Part 2 March: Admissions Process – The London School of Architecture

Apply for our Part 2

Admissions Process

Our admissions process takes place over the following steps:

Step 1: Application – fill out our 2-stage online application form, including submitting a portfolio and Statement of Purpose.
Step 2: Interview – if we take forward your application, you will be invited to interview to discuss your work and ambitions
Step 3: Offer – if you are successful in interview, we will promptly issue you an offer. If you accept, we will ask you to pay a small deposit
Step 4: Student Placement – once you have accepted your offer we will connect you with a Placement Provider in our Practice Network

Once these steps are complete you will be ready for registration and enrolment at the start of next academic year. Read through these pages carefully for more information on each step. You can apply at any time, but we encourage early application – in time for the first cycle – to ensure the strongest chance of joining us next year and securing a Student Placement in our Practice Network, which is a condition of study.

For an exhaustive guide to admissions, please read our admissions handbook.

Step 1: Application form

Our online application form will ask for personal information and contact details, confirmation of your eligibility and fulfilment of language requirements, as well as your employment and education experience, the name of two referees (from academia and practice) and some questions to collect diversity monitoring data.

You will also be asked to submit a portfolio and provide a series of responses that make up your Statement of Purpose. These are assessed carefully as part of our Admissions Process and you will be expected to speak to both if invited for interview.

Portfolio

The composition of all parts of your portfolio submission should be no more than 16 pages (including name and contents page) and the file size should be no larger than 100MB, and saved in PDF format. The Portfolio should be made up of two parts:

Academic work: Undergraduate/BA architectural project work, showing process and synthesis of design proposal(s) [1 name/contents, 11 pages work]
Practice experience: Evidence of work experience and any independent project work highlighting your specific contribution [4 pages]

Statement of purpose

In responding to the questions which make up the Statement of Purpose we encourage you to be creative and thoughtful. All projects that you reference here should be properly represented in your portfolio.

Motivation

What attracts you to the LSA? (100 words)

What are your ambitions in undertaking this MArch in Designing Architecture, ARB/RIBA Part 2 programme? What are your areas of interest within and outside of architecture, and how do you see the LSA being able to support them? (maximum 100 words)

Design

Describe your design processes and methods (200 words)
What kind of spatial thinker are you?
How do your preferred design tools help you to problem-solve?

Describe your undergraduate thesis project (200 words)

Practice

Please outline 2 contributions you have made to projects in practice (these should correspond to your portfolio submission). This will include a summary of the project (25 words), the RIBA Plan of Work stages you contributed to, and a summary of those contributes (150 words)

Step 2: Interview

Upon receipt of a completed online application form, the Admissions Team will select applicants for interview. Interviews will usually take place in London, but may be conducted by video call if the applicant is currently living abroad or there are restrictions on movement due to the current pandemic. Each interview panel will contain at least one senior member of staff and a current student.

If you are invited to interview we will ask you to carry out a simple and short design exercise. A brief with full information will be issued with your invitation letter.

As well as discussing the response to the exercise, the interview will afford you the opportunity to present evidence of their qualifications, experience and commitment to the demands of the profession, including a portfolio presentation.

Conditional academic places will be offered to successful applicants in writing, and these will only be confirmed once a practice placement position has been secured. Applicants will be asked to provide evidence of eligibility prior to interview.

Step 3: Offer

Following your interview an offer will be sent out within 1 week if you have been successful. From this time you have four weeks to pay a small deposit, to secure your place to study for the next academic year.

Step 4: Student Placement

The Student Placement is a fundamental part of our unique Part 2 programme. Below is a guide to how our Student Placement process works, beginning in Spring. If you are an applicant and have any further questions, please email our Admissions Team (admissions@the-lsa.org). If you are from practice, please email our Engagement Manager, John Nahar (john.n@the-lsa.org).

Three routes

The LSA has established a network of London-based architectural practices who provide Student Placements for 3 days a week in the first year of our Part 2 (MArch) programme.

There are three routes to securing a Student Placement:

Route 1: Offer Holders who are employed by a London-based practice are encouraged to remain there if the practice declares its willingness for that employee to work part-time within the terms set out in the Practice Agreement.

Route 2: Offer Holders not employed by a London-based practice or are seeking a new employer should independently and actively seek to secure their own placement with another London-based practice with immediate effect.

Offer Holders are encouraged to seek their placement through Route 2 allowing more freedom to find a practice themselves and to use Route 3 as their final option.

NOTE: Placement Providers are automatically validated as a Placement Provider if they are a RIBA chartered practice, however we can conduct a simple assessment and interview of non-RIBA Chartered Practices to ensure suitability for the programme. This involves a review of past projects and a short meeting.

Offer Holders may be directed to Route 3 by practices they contact.

Route 3: Offer Holders who are yet to secure a valid Student Placement can seek a placement through the LSA for a small fee. This process will commence in late June (final dates tbc).