Built environment students visit Taylor Wimpey
First-year students across our built environment courses get the chance to visit one of the largest British homebuilding companies, Taylor Wimpey, during semester one. We work closely with Taylor Wimpey and value providing students with a range of opportunities to network with employers and gain as much industry experience as possible.
Taylor Wimpey is one of the largest residential developers in the UK, building and selling over 15,000 homes every year. The site visit helps students to learn more about how these homes are constructed and speak to industry professionals.
What do students do on the site visit?
During the site visits, students have a tour of the construction site to learn about construction in various stages of progress. They receive a talk from Taylor Wimpey staff in the sales suite about the many different pressures which affect the delivery of a housing development. They also view a range of prototype homes and discuss future drivers for house design.
The site visit forms part of a module in which students develop their understanding of the factors that affect the homebuilding and wider construction industry, from the perspective of their own profession. This underpins lots of the more technical modules they study later. At the end of the module, students present their findings to a panel of Taylor Wimpey experts. This valuable opportunity sees students delivering a presentation in a professional setting, having their ideas heard by industry and getting feedback and encouragement from industry professionals.
"The practical site visits are a fantastic way to bring the subject we study to life, and I found the Taylor Wimpey visit the most interesting and rewarding,” said India, a Built Environment student. I am proud to have given a presentation to Taylor Wimpey with knowledge I have acquired over this first semester. It gave me further confidence in myself and the motivation to do the best I can in my studies."
What do students get out of the visit?
Students are able to use this experience to develop their team presentation assessments as part of their course. They can use the knowledge gained from the visit and relationships with the Taylor Wimpey team to prepare their assessment and to produce industry-standard work.
Quantity Surveying student, Tom visited the site and said: “The work with Taylor Wimpey was fantastic. I have worked in a few areas of the industry, so I was familiar with their work before coming to university. However, getting an insight into how the company operates was brilliant."
The experience allows students to build strong industry connections with a potential future employer and gain a greater insight into the many different job opportunities that could be available after graduation. Our alumni have gone on to work for many of the big homebuilder companies as well as different construction and property firms.
How it benefits our students
Site visits allow our students to see professionals carrying out their roles in the industry, as well as providing them with a chance to see what their future role could look like after they graduate.
Our built environment courses have worked closely with Taylor Wimpey over the past few years and have allowed students across the School to build professional relationships that will benefit them in years to come.
Tim Lightfoot, Managing Director of Taylor Wimpey West Midlands, said: “We thank the students and University for their support and taking part in helping the next generation make their way into our terrific industry.”