The PG Diploma in Architectural Practice provides a Part 3 programme alongside the well established architectural Part 1 and Part 2 programmes offered by the Kent School of Architecture and Planning (KSAP).

As such, the course benefits from KSAP’s diversity of academic knowledge and research, and the cross-fertilisation between the disciplines of its staff. KSAP is strongly rooted in Kent while pursuing a broad outlook, and the Part 3 course reflects this, with staff and students mostly based in the region but professionally active across the UK and beyond.

Many aspects of the PG Diploma curriculum are introduced at a more elementary level in an existing undergraduate Stage 3 module (Professional practice AR555) and graduate Stage 4 module (Employability AR540) which the Programme Director convenes and substantially delivers. The understanding of the Part 3 programme in the context of teaching of professional practice at Part 1 and Part 2 ensures that all three stages of architectural education are addressed at an appropriate level in relation to students’ academic knowledge, practical experience and learning needs. Specifically, whereas Part 1 provides a basic introduction to all topics, Part 2 promotes lateral thinking and questioning of conventional practices, and Part 3 greatly deepens detailed knowledge as a basis for mature and responsible decision-making in complex and unforeseeable circumstances.

The Part 3 course has been designed to:
 

• provide a gateway to professional practice, complementing Kent’s established courses in architecture

• enable current Kent students to complete their professional training at the University

• offer graduates of other universities to complete their professional training in Kent

• be the only course of its kind offered anywhere in the county

• draw on the academic and professional knowledge and contacts of existing University staff

The PGDip’s core curriculum is based directly on the RIBA/ARB criteria for Part 3 graduates, and the lectures and seminars is derived directly from these criteria, which are common to all equivalent courses in the UK. It is, however, intended that, within these criteria, the Kent PGDip has the following USPs:
 

• Exploration of alternative building procurement strategies, reflecting innovative practice (partly based on the staff team’s personal experience)

• Emphasis on international practice (based on the proposed staff team’s personal experience)

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One of the USPs of the Kent PGDip in Architectural Practice is to be its international outlook. The Programme Director has extensive personal experience managing projects and businesses in the UK, France, Poland, Russia and many other countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Other senior member of the staff team manage a design and construction business in Germany and the UK.