What these schools actually assess
The RCA, the Architectural Association, the Bartlett and the schools around them select on the portfolio and on the statement that frames it. Grades matter, but they are rarely what decides the outcome. What decides it is whether the work shows a position, and whether the applicant can articulate where that position is going.
Most rejected portfolios are not weak. They are unedited.
- The portfolio is an argument, not an archive. Twenty strong pieces with no through line read worse than eight that build on each other. Selection is the work.
- Each school reads differently. The AA looks for a speculative position. The Bartlett expects research to be visible in the work. The RCA reads for where a practice is heading. The same portfolio does not serve all three.
- The statement carries the portfolio. It explains the choices a viewer cannot infer: why this line of enquiry, why now, why here.
- Timing is tighter than it looks. Interviews and portfolio reviews sit weeks after the deadline, and preparing for them is a separate piece of work.
Who I work with
Applicants to UK portfolio schools at postgraduate level, and at undergraduate level where the school selects on portfolio. Architecture, art, design and the related fields.
- Which school fits the work, and which does not
- Portfolio structure: what stays, what goes, what order
- The personal statement and how it frames the work
- Deadlines, entry points and what happens after submission
- Interview and review preparation
Request a consultation
For applicants who want the work read before it is submitted. I read every enquiry myself and will reply with the appropriate next step.
A portfolio is not judged on how much is in it. It is judged on what the selection says about how you think.
Each school reads for something different, and the same body of work can be edited into three different applications.
Tell me where you are applying, what stage the work is at, and what you are uncertain about.
Advisory support is provided on a paid basis. Details of the support and fees are shared before any work begins.