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Landscape Architecture MA

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2026/27 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Landscape Architecture MA (2025/26), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

Full-time

UK tuition fees (2026/27)

£16,800

Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)

£39,200

Duration

1 academic year

Programme starts

September 2026

Applications accepted

Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 27 Mar 2026

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 28 Aug 2026

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of a second-class UK degree in landscape architecture or an accredited overseas qualification in Landscape Architecture of an equivalent standard. On occasion, graduates from other degrees who can demonstrate comparable abilities will also be considered. Applicants must have also completed their previous degree and be undertaking a year in a professional practice placement or internship. A design/creative portfolio is also expected. Applicants will be asked to provide a link to a portfolio of their design work once their completed application has been received, and should not send or upload work until it has been requested.

The English language level for this course is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Landscape Architecture MA is an accredited Master’s course that enables you to progress towards a career as a Chartered Landscape Architect. From the very first week, you will engage in design-led research, developing your thinking through speculative and practice-based projects.

The course is committed to an agenda of climate-focused landscape design and environmental stewardship, preparing students to address sustainability and deal with real-world challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and ecological crises. The core priority of the Landscape Architecture MA is to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to innovatively respond to ecological, urban, and social challenges through your work with natural and built environments.

The course is design-led, and Design Studios form a core component, giving you the opportunity to work to develop your own approach to landscape architecture. Within the Studios, tutors present unique, rigorous, challenging, and even radical intellectual positions, providing a strong identity for students working individually and in groups, and exploring real-world environments during field and site study trips.

Design teaching is complemented with history and theory lectures, seminars and readings, examining the interdependence of thought, action, and form in history, society, culture, and geography. Students refine their communication skills through seminar presentations, written work, design reviews and exhibitions. A series of workshops and classes are available to help students gain integral skills, from planting and horticulture to digital skills and GIS.

An open ‘Landscapes in Dialogue' lecture series and film nights, amongst other extra-curricular activities, enable students to engage with the broader relationships that surround their studies.

Landscape Architecture is available to study via two different pathways at The Bartlett, taught over either one or two years:

Our Landscape Architecture MA is taught full-time over one year, for students who already have a UK landscape architecture undergraduate degree, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.
Our Landscape Architecture MLA is taught full-time over two years, acting as a conversion course for students without a landscape architecture undergraduate degree. Students typically come from related backgrounds such as geography, ecology, urban studies, architecture and other design-based disciplines.

You can apply to the Landscape Architecture MLA here.

Who this course is for

This accredited Landscape Architecture MA is primarily suitable for students looking to pursue a career in landscape architecture who already have a related background. Students will possess a strong research and design background and a keen interest in innovatively responding to ecological, urban, and social challenges through their work with natural and built environments. This design course is also relevant to early and mid-career professionals looking to expand their technical skills and knowledge and develop their own approach to the contemporary study of landscape architecture.

What is it like being a student with us? Explore the stories from our students and alumni as they share their experiences, insights, and advice. Plus, connect with a current Bartlett student via our Unibuddy platform to have your questions answered.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

This postgraduate course empowers students with the contextual knowledge of the history and theory of landscape architecture, alongside the ability to apply research to design and professional scenarios, be they speculative, theoretical or practical.

The Bartlett School of Architecture helps students to prepare for successful careers in a range of fields. We aim to be an exciting and innovative place to study architecture, located in the heart of London with global perspectives. Our students have the opportunity to develop their creativity, curiosity and dynamism, and learn the skills they need to build a better future for people and the planet. Our school is consistently ranked highly in UK and global league tables, and our staff are at the forefront of international research and teaching with award-winning buildings all over the globe.

The Bartlett is ranked #1 in the world for Architecture and the Built Environment for the third year in a row in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2025.

91% of our research has been deemed ‘World Leading’ and ‘Internationally Excellent’ in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).

In a typical year, the school hosts a number of exhibitions, both physically across our London locations, and digitally via our online exhibition platform bartlettarchucl.com. This includes The Bartlett Autumn Show, The Bartlett Summer Show and The Bartlett B-Pro Show. These exhibitions act as a showcase for the extraordinary work produced by our students and are visited by thousands of people from across the globe each year.

The Bartlett is one of the UK's largest multidisciplinary faculties of the Built Environment. Our work is all about human spaces. That means physical structures like homes, buildings and cities, but also the invisible structures that govern these things: political and legal systems; financial frameworks and social norms; even our understanding of the past, present and future. Combining design, history, theory, digital representations and models across all of these areas, we understand the structures shaping society today – and we work to make them fairer and more prosperous.

Find out more about the benefits of studying at The Bartlett School of Architecture.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

The Bartlett School of Architecture is recognised as one of the world's leading schools of architecture and graduates from our Master's courses are highly sought after. Many graduates continue into professional practice with Landscape Architecture firms in the UK or their home country. A degree in Landscape Architecture can also lead to employment in related fields such as environmental design, landscape management and built environment policy-making as well as other design-related fields.

85% of Bartlett School of Architecture graduates were in work or further study 15 months after graduation. (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017-22)

Top industry sectors for Bartlett School of Architecture graduates in work are construction, built environment and property (75% of graduates); academic research and higher education (7%) and performance and creative arts (6%).

Bartlett School of Architecture graduates are working in 46 countries around the world.

Employability

On this course, you gain a highly specialist skill set as well as the ability to design using a range of techniques and research methods. Developing an in-depth knowledge of the discipline of landscape architecture, you hone your skills in creative problem solving, making decisions and propositions in complex, challenging, ambiguous and open-ended situations.

You also develop skills in communicating, presenting, advocating, interrelating and responding to people from a wide variety of backgrounds within a professional context. 

Networking

The Bartlett School of Architecture hosts numerous events throughout the year that feature industry guests and networking opportunities. These include lecture series, seminars, conferences, symposiums, book launches, and show launch events. The school also hosts a Future Practice event each year that links students with employers.

Additionally, there are a broad range of UCL-wide career events to help current students and recent graduates develop their employability skills, explore different sectors, increase commercial awareness, build professional networks and more.

Accreditation

This course is professionally accredited by the Landscape Institute (LI).

Teaching and learning

The MA is a balance of design, history and critical theory, technology, environment and practice streams and is delivered in lectures, seminars, design reviews and tutorials in group and individual teaching sessions.

Within the Design Studios, tutors present unique, rigorous, challenging, and even radical intellectual positions, providing a strong identity for students working individually and in groups, and exploring real-world environments during field and site study trips. Students work with a team of landscape architects, researchers and built environment professionals to inform their creative design practices. In the Design Studio, students develop individual projects, documented in design portfolios, to increasing levels of complexity and ambition as the course progresses.

Explore the current design units and research clusters.

Over 400 staff from around the world teach at The Bartlett School of Architecture. Many of our academic staff are part-time, working at the school while also carrying out highly successful work in practice across a diverse spectrum of activities related to architecture. Explore expert teaching.

Students are assessed through design portfolios, essays, illustrated reports and diaries and receive formative feedback on their work in progress via tutorials, seminars, review sessions and written reports. 

In Terms 1 and 2 students can typically expect between 17 and 20 contact hours per teaching week through lectures, workshops and tutorials. In Term 3, when most modules are complete students will be completing their major design projects, finalising portfolio production and review preparation whilst attending weekly design tutorials.

Outside of lectures, full-time students are expected to engage in approximately 15 hours of self-directed study, with the overall demands of the course amounting to a full-time job.

Modules

This course has five modules, all of which are compulsory. The curriculum is designed to progressively build on previous knowledge and skills. Design projects increase in scale and complexity. History and theory modules evolve from a seminar series and short essay to a comprehensive thesis. Technology and environmental studies are introduced through a lecture series in the Term 1 and are further developed in the Term 2 through practical applications guided by specialised tutors, focusing on the realisation of design projects.

Students join one of seven Design Studios each of which presents a particular agenda and site focus directed by a pair of tutors who are practising designers or academics working in Landscape Architecture and its related fields.

Compulsory modules

Advanced Landscape Design 1

Advanced Landscape Design 2

Landscape Architecture Theory and Practice

Landscape Thesis

Landscape, Ecology and Urban Environments

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Landscape Architecture.

Fieldwork

The course includes an optional field trip that is taken with the Design Studio. This is typically one week in a European or UK destination. Field trip locations are usually also the site for one or more of the design projects in the year.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time
Tuition fees (2026/27)	£16,800
Tuition fees (2026/27)	£39,200

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a fee deposit will be charged at 2.5% of the first year fee.

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Landscape Architecture students can expect to incur additional costs as part of their course for materials and resources, up to £500. However, the school aims to minimise these where possible. These likely relate to drawing and modelling materials, printing costs and travel to local sites of interest. All students work differently so costs incurred depend on the approach they take to the brief given and tutors can advise on alternative methods. The school encourages students to use recycled materials in their models and presentations – not only is it sustainable, but also cost-effective and potentially innovative.

For the optional field trip, the school offers a financial contribution of up to £250 a year to each student. Students are asked to fund the remaining costs of the trip which should not exceed £700 in total.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

UCL offers a range of financial awards aimed at assisting both prospective and current students with their studies.

In our faculty, The Bartlett Promise Scholarship aims to enable students from backgrounds underrepresented in the built environment to pursue master's studies. Please see the UK Master's scholarship and Sub-Saharan Africa Master's scholarship pages for more information on eligibility criteria, selection process and FAQs.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

: Bartlett Promise Sub-Saharan Africa Masters Scholarship

Deadline: 28 March 2025

Value: Fees, stipend and other allowances (Duration of programme)

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Bartlett Promise UK Master's Scholarship

Deadline: 31 May 2025

Value: Tuition fees plus £15,864 maintenance/yr (Duration of programme)

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

CLOSED FOR 25/26 ENTRY

Value: Tuition fees plus £16,000 stipend ()

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: UK

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this course of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

why you want to study Landscape Architecture at graduate level
why you want to study Landscape Architecture at UCL
what particularly attracts you to this course
how your personal, academic and professional background meets the demands of a challenging academic environment
where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this course match what the programme will deliver.

After we have received your application, we will e-mail you to request a design portfolio and provide instructions. Please do not send your design work until requested.

We recommend that you apply for a maximum of two courses.

Tier 4 Student Visa holders are advised to meet the English language proficiency of their offer no later than the end of June, in order to allow sufficient time to obtain a CAS number and visa.

To accept your offer, you must pay the non-refundable fee deposit within 4 weeks and decline any other offers for programmes at the Bartlett School of Architecture. If you do not respond within 3 weeks, your offer will be withdrawn.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate courses (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This course only requires one reference in support of your application. Your reference should be academic unless you have been out of university education for more than four years. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.