Apply for our Part 2
Part 2 MArch – Student Placement
Our Student Placement programme is a fundamental part of our unique Part 2. Below is a guide to how the Student Placement process works. 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).
We have provided a glossary of terms to make the process as clear as possible.
The LSA has established a network of London-based architectural practices who provide Student Placements for three days a week in the first year of our Part 2 (MArch) programme.
Collaborative work-based learning provides students with a greater understanding of their own power as practitioners, while practices have the space to explore ideas from the next generation of architects in a rigorous and speculative way.
There are three routes to securing a Student Placement:
Route 1: Preferred route
Offer Holders who are already employed by a London-based practice are encouraged to remain there part-time if the practice is able to facilitate this within the terms set out in the Practice Agreement.
Route 2: Alternate route
Offer Holders not employed by a London-based practice or seeking a new role 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 as this allows more freedom to find a practice themselves, and to only use route 3 as a last resort.
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: Fallback route
Offer Holders who are yet to secure a valid Student Placement can seek a placement through the LSA as set out below. This process will commence in late June (final dates tbc).
Step 1: Matchmaking
The LSA matches Offer Holders with around four practices where mutual preferences have been met and/or student portfolios match with practice project portfolios and pipelines.
- The LSA asks Offer Holders to identify the types of practices they would like to work with and project experience they are seeking.
- The LSA engages with Placement Providers to identify the type of student they are looking for and the areas in which they might be happy to offer training and development. We also seek to identify project pipelines to support the matchmaking process.
Matchmaking with practices is segmented in the following order until each student has at least 4 interviews.
- Key Supporter practices – Member Plus
- Current Student Placement Providers and LSA Practice faculty
- Past Placement Providers
- All other Practice Network members
- The wider LSA community
Step 2: Interview
The LSA will define a period within which all interviews must be conducted. Students organise interviews with their matched practices.
- We ask that all Placement Providers conduct interviews for all Offer Holders with which they are matched and that Offer Holders attend every interview to which they are assigned.
- If Offer Holders do not attend all assigned interviews and then do not secure a placement, the LSA will not be able to offer further support in the Student Placement process directly. If students do attend all assigned interviews, the LSA will continue to support them in seeking a Student Placement until one is secured.
- We ask that Placement Providers do not make provisional offers to Offer Holders directly. The LSA allocates placements internally to ensure fairness (see below for the placement allocation and confirmation processes)
- Post-interview, each Placement Provider will inform the LSA of interview outcomes and indicate a rank order of student choices and those who are unsuitable for their practice.
Offer Holders will inform the LSA of interview outcomes and indicate a rank order of Placement Provider, as well as which practices will not be a close fit for their ambitions in the programme.
Step 3: Placement allocation
The LSA will conduct a mapping exercise to allocate placements using the information provided by Offer Holders and Placement Providers so that all Offer Holders in the process have a placement.
Offer Holders will not necessarily be matched with their first choice of Placement Provider, but the LSA will make every effort to ensure preferences are met.
Step 4: Confirmation
The LSA will then inform matched Offer Holders and Placement Providers via email. Both parties will be asked to finalise terms and conditions of employment independently of the LSA. We encourage salary discussions to form part of the interview process.
Any Offer Holders that is allocated a Student Placement but does not accept will not be supported by the LSA in arranging further interviews and will need to secure a Student Placement through their own efforts.
Through this process we do not envisage any Offer Holders to be without a Student Placement, however if this situation arises a second round of interviews will take place following the same matchmaking and interview process and the LSA will seek to identify further potential opportunities within the Practice Network.
We will do everything within its power to help secure a Student Placement for Offer Holders, but we cannot guarantee this as ultimately the decision to offer a contract of employment resides with the Placement Provider.
Glossary of Terms
- Offer Holder – applicants to the LSA’s Part 2 who have been made a conditional offer of study and who have paid a deposit. All Offer Holders require a Student Placement
- Student – enrolled students on the LSA’s Part 2 who have formally registered and paid their fees for the coming academic year
- Student Placement – the three-day-a-week placement which all enrolled students on the LSA’s Part 2 must secure to fulfil the requirements of first year of the programme
- Practice Network – the network of 200+ practices that engage with the LSA
- Placement Provider – an architectural practice who agree to host a Student Placement
- Practice Agreement – the formal, signed agreement between Placement Providers and the LSA
Year 1
Spend three days a week working in practice, while studying three design modules and two Critical Practice to prepare you for your Thesis in year 2.
Year 2
Prepare for the first year of your career in practice, developing your own design direction and setting the terms of your own enquiry through a Design Thesis.