Finally, I can write about this: it’s been almost nine months since I started my Part 2 at RIBA Studio in Oxford Brookes. I wanted to share this experience with other foreign students/people pursuing moving forward their careers in the UK.

As mentioned in older posts I managed to get a spot in the RIBA Studio at Oxford Brooks University, it took me so long to start this that I can’t believe that I am about to complete the first year.

What is RIBA STUDIO?

This is an alternative (and unique) route to study Architecture in the UK whilst working, here is the official explanation of the course: https://www.architecture.com/education-cpd-and-careers/studying-architecture/riba-studio

This route is still the most convenient route if you are working and you do not want to stop your professional activity to study. I must admit I thought this path would be flexible and sort of easy, however, the reality differs from my previous assumptions.

There were and there are a good number of challenges that come along with this route and I want to share with you how to overcome these so you can enjoy this wonderful programme, because yes, it is great.

Challenges before starting the course:

• Meeting entry requirements

• Finding a personal tutor, especially if you do not live in the UK

I already gave advice for these in previous posts.

Challenges during the course:

• Starting the assignments!

But wait, why is this a challenge? Well nobody will tell you when and how to start because it is up to you, you are the owner of your time, you organise yourself and nobody will switch on your computer for you and tell you Hey it’s time!

It may change by the time you read this but at the moment the first year comprises five assignments:

C4 - Cultural Context Essay

T5a- Technology report

P3 - Professional Studies Exam

Dissertation Synopsiss

D4 Design Portfolio

At the beginning of the course, there is a design and research workshop, for this, you need to have an idea of what you want to do for your D4.

So, How to start then?

Start once you get the Starter Pack, I know it sounds extreme but you will appreciate it when you realize that time is short and expectations of the course are high (VERY). You won’t have access to the exemplars yet but at least you can start moving things.

If I could go back to the past, I would have decided the topics of every assignment before the first meeting, which generally occurs in March.

One of the students suggested drawing a road map describing each assignment and the possible topics, this was the best advice that I wish I had before. I did it, late but better than never, this is how my road map looks:

My intention was to drive all the assignments towards mental wellbeing, and this road map made it clear and help me organise my ideas.

For me, the easiest way to start the assignments, once you know the topic, is to design the table of contents, I started by designing the possible content and I discussed it with my personal tutor. Once she was ok with it I started researching and writing, the content was changing along with the development of the work.

Before the first workshop, try to choose the site of your project and try to develop the brief as much as you can.

• Meeting submission deadlines

This is a hard one because if you don’t plan things you can easily miss a deadline.

Every time I had a submission my world exploited with unforeseen situations that made me almost quit the programme. My perfect planning was interrupted so much that I literally ended up submitting low quality work for a technical fail hoping to resubmit something better on the referral/deferral date. This is why I suggest starting as soon as you can.

You can also split the work, divide the assignment in a way you can work two or three hours every day and have the weekends or at least Sundays free. This requires discipline, discipline, discipline, yes this programme is all about discipline.

You need to be aware that all the writing assignments need to go through Turnitin every time you submit, this checks the referencing of the content of your work and it has a daily limit of three, so AVOID LAST MINUTE SUBMISSIONS.

Tutorial sessions are crucial and examiners don’t like last-minute sessions as it doesn’t give you time to reflect feedback on your work, so try to meet your tutor at least one week before submission. Please, make sure your tutor gives you the tutorial feedback sheet at the moment or right after the tutorial, this will save you a lot of pain and stress because you need them as part of the submissions.

• Coping with work

Things at work won’t stop, you will get support from your office mentor but things must continue.

In the beginning, I tried to keep Friday afternoons free for me to work on the assignments, but this wasn’t enough. I ended up giving up working hours, we know architecture is demanding and our weekly hours can go up to 50 or more, especially if you are freelance, I just cut it as much as I could, now I work no more than 35 hours per week. Covid help a bit, I work from home and I go to the office just to attend meetings, this saves lots of time. You will need to find a way to organise work so you can also dedicate time to your studies.

• Coping with family

This is a hard one, this programme requires a lot of family support. You will need to sacrifice sleep and time with your children if you are a parent. I’m still trying to find the perfect balance. I am lucky enough, my husband supports me and he is on board as I am.

• Succeed the assignments

My experience may differ from others, but passing the assignments is hard. This can be shocking if you worked a lot and then you get this email saying that you have been registered to resubmit. It happens, but there is a bright side, resubmissions make you work harder and wiser, your work will be way better and you will learn more, in the end, the aim of the course is to make you learn.

The assignments require analysis, you are expected to show that you are able to explain things with a sharp analytic point of view, please learn the difference between descriptive writing and critical writing.

I learned this while rewriting my C4, I asked one of the students for advice and she made great suggestions about how to analyse the site of the chosen building, I was impressed, she mentioned things that I wouldn’t think about, such as analysing what the people eat in the area and things that could take my research further.

• Exemplars help but do not rely on them

You will find an exemplar section on the moodle of the course which is a compilation of pieces of other students work and, at least in my case, give you an idea of what the examiners expect. You need to be aware that many of these have mistakes or are based on older requirements so do not forget to READ the current requirements of each assignment including the criteria table that comes at the end of the requirements.

• Cultural differences between personal tutor and the course

This may happen to you if you are studying outside the UK. I am in France and education here happens differently. At least from my experience, teachers in France are expected to follow certain rules and work on realistic facts whereas in the UK studying is the last opportunity to go crazy and create uncommon things.

The perfect strategy to solve this problem is to find alternative tutors, sometimes the University would provide contacts. I contacted alternative tutors for almost all my assignments.

Things I’ve learned from the course

• Examiners dislike assumptions, every statement needs to be referenced otherwise it will hurt your note

• Topics need to be original, don’t be afraid to explore unusual subjects

• Start reading documents to get ready for the Professional Studies Examination in advance

• Start sketching on your sketchbook as soon as possible.

• I dislike presentations, I actually did a bad job trying to explain my D4, I’m the type of person who goes blank with basic questions when I know there is people observing, it is part of my personality, however the course is making me understand the importance of this skill, I’m learning to deal with it, I’m still accepting observers in my presentation because I know it could help them learn from my mistakes.

If you made it into the course and will start soon, I wish you a great experience, enjoy it!