How you learn
Students from all colleges are taught together in the Architecture Department, and all students have individual desk space in the recently built design studio building at the faculty. In a typical week during Full Term, the undergraduates will have two days devoted solely to working on their studio design projects, including desk-based supervisions with their design tutors and any ‘crits’ or design reviews with faculty staff and external critics. A full programme of lectures and seminars are scheduled for the remaining three week days.
The design teaching is very much at the heart of the course. Students are expected to take full responsibility for their own design project development, and gain technical skills and knowledge via the various courses offered by the faculty in order to inform and enrich their own design work.
In the final year of the undergraduate course, students undertake a dissertation of 7000-9000 words in length (including illustrations). The topic for this sustained research is agreed between the student and Director of Studies before embarking on the final year of the course.
Entry requirements
| Typical Offer Conditions |
| A–Level: |
A*AA |
| IB: |
41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level |
| Other: |
See the University’s Entrance Requirements page |
| Subject Requirements |
| Essential: |
None |
| Desirable: |
Art;
Mathematics or Physics;
a combination of arts and science subjects |
Written Work
None.
Admissions Assessment
All applicants for Architecture are required to take written and practical assessments at interview, if interviewed. Please see the Admissions Assessments page on the University website for further details.
Portfolio
If invited for interview, candidates are asked to bring with them a portfolio of art work, either from their school studies or work produced independently. This can include a wide range of work, including artwork, photography, theatre set designs, technical studies, posters or school magazines. Each candidate will have two interviews at the College and will be expected to discuss the portfolio of work they have brought with them.
General Comments
There are no formal entry requirements for Architecture. However, the course demands that students are able to draw with precision and to develop ideas in visual ways, so students are likely to have studied Art at school before applying to read Architecture. Similarly, the study of Mathematics or Physics provides crucial grounding for the technical aspects of design. However, the breadth of the course, and the fact that few students have studied Architecture prior to coming to Cambridge, mean that many different combinations of subject areas may be beneficial to prospective Architects. Above all, a natural curiosity about the world and a sense of spatial imagination are the qualities that we look for in the candidates for Architecture at Trinity Hall.
Please note that we do not take affiliated students for Architecture. Applicants with a first degree may apply for the full three-year course.
