approaches beyond the UK through European field visits. MPlan students can also undertake a semester of study in Europe through the Erasmus exchange scheme in Stage 4.

+ The route to Chartered Town Planner

At Newcastle, we offer an RTPI accredited route to Chartered Town Planner status. Importantly, you have time to decide whether this route is for you as you progress through the course.

  • Our four-year MPlan degree leads to an undergraduate Master of Planning qualification. It covers teaching in both core spatial planning and in a specialist area of planning that are required for Chartered Membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). At Newcastle, our specialisms are Urban Regeneration and Environmental Planning
  • Our three-year Urban Planning BA Honours degree satisfies the core spatial planning requirements for RTPI membership but not the specialist teaching requirements. It can however be combined with a specialist Master’s qualification, should you decide to return to planning later in your career, or to qualify in another related profession, such as our MA in Urban Design

To become a Chartered Town Planner you also need to first complete two years’ experience in planning practice. MPlan students can take advantage of our unique opportunity to gain one of these two years of experience by completing our Certificate in Planning Practice between Stages 3 and 4 of their degree.

Certificate in Planning Practice (1 year full time)

This consists of a one-year work placement, providing real planning experience. The placement is paid (salaries up to £24,000). You also complete three practice-based modules.

Many students return to permanent positions with their host organisations after completion of the MPlan.

Find out more about becoming a Chartered Town Planner on the RTPI’s website.

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I chose Newcastle University because I wanted to study in an institution with an esteemed academic reputation, with good career prospects, but also that had a reputation for providing a fantastic student life, in terms of both social life, and studying facilities.

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