Corporate Environmental Management with Industrial Practice MSc - 2026/7
Awarding body
University of Surrey
Teaching institute
University of Surrey
Framework
FHEQ Level 7
Final award and programme/pathway title
MSc Corporate Environmental Management with Industrial Practice (Placement pathway (24 months))
Modes of study
| Route code | Credits and ECTS Credits | |
| Full-time with Placement | PFG71001 | 240 credits and 120 ECTS credits |
QAA Subject benchmark statement (if applicable)
Other internal and / or external reference points
This programme is subject to approval. This means that it has received initial agreement from the University and is currently undergoing a detailed final approval exercise, through the University's quality assurance processes. These processes are a requirement for all Higher Education Institutions within the UK, to ensure that programmes are of the highest standard. Occasionally there may be instances where the University may delay or not approve the introduction of the programme.
Faculty and Department / School
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences - School of Engineering
Programme Leader
CHENOWETH Jonathan (Sch of Eng)
Date of production/revision of spec
29/08/2025
Educational aims of the programme
- The MSc in Corporate Environmental Management MScs is a multidisciplinary MSc programme which involves the application of a wide range of engineering, natural and social sciences knowledge and methods to problems of corporate environmental management. The rationale for this multidisciplinary approach is that effectively addressing the environmental problems and sustainability challenges faced by corporations requires practitioners with a diverse range of skills. Students undertaking this MSc can thus add specialist knowledge of sustainable development and environmental management to their existing skills and knowledge base to ensure they are equipped to tackle corporate environmental challenges and implement sustainable development.
- To provide students with a solid grounding in the sustainable development debate from the wide-range of perspectives, i.e. business groups, environmentalists, government agencies, development institutions, etc..
- To equip students to evaluate existing political, socio-economic, ethical, cultural and regulatory frameworks to inform decisions regarding environmental practice.
- To equip students to develop a sensitive business practice towards environmental and social issues.
- To equip students with the necessary skills for critical inquiry related to environmental issues in organisations and industries.
- Provide practice opportunities to enhance the learning process by year-long industrial placement where students will be able to put into practice their taught knowledge and development industry related skills.
Programme learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | Awards | Ref. | |
| Understand the intra and inter-organisational contexts in which corporate environmental strategies are developed | KC | MSc | |
| Understand the concept of sustainable development and its relevance to business ethics | KCPT | MSc | |
| Understand the evolving regulatory and policy framework of environmental management | K | MSc | |
| Develop an advanced understanding of different corporate environmental management strategies | K | MSc | |
| Know how to access and use environmental data and digital resources effectively | KC | MSc | |
| Develop an advanced understanding of how corporations build, implement and maintain an Environmental Management System (EMS) | KPT | MSc | |
| Be able to analyse environmental policy and regulation | CPT | MSc | |
| Be able to analyse environmental policy and regulation | KCPT | MSc | |
| Reflect on career goals and develop the employability skills needed to secure relevant employment | K | MSc | |
| Demonstrate the ability to work according to the professional expectations and expected codes of behaviour of the industry/company within which the placement is situated. | CPT | MSc | |
| Reflect and evaluate the skills, knowledge and personal development gained from the completion of the Industrial Practice placement. | KPT | MSc | |
| Critically analyse how scientific and practical contexts of practice can impact the advancement of professional practice. | KPT | MSc |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Programme structure
Full-time with Placement
This Master's Degree programme is studied full-time over one academic year, consisting of 180 credits at FHEQ level 7. All modules are semester based and worth 15 credits with the exception of project, practice based and dissertation modules.
Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits)
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
Programme Adjustments (if applicable)
N/A
Modules
Year 1 (full-time with placement - 2 years) - FHEQ Level 7
Year 2 (full-time with placement - 2 years) - FHEQ Level 7
| Module code | Module title | Status | Credits | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year-long |
Module Selection for Year 2 (full-time with placement - 2 years) - FHEQ Level 7
As part of the approval process the following new module is being developed and once approved will be added to the programme:
Industrial Practice (60 credits, Year Long)
Opportunities for placements / work related learning / collaborative activity
| Associate Tutor(s) / Guest Speakers / Visiting Academics | Y | |
| Professional Training Year (PTY) | N | |
| Placement(s) (study or work that are not part of PTY) | Y | Yes |
| Clinical Placement(s) (that are not part of the PTY scheme) | N | |
| Study exchange (Level 5) | N | |
| Dual degree | N |
Other information
The School of Engineering / Centre for Environment and Sustainability is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This programme is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:
Employability: professionally focused learning that nurtures career ready graduates permeate the programme through its use of speakers from industry and government. Employability is also developed via site visits in some modules, such as the Environmental Auditing and Management Systems module, which are designed to give students practical examples of who to apple their developing knowledge and skills. Some modules, such as the Environmental Science and Society module, give students the opportunity to work in multi-disciplinary teams.
During the first year on this programme students take an Employability module and in their second year of this programme students undertake an extended industrial placement in industry to gain practical employability skills by working for a company or organisation in a sustainability related role.
This programme is accredited by Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). IEMA provides a route for its members to achieve Chartered Environmentalist status. If students complete four specified modules (Sustainable Development Applications, Environmental Science and Society, Environmental Law and Environmental Auditing and Management Systems), plus the overall MSc degree, then they are eligible for Graduate Membership of IEMA upon graduation.
Global and cultural capabilities, intercultural awareness and informed views on global, social and ethical issues are required skills for any effective sustainability practitioner, with the MSc¿s modules designed specifically to develop these capabilities. Class discussions which are built into almost every module on this programme expose students to a variety of global and cultural perspectives due to both the diversity of students taking this MSc programme and the breadth of topics and perspectives covered.
Digital capabilities: Throughout the programme students learn to navigate and utilise the University of Surrey¿s Virtual Learning Environment (SurreyLearn) and other digital resources and online databases to aid their learning and undertake research. For example, the Life Cycle Assessment module teaches students how to use SimaPro LCA software and to access the EcoInvent database. Students are taught how to use digital technologies for access to digital sources of data, data collection and analysis. Students also develop their virtual meeting and digital working skills via the use of virtual meeting software for some tutorial sessions and seminars on this programme.
Resourcefulness and resilience: In the taught modules students are challenged to consider how different individuals, groups and societies respond to the opportunities, challenges, difficulties and setbacks they encounter when seeking to implement sustainable development. Students are encouraged to reflect upon these resourcefulness and resilience strategies as they develop their own personal resourcefulness and resilience strategies.
Students are challenged to be resourceful in their data gathering and analysis as they develop their qualitative and quantitative research skills when completing their module assessments and when doing their dissertation. Dissertation supervisors encourage students to think creatively and be resourceful when developing their dissertation research.
Sustainability permeates all of the modules in this programme since the programme as a whole is seeking to create skilled sustainability professionals. Thus, all of the modules included on the programme are included because they provide students with either the subject knowledge, analytical, transferable or practical skills expected of sustainability professionals. This includes learning about subject-specific theories and concepts such as systems thinking, ecological economics and life cycle analysis. It includes frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and knowledge of issues such as climate change. Depending upon their module selection and dissertation focus, students also learn to use analytical tools such as life cycle analysis, and research tools such as surveying, interviewing, focus groups, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The broad range subject areas, analytical tools and skills developed in the programme mean that students should be effective sustainability practitioners upon graduation.
Quality assurance
The Regulations and Codes of Practice for taught programmes can be found at:
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.