The UK’s first postgraduate degree course to specialise in highways engineering has been extended to allow public and private sector groups from across the country to enrol staff.
The masters course was originally only available to the seven councils and their contractors involved in the SE7 group covering Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, Brighton and Hove and Medway.
Now councils outside the group and private firms have also been invited to send staff on the course, which was launched in 2012 with Brighton University.
Surrey leader David Hodge said: ‘Our course was created to make sure we have highways engineers ready and able to go the extra mile and it’s great to be able to extend it to the private sector and other councils beyond the SE7 group.
‘We’re serious about improving our roads by doing more for less and that means equipping the next generation of senior highways managers with the blend of technical and managerial skills they will need now and in the future.’
The two-year MSc in highway engineering management includes studies in contracts, engineering theory and design, asset and procurement management and personnel management.
Seven students started the latest course and 17 are expected to graduate by this summer. Students divide their time between learning on the job and university lectures.
The news comes as fears grow throughout the sector that a skills shortage could hamper delivery of projects, just as the government pumps close to £6bn into local highways and £15bn for the strategic road network over the next parliament.
