Diploma Programme

The Diploma Programme introduces students to the study of advanced research and design methods, and new approaches to practice. Throughout its history, the Diploma Programme has fostered some of the most innovative, challenging and progressive thinking in architecture.

As projects are developed within the Diploma Programme’s year-long studio units, students work to improve their technical proficiency and engage with a critical agenda relating to broader societal questions with which architecture intersects. Lively, informed debate permeates life in the Diploma Programme, inspiring students to develop rigorous, inventive design and research projects. This process allows students to find their voices as architects, but also offers a means of articulating ideas that they can carry with them into their professional careers. 

The Diploma Programme (MArch) is a two-year full-time programme that accepts students who have completed the Intermediate Programme at the AA, as well as eligible new students who have studied elsewhere. The programme leads to the AA Final Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 2) and is structured around a unit system, in which small design studios (12–14 students) operate a vertical structure of Fourth and Fifth Year students.

In parallel to the design units, Core Studies is a suite of compulsory courses that are central to the study of architecture. Its lectures, participatory seminars and workshops are designed to develop expertise in environmental and technical studies, history and theory, and professional practice.