At ARU, students develop the expertise, creativity and confidence to turn new ideas into innovative practical solutions.
Our professionally accredited degrees, work-based learning, employer-designed challenges and interdisciplinary education connects technology and innovation with real-world needs. Across engineering, construction, digital technologies and related disciplines, students work with industry and gain experience of applied problem-solving, helping develop the skilled workforce needed for resilient infrastructure and sustainable economic development.
Bringing industry challenges into the classroom
Engineering students at ARU tackle Live Briefs developed with employers, bringing real-world industrial problems directly into their studies. Supported by academics with industrial as well as research experience, students use specialist, state-of-the-art laboratories and practical learning to develop solutions to contemporary engineering challenges. ARU's engineering and built environment provision also includes degrees professionally accredited by bodies including IET, IMechE, RICS, CIOB, JBM and RIBA, connecting university learning with the standards and skills required by industry.
Developing infrastructure skills through degree apprenticeships
ARU works directly with employers to develop the workforce needed to design and deliver infrastructure for the future. Our current degree apprenticeship portfolio includes Civil Engineering, Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying and Town Planning, alongside digital, data, technology and engineering routes. These programmes combine university study with paid employment, allowing learners to apply new knowledge directly in the workplace. Across all disciplines, we've supported more than 7,800 apprentices working with more than 1,000 employers, with over 2,500 apprentices already graduating with qualifications ranging from first degrees to postgraduate awards. Our 2025 apprenticeship impact report shows that ARU apprenticeships deliver measurable benefits for employers and apprentices:
Preparing students for technological change
Innovation is reshaping almost every profession. In this fourth industrial revolution, the UK’s Industrial Strategy highlights the need for preparing for disruptive change. This presents us with an opportunity and a challenge: students must leave equipped to understand complex subjects in interdisciplinary ways and be able to collaborate, solve problems and think critically and creatively. Our award-winning Ruskin Modules are part of most undergraduate degrees and are designed to equip our students with the skills needed for a dynamic world. Students develop collaboration, creative thinking and complex problem-solving skills while learning to approach challenges from perspectives beyond their own discipline.
Last updated: October 2026
To request additions, corrections or changes to the information in these pages, please contact: Dr Zareen Bharucha: [email protected]. Please use the subject line ‘ARU SDG’.