This information is for applicants to Year 2 Architecture who have received an invitation to upload their portfolio for assessment
Applicants to Year 1 Architecture do not require a portfolio
As part of your application to study Architecture, Year 2 advanced entry applicants will need to submit a portfolio of work showcasing their development, creativity, skills, presentation ability and an enthusiasm for the subject of Architecture.
Portfolio format
One PDF file with up to a maximum of 15 pages of work plus one contents page, including:
- Minimum of 4 pages of creative work
- Minimum of 3 pages of orthographic work
- Maximum of 3 pages of research and development work
- Other pages up to the maximum of 15 pages are at your discretion
Please demonstrate your skills in a range of media which can include manual and digital drawing and modelmaking
File format
- One PDF document with up to 15 pages of work plus one contents page
- No more than 50MB
- Named using your full name and student ID number for example MaryAnnBaxter_1234567.pdf
Each page should contain high-quality images of your work - you can have more than 1 image on each page.
You should include a brief description of each piece of work indicating media, size and date produced (for example Image 1 – Acrylic paint, 30cmx15cm, September 2026).
If you wish to include video content (optional, not essential), you can include up to 3 minutes of video content by sharing a link to a video hosting service (like YouTube or Vimeo) or cloud storage (like Dropbox or OneDrive) in your digital portfolio. Please make sure your link is publicly accessible (or provide a password if your video is password protected). Do not provide us with your personal login details.
Portfolio guidelines
- Demonstrate your creative ideas, skills and abilities.
- Show examples of your thinking and developmental process (usually in the form of pages from your sketchbook)
- Carefully consider the order of the content displayed in your portfolio. You may wish to arrange your work by a particular theme or by specific projects undertaken. The first page of work should be what you consider to be your strongest example.
- Make sure your images are clear, bright and at a scale suitable to view online
- Use typography that is legible for online viewing
What we expect
Your portfolio will be assessed across five criteria:
- research, development and sketchbooks
- creativity and originality
- practical competence including application of orthographic drawing skills
- quality, presentation and selection of work
- engagement with the subject of Architecture and potential for advanced entry
You should keep these criteria in mind when deciding what to include in your portfolio. Demonstrating your journey from inspiration to outcome and showing the range and quality of your creative skills, is as important as polished, final pieces of work.
Research, development and sketchbooks
Research
Evidence your analysis of project themes. Make sure you demonstrate your inquisitiveness, your engagement with the research process and with the subject of Architecture.
Development
Show how your research informs your creative development. Give an indication of your decision-making process that supports your rationalised development of ideas and final project outcomes.
Sketchbooks
We like to see examples of pages from your sketchbooks to get a sense of your thinking processes.
You might include visual references; notated observations; physical sketching; 3D explorations; analytical diagrams / sketches of case studies; experimentation with various media, etc.
The sketch book examples may also include investigations within the built environment.
Creativity and originality
Show that your completed work is informed by qualitative research and development; and that different ideas and opportunities have been explored.
Be sure to include a good variety of work which may include some but not necessarily all of the following; drawing, painting, sketching, photography, video, scale drawing, hand drawn work, computer aided drawing, analytical or interrogative diagrams/ sketches, etc.
Inclusion of 3D making/ model making is recommended and may be spatial, functional or sculptural. (3D work will be represented in the portfolio by photographic means).
Practical competence and application of orthographic skills
This should demonstrate some basic orthographic skills of drawing plan / section / elevation and can include 3D projection. This may be produced by manual means or with computer. Any AI generated work would also need to include prompts given.
Your choice of media; materials; quality of execution; attention to detail and practical skills can all inform this aspect of your work.
Be sure to demonstrate awareness of appropriate use of architectural drawing conventions of scale.
Quality, presentation and selection of work
Your portfolio should show work which is well executed and well presented. We want to see that you take pride in what you do.
Select work that best represents your current range of capabilities.
This portfolio may include work from academic study but can also include work you consider important that has been completed independent of formal study, or work undertaken at summer schools, work experience, portfolio courses or workshops.
If you include work undertaken within a group or from practice, provide a summary of your contribution or involvement.
Engagement with the subject
Your portfolio should include:
- that you are investigating contemporary and/or traditional Architects / Architecture
- evidence of a serious interest in - and growing awareness of Architecture, across research, development and finished outcomes; this may include work undertaken in work experience in practice
- that your work demonstrates a rigour of application and potential for further study
Further Education courses have sufficiently different course content to our MArch course that Advanced Entry with this qualification alone is not common.
In-Person Meeting
We will invite applicants who we wish to consider for Year 2 advanced entry to attend an in-person meeting with one of our academics.
This will allow you to tell us more about your portfolio and your interest in the subject of Architecture. This meeting will also offer you time to visit our studios, see our facilities and of course to ask any questions you may have. We value this as a two-way conversation to discuss preparedness for advanced entry to Year 2 of the MArch course.
For candidates travelling by means of public transport who would be unable to visit us and return home within a single day we can offer an on-line meeting.