Heriot-Watt engineering qualification to reach 40 schools

A new Heriot-Watt engineering qualification, developed with Midlothian Council and built on software from Bentley Systems, was launched at Panmure House in Edinburgh on Monday 19 October.

Scotland’s Infrastructure Pathway gives secondary pupils hands-on experience of real infrastructure through an interactive 3D digital model and aims to reach around 40 schools across Scotland next year.

How the Heriot-Watt engineering qualification works

The Heriot-Watt engineering qualification was piloted in four Midlothian schools with the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, in association with the University of Glasgow. It leads to an SCQF Level 6 award accepted for engineering degree entry and counts as a B at Higher for entry to Heriot-Watt’s civil and architectural engineering degrees.

At its centre is a digital twin, a 3D computer model of buildings, streets and energy networks that works like an interactive map. It was first developed to visualise energy data for Heriot-Watt’s campus decarbonisation work and is built with Bentley Systems’ Cesium software.

Pupils can click on buildings to see their energy use and test their own ideas using real data on wind, energy, water and live sensors. The course runs in an ordinary web browser on the Chromebooks and iPads pupils already use in school. Bentley’s technology is free for education. Over an academic year, pupils also work with industry partners including Mott MacDonald and SSE on real project scenarios.

Alex MacLaren, Associate Professor of Architecture at Heriot-Watt University, said the pathway was the result of three years of work by educators and industry leaders. “We believe it is the first initiative of its kind anywhere in the world. It was created by education and industry, for education and industry.”

David Robertson, Director, University and Education Partnerships at Bentley Systems, said: “What makes the Infrastructure Pathway special is that it puts real industry technology into pupils’ hands on the devices they already have, and connects what they learn directly to the careers that exist across Scotland’s infrastructure sector.”

“Scotland's infrastructure and net zero ambitions depend on a new generation with the skills to deliver them.”

Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Heriot-Watt University

The skills gap behind the launch

Heriot-Watt links the course to Scotland’s plans for £11.1 billion of infrastructure investment. The Construction Industry Training Board’s latest workforce outlook for Scotland says the industry needs to increase recruitment by an average of 2,590 extra workers a year to 2030.

Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, said: “This pathway shows what can be achieved when universities, schools and industry work together to open up those careers to young people, wherever they live and whatever their background.”

After the launch, the partners held events for schools and employers in Edinburgh on 20 October and Glasgow on 21 October, with Aberdeen following on 29 October and Dundee on 30 October.

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Sources: Heriot-Watt University announcement, 20 October 2026; CITB Construction Workforce Outlook Scotland 2026-2030