| Entry Requirements |
Expand+General Entrance Requirements
The General Entrance Requirements identify the minimum qualifications needed for application to a course at Ulster University.
They set out the range of the most commonly offered acceptable qualifications but do no...
Hide-General Entrance Requirements
The General Entrance Requirements identify the minimum qualifications needed for application to a course at Ulster University.
They set out the range of the most commonly offered acceptable qualifications but do not identify where particular subjects are needed for specific courses, nor do they represent the actual offer standard or ‘asking grades’, which are normally higher than the minimum threshold standard of a pass grade.
This is particularly the case for full-time study where the offer grades are affected by the availability of places on the course and the level of demand.
The summary below refers to honours degrees. In practice, with regard to A levels, no full-time honours degree will accept fewer than three A level subjects unless presented in combination with other Level 3 qualifications deemed acceptable by the University. The Equivalence of Qualifications table lists the most commonly accepted qualifications and equivalent asking grades.
You should refer to the online prospectus for specific entry requirements to individual courses.
Entry requirements for part-time courses vary. Some have identical entry requirements to the full-time version of the same course, whilst others will vary from those of the full-time version.
It is important to refer to the online prospectus and/or to contact the course team before making an application for study.
To be eligible to apply you must;
1.Provide evidence of competence in written and spoken English (GCSE English Language grades A-C/ 4-9 or equivalent); and
2.Provide evidence of passes in five subjects, two of which must be at A level (grades A-E) and three at GCSE level* (grades A-C/4-9);
3.Provide evidence of passes in four subjects, three of which must be at A level (grades A-E) and one at GCSE level* (grades A- C/4-9); or
4.Provide evidence of an approved qualification at an equivalent level such as a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma or Access to Higher Education qualification or equivalent**; or
5.Provide evidence, for a process of formal accreditation by the University, of learning you have gained through work or other experience.
* GCSE English Language (grades A-C/4-9) may be used as part of the GCSE requirement.
** Please refer to the Equivalence of Qualifications table for the most common alternative Level 3 qualifications.
Note: Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level subjects, are regarded as 40% of one GCE A level, provided that your profile also contains two GCE A levels or equivalent.
Undergraduate courses
To be eligible to apply for an undergraduate degree or honours degree course, you must;
◦meet the General Entrance Requirements, and
◦meet any additional requirements for your chosen course as outlined in the online prospectus.
Alternative qualifications for undergraduate programmes
Ulster University will consider the following alternative qualifications for entry to an undergraduate degree or honours degree course:
◦two A levels (grades A-E) and three passes at GCSE (grades A-C/4-9) or an Intermediate GNVQ or two Double Award Vocational GCSEs
◦BTEC National qualifications awarded by the Edexcel Foundation
◦Cambridge International Pre-U Diploma
◦Canbridge Technicals
◦OCR National qualifications
◦Highers or Advanced Highers of the Scottish Qualifications Authority
◦European, International or Welsh Baccalaureate
◦Irish Leaving Certificate at higher level with passes in four approved subjects at grade D/H6
◦satisfactory completion of an approved Access programme
◦any foundation degree awarded by Ulster University
◦for entry to Art and Design degree programmes, satisfactory completion of a full-time foundation programme in Art and Design, of not less than one academic year in duration.
No subject may be counted at more than one level except in the case of the A level or Applied A level combined with the Intermediate GNVQ. Qualifications not listed will be considered on merit.
You must also meet the additional requirements described in the prospectus entry for your chosen course.
A level
Applicants must hold a degree with at least 2:2 honours or equivalent and have a portfolio of their own work.
Applicants must have an undergraduate architecture degree giving exemption from the RIBA/ARB Part 1 with a supervised year out experience in architecture practice.
English Language Requirements
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.
Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.
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| Course Content |
Expand+About
A CONTINUOUS JOURNEY
All the project work in the studio, and all the complementary academic work -such as the dissertation- are central to the holistic and integrated approach of the MArch. You will be expected to relate and connect what ...
Hide-About
A CONTINUOUS JOURNEY
All the project work in the studio, and all the complementary academic work -such as the dissertation- are central to the holistic and integrated approach of the MArch. You will be expected to relate and connect what you do across the different aspects of the course, which satisfies not only the Learning Outcomes and ARB/RIBA criteria, but which comes together in your own unique academic portfolio to showcase your ideas, knowledge and skills.
Year 1 of the MArch explores wider issues of architecture and how architectural thinking can be applied to a range of societal contexts. This is to widen your perceptions, broaden debate and to consider issues at a wider scale than just individual buildings.
The overall intention of Year 1 is to progress from discussing wider global architectural issues to then progressively focus on a very particular context where you can explore different interpretations of what architecture means, before developing individual proposals based on rigorous investigation and research. You will be asked to compile your research into a research fieldbook and then to share your knowledge in a collaborative way. Crits and discussions for the project will often take place in the chosen project context, opening up the process to a more public discourse.
Year 1 students will build on this exercise by undertaking an international study-trip to further inform your understanding of current issues and the relationship between project ideas and the urban/social context of the city in question. MArch students have previously investigated cities such as Boston, Berlin and Barcelona.
Year 2 of the MArch begins by exploring architectural ideas in a more oblique way than just starting a design thesis with a site and brief. These explorations will allow you to cultivate potential ideas and research for your thesis project in a less linear way and which aims to enable you to position yourself relative to the wider culture and debates at an advanced level in the discipline of architecture.
These initial ‘conversations’ begin to open up debates and to focus on the value of your individual positions, perceptions and narratives that are communicated through research-led making and drawing. You are encouraged to experience a range of possibilities beyond the preconceptions of typical approaches to site analysis. Through this practice you will be encouraged to communicate your gathered information on your chosen site location in a manner that provides new insights and ways of looking and recording what you have found.
After these initial projects, you move into the major work of the year – the thesis project. Thesis design documents are given out to act as a guide to help you identify firstly what your project will be and to structure the shifting emphasis of the year from initial concepts and research through to a fully developed building design that is technically and poetically resolved.
The final year design thesis projects are all deliberately located in Belfast, to engage the city the school is rooted in. This allows a unique type of engagement with current issues and the changing urban nature of Belfast. This ‘city conversation’ is encouraged to highlight social needs, and urban aspirations in a city with such historically divided communities and social tensions. Projects can work in adjacent locations to build up an urban dialogue and aim to understand the different aspects and locations of the city. At the end of the year the projects are placed collectively on a city construct that show how they engage the overall city.
In combination with and alongside the design studio the Dissertation offers you the opportunity to explore through personal research a specific theme, question or interest. You may relate this (where possible) to your design thesis so as to allow consolidation of enquiry and effort and critical mass of exploration, but you can also make this an independent study if you wish.
You have the option to select a combination of text with another media output -such as objects, drawings, film, etc- as an alternative to the 10 000 word submission. This allows a material/media exploration that is possible within the Art School context.
Overview
The two-year MArch programme at the Belfast School of Architecture offers a distinctive, exciting and dynamic research-led learning experience.
Summary
Study Architecture at Ulster University in the United Kingdom.
Based in one of the most culturally significant cities in Europe, the two-year Master of Architecture programme at the Belfast School of Architecture offers a distinctive, exciting and dynamic research-led learning experience leading to exemption from the ARB/RIBA part 2 examination.
The MArch is considered as an inter-related series of studio projects and related studies that lead you towards your final year design thesis. The MArch explores architecture that responds to the complex and changing context of architecture and urbanism and the transformations taking place in society. The course team of academics, historians, practitioners, advisors, artists and researchers are committed to understanding and documenting our existing built heritage while proposing imaginative and alternative futures in both the urban and rural context that are socially and ecologically responsible.
Urban investigations and an awareness of the shifting conditions of the contemporary city with its differing social structures, geography, culture, climate, economics, energy consumption, technologies and urban patterns, will form the basis of the MArch studio research. Experimentation, critical reflection, debate and a diversity of approaches are encouraged through different practices and methods in order to locate and establish informed positions and skills.
An important part of this is to address the wider issues facing the profession and in providing a forum to investigate, challenge preconceptions, explore and fully engage the role of the architect in society.
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| Careers or Further Progression |
Expand+Graduate employers
Graduates from this course have gained employment with a wide range of organisations. Here are some examples:
◦Office for Metropolitan Architecture
◦Grimshaw Architects
◦Hall
◦ Black and Douglas
a...
Hide-Graduate employers
Graduates from this course have gained employment with a wide range of organisations. Here are some examples:
◦Office for Metropolitan Architecture
◦Grimshaw Architects
◦Hall
◦ Black and Douglas
◦Todd Architects
◦White Ink Architects
◦FaulknerBrowns Architects
◦Office of Public Works
Job roles
Graduates from this course are employed in many different roles. Here are some examples:
◦Part 2 graduate architect
◦Architectural Assistant
◦Urban Designer
◦Planning Administrator
◦Sustainability Administrator
◦Conservation Administrator
◦Research and Development Officer
Career options
Graduates are working in many different practices both nationally and internationally on a range of exciting building and urban projects. The knowledge gained during this professional degree (i.e. RIBA Part II) will not only support a wide range of employment opportunities in architecture practices, urban design bodies, architecture conservation organisations, and many governmental and private relevant institutions but also facilitate the route to a PhD level research.
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