Overview
The RIBA Foundation in Architecture course is designed to develop your skills in creative and conceptual thinking and help you build a portfolio of work that will enable you to pursue further study in the field of architecture.
The course will help you to:
- Develop your skills in creative and conceptual thinking for architects
- Build a portfolio of work that will enable you to pursue further study
- Evolve the skills, knowledge, and confidence required to begin pursuing a career in the field
- Help you to find your first salaried experience in practice.
On this part-time course, you will meet us on a bi-weekly basis and separately with a personal tutor. At some point during and exceptionally beyond the course you will undertake your first salaried work in practice in a creative field for a minimum of 200 hours. If you do not already have a job in a creative practice, the RIBA Foundation team will work with you to find the minimum salaried practice hours which form part of the experience of the course.
The first steps in the application process involve submitting an eligibility form, and preparing a portfolio for the interview. Eligible applicants will then be invited for an online interview. Portfolio submissions are due by mid-August at the latest and interviews take place in September. Being online, this course allows you to remain in your current employment where you are earning a living and you can be based in any geographical location in the world.
For the purposes of defining work in practice, we define a design practice as either:
- an architecture practice
- interior design practice
- landscape or urban design firm
- theatre production company
- furniture or fashion design practice / production firm
- and a range of other closely related design fields.
A professional in the practice will act as a mentor to ensure your range of experience helps prepare you for further studies in architecture. We welcome exceptional recent graduates from the Part 1 and Part 2 courses to act as mentors in practice.
Upon completion of the course, you will graduate with a portfolio of work key to advancing your career. You will have the skills required to progress onto a Part 1 Architecture qualification. Students who complete the RIBA Foundation course with merit or distinction are offered automatic entry to the RIBA Studio Certificate (Part 1) course. Those with a passing to fair grade will be in good standing and invited for an interview after applying.
This is the perfect course for someone with an interest in architecture but who has not had the chance to develop specific skills and who may not have a link into the network of practice. It will provide you with the skills, knowledge, and confidence required to begin pursuing a career in the field.
The course is modelled on the RIBA Studio and directly prepares students for the Certificate Part 1 course. There are joint events including a student-led conference and student representative roles that network between the RIBA Foundation, Certificate (Part 1) and Diploma (Part 2) peer groups.
Students also use the course to prepare for other Part 1 routes including the Apprenticeship and the Full time Taught routes. We discuss the details of these applications as part of the course.