Planning & Development

Overview

To gain expertise in key aspects of planning theory, policy and practice.



Course Content

The course’s primary focus is to provide professional planning skills. It is designed to allow students to develop knowledge on planning in a flexible manner as the 60 CATS can be completed full-time in one semester or accumulated more flexibly over up to two years. You can learn the use of techniques (GIS, design software, statistical analysis) but more importantly, how to apply them to solve problems, create new solutions for the built environment and understand the complexity of environmental management.



Professional Accreditations

This qualification can be upgraded to the MSc in Planning and Development which is professionally accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Year 1

Optional Modules

• International Planning Studies (10 credits)

• Community Planning and Regeneration (10 credits)

• Planning Skills and Ethics (10 credits)

• Planning Law and Practice (10 credits)

• Design in the Built Environment (10 credits)

• Professional Practice Project in Environmental Planning (20 credits)

• Introduction to Planning Theory and Practice (10 credits)

• Property Development (10 credits)

• GIS and Spatial Analysis (20 credits)

• Planning and Environmental Governance (10 credits)

Graduate

Normally a 2.2 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in any discipline.



Applicants who do not meet the above academic requirement but have appropriate acceptable experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Supplementary form to be completed along with application.



The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.



International Students

Please see International Student's link below.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 30th June 2025 for courses which commence in late September.



In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal prior to the deadline stated on course finder.



Notifications to this effect will appear on the application portal against the programme application page.

1 year (Full-time)

2 years (Part-time)

Entry Year: 2025/26

Career Prospects

Introduction

Our graduates end up in leading positions in central and local government and as well as in planning consultancies in the private sector. Some of them have gone on to lead significant environmental campaigns such as opposition to fracking; work with NGOs such as Friends of the Earth; and work with communities to make their neighbourhoods better, such as with disadvantaged groups.