Rail and Civil Engineering

Learn the skills you need to work in rail or civil engineering at our specialist facility in Gateshead.

Newcastle College University Centre's Rail and Civil Engineering Academy is a specialist facility in Gateshead which replicates the environments you will find in the rail and civil engineering industries.

Winner of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education, this is where you will develop core engineering skills to be able to enter the growing rail and civil engineering industries after you’ve graduated.

Our Rail Engineering facilities include:

indoor and outdoor overhead lines
multiple permanent way set-ups
signalling and mechanical workshops
fully operating and interlocked switches and crossings
level crossing barriers
signalling equipment
electronic and PLC testing and monitoring equipment.

Our Civil Engineering facilities include:

soils laboratory
total stations
dedicated civil engineering learning environments.

Where you’ll study

You will be studying at our award-winning Rail and Civil Engineering Academy in Gateshead, which is just a six-minute walk from Felling Metro Station.

Our Rail and Civil Engineering Academy has been developed in conjunction with key industry partners to ensure you’ll be equipped with the right skills to prepare you for your career after you graduate.

Is the University Centre safe?

Newcastle College University Centre has a range of security measures in place to ensure that all students and staff remain safe while on campus.

Security

We employ a team of security operatives providing 24-hour cover, 365 days a year. Optimum staffing levels are in place to ensure proactive foot patrols are conducted around the college estate, both internally and externally. All of our security staff can be identified by their hi-visibility clothing which is identified with SECURITY on the back which serves to distinguish them from other day-to-day contractors and suppliers who may also may be wearing hi-visibility clothing.

These security provisions run across all Newcastle College University Centre and NCG campuses.

CCTV

CCTV is extensively situated around Newcastle College and Newcastle College University Centre, both externally and internally in some buildings for the purpose of crime prevention and public safety with a dedicated CCTV control room that is staffed continually. The CCTV control room has a dedicated emergency line number in addition to two other phone lines.

Identification System

In addition to general college staff challenging people without a valid college or University Centre ID, security staff do this as part of their specific duties and conduct ad-hoc ID checks at the point of entry to buildings. We also have close liaison with our local neighbourhood police officers.

Do you have study and social areas for degree students?

At the Rail and Civil Engineering Academy, there is social space for all of our students, whether that’s for those all-important group projects or when you need some space to relax. There is also a canteen on site that serves hot and cold breakfasts, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, salads, snacks and drinks; perfect for keeping you fuelled whilst you study!

If you are visiting our main Rye Hill campus, our HE Hub is an ideal place for you to study, socialise or collaborate with friends. You can also study in our new HE learning space on the ground floor of the HE Hub, The Turnbull Suite, with PCs, private meeting pods and seating space, perfect for group projects.

The tenth floor of our Parsons Building is a great place to study with stunning views of the city too. It is fully equipped with PCs, breakout areas for group work and a chill-out area to relax in between studying. As a degree student, you will also have access to laptops and tablets for use on campus.

We also have a great Library on campus for you to use. Here you will have access to over 40,000 books and hundreds of journals, magazines, DVDs, e-books and e-journal resources.