Architecture

• Studying: 21%
• Employed in graduate job: 40%
• Employed in non-graduate job: 16%
• Unemployed: 14%

• Average graduate salary: £17,873
• Average non-graduate salary: £14,526

Architecture is concerned with the planning, design and construction of buildings, and over the course of your degree you develop a good mix of subject-specific and technical skills. Design is a big aspect of the course and you will use it to produce buildings and spaces that take into account cultural context, specific environments and technologies.

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile.

View the best universities for architecture degrees.

Prospects

A 2010 HESA survey of 2009 graduates indicates that six months after graduation, 50% of architecture graduates were in employment. Of these, around 61% were working in professional and technical occupations, which include those related to architecture.

Where are the jobs?

Architecture graduates commonly become architects, architectural technologists, interior designers, building surveyors, and project managers.

Graduates may be employed by small firms with fewer than ten employees. Public sector employers, such as local authorities and housing associations together employ a significant proportion of the profession and some large organisations, such as banks and supermarkets, may have in-house architectural teams.

Jobs directly related to your degree

Once you have graduated with your architecture degree, you can work as a:

• Architect
• Architectural technologist
• Interior and spatial designer

 Jobs where your degree would be useful

You degree in architecture will also prepare you for jobs such as:

• Town planner
• Building surveyor
• Higher education lecturer
• Historic buildings inspector/conservation officer
• Landscape architect
• Planning and development surveyor
• Production designer, theatre/television/film

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it's not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Included with the permission of AGCAS and Graduate Prospects. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk. We would welcome your comments on this section of The Complete University Guide. Please email us at admin@thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk.