Architecture

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• Why Study Architecture at Christ's College?
• Course content and structure 
• Teaching
• What do our students think?
• How to apply
  • Subjects: what do you need? 
  • Sending a 6-page pdf of artwork
  • Your portfolio
  • Interviews
  • Admissions Assessment
  • Offers
• Helpful resources
• Come to an Open Day or online event
• Need more information?

Why Study Architecture at Christ's?

Over the centuries Christ’s has welcomed architects and prospective architects of many kinds. Look no further than our College buildings for evidence of our inclusive approach. Nowhere else in Cambridge do you find both the concrete modernism of Denys Lasdun and the Gothic revivalism of Gilbert Scott the Younger. And that’s alongside quirks such as a water conduit-turned-ornamental feature and a quadrangle with a circular lawn.

When you choose Christ’s as an undergraduate, you join a thriving community of Masters and PhD students in Architecture, Urban Studies and Urban Design. Our Directors of Studies are Dr Felipe Hernandez and Dr Irit Katz.

At Christ’s we encourage our undergraduate Architects to broaden their perspectives as much as possible. Recent Christ’s students have taken part in design projects in Colombia and Mexico, as well as architectural excursions closer to home. We offer generous travel grants and help with the costs of materials for studio projects and key textbooks.

Outside of formal studies, Architecture students often join Christ's Art Society, which has an online gallery,  and we have an annual college-wide Art Competition. Christ's has a long tradition of fostering the visual arts, and our alumni include Anthony Caro (sculptor), Nicholas Serota (Director of The Tate), Phillip King (sculptor), Anthony Smith (sculptor), Auguste Bréal (painter), and Dee Ferris (painter), amongst others.

Many of our Architecture graduates go on to pursue professional training and practice, some become architectural historians and others work in fields as diverse as conservation, horticulture, journalism, publishing, arts promotion, risk management, strategic consultancy and urban planning. Christ’s graduate Chris Hamill won a Philip Webb Award 2018 for design in the historic built environment for a project he did during his MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design.
 

Course content and structure

Our BA emphasises the teaching of architecture as a cultural as well as a technological subject. This course is unique in combining the intellectual challenge of a Cambridge degree with the opportunity for creative design.

The Architecture course (or ‘tripos’) is a three-year degree and carries exemption from Part 1 of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) exams. Please visit the University website for full details of the Architecture course content and structure, including the course film. You will also find information on the Architecture Faculty degree page. If you have further questions about the course content, please contact arct-info@lists.cam.ac.uk.
 

Teaching

The Cambridge course takes an unashamedly academic approach, though (as in other architecture schools) the focus of the teaching programme is on practical design carried out in studios. You can see 360 degree photography of some of the teaching spaces: the studios, workshop 1, workshop 2, crit space, faculty library, a lecture room.

Christ’s Director of Studies for Architecture is Dr Irit Katz, an architect and scholar who focuses on the socio-political and cultural aspects of architecture and urbanism. Michael Driver (MA DipArch RIBA) is a member of Christ's College and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Architecture where he specialises in Construction and Design.
 

What do our students think?

Victoria and Anna study Architecture here at Christ's College. They have written about their experiences in their student profiles. If you would like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film or visit our Student Profiles page.
 

How to apply

Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.

Subjects: what do you need?

We expect you to have a combination of both essay subjects and sciences/maths subjects. There are no specific requirements but the following subjects are desirable:

• Art and Design*
• Mathematics or Physics

*If you don’t have a formal qualification in Art, we are happy to consider you as long as you are doing plenty of artwork in your spare time. Please be aware that your drawing skills will be assessed during the admissions process, so you will need to make sure that these are of a high standard.

We encourage students to attend one of our regular Subject Matters webinars for help with choosing Post-16 subjects for competitive university applications. This webinar is pitched for students aged 14-16 though it is also possible to attend when you have started sixth form. 

What are we looking for?

We want to see your enthusiasm for both arts and sciences, and a creative ability to represent the world in a variety of ways. You should be able to draw in various media and make objects (sculptures, installations, models) using different materials and techniques. We also look for an interest in the history of art and architecture.

Sending a 6-page artwork pdf

After we receive your application, we will ask you to upload a pdf of examples of your own original artwork that you feel accurately reflects your abilities and interests. You will need to create an A4 pdf of exactly 6 pages, and no more than 15MB and the deadline will be in early November. 

The selection of images for your artwork pdf should, in some part, reflect material you might plan to show if you are invited for interview. As it will be submitted as a pdf (not in hard copy), if you’d like to show us any 3D work or a painting, you will need to take photos of it to include. Details for sending your pdf will be included in the current applicants section (in the subject information for Architecture) once you have applied.

Note that this requirement to send us artwork at this stage in the process is in addition to the request for you to show a portfolio if you are invited for interview.

Your portfolio

Applicants who are invited for interview will be asked to show a portfolio of recent work. We don’t expect your portfolio to be architectural in nature (such as plans or sections) but rather to be work that shows your interests, experience and ability in the visual and material arts.

The basis of your portfolio should be drawing and painting work, but you can also include other media such as sculpture, installation, photography or video art. We would like to see ongoing drawings in any media (pencil, charcoal, crayon) showing a variety of subject matter. This can be material you’ve prepared for exams or creative work you’ve done outside of school.

REMEMBER: your portfolio isn’t just a compilation of work, it’s a creative piece that showcases your ability to communicate your ideas. Once the instructions for sending your portfolio are available, please think carefully about the best possible way you can present it to us.

Interviews

If we select you for interviews, these usually take place in early December or possibly the very last days of November. At Christ's we do all of our interviews online (we will update this page if there is a change to this). You can have your interviews either at home (most applicants do this) or at school (if easier). Those invited for interviews are normally interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with academics in Architecture. You will need to have your portfolio available in both interviews. You will be allowed to screenshare (we'll send you information about how to do this) or hold your portfolio work for the interviewers to see - whichever works best for you.

Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student.

Admissions Assessment (College registered)

If you are selected for interview, we will also set you a drawing task to complete on a set date at the end of November (Thursday 21 November 2024 for this year's applicants). We arrange your assessment automatically so you don’t need to register. You complete the assessment remotely (you can complete it at home or at school) and upload your work - you will not need to travel for it. Details of how the assessment will work are given to students selected for interview by email.

Information about the format and content of the Architecture Admissions Assessment is available on the College assessments page. There are sometimes changes to assessments from year to year - any changes are confirmed by the July before you apply.

Offers

At Christ's we don’t have fixed quotas for places, so the number of students we admit in any year depends on the strengths of the applicants. In Architecture, we aim to admit at least two students each year. A total of 60 students are admitted to the BA in Architecture across all Cambridge colleges each year.

We define the terms of each offer individually, but the typical conditional offer for Architecture requires:

• A*AA at A-level
• 42 points overall in the International Baccalaureate with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects
• A1, A2, A2 in three Scottish Advanced Highers

You need to be academically ambitious: the majority of Christ's students arrive with higher grades than are required.

If you’re taking another qualification, we expect you to be working at or close to the top of the mark range i.e.

• Baccalauréat français international (BFI): 17 (mention très bien) out of 20 overall, with a minimum of 17 in relevant subjects.
• European Baccalaureate: at least 85% overall, with 9/10 in relevant subjects

You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.

If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, applying from a university.
 

Helpful resources

Come to an Open Day / Webinar

Our open days and events page advertises regular online opportunities as well as events you can attend in Cambridge. If you can, sign up for a College Open Day (our October, February and September events normally include a meeting with a subject specialist). Between February and August we run regular webinars:

• Subject Matters: The importance of post-16 subject choices (this one is also run Sept - Nov)
• Cambridge for Beginners
• Christ's College: A look at the Grounds and Facilities
• Personal Statements and preparing for an application

Further subject-specific opportunities you might wish to consider include Subject Masterclasses organised by Cambridge Admissions Office, and subject-specific talks in the July Cambridge Open Days. If you are a UK student from a background where there is little tradition of entry to Higher Education, you can apply to attend a Sutton Trust Summer School in Architecture or to shadow a current undergraduate studying Architecture via the Cambridge SU Shadowing Scheme (do be aware that there's a high proportion of applicants to places for both of these last two opportunities so please don't be discouraged if you don't get a place).
 

Need more information?

For a full picture of what the course involves, please take a look at Undergraduate Architecture admissions on the University website and visit the Architecture Department page too.

If you have any queries at all, please contact us at admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to advise.