Friday 20 December 2013

Glasgow School of Art (GSA) Architecture Entry Requirements / Failure rates RIBA Part 1

Glasgow School of Art (GSA) - Entrance Requirement/Failure rates for BSc in Architectural Studies, RIBA Part 1

Following a FOI (Freedom of Information Request) to the department of architecture at Glasgow School of Art (GSA), this the number of students who were failed at the end of their third year from 2006-2013.

YEAR            NUMBERS FAILED TO GAIN AN ORDINARY DEGREE
2003/2004       0 Failed 3rd year at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
2004/2005       1 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2005/2006       1 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2006/2007       2 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2007/2008       0 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2008/2009       0 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2009/2010       Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2010/2011       6 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        " 
2011/2012       2 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        "
2012/2013       0 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        "


In 2013, the minimum entrance requirements for the BA in Architecture at GSA were:

QualificationGrade
SQA HigherABBB  to include English and Maths or Physics, and preferably Art
GCE A-LevelABB - to include Maths or Physics, AND GCSE English at Grade A

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Strathclyde University Architecture Entry Requirements / Failure rates RIBA Part 1

Strathclyde University - Entrance Requirement/Failure rates for BSc in Architectural Studies, RIBA Part 1

Following a FOI (Freedom of Information Request) to the department of architecture at Strathclyde University, this the number of students who were failed at the end of their third year from 2006-2013.

YEAR            NUMBERS FAILED TO GAIN AN ORDINARY DEGREE
2006/2007       4 Failed 3rd year at the University of Strathclyde
2007/2008       8 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2008/2009     13 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2009/2010     19 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2010/2011     14 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        " 
2011/2012       5 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        "
2012/2013       8 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        "


In 2013, the minimum entrance requirements for the BSc in Architectural Studies (Architecture) at Strathclyde were:

QualificationGrade
SQA HigherAAAB  - required subjects: English, Art, and Maths or Physics
GCE A-LevelABB - required subjects: Maths or Physics and GCSE English Literature or Language (A)

Monday 9 December 2013

Dundee University Architecture Entry Requirements / Failure rates RIBA Part 1

Dundee University - Entrance Requirement/Failure rates for BA (Arch) Architecture, RIBA Part 1

Following a FOI (Freedom of Information Request) to the department of architecture at Dundee University, this the number of students who were failed at the end of their third year from 2005-2013.

YEAR            NUMBERS FAILED TO GAIN AN ORDINARY DEGREE
2005/2006      14 Failed 3rd year at the university of Dundee
2006/2007      15 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        "
2007/2008      14 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2008/2009      <5 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2009/2010        7 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 
2010/2011        8 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        " 
2011/2012      <5 Failed 3rd year
  "   "           "         "        "
2012/2013        5 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        "


In 2013, the minimum entrance requirements for the BA Arch (Architecture) course at Dundee are:


QualificationGrade
SQA HigherAABB/ABBBB
GCE A-LevelBBB/ABC (excluding General Studies)

In the last eight academic years at Dundee University least 70 young peoples lives have been shattered, all because their markers didn't like them or their designs.

For the same academic period (2005 - 2013) just 12 students of Economics failed third year. This subject was chosen as a comparison as it has the same minimum entrance requirements as architecture. Therefore, at the University of Dundee an architecture student is more than five times more likely to fail to be awarded a degree than a student of Economics.

Robert Gordon University Architecture Entry Requirements / Failure rates RIBA Part 1

Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen - Entrance Requirements/Failure rates in Architecture (RIBA Part 1)

Following a FOI (Freedom of Information Request) to the department of architecture at Robert Gordon University, this the number of students who were failed at the end of third year; it seems they have no records prior to 2010.

The university’s response, signed off by the Head of The Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment. "Our number of failures after re-sit boards of August in each of the following years are as follows":

YEAR            NUMBERS FAILED TO GAIN AN ORDINARY DEGREE
2010/2011      16 Failed 3rd year at Robert Gordon University
2011/2012      17 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        "
2012/2013        8 Failed 3rd year  "   "           "         "        " 

The entrance requirements to study architecture at Robert Gordon University in 2013 were:

QualificationGrade
SQA HigherABBB to include English (or a subject requiring the use of English) , Maths or a Science and preferably Art.
GCE A-LevelBBC - to include, Maths or a Science and preferably Art.English (or a subject requiring the use of English) at GCSE Grade  B if not held at A Level.
Their reason for only supplying figures for three years was because that was when the course changed. Prior to that a student received no qualification until the end of fourth year, when they might or might not be awarded an honours degree.

We've written to them again asking for figures going back to 2005 so that we can measure the figures against the other architecture schools.

Friday 21 June 2013

Why do so many students fail Architecture?

Why do so many students fail Architecture?

In high school, teachers are blamed/questioned if students fail their exams, but at architecture school (university) it seems to be the other way round; it is the students who are blamed, every time. How is it possible, if the teaching is to a high standard, that students are unable to pass third year of architecture?

We're in the process of sending FOI (Freedom of Information) requests to all 44 schools of architecture in the uk to find out the number of casualties who fail their final degree year (RIBA Part 1). The findings will be reported here.

Goto the individual blog posts to read the exact number of students failed at each institution and the entrance requirements in order to gain entry.

The next step in our research is to compare these figures with another university course which has the same entrance requirements. The results will be interesting, but we think we already know the answer, since failing a final year is almost unheard of in any other university subject, unless something seriously bad happens in a student's life during the course of the year. Yet the brightest students are failed on the architecture course every year because their designs (or they) are not favoured.