Welcome 2026 Students

Start Date

Welcome Week will take place between Monday 14 September and Friday 18 September 2026. During Welcome Week your course team will schedule activities for you to find out important information about your course, meet your lecturers and other students, and find your way around.

Teaching on your course begins from Monday 21 September 2026. Please check your timetable for details.

You will be able to see your timetable on iCity using your BCU login details as soon as they are released. You should have received your BCU login details when you were invited to enrol.

International Students

We expect all international students to engage with their studies in person from w/c 7 September 2026.

The final deadline to arrive in the UK to complete enrolment will be week 4 (w/c 2 October 2026).

Timetables

Course Leader

Max Wisotsky

Welcome Message

A warm welcome to BA (Hons) Architecture at BCU!

Our team of tutors, technicians, and administrators look forward to working with you over the course of your education and helping you become passionate, knowledgeable, and skilled designers.

Our School

The school first provided a recognised Part 1 Examination in 1923, followed by the Part 2 and Part 3 Examinations in 1930. Our courses are validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects and are prescribed by the Architects Registration Board, and we are in a great position of offering all three parts of the architectural education: Part 1 degree, the Part 2 MArch, and the Part 3 professional diploma. We guide students right through their education and into professional employment.

We have a long tradition of fostering entrepreneurship, multiple award winning practices such as Associated Architects, D5 Architects, Bryant Priest Newman, Glancy Nicholls, TKA Space Studio, and Sjölander da Cruz have all been founded by the School’s entrepreneurial graduates. Many of our tutors come from architectural practices with active experience working on projects that are helping to define our growing city.

With projects like HS2, Smithfield, and Icknield Port Loop on our doorstep, there are lots of great opportunities for our students and graduates to learn from and participate in the developments that will radically change the way the entire region functions; with site visits, guest lectures, and visiting critics all offering ample opportunity for you to be a part of the future of Birmingham and beyond.

Your Learning

The nature of professional practice is rapidly changing, and we believe architectural education must also adapt to provide students with the ability to tackle real issues of sustainability, ecology, accessibility, and to understand the multi-faceted nature of modern practice and business. Your learning on the degree will help you discover how to work with live clients, real world scenarios, the latest software, research inspired problem solving, transdisciplinary groups, and careful time management. The breadth of these approaches result in practice-ready graduates who have been equipped with personal and professional skills for their careers ahead, having worked through a richly varied and challenging degree.

Throughout your time on the course, you will continuously generate a portfolio that describes your design intent; what you care about, what you want to change, and your ethos as a designer. This vitality is important to our school – we pride ourselves on not having a school style – we always encourage our students to express themselves through their work – so our school reflects the wide range of experiences of our students: we want you to explore and we want your work to renegotiate the parameters of what an architect should care about in today’s society.

The whole team look forward to working with you over the duration of your degree.

Course Location

Your course will mainly be taught in:

Parkside Building, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with P)

First day on Campus

We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham City University!

You must have your ID card visible at all times when on campus, so if you have received yours before your first day, ensure you bring this with you. If you enrolled late you will need to collect one on campus during your first few days. Please remember that your ID card is for your use only. You must never let anyone else use it.

To complete your enrolment, you will need the following:

• Passport (or other form of photo ID if you are a UK/EU student)
• Original qualification documents if applicable (you will be emailed a list of the documents we need to see once you have completed your online enrolment)
• Visa (international students only)

What else? The rest is up to you! You will find a shop, café, pub, computer access and water fountains on campus, but we do recommend you bring the following on the first day:

• Laptop, if you have one
• Notepad and pen
• Reusable water bottle
• Snack
• Money

And remember, the weather in Birmingham can be changeable!