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The route into structural engineer

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Architecture, Civil Engineering
  • Physicsrequiredfor Architecture, Civil Engineering
  • Design and Technologyhelpsfor Architecture, Civil Engineering
  • Art and Designhelpsfor Architecture
  • History of Arthelpsfor Architecture
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Civil Engineering
  • Geographyhelpsfor Civil Engineering

IB Diploma

  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Civil Engineering
  • Physics HLrequiredfor Civil Engineering
  • Design Technologyhelpsfor Architecture, Civil Engineering
  • Visual Arts HLhelpsfor Architecture
  • Mathematicshelpsfor Architecture
  • Physicshelpsfor Architecture
  • Geographyhelpsfor Civil Engineering

Advanced Placement

  • AP Physics 1helpsfor Architecture, Civil Engineering
  • AP Art and Designhelpsfor Architecture
  • AP Calculus ABhelpsfor Architecture
  • AP Art Historyhelpsfor Architecture
  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Civil Engineering
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Civil Engineering
  • AP Environmental Sciencehelpsfor Civil Engineering

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Architecture

    The other half of the same building; some architects move across via a further degree, and the two work together constantly.

    Five to seven years in total across degree, practical experience and professional examinations. The Saudi and US B.Arch routes run five years; the UK route is three plus a year out plus two.

  • Civil Engineering

    The specialism inside it, and the one that carries the signature.

    Four to five years, plus several years of supervised experience before chartered or professional status.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • PortfolioBuilt over one to two years before applying

    The decisive requirement at most schools, and the one that cannot be assembled in a month. Drawing, models, photography and sketchbooks showing how you think, not just finished pieces.

  • InterviewAfter shortlisting

    Usually a conversation about your portfolio. Being able to explain why you made a decision matters more than the decision.

  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi admission composite, since architecture sits in the engineering colleges.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge and Imperial only; most universities require no test.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • IELTS, TOEFL or STEPBefore enrolment

    Decides whether an English preparatory year is required.

    • Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
    • 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
    • Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including Mathematics and Physics2 yr
  2. undergraduateMEng Civil or Structural Engineering3–4 yrs
  3. trainingProfessional development toward chartership4–6 yrs
  4. licensingChartered Structural Engineer0–1 yrs
  5. practiceChartered structural engineer0 yr

LicensingChartered Engineer status, and Chartered Structural Engineer specifically for structural design responsibility. The examination is genuinely difficult and multiple attempts are normal.

United States

  1. schoolHigh school with calculus and physics4 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc Civil Engineering4–5 yrs
  3. postgraduateMSc Structural Engineering (effectively expected)1–2 yrs
  4. trainingSupervised practice toward licensure4 yr
  5. licensingProfessional Engineer, and Structural Engineer licence in some states0–1 yrs
  6. practiceLicensed structural engineer0 yr

LicensingProfessional Engineer licensure is mandatory to seal structural designs, with a separate Structural Engineer licence required in some states.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track3 yr
  2. foundationPreparatory year at the university1 yr
  3. undergraduateBSc Civil Engineering4 yr
  4. trainingProfessional experience toward registration2–5 yrs
  5. practiceStructural engineer0 yr

LicensingSaudi Council of Engineers registration, with grade determining what design responsibility you may hold. International chartership is valued and common among senior engineers.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 4 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 1 year by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £27,000–35,000 of earnings deferred.

United States

School-leaving to independent practice: 5–6 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is aircraft maintenance engineer at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 2 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of $48,780–62,630, that is roughly $97,560–125,260 of earnings deferred.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 5 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 1 year by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 140,000–220,000 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.