A levels for an architecture degree? MONSTERTHREAD
Scroll to see replies
Original post by dgkjhl
I didn't do triple science at GCSE and I do physics A level and there were no problems with that. It's mostly maths you need to be confident with if that's what you're worried about!
Ok thanks, what's physics at A Level like out of interest? Do you enjoy it, whats the workload like, how challenging is it?
Original post by A.Bharj
For a level I hope to pick Maths, Economics, Engineering and Physics..
Are these subjects sufficient for the course or do I have to choose something else?
Are these subjects sufficient for the course or do I have to choose something else?
Those subjects sound good, although perhaps you could consider swapping economics or engineering to art and design/design and technology (some universities prefer a mixture of art and science A Levels for architecture)
Original post by kp0803
Ok thanks, what's physics at A Level like out of interest? Do you enjoy it, whats the workload like, how challenging is it?
I find the actual content in A level physics OK (I do AQA) like it's alright to grasp and it all interesting. In AS you do particles, waves, mechanics, materials and electricity and a lot of my friends who do the other sciences like biology and chemistry say they have some bits in the content that they find boring but personally for me there's nothing boring in physics.
The workload is quite heavy but you do get used to it. A lot of it is maths as well so if you're good at that then if you miss a lesson it's not too hard to catch up again.
The exams on the other hand are a joke. The new spec in the exams for AQA is basically all applied knowledge so you have to be ready for that.
Hope this helped
I definitely enjoy it and the subject opens up a lot of doors!Original post by Leviathan1741
Those subjects sound good, although perhaps you could consider swapping economics or engineering to art and design/design and technology (some universities prefer a mixture of art and science A Levels for architecture)
Thanks a ton
Original post by A.Bharj
Thanks a ton
No problem, best of luck with your choices!
I'm currently studying Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture and we've hardly mentioned any form of maths or physics! I think the most useful A-levels would definitely be Art, then maybe something like product design, because you have to make models and use CAD etc. I also think History or Geography would be incredibly useful, as you will learn about the history of art/architecture and will probably have to write some essays. You'll also do some technologies, which are very very geography related. I did Art, Maths and Physics at A-level and nothing that I learnt in Maths or Physics have helped me so far with architecture!
Original post by kp0803
I'm doing GCSEs right now, but what are people's thoughts on taking Maths, Further Maths, Fine Art and French at A Level? Just a bit unsure as architecture usually has no specific requirements...
As I said above, do what you enjoy and take A'levels in which you will do well. Architecture courses receive, on average, 7 applications per place, so the UCAS points are necessary to get your application looked at. Once your application gets past the admissions department then you will need a portfolio so art is a good idea, but generally not compulsory (although I believe it is for UCL). I'd recommend fine art over DT type courses, although increasingly art A'levels seem to be delivered in the same formulaic way: chose an artist, copy their work, produce your own piece in their style, repeat... Interviewers for architecture are interested in how you think much more than finished pieces, but not mind maps or using Photoshop just to change the colours. Hope this helps.
Original post by Miryo
Do you need an art based subject to do architecture? I'm doing Maths further Maths physics and chemistry and was just wondering.
You will need a portfolio, which would be easier to produce if you were studying it but can be done in your own time. I would recommend you attend life drawing classes. There is a lot of guidance on the RIBA website. For starters, take a look at the Think Architecture pamphlet: https://www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAProfessionalServices/Education/CareersInArchitecture/ThinkArchitecture.pdf
I'm also starting A levels in September with Architecture as the focus for university. My choices so far are Graphic Design, Media Studies, Physics and Mathematics, any advice or opinions?
Original post by Ravensbourne
Hi there
Did you know that Ravensbourne does BA Architecture and theres also BA Interior design too! They're both honours degree
We are in London and next to the O2! Check us out and see for yourself! Get your tickets for the Open day!
Good luck with everything
Ahlia
Did you know that Ravensbourne does BA Architecture and theres also BA Interior design too! They're both honours degree
We are in London and next to the O2! Check us out and see for yourself! Get your tickets for the Open day!
Good luck with everything
Ahlia
I'm hoping to study at Ravensbourne for architecture! do they lean towards the engineering or artistic side? as i'm hoping to get away with taking graphic design instead of art at A level
Ty
Original post by AnonymousBrit
I'm hoping to study at Ravensbourne for architecture! do they lean towards the engineering or artistic side? as i'm hoping to get away with taking graphic design instead of art at A level
Ty
Ty
Hi Anonymous!
The course involves a bit of both, if you take a look at the breakdown of the course.
Also come visit us at Degree show which is in two weeks!
Can see some the work first hand and ask them questions!
Visit Us
Hope this helps!
Jay
(edited 7 years ago)
Hi all,
So I am almost finished with my AS levels. I currently study art, maths, history and product design. We just started A2 material today in History and it seems quite overwhelming as it is a reformed subject. I am not sure which subject to drop (I know that I do not have to drop any but it will make my life easier). Maths and Art are two subjects that I am definitely keeping regardless of the grades I get in those two subjects in August. I am stuck between history and product design - I feel as though I have performed better in history than in product design. However, in product design (A2), I will be allowed to do CAD and create architectural models which will also aid Art as my art course is titled arts, crafts and design. On the contrary, History is considered less of a soft subject compared to product design. Also, art is preferred over product design but will stuyding both outweigh art and history? If applying for top universities in the Architecture field (such as UCL, Cardiff and Bath) would Art, Maths and History be better or Art, Maths and Product Design? Please tell me your opinion - I will finalise my decision over the summer (After results day on August 18th)
Thanks,
Matt
So I am almost finished with my AS levels. I currently study art, maths, history and product design. We just started A2 material today in History and it seems quite overwhelming as it is a reformed subject. I am not sure which subject to drop (I know that I do not have to drop any but it will make my life easier). Maths and Art are two subjects that I am definitely keeping regardless of the grades I get in those two subjects in August. I am stuck between history and product design - I feel as though I have performed better in history than in product design. However, in product design (A2), I will be allowed to do CAD and create architectural models which will also aid Art as my art course is titled arts, crafts and design. On the contrary, History is considered less of a soft subject compared to product design. Also, art is preferred over product design but will stuyding both outweigh art and history? If applying for top universities in the Architecture field (such as UCL, Cardiff and Bath) would Art, Maths and History be better or Art, Maths and Product Design? Please tell me your opinion - I will finalise my decision over the summer (After results day on August 18th)
Thanks,
Matt
(edited 7 years ago)
I'm not considering architecture myself, however, a large amount of my friends that have already received their uni offers for the subject. I have 2 friends that took religious studies, art and product design which leads me to think dropping history would be the best option. Of course, offers are given in terms of grades and not based on which subjects you take.
Also, taking history in year 12 is enough to show variety in your interests so it may be more appropriate to study product design further.
Also, taking history in year 12 is enough to show variety in your interests so it may be more appropriate to study product design further.
Original post by xxx-ooo-xxx
I'm not considering architecture myself, however, a large amount of my friends that have already received their uni offers for the subject. I have 2 friends that took religious studies, art and product design which leads me to think dropping history would be the best option. Of course, offers are given in terms of grades and not based on which subjects you take.
Also, taking history in year 12 is enough to show variety in your interests so it may be more appropriate to study product design further.
Also, taking history in year 12 is enough to show variety in your interests so it may be more appropriate to study product design further.
Okay, thank you for posting
Original post by TSRMatt
Okay, thank you for posting
Bear in mind you could always keep with History AND Product Design, and then simply not revise for History at the end, universities only see your top three grades
So you'd technically have dropped it, but you could still go to the lessons and enjoy them, the only question is whether you want to do all the homework
Original post by Architecture-er
Bear in mind you could always keep with History AND Product Design, and then simply not revise for History at the end, universities only see your top three grades
So you'd technically have dropped it, but you could still go to the lessons and enjoy them, the only question is whether you want to do all the homework
So you'd technically have dropped it, but you could still go to the lessons and enjoy them, the only question is whether you want to do all the homework
I have thought about keeping both but I think that will be too much work! For History, I will need to take the AS exams again plus the A2 exams and also complete the 4000 word essay for coursework (yeah, reformed A levels suck)
Scrolling through posts for my product design exam and this thread came up lmao so as a year 13 heading for architecture in September I thought I'd lend a hand!
Basically from the subjects you do and the universities you would like to go to, I'd suggest dropping product design. UCL Cambridge and bath and Liverpool etc regard art more highly and are more 'arty' universities anyway. I went to loads of open days for architecture and as much as they like art and product design they don't particularly like you doing both :/ they prefer it if you have an art / design based subject along side two or three (if you can handle it) 'proper subjects'.
For myself at AS, I took Product Design, Geography, English Lit, General studies and Physics. My grades were appalling lol I got ADDCU because being mostly essay based subjects we weren't taught how to properly write an essay. But anyway, even with those (what I thought) terrible grades I still got all my offers from my applied unis to do architecture (all 3 A universities) WITH 2 unconditional offers from Huddersfield and Oxford Brookes.
That basically goes to show grades and subjects don't mean everything. But in your case I would probably advise keeping art and dropping product design. Now product design has taught me sooo much stuff which will help me in architecture, however art is a subject which will help you massively in the course - as it literally is all sketches in the first year and materials etc are taught anyway. Keeping art also relates to the universities you want to go to.
My biggest advice however is STUDY THE SUBJECTS YOU ENJOY THE MOST and I mean it fgs. A levels are bloody hard, do the subjects you enjoy and you will do well. History from what I hear is a hard and challenging subject (heavily regarded) with lots of content but it is also very interesting (and this is a level after all - nothing's easy) So I'd say keep history and maths and choose between product design and art depending on which you enjoy the most. Art will help at your universities but product design is literally no harder than AS. You learn the same stuff but write it in essays.
Hope this helps with your decisions, apologies if the reply is huge lol it's late and my Prod design exam is in a few hours. Fun.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Basically from the subjects you do and the universities you would like to go to, I'd suggest dropping product design. UCL Cambridge and bath and Liverpool etc regard art more highly and are more 'arty' universities anyway. I went to loads of open days for architecture and as much as they like art and product design they don't particularly like you doing both :/ they prefer it if you have an art / design based subject along side two or three (if you can handle it) 'proper subjects'.
For myself at AS, I took Product Design, Geography, English Lit, General studies and Physics. My grades were appalling lol I got ADDCU because being mostly essay based subjects we weren't taught how to properly write an essay. But anyway, even with those (what I thought) terrible grades I still got all my offers from my applied unis to do architecture (all 3 A universities) WITH 2 unconditional offers from Huddersfield and Oxford Brookes.
That basically goes to show grades and subjects don't mean everything. But in your case I would probably advise keeping art and dropping product design. Now product design has taught me sooo much stuff which will help me in architecture, however art is a subject which will help you massively in the course - as it literally is all sketches in the first year and materials etc are taught anyway. Keeping art also relates to the universities you want to go to.
My biggest advice however is STUDY THE SUBJECTS YOU ENJOY THE MOST and I mean it fgs. A levels are bloody hard, do the subjects you enjoy and you will do well. History from what I hear is a hard and challenging subject (heavily regarded) with lots of content but it is also very interesting (and this is a level after all - nothing's easy) So I'd say keep history and maths and choose between product design and art depending on which you enjoy the most. Art will help at your universities but product design is literally no harder than AS. You learn the same stuff but write it in essays.
Hope this helps with your decisions, apologies if the reply is huge lol it's late and my Prod design exam is in a few hours. Fun.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Chrisj98
Scrolling through posts for my product design exam and this thread came up lmao so as a year 13 heading for architecture in September I thought I'd lend a hand!
Basically from the subjects you do and the universities you would like to go to, I'd suggest dropping product design. UCL Cambridge and bath and Liverpool etc regard art more highly and are more 'arty' universities anyway. I went to loads of open days for architecture and as much as they like art and product design they don't particularly like you doing both :/ they prefer it if you have an art / design based subject along side two or three (if you can handle it) 'proper subjects'.
For myself at AS, I took Product Design, Geography, English Lit, General studies and Physics. My grades were appalling lol I got ADDCU because being mostly essay based subjects we weren't taught how to properly write an essay. But anyway, even with those (what I thought) terrible grades I still got all my offers from my applied unis to do architecture (all 3 A universities) WITH 2 unconditional offers from Huddersfield and Oxford Brookes.
That basically goes to show grades and subjects don't mean everything. But in your case I would probably advise keeping art and dropping product design. Now product design has taught me sooo much stuff which will help me in architecture, however art is a subject which will help you massively in the course - as it literally is all sketches in the first year and materials etc are taught anyway. Keeping art also relates to the universities you want to go to.
My biggest advice however is STUDY THE SUBJECTS YOU ENJOY THE MOST and I mean it fgs. A levels are bloody hard, do the subjects you enjoy and you will do well. History from what I hear is a hard and challenging subject (heavily regarded) with lots of content but it is also very interesting (and this is a level after all - nothing's easy) So I'd say keep history and maths and choose between product design and art depending on which you enjoy the most. Art will help at your universities but product design is literally no harder than AS. You learn the same stuff but write it in essays.
Hope this helps with your decisions, apologies if the reply is huge lol it's late and my Prod design exam is in a few hours. Fun.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Basically from the subjects you do and the universities you would like to go to, I'd suggest dropping product design. UCL Cambridge and bath and Liverpool etc regard art more highly and are more 'arty' universities anyway. I went to loads of open days for architecture and as much as they like art and product design they don't particularly like you doing both :/ they prefer it if you have an art / design based subject along side two or three (if you can handle it) 'proper subjects'.
For myself at AS, I took Product Design, Geography, English Lit, General studies and Physics. My grades were appalling lol I got ADDCU because being mostly essay based subjects we weren't taught how to properly write an essay. But anyway, even with those (what I thought) terrible grades I still got all my offers from my applied unis to do architecture (all 3 A universities) WITH 2 unconditional offers from Huddersfield and Oxford Brookes.
That basically goes to show grades and subjects don't mean everything. But in your case I would probably advise keeping art and dropping product design. Now product design has taught me sooo much stuff which will help me in architecture, however art is a subject which will help you massively in the course - as it literally is all sketches in the first year and materials etc are taught anyway. Keeping art also relates to the universities you want to go to.
My biggest advice however is STUDY THE SUBJECTS YOU ENJOY THE MOST and I mean it fgs. A levels are bloody hard, do the subjects you enjoy and you will do well. History from what I hear is a hard and challenging subject (heavily regarded) with lots of content but it is also very interesting (and this is a level after all - nothing's easy) So I'd say keep history and maths and choose between product design and art depending on which you enjoy the most. Art will help at your universities but product design is literally no harder than AS. You learn the same stuff but write it in essays.
Hope this helps with your decisions, apologies if the reply is huge lol it's late and my Prod design exam is in a few hours. Fun.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Hi there,
Thank you very much for your advice' which other universities dos you apply to?? Depending on my grades, I will apply to UCL, Brookes, Sheffield, Cambridge and Cardiff/Bath. I'm attending two summer schools this summer for architecture at Cambridge University (Sutton Trust) and the other at UCL, I'm not sure whether these will help me get offers more easily but they will definitely strengthen my application! I do like history but I think it will be too difficult because it is reformed. I'm definitely keeping art and maths but I'll see about the other two. I think I'll get straight B's this year (maybe one A) but yeah! Thank you once again
Posted from TSR Mobile
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- What a levels should I study for Architecture?
- Architecture vs Architectural Engineering
- Architecture degree advice
- Do I need maths for architecture?
- Classics a level
- What A Levels would help me in creative marketing or interior design / architecture?
- I’m not sure what career I want to go into now
- Architect choices
- Help - move to optometry
- physics and maths in archiecture
- A Level
- what a levels should i choose for architecture as an international student
- I need help choosing my a level subjects
- Is maths needed for architecture?
- can you do architecture using a biomedical science degree
- Degree that combines math and art
- Architecture degree or apprenticeship??
- Low gcse maths grade, could I still do architecture?
- Do I need maths or physics for architecture in the future (uni)?
- Can I get into Architecture with these A levels?
Latest
Last reply 33 minutes ago
Official London School of Economics and Political Science 2024 Applicant ThreadLast reply 1 hour ago
Official University of Edinburgh Applicant Thread for 2024Trending
Last reply 1 week ago
I can't pick between Sheffield or Liverpool?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Cardiff vs Oxford Brookes for architecture?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Dmu vs welsh school of architecture vs university of WolverhamptonLast reply 3 weeks ago
Architecture at Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester or Nottingham?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Can I get into Architecture with these A levels?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Is the Architecture in Glasgow school good?Last reply 1 month ago
Has someone done Architecture at uni without maths or physicsTrending
Last reply 1 week ago
I can't pick between Sheffield or Liverpool?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Cardiff vs Oxford Brookes for architecture?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Dmu vs welsh school of architecture vs university of WolverhamptonLast reply 3 weeks ago
Architecture at Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester or Nottingham?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Can I get into Architecture with these A levels?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Is the Architecture in Glasgow school good?Last reply 1 month ago
Has someone done Architecture at uni without maths or physics
