Architecture School London

As the UK’s oldest and only remaining private school of architecture, the AA School of Architecture has helped to shape modern architectural education and the profession in the United Kingdom and beyond

Why AA School of Architecture?

The AA is an architecture school like no other – made up of diverse unit and programme studios, public galleries, dozens of lectures, exhibitions and publications, as well as archives, libraries, workshops and the countless moments of spontaneous revolution that take place at the AA everyday.

The School's flexible, self-directed curricula, combined with the institutional independence and truly global organisation, result in a rare degree of awareness, ambition and confidence – all necessary qualities for schools confronting the sweeping social, technological and cultural changes in our world today.

The courses offered at the AA School of Architecture include:

• A one-year Foundation Course, providing an introduction to an art and design based education;

• A five-year ARB/RIBA accredited course in Architecture; and

• 11 post-graduate programmes offering advanced studies for students with prior academic and professional experience.

The international, demographic and pedagogical diversity provides not only an unparalleled range of undergraduate unit and graduate programme design agendas and interests, but also an expanded, truly global scope and breadth unlike any other school in the world today.

Located in the heart of London, the AA’s 10 building campus occupies Georgian houses built more than 250 years ago. All students have dedicated studio spaces and access to cutting edge facilities.

Around one in six AA students receive financial assistance from the School's Scholarship, Bursary and Assistantship programme. Students are eligible to apply for support, regardless of age, nationality or background.

The AA cohort is approximately 750 full-time students and 150 tutors, supported by an additional 80 administrative staff. Notable alumni include Bernard Tschumi, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid and countless others.

International Students

Every year nearly 90 per cent of full-time students come to the AA from abroad, creating a setting for a global discussion, debate and exchange of architectural ideas.

Scholarships and bursaries are available to all students regardless of age, nationality or background.

Students are supported by a dedicated team of admissions coordinators from initial enquiry to acceptance. In September each year all new students attend Introduction Week, providing a welcome to the school, accommodation advice, and information about life in London.

The AA’s open door policy ensures that students can access advice and guidance from coordinators, and the Registrar, at all stages throughout their time at the school.

The cross school tutor/student ratio is approximately 1:5, creating a strong relationship between tutors and students and a providing high level of tutor contact time.

AA School graduates are highly sought after by employers. AA alumni have been a powerful presence among the leading architects of their generation since the school was set up.

Globally, the AA Visiting School brings together hundreds of part-time students to global schools, design workshops and special architectural events across five continents. AA tutors work alongside local teaching partners on a series of short courses that allow the school to bring its famed ‘unit system’ of teaching and learning to an incredible array of local cultures, sites and destinations – from the far northern fringes of Europe, to our main campus in London, to Africa, across Asia, North and Latin America.

• 750 full-time students, 150 tutors, and 80 administrative staff.
• The cross school tutor/student ratio is approximately 1:5.
• The one-year Foundation Course provides an introduction to an art and design.
• Our famed AA Unit System offers undergraduate students a diverse range of agendas for investigation, discourse and resolution.
• Post-graduate programmes cover subjects including the history and theory of architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism, housing, cities, environmental design, emerging technologies and spatial experimentation.
• Hooke Park, the AA’s 350 acre woodland in Dorset, provides workshop and fabrication space and expert technical support to construct models, buildings and 1:1 prototypes.
• We run a world-renowned Public Programme of lectures, exhibitions and publications.
• AA Alumni include Charles Jencks, Elia Zenghelis, Peter Cook, Dalibor Vesely, Joseph Rykwert, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi, Nigel Coates, Cedric Price, Nicholas Grimshaw… and many more