New architecture course aims to open up profession to students from a wider range of backgrounds

1st May 2015

Students are based in practice and can earn while they learn Faster route to qualification Course aims to increase student retention in architecture The University of Sheffield's School of Architecture (SSoA) has placed itself at the forefront of architectural education with the creation of a new Collaborative Practice Part 2 Architecture course due to start in September 2015.

Collaborative Practice blends practice based experience with academic research and learning. The new route (subject to approval) proposes a two year programme where year one (year five of the architecture route) is based in practice with the student employed about four days a week. Year two (year six of the architecture route) is based at the University full time. In the first year of the course students will overlap a year of studies with their professional experience in a top London practice, which will potentially shorten the time for students to reach qualification by one year. SSoA believes this offers significant benefits to students of architecture. SSoA's new head of school, Professor Fionn Stevenson, is keen to drive forward the education agenda. One of her first initiatives has been to create a new Director of Future Practice role. She said: -I am passionate about widening participation in architecture and would like to see alternative routes like this developed for all our programmes in the future. -Collaborative Practice is leading the way, here. We need to develop new forms of 'reflective apprenticeship' which combine the best of academia with the best of practice-based learning. Satwinder Samra, Director of Future Practice at SSoA, who led on the research and design of the new course said: -It's widely accepted that for some students, fees act as a barrier to the traditional full time route into architecture because of the number of years taken to qualify. At SSoA, we identified that there would be problem retaining and attracting students into the profession. We want to ensure that a career in architecture is open to students from a diverse range of backgrounds and this programme seeks to address that issue. Samra, who was also responsible for working with the practices to establish the route, added: -Through Collaborative Practice, we wanted to address the traditional divisions between practice and education in architecture. This is an opportunity to engage with practice so that students are able to experience the full breadth of an academic and vocational approach to their learning. We believe that the new programme will increase student employability and give students a more holistic and integrated experience of architectural education which can only be a good thing for the profession. The new route also offers students unique opportunities to develop their experience working with some of the country's top architecture practices. The programme is built around strong partnerships with six leading practices in London. Directors are Sheffield alumni and have or still hold visiting practice professor or external examiner roles. The practices are AHMM, BDP, Carmody Groarke, Hawkins\Brown, Penoyre and Prasad, Proctor and Matthews. Greg Penoyre, Director of Penoyre and Prasad, said: -In a time of increasing and much needed interface between practice and academic study of architecture this course represents an important new step. It will enable the students to benefit from a structured course at Sheffield and at the same time from the continued learning and support provided by their practice experience. Paul Monaghan, Director of AHMM, said: -There has long been a need for alternative routes in the profession because of the expense of the five-year course. Unfortunately, over the past twenty years we have seen a reduction in the numbers of students from poorer backgrounds and it is essential that this is now reversed. This programme will go some way to restoring this balance. ***Video attached***