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

Helen Iball

Welcome Message

We are delighted to welcome you to the MArch course in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. We would like to introduce ourselves as the co-course leaders for the MArch. We have some exciting briefs for the first year of your studies including a year-long studio module Material Practices; Research Methods and Principles, which will prepare you for your dissertation next year; and Professional Studies, in which you will explore in depth a live project; and the CO.Lab cross-disciplinary module.

Helen Iball is an extremely experienced academic who has taught Architecture for over 27 years; here at BCU since 2025, as well as at Manchester School of Architecture, Liverpool School of Architecture and Kingston School of Architecture and Landscape. She has taught across all levels of learning from Foundation to PhD supervision and has run the wonderful feminist studio PRAXXIS for the last ten years.

In complement to Helen’s academic and pedagogical approach, Helen Chapman has taught at BCU across both undergraduate and postgraduate courses for nearly eight years, with over 14 years in practice as project architect and at associate level at Burrel Foley Fischer, Arrol Architects, Chetwoods, Broadway and DGA. Helen has most recently been running Year 2 Studio in our undergraduate course alongside Professional Studies.

Here is a summary of the contact days on the course to help you work around any part-time jobs and other commitments:

Semester 1

• Wednesday:  Advanced Praxis
• Thursday: Material Practice studio module

Semester 2

• Wednesday: Research Principles and CO.Lab
• Thursday: Material Practice studio module

Please feel free to contact us on Helen.Iball@bcu.ac.uk and HelenClaire.Chapman@bcu.ac.uk with any questions that you might have.

We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham City University.

Helen Iball and Helen Claire Chapman

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!