Part 2 MArch – Student Placement
The Student Placement is a core component of the LSA’s Part 2 programme. In the first year, all MArch students spend three days a week working in practice. This collaborative, work-based learning approach deepens students’ understanding of their agency as practitioners, while giving practices the opportunity to engage with fresh ideas from the next generation of architects in a rigorous and exploratory context.
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 (enquiries@ube.ac.uk).
We have provided a glossary of terms to make the process as clear as possible.
There are two routes to securing a Student Placement:
Route 1: Stay with your current employer
If you are currently employed by a London-based practice, we encourage you to consider continuing your employment there. This route offers a straightforward transition, building on your existing professional relationship within the framework of the programme. The LSA will contact you with details about the conditions your employer will need to meet to support your offer.
Route 2: LSA-Supported Placement Coordination (non-standard)
Offer holders who are not employed by a London-based practice at the time they receive their LSA offer are expected to actively seek their own placement with a London-based practice alongside this route.
This route should be considered a last resort if independent efforts to secure a placement are unsuccessful. This route involves a structured, multi-step process managed by the LSA as seen below:
Step 1: Registration
Practices and students will register by completing a form provided by the LSA. The form collects information on the experience and skills that practices are looking for, and that students can offer.
Step 2: Matchmaking
We consider students’ project and practice experience and engage with prospective Placement Providers to identify their needs and requirements.
Step 3: Interview
We coordinate and manage the interview process to help ensure that all offer holders who register receive a sufficient number of interviews. Placement Providers then review their pool of interviewees and rank the candidates in order of preference, from most to least preferred.
Step 4: Placement Allocation
The LSA will conduct a mapping exercise to allocate placements using the information provided by Offer Holders and Placement Providers so that the maximum if not all Offer Holders in the process have a placement.
Step 5: Confirmation
We inform both Offer Holders and Placement Providers of successful placements.
Please note that all students beginning their studies at the LSA are required to be in relevant employment.
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
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.