Professional Practice and Management in Architecture - Postgraduate Certificate

Architecture at UWE has a strong inter-disciplinary ethos and an excellent reputation in the industry. This course gives you access to the knowledge and Part-3 skills that relate directly to architectural practice, professionalism, and managing architecture's relationship with wider construction industry and society. These correspond to the requirements set out in the criteria published by the ARB/RIBA.

It also nurtures and develops the visual, written and oral communication skills vital to successful practice.

To achieve the final award, you must complete these four Master's level modules:

• Architectural Profession and Project Procedures - Provides an overview of the construction industry and the context the architectural profession operates in, while helping you develop an understanding procedures and management in building projects.
• Procurement and Contract Management - We look into construction contract administration and practice, and the legislative and common law context of contracts, to help you develop practical skills in this area. We explore risk apportionment, procurement methods and contract strategy.
• Practice Management and Personal Development - An overview of the practice management principles that relate directly to architecture, and an introduction to key transferable skills necessary in management roles. We examine business, financial management and legal contexts for running an architectural practice, explore the communication skills required as a manager, and introduce methods of critical self-evaluation required for life-long learning.

You take these first three modules in three block courses of three days each, through a series of lectures, seminars and workshops. They also require some distance learning, sandwiched around these blocks, to complement the topics and support your learning.

Professional Experience

Reflective study through tutorials and individual work, for Part-3 students who have completed the first three modules.

A number of options are available for CPD or returner training purposes.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved we will inform you.

The course is generally studied part-time over one year and culminates in the Professional Interview. However, we've built in a degree of flexibility so that, in extenuating circumstances, you're not restricted to this timescale.

We assess through coursework, role-play and documentary submission, and in the Professional Interview. The coursework constitutes distance-learning exercises that relate to the block courses. The documentary submission includes the Record of Professional Experience, a career evaluation and a case study, and contributes to the assessment in the Professional Experience module.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.