Architecture (including foundation year)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
You will be required to have: English Language GCSE at grade C/grade 4 or above (or equivalent) You will be required to have Maths GCSE at grade C/grade 4 or above (or equivalent)
UCAS Tariff
At least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma).
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Why study this course?**
Our Architecture (including foundation year) BA (Hons) is designed to offer an alternative route into higher education if you can’t meet the necessary entry requirements for the standard three-year degree. It’s also the ideal choice if you’d like to practise your skills before embarking on the bachelor's part of your degree to explore your potential within multiple creative practices.
On completion of this four-year degree you’ll receive exemption from RIBA Part 1 and you’ll be prepared to continue working towards Parts 2 and 3 to register as an architect with the Architects Registration Board (ARB).
**More about this course**
The foundation year on this bachelor's course in architecture is an intensive year that will equip you with studio and workshop skills to help you progress on to more in-depth study of architecture in the subsequent three years of your degree. You’ll learn how to make informed decisions about your own work, become a creative practitioner and gain confidence to present and defend your work.
The foundation year will be shared with others studying a degree with a foundation year at the School of Art, Architecture and Design, so the subjects you’ll study will not be directly linked to architecture but you’ll get to explore different creative practices. There is an emphasis on engagement with materials, forms and processes to develop your practical skills in all creative practices within the School. You’ll also attend lectures and seminars that will introduce you to of historical, contemporary and cultural contexts within a range of creative practices.
Following the foundation year you’ll join students studying the standard three-year degree and graduate with the same award and title as them. To find out more about the subsequent three years of your degree visit our Architecture BA (Hons) course page.
If you find that another discipline in the School of Art, Architecture and Design will be more suited to your interests and abilities, there will be flexibility to allow you to change your specialism at the end of your foundation year.
Modules
Year 0 modules include:
Critical and Contextual Studies: Foundation
Formats
Project
Techniques
Year 1 modules include:
Critical and Contextual Studies 1 (Architecture)
Design Project 1.2
Design Skills 1.1
Technology 1
Year 2 modules include:
Critical and Contextual Studies 2 (Architecture)
Design Project 2.2
Design Skills 2.1
Technology 2
Year 3 modules include:
Critical and Contextual Studies 3: Dissertation (Architecture)
Design Project Development 3.1
Design Project Resolution 3.2: Comprehensive Design Project
Integrated Design Audit
Assessment methods
During the foundation year your assessments will be based on a design portfolio of A1 sheets relating to design projects, showing your development in making and representation skills. You’ll also be assessed by coursework, which will take the form of an annotated workbook that evidences your work processes.
Following the foundation year you’ll be assessed according to the criteria set out by the Architects’ Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Project work will make up 50% of your mark and you’ll be assessed primarily on your demonstration of competence and the quality of the work in your portfolio.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Aldgate
School of Art, Architecture and Design
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Architecture
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Architecture
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Architecture had a difficult time a few years back during the great recession, but those days are over and the degree is in demand as house building and infrastructure have increased in importance. Most working architects secure jobs in the architecture industry, more usually starting as assistants rather than full-blown architects or chartered technicians. Some, however, move into management, design or marketing roles, where they find their planning, design and project management skills are very welcome. Nearly half the architecture-related jobs last year were in London or the South-East, and this group are rather more likely than average to find their jobs through personal contacts, so polish your networking skills, or see if you can get work experience if you want to succeed as an architect.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Architecture
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£23k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Course location and department:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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