Postgraduate study

Source: https://www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/landhydrographicsurveyingworkplacement/ Parent: https://www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/

Postgraduate taught

Land & Hydrographic Surveying with Work Placement MSc

The Masters in Land & Hydrographic Surveying with Work Placement will introduce you to the surveying discipline and prepare you for employment in the industry. Engineering and land survey are fundamental to the design, construction and navigation of infrastructure projects from small to national scale such as buildings, road and rail networks. Hydrographic Surveyors contribute to safety of navigation and port management for seas, rivers and lakes, and underwater infrastructure projects such as pipelines and offshore wind turbines. This programme is ideal if you are seeking employment in the geospatial industry to support construction and mapping projects both onshore and offshore. This version of the programme includes a 6 month work placement in industry, instead of the normal MSc project.

Academic contact: mingshu.wang@glasgow.ac.uk
Teaching start: September
Glasgow: Gilmorehill campus and Work placement
MSc: 15 months full-time

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Year of entry 2026 2027 2028

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Why this programme

https://youtu.be/rzUgqf7ulrY

The MSc Land & Hydrographic Surveying with Work Placement was developed in close collaboration with industry to meet their employment needs and includes a 6 month work placement in industry.
Students will benefit from access to the latest surveying equipment and software including RTK GNSS, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and terrestrial laser scanners.
Our School has arranged work placements for students at various land, hydrographic and engineering companies including: UTEC Survey, WSP, Andrews Survey, Malcolm Hughes, Survey Solutions, Landscope Engineering, L&M Survey and Ardmore Point. The six-month placements are conducted as full-time, paid, employment contracts
Students will benefit from access to the latest surveying equipment and software including RTK GNSS, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and terrestrial laser scanners.
This programme is accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES), when fully completed with the award of an MSc.
We have over 50 years of experience delivering postgraduate programmes in Geospatial Science. With strong support from industry, including our Geospatial Industry Advisory Board, this programme meets employer requirements.
If you are seeking a career in geomatics: land, engineering, or hydrographic surveying this programme is for you.
Subject to certain conditions, we will accept candidates without the normal entry requirements for an MSc programme, especially those with industrial experience.
The School has an Athena Swan Silver Award, demonstrating the school’s commitment to supporting women in scientific studies and careers, and to improving the working environment for all.

Video: Surveying work placement

Programme structure

Modes of delivery of the MSc Land & Hydrographic Surveying include lectures, practical exercises, and hands-on experience with state-of-the art equipment and software. Included is a weeklong surveying field course, which consolidates practical skills. The programme includes several direct contributions from industry and opportunities to participate in industry-led events.

The work placement supports the application of knowledge and skills developed academically, to be applied directly to a work-environment, gaining valuable practical experience.

Core Courses

Semester 1

Semester 2

Summer/Autumn

Geospatial Science Work Placement

Programme alteration or discontinuation\ The University of Glasgow endeavours to run all programmes as advertised. In exceptional circumstances, however, the University may withdraw or alter a programme. For more information, please see: Student contract.

Career prospects

We are experiencing exceptional demand from our industry contacts and partners for our graduates in the natural and built environment sector for the following roles: Land Surveyor, Engineering Surveyor, Hydrographic/Offshore Surveyor, Geospatial Surveyor and Reality Capture Specialists.

Recent graduates from our surveying programmes have gone on to work for companies such as Ordnance Survey, Glanville Consultants, Jacobs, Babcocks, KOREC, Malcolm Hughes Land Surveyors, Andrews Survey, Morgan Stanley, Fugro, AECOM, UTEC and Subsea 7.

Explore our LinkedIn profile for a flavour of where our most recent graduates work.

Fees & funding

Tuition fees for 2026-27

MSc

Home & RUK

Full-time fee: £12,960

International & EU

Full-time fee: £31,050

Fee status

Fee status guidance

Deposits

International and EU applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2,000 when an offer is made.

Deposits: terms & conditions

The following guidelines will apply in determining whether a deposit will be refunded. Where the deposit is refunded, a 25% administration fee will be deducted unless otherwise stated.

a: Deposits WILL be refunded to applicants under the following circumstances:

Where the University is unable to offer you a place on the programme as specified on the offer. A full refund will be issued in this case.
Death of a close family member (parent/guardian, grandparent, sibling, spouse, child/dependent). Official evidence (signed and stamped) must be provided.
SERIOUS ill health of the applicant or a close family member (parent/guardian, grandparent, sibling, spouse, child/dependent). Official evidence (signed and stamped) must be provided.
Applicant does not meet conditions of offer. This may be academic or language test requirements. Satisfactory evidence must be uploaded to the student’s applicant self-service to prove that they have not met the conditions of their offer (note that applicants who do not meet the language condition of their offer must show reasonable attempt to meet this, i.e. they must provide at least two language tests which were taken after the date the deposit was paid).
Visa / ATAS refusal: we will only consider a refund if the visa / ATAS refusal was based on matters outside of the applicant’s control.
If a refund request is received within 14 days of the deposit being received a full refund will be issued under the Consumer Protection Regulations.

b: Deposits WILL NOT be refunded to applicants under the following circumstances:

An applicant decides not to attend the University for any reason not outlined above.
Personal financial constraints / unsuccessful scholarship application.
Applicant has decided to defer – in this situation the University will retain the deposit and hold it against the applicant’s account to secure their place for the following year of entry. You may defer twice. After the second deferral standard conditions will apply.
There is still time to meet the English language test requirement before the final upload date. Please see section a) 4.
Visa / ATAS was applied for too late. Please see section a) 5.
Any documents used for admission are proven to be fraudulent. We work in partnership with Qualification Check to check academic qualifications. English language qualifications are verified with the provider.
The refund request is received more than 30 days after the official course start date as outlined in your offer email.

Timeframe for requesting a refund

Refund requests must be received no later than 30 days after the official course start date as outlined in your offer email. As per section b)7 above the request will be denied.

Receiving a refund

To comply with Money Laundering Regulations, the University will pay all refunds to the original payer using the source payment details. This is known as a “return to source” payment.
All appropriate documentation and evidence relating to the original payment must be provided, when requested.
All payments and refunds are in GBP currency - the University is not responsible for any exchange rate fluctuations or beneficiary bank charges associated with the refund.
Where University approved payment methods have not been used, this may cause significant delays or prevent payment altogether.
We will aim to issue the deposit refund within 8 weeks of receipt of information per point 2 above. At peak times this may be longer.

How to request a deposit refund

Please go to our enquiry form and select 'Fees and Deposit' as the enquiry reason and then 'Can I have a deposit refund?'.

Please upload all supporting documentation to your applicant self-service portal before submitting the above request.

Find out more about Deposits

Additional fees

Fee for re-assessment of a dissertation (PGT programme): £370
Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed: £350
Registration/exam only fee: £170

Funding opportunities

ScottishPower Master Scholarship

ScottishPower will provide scholarships for the 2026/27 academic year for postgraduate studies at universities in the United Kingdom in the following areas of knowledge:

Electrical / Mechanical / Civil / Electronic Engineering
Data / Cyber / Cyber Security / Telecoms / Business Analytics / Cloud Computing
ScottishPower Master Scholarship

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC)

The University of Glasgow offer a 20% discount to our graduates from the Glasgow College UESTC, and graduates from other Schools within the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, enrolled on a one-year taught Masters (MSc) programme within the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Glasgow.

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC)

The Bseisu- University of Glasgow Scholarship

The University of Glasgow is offering The Bseisu – University of Glasgow Scholarship in partnership with the The Amjad & Suha Bseisu Foundation. This foundation focuses on transforming the lives of people from the Middle East. Its vision is to help build a world based on civil society, uniform rights and equal opportunity. The Foundation has a growing focus on enabling exceptionally talented people from the Middle East to access world-class education.

Eligible applicants can be domiciled in any country but must be a national of Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine or Syria. The scholarship is open to prospective Postgraduate Taught Masters students studying in the College of Science and Engineering for entry in September 2026/27 on one of the eligible STEM programmes.

The scholarship is only available for PGT Masters Programmes only. PgDip/ PgCert and Online Distance Programmes are not eligible.

The Bseisu- University of Glasgow Scholarship

University of Glasgow CoSE-UGM Alumni Scholarship

We are delighted to announce a scholarship for graduates of UGM wishing to undertake a masters programme in the College of Science and Engineering.

University of Glasgow CoSE-UGM Alumni Scholarship

The Snowdon Trust Master’s Scholarship

The Snowdon Trust Master’s Scholarship is accelerating exceptional Disabled Students through masters’ programmes into leadership positions to create change.

Do you have ambitions to change the world? Are you pioneering in your field? Are you creating change for Disabled People? Let us open some doors.

We are searching for individuals who choose to use their lived experience of disabling barriers to make a difference. To create change.

Please see Snowdon Trust, Investing in Disabled Students website for more details.

The Snowdon Trust Master’s Scholarship

CONACyT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia) / FUNED Agreement

CONACYT offers a non-refundable scholarship, a monthly stipend and medical insurance of an approximate total of $20,000 USD (in the case of the UK, no medical insurance grant is given since students are already covered by the National Health System) The University of Glasgow offer a 30% discount to all successful CONACyT scholars who enrol at the University of Glasgow to complete a postgraduate programme.

CONACyT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia) / FUNED Agreement

ANID (la Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo)

The University of Glasgow offers a 25% discount to all successful ANID scholars who enrol at the University of Glasgow to complete a postgraduate programme.

(Please note that this scholarship was previously known as CONICyT)

ANID (la Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo)

University of Glasgow African Excellence Award

The University of Glasgow African Excellence Award aims to support high achieving students from across Africa in their journey to become Future World Changers. We are looking for students who wish to undertake Masters level study (postgraduate diploma or certificate programmes are not eligible for this scholarship), to further develop their knowledge and skills, in order to positively contribute to their community in the future.

The University is offering up to 16 scholarships for International students from Africa, starting a one year postgraduate taught Masters programme, in any discipline for academic session 2026/27.  The scholarship is a full tuition fee waiver.

University of Glasgow African Excellence Award

University of Glasgow Caribbean Excellence Award

The University of Glasgow Caribbean Excellence Award aims to support high achieving students from across the Caribbean in their journey to become Future World Changers. We are looking for students who wish to undertake Masters level study, to further develop their knowledge and skills, in order to positively contribute to their community in the future.

The University is offering up to 4 scholarships for International students from the Caribbean, starting a one year postgraduate taught Masters programme, in any discipline for academic session 2026/27.  The scholarship is a full tuition fee waiver.

University of Glasgow Caribbean Excellence Award

Postgraduate Access Scholarship

The University of Glasgow is pleased to be offering Postgraduate Access Scholarships to support Home students who could face financial difficulties in taking up their place to study at the University. Applications are particularly welcomed from applicants who met any of our widening participation criteria, or equivalent, at undergraduate level. The value of each scholarship is £4,000 and they are for students undertaking a one or two year Taught Masters programme. For two year Taught Masters programmes, the scholarship is available in year one only.

University of Glasgow is committed to support as many self-funded students as possible which is why UofG discounts and scholarships cannot be combined with one another or any external sponsorship discounts (with the exception of Alumni Discount). This scholarship can not be awarded in conjunction with the Glasgow (UK) Excellence Award. In the case that you are awarded both, our team will get in touch with you to clarify which scholarship you would like to accept.

Postgraduate Access Scholarship

Global Leadership Scholarship

The University of Glasgow has several Global Leadership Scholarships available to International fee students starting a postgraduate taught Masters programme in any discipline for Academic Session 2026/2027. The scholarship is awarded as a tuition fees discount for one year only.

Global Leadership Scholarship

The scholarships above are relevant to this programme. For more funding opportunities search the scholarships database

Entry requirements

2.1 Hons (or non-UK equivalent) in Civil Engineering, Earth or Environmental Science, Geography, Geomatics or related subjects, Mathematics, Physics or Planning.

Please note those with a degree in geomatics or a closely related subject or who meet the age and experience criteria of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors can use the programme as a route to a professional qualification and may, under special circumstances, be given exemption from some aspects of the programme.\ \ (Note: this programme has slightly higher entrance requirements than the MSc in Land & Hydrographic Surveying and the MSc in Geospatial & Mapping Sciences due to the 6 month work placement).\ \ Securing a work placement

Offers for this degree programme will be dependent on the number of work placements that the School has negotiated with placement providers in advance. However, the School cannot guarantee a work placement as there may be situations beyond our control that lead to a placement being unavailable. If for any reason a placement is not available after offers have been made, the student will transfer to the MSc in Land & Hydrographic Surveying, and the work placement will be replaced with an MSc project.

The School will also consider suggestions for work placement partners from applicants. In such cases we will contact the suggested placement provider and confirm that they meet our requirements and are willing to agree to the conditions of the placement. Companies should be active in Land, Engineering and/or Hydrographic Surveying.

Progression to the placement is dependent on meeting academic requirements while on the course. If a student does not meet the progression requirements for the placement but does meet the progression requirements for the degree, the student will transfer to the MSc in Land & Hydrographic Surveying, and the work placement will be replaced with an MSc project. Please note these requirements are more demanding than for the non-work placement version of the programme.

The progression requirements for the placement are as follows:

At the end of Semester 1, you must normally achieve at least a C grade in each of the semester 1 courses at the first attempt
At the end of Semester 2, you must normally achieve an overall average B grade from all taught courses at the first attempt

For international (non EU) applicants. A Tier 4 student visa will permit you to undertake this assessed work placement as part of your course in the UK.

English language requirements

For applicants from non-English speaking countries, as defined by the UK Government, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level.

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic and Academic Online (not General Training)

6.5 overall with no subtest less than 6.0
IELTS One Skill Retake Accepted
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Common equivalent English language qualifications accepted for entry to this programme:

TOEFL (ibt, mybest or athome)

Tests taken up to 20 January 2026

90 Overall, no subtest lower than Reading 20; Listening 19; Speaking 19; Writing 21
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test, this includes TOEFL mybest.

Tests taken from 21 January 2026

92 Overall, no subtest lower than Reading 22; Listening 20; Speaking 23; Writing 21
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test, this includes TOEFL mybest.

Pearsons PTE Academic

65 overall with no subtest less than Reading 60; Listening 60; Speaking 65; Writing 60
Online PTE not accepted for entry
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE) and Cambridge Advanced English (CAE)

176 overall with no subtest less than 169
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Oxford English Test

7 overall with no subtest less than 6
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

LanguageCert Academic/ Academic Online

70 overall with no subtest less than 65
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Password Skills Plus

6.5 overall with no subtest less than 6.0
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Trinity College Integrated Skills in English II

Two subtests at 96 or higher, and two subtests at 80 or higher
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

Kaplan Test of English

Any two subtests at 480 or higher, and any two subtests at 450 or higher
Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of programme start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.

University of Glasgow Pre-sessional courses

Tests are accepted for 2 years following date of successful completion.

Alternatives to English Language qualification

Degree from majority-English speaking country (as defined by the UKVI including Canada if taught in English)
students must have studied for a minimum of their final year at Undergraduate level, or 9 months at Master's level, and must have completed their degree in that majority-English speaking country within the last 6 years.
Undergraduate 2+2 and 3+1 degrees from majority-English speaking country (as defined by the UKVI including Canada if taught in English)
students must have completed their final year of study in that majority-English speaking country within the last 6 years.

For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use these tests to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level programmes. The University is also able to accept UKVI approved Secure English Language Tests (SELT) but we do not require a specific UKVI SELT for degree level programmes. We therefore still accept any of the English tests listed for admission to this programme.

Pre-sessional courses

The University of Glasgow accepts evidence of the required language level from the English for Academic Study Unit Pre-sessional courses. We would strongly encourage you to consider the pre-sessional courses at the University of Glasgow's English for Academic Study (EAS) Unit. Our Pre-sessional courses are the best way to bring your English up to entry level for University study. Our courses give you:

direct entry to your University programme for successful students (no need to take IELTS);
essential academic skills to help you study effectively at University;
flexible entry dates so you can join the right course for your level.

More information on our Pre-sessional courses.

We can also consider the pre-sessional courses accredited by the below BALEAP approved institutions to meet the language requirements for admission to our postgraduate taught degrees:

Heriot Watt
Kingston Upon Thames
Middlesex University
Manchester University
Reading University
Edinburgh University
ST Andrews University
UCL
Durham

For further information about English language requirements, please contact the Recruitment and International Office using our enquiry form

International students

We are proud of our diverse University community that includes students and staff from more than 140 different countries.

How to apply

To apply for a postgraduate taught degree you must apply online. We cannot accept applications any other way.

Please check you meet the Entry requirements for this programme before you begin your application.

Documents

As part of your online application, you also need to submit the following supporting documents:

A copy (or copies) of your official degree certificate(s) (if you have already completed your degree)
A copy (or copies) of your official academic transcript(s), showing full details of subjects studied and grades/marks obtained
Official English translations of the certificate(s) and transcript(s)
One reference letter on headed paper
Evidence of your English language ability (if your first language is not English)
Any additional documents required for this programme (see Entry requirements for this programme)
A copy of the photo page of your passport

You have 42 days to submit your application once you begin the process.

You may save and return to your application as many times as you wish to update information, complete sections or upload supporting documents such as your final transcript or your language test.

For more information about submitting documents or other topics related to applying to a postgraduate taught programme, see how to apply for a postgraduate taught degree

Guidance notes for using the online application

These notes are intended to help you complete the online application form accurately; they are also available within the help section of the online application form.

If you experience any difficulties accessing the online application, see Application System Help.

Name and Date of birth: must appear exactly as they do on your passport. Please take time to check the spelling and lay-out.
Contact Details: Correspondence address. All contact relevant to your application will be sent to this address including the offer letter(s). If your address changes, please contact us as soon as possible.
Choice of course: Please select carefully the course you want to study. As your application will be sent to the admissions committee for each course you select it is important to consider at this stage why you are interested in the course and that it is reflected in your application.
Proposed date of entry: Please state your preferred start date including the month and the year. Taught masters degrees tend to begin in September. Research degrees may start in any month.
Education and Qualifications: Please complete this section as fully as possible indicating any relevant Higher Education qualifications starting with the most recent. Complete the name of the Institution (s) as it appears on the degree certificate or transcript.
English Language Proficiency: Please state the date of any English language test taken (or to be taken) and the award date (or expected award date if known).
Employment and Experience: Please complete this section as fully as possible with all employments relevant to your course. Additional details may be attached in your personal statement/proposal where appropriate.

Reference: Please provide one reference. This should typically be an academic reference but in cases where this is not possible then a reference from a current employer may be accepted instead. Certain programmes, such as the MBA programme, may also accept an employer reference. If you already have a copy of a reference on letter headed paper then please upload this to your application. If you do not already have a reference to upload then please enter your referee’s name and contact details on the online application and we will contact your referee directly.

Application deadlines

International & EU applicants

Due to demand for degree places on this programme, the University has an application process with application rounds which recognises that different geographical areas complete and submit their applications at different times of the year. This process aims to ensure fairness and equity to applicants from all geographic regions.

Round 1 application dates: 1 October 2025 to 5 November 2025

All International and EU applications submitted within these dates will be reviewed with no priority given to any geographic region. You will receive our decision on your application by 16 January 2026.

Round 2 application dates: 6 November 2025 to 17 December 2025

All International and EU applications submitted within these dates will be reviewed with no priority given to any geographic region. You will receive our decision on your application by 4 March 2026.

Round 3 application dates: 18 December 2025 to 4 February 2026

Priority will be given to under-represented geographic regions. You will receive our decision on your application by 15 April 2026.

Round 4 application dates: 5 February 2026 to 25 March 2026

Priority will be given to under-represented geographic regions. You will receive our decision on your application by 6 May 2026.

Round 5 application dates: 26 March 2026 to 13 May 2026

Priority will be given to under-represented geographic regions. You will receive our decision on your application by 17 June 2026.

Round 6 application dates: 14 May 2026 to 8 July 2026

Priority will be given to under-represented geographic regions. You will receive our decision on your application by 29 July 2026.

All international applications submitted by 17 December 2025 will be reviewed and processed normally with no priority given to any geographic region. From 18 December 2025, priority will be given to applications from geographic areas which have been unable to submit applications before that point.

As we receive a great number of applications, prospective students are only allowed to apply once per year to the same programme. However, students may submit multiple applications in a year as long as each application is for a different programme.