Newcastle University Undergraduate programs
Urban Planning BA Honours
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,600 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Join an exciting and dynamic debate about the future of where we live, work and play.
Our Urban Planning BA Honours degree gives you the skills to understand places and the tools to bring meaningful positive change to them.
Combine the latest research with practical planning knowledge, concepts, and skills.
We bring together key skills such as:
- Site analysis
- Digital planning
- Mapping
- Research skills
with critical reflections on urban planning, live project work and field trips.
Professional accreditation and recognition
Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
This degree is partially accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as a spatial qualification. This means it satisfies the standards set by the planning profession. BA Urban Planning and MPlan students are able to opt-in to free student membership of the RTPI at the start of their degree.
- 10th in the UK – The Complete University Guide 2023 (Town and Country Planning, Landscape category)
- 15th in the UK – The Guardian University Guide 2023 (Construction, Surveying and Planning category)
- Global Top 125 University - QS World University Rankings 2023
- 65% increase in research power since 2014 – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- 42% of our research is classified as 4* world-leading research – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- 8th in the UK – Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 (Town and Country Planning and Landscape category)
- 1st in the UK and 8th in the world for sustainable development – Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022
- Global Top 140 University - Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023
The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.
Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage.
Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.
Our graduates do exceptionally well in the job market, both regionally and nationally, with many going on to pursue accredited Town Planner status.
Our graduates have also gone on to become teachers, accountants, solicitors, academics, business managers and officers in the armed forces.
Becoming a Chartered Town Planner
To become a Chartered Town Planner you need to fulfil the RTPI educational requirements and then complete two years' experience in planning practice.
- our four-year MPlan degree offers an RTPI-accredited route to Chartered Town Planner status
- our three-year BA Honours degree provides the foundation for this but requires an additional year of master's-level study
This three-year degree satisfies the core spatial planning requirements for RTPI membership, but not the specialist teaching requirements to achieve Chartered Town Planner status directly.
If you decide, during your BA degree, that you would like to become a Chartered Town Planner, you can apply to transfer onto our MPlan degree until the end of Semester 1 of Stage 3 as both courses follow the same programme.
Or you can study a specialist master’s qualification, should you decide to return to planning later in your career.
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the university website for more information.
This programme is vocationally oriented and this is reflected in the methods of tuition we use.
A typical week may involve lectures, seminars, and individual and group project work.
Field trips in the UK and abroad are integral to the programme and form a key part of tuition and assessment.
Our innovative teaching and assessment techniques involve the use of film, posters and presentations, making learning a creative and dynamic process.