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Contact information
- Dr Danielle Sanderson
- Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
- danielle.sanderson@ucl.ac.uk
Urban Planning, Design and Management BSc
Urban planning is concerned with the complex management of change within the built and natural environment. This programme, accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), gives you the skills to work in both traditional planning careers and in various related professional and specialist areas.
Covid-19 programme updates
Due to COVID-19, there may have been updates to this programme for the 2020 academic year. Where there has been an update, these are indicated with a red alert and a link which will provide further information.
Key Information
Programme starts
September 2020
- UCAS code
- Duration
-
Full-time: 3 years
- Accreditation
- Royal Town Planning Institute, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
- Application deadline
- 15 January 2020
- Location
- London, Bloomsbury
Entry requirements
A Levels
- Grades
- ABB
- Subjects
- No specific subjects.
- At least two A level subjects should be taken from UCL's list of preferred A level subjects.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
Contextual offer
- Grades
- BBB (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- No specific subjects.
- GCSEs
- English Language and Mathematics at grade C or 5. For UK-based students, a grade C or 5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL provides opportunities to meet the foreign language requirement following enrolment, further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
IB Diploma
- Points
- 34
- Subjects
- A score of 16 points in three higher level subjects, with no score lower than 5.
Contextual offer
- Points
- 32 (more about contextual offers)
- Subjects
- A score of 15 points in three higher level subjects, with no score lower than 5.
UK applicants qualifications
For entry requirements with other UK qualifications accepted by UCL, choose your qualification from the list below:
Equivalent qualification
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (QCF) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (RQF - teaching from 2016) with Distinction, Distinction, Distinction.
Pass in Access to HE Diploma, with a minimum of 28 credits awarded with Merit in the Level 3 units.
D3,M1,M1 in three Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects
ABB at Advanced Highers (or AB at Advanced Higher and BBB at Higher)
Successful completion of the WBQ Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate plus 2 GCE A-Levels at grades ABB.
International applications
In addition to A level and International Baccalaureate, UCL considers a wide range of international qualifications for entry to its undergraduate degree programmes.
English language requirements
If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency. Information about the evidence required, acceptable qualifications and test providers can be found on our English language requirements page.
The English language level for this programme is: Standard
A variety of English language programmes are offered at the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.
Degree benefits
This programme offers students a broad-based education in the built environment with an opportunity to specialise in planning and urban design. It provides students with a route towards professional accreditation by two of the most internationally recognised professional bodies for built environment professionals in the UK (see accreditation above).
The Bartlett's strong track record in academic research and policy advisory work, as well as our links to professional practice, feed into the core and specialist aspects of the programme, ensuring that contemporary challenges and issues in theory and practice are addressed.
Based in London, we are able to offer our students a range of fascinating 'live projects' to use as case studies in their academic work, access to a diverse range of employers, and an unrivalled concentration of professional meetings, seminars, conferences, exhibitions and events.
The Bartlett maintains an international outlook and provides opportunities for combined study overseas in Europe, North America, Australia and Hong Kong.
- Accreditation
-
This BSc, if followed by an appropriate Graduate Diploma or MSc programme, leads to eligibility for professional membership of the the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). After graduation you are eligible to apply for the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) which leads to full professional membership of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Degree structure
In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
This programme shares common modules with the BSc in Urban Studies and BSc Urban Planning and Real Estate. Students can move freely between Urban Studies and this BSc up until the end of the first year.
This programme is based around three streams of modules. A hands-on project-based stream entitled Delivering Urban Change is designed to allow you to put into practice the knowledge gained through two other streams, Understanding Urban Change and Managing Urban Change.
The programme offers the opportunity to study overseas for one term in the second year as part of the degree. The school has long-established links with many universities in Europe, as well as a growing list in the USA, Australia and the Asia-Pacific.
In addition to core modules shared between all our three programmes, the programme offers specialist modules in rural planning (Beyond Cities), Urban Form, Urban Design, Regeneration, and Transport Policy and Planning.
Covid-19 study abroad updates
For this academic year, if you were due to study abroad, you should have been contacted by your department with more information. Further guidance can be found on FAQs for 20/21 Study Abroad students about coronavirus (COVID-19).
If you are planning to study abroad in 2021/22, UCL and your department will be in contact with you at the start of the upcoming academic year with information on the application process.
If you plan to study abroad in future years, UCL and your department will provide relevant information and guidance nearer to the time.
Modules
An indicative guide to the structure of this programme, year by year.
Core or compulsory module(s)
- Contemporary Cities (15 credits)
- Beyond Cities: Rural Economies, Communities and Landscape (15 credits)
- Introducing Planning Systems (15 credits)
- Introducing Urban Design: Design Skills (15 credits)
- Making Cities: The Production of the Built Environment (15 credits)
- Management for Built Environment Professionals I (15 credits)
- Planning History and Thought (15 credits)
- Urban Lab I: Graphic Skills (15 credits)
Core or compulsory module(s)
- Economics of Cities and their Regions (15 credits)
- Green Futures (15 credits)
- Management for Built Environment Professionals II (15 credits)
- Strategic Planning Project (15 credits)
- Urban Design: Theory to Practice (15 credits)
- Cities and Social Change (15 credits)
- Urban Form and Formation (15 credits)
- Urban Lab II: Spatial Analysis (15 credits)
Core or compulsory module(s)
- Urban and Environmental Politics (15 credits)
- Development Project: Regeneration (15 credits)
- Real Estate Development (15 credits)
- Planning and Property Law (15 credits)
- Regional Development, Planning and Policy in Global Context (15 credits)
- Transport Policy and Planning (15 credits)
- Urban Design: Space and Place (15 credits)
- Urban Project Management (15 credits)
Covid-19 module updates
Due to COVID-19, there may be updates to the modules for your chosen programme of study this year. Some modules may not be available or may need to be moved to a later term or year of study.
These updates are relevant for 2020-21 academic year only. The full list of modules will be available in the module catalogue from late August. From the first week of September, you will be invited to complete module selection from Portico, our student record system.
There may need to be additional updates or changes to modules during the academic year to allow for new guidance from the UK Government and Public Health England. Your department shall keep you updated of these changes as they become available
Your learning
The School of Planning advocates and employs a very interactive, hands-on form of learning. Alongside lectures, seminars and tutorials we include field visits, group project work, and laboratory and design work sessions to improve your learning experience.
Covid-19 practical component updates
Due to COVID-19, there may be changes to the availability of the practical components for your chosen programme.
Any updates relate only to the 20/21 academic year and may not apply to all students across the programme depending on your year of study.
Your department will keep you updated if the practical component of your programme is able to occur and/or any alternative options available.
There may need to be additional updates or changes to the practical component during the academic year to allow for new guidance from the UK Government and/or Public Health England. Your department shall keep you updated of these changes as they become available.
Covid-19 contact hours on campus
In Term One, while campus will be open, all the learning activity for the core content of your modules will take place online – including lectures, tutorials, seminars and assessments. By “core content” we mean everything you need to learn to complete the module successfully.
In addition to these online contact hours, we will be offering some face-to-face educational activities for students on campus, and we will provide alternative online activities for those students unable to join us on campus. These activities, which will include contact with academic staff, will be relevant to your programme of study may include seminars, academic and employability skills workshops, small-group or individual tutorials, lab and practice-based teaching.
UK Government safety guidelines will limit the amount of ‘in person’ activity we can offer and while it will vary from programme to programme, is likely to be no more than 1-2 hours per week. This will vary across departments, particularly if your programme includes laboratory/practical/studio/workshop sessions. You will be updated with more specific details as they are available and your timetable will indicate which sessions will be on campus and which will be available online.
Communicating further Covid-19 mitigation plans
We are continuing to follow UK Government guidance, as well as the expertise of our researchers, including specialists in health, education, human behaviour and infection prevention, to make sure UCL is as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. If it becomes necessary to make further changes to your programme as a result of new guidance/regulations, UCL and your department will communicate these as soon as this becomes clear. We will keep you up-to-date with our plans throughout term one, so you have the information you need to be able to take decisions that are right for your circumstances. Please ensure that you keep in touch with your department by regularly checking your UCL emails, Moodle courses, the Coronavirus FAQs for Students page and any UCL online groups or social media you follow.
Assessment
Your final marks will reflect your success in a wide range of assessment types, including essays, individual and group projects, design work (posters/models/reports), presentations and a small number of exams. The broad range of assessment types is a distinctive feature of our planning programmes, and of The Bartlett's approach in particular.
Covid-19 assessment updates
There may be changes to the format of assessments for modules in this programme due to COVID-19. These will be summarised for each module on the module catalogue from 17 August 2020.
If any changes to assessments need to be made during the academic year due to updates in government guidance, these will be communicated to you as soon as possible from your department.
Detailed course descriptions are available on the department website: Urban Planning, Design and Management BSc.
Careers
The programme enables you to acquire highly transferable knowledge and skills such as data collection, analysis and presentation, graphic skills, the ability to resolve problems and conflicts, negotiation and mediation, team work and leadership, managing work tasks, preparing and writing professional reports, as well as written, graphic and oral presentation skills.
Graduates find work in a vast range of positions in planning, property, urban design, economic development, housing, transport, and regeneration as well as other diverse sectors where their analytical, negotiating and problem-solving skills are valued. Demand for people with planning skills in the UK and abroad is strong.
Due to the nature of our BSc programmes as a route for eligible membership of RICS/RTPI, many of our graduates also go on to further study.
UCL is commited to helping you get the best start after graduation. Read more about how UCL Careers and UCL Innovation and Enterprise can help you find employment or learn about entrepreneurship.
Student view
“I love that my degree touches upon a lot of different focuses, for example my modules range from green politics to economics, with focuses on design or policy. It provides a full and extensive coverage of how cities and regions function. ”Hannah Richins - Urban Planning, Design and Management BSc Third Year
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2020/21 academic year. The UK/EU fees shown are for the first year of the programme at UCL only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase. The Overseas fees shown are the fees that will be charged to 2020/21 entrants for each year of study on the programme, unless otherwise indicated below.
- UK/EU students
- £9,250 (2020/21)
- Overseas students
- £26,540 (2020/21)
Full details of UCL's tuition fees, tuition fee policy and potential increases to fees can be found on the UCL Students website.
Additional costs
This programme does not have any additional costs outside of purchasing books or stationery, printing, thesis binding or photocopying. A guide including rough estimates for these and other living expenses is included on the UCL Fees and funding pages. If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc. on this programme, please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact (details given on this page).
Funding
Various funding options are available, including student loans, scholarships and bursaries. UK students whose household income falls below a certain level may also be eligible for a non-repayable bursary or for certain scholarships. Please see the Fees and funding pages for more details.
Funding may be available from the Bartlett School of Planning or Bartlett Faculty Office.
Departmental scholarships
Funding opportunities relevant to the department may appear in this section when they are available. Please check carefully or confirm with the programme contact to ensure they apply to this degree programme.
The Bartlett Promise Scholarship
- Deadline
- Deadline: Friday, 3 July 2020
- Value
- Tuition fees plus £15,364 maintenance per annum
- Eligibility
- UK, EU
- Criteria
The Scholarships and Funding website lists scholarships and funding schemes available to UCL students. These may be open to all students, or restricted to specific nationalities, regions or academic department.
Application and next steps
Your application
We will look for evidence of your interest in our subject in your personal statement. We hope to see demonstrable interest in, and understanding of, the links between urban planning and design, as well as an ability to write coherently, communicate effectively, think critically, and understand and solve complex problems. We will also assess your use of English. Although desirable, we do not require applicants to have previously studied art or design-based subjects.
How to apply
Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however, applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.
Application deadline: 15 January 2020
Selection
Shortlisted applicants living in or near the UK will be invited to an applicant open day. This will typically include an introduction to UCL and the School of Planning, a presentation on UCL accommodation and finance, a taster lecture delivered by an academic in the School of Planning, lunch and a tour of the campus with current students, and an interactive Q&A session with members of staff and current students.
You may be asked to submit an essay in support of your application.
We welcome applications from people with non-standard qualifications, including mature students with relevant study or work experience. Please contact us if you need further advice about the acceptability of non-standard qualifications.
For further information on UCL's selection process see: Selection of students.
Page last modified on 22 June 2020