What every aspiring architect needs

29 March 2016

Aspiring architects should be taking Maths at A Level and would also do well to consider Further Maths, according to a study of undergraduates.

Researchers Ellie Darlington and Jessica Bowyer surveyed a number of architecture students who said that Mechanics had been the most useful area of maths they studied in sixth form. Mechanics, which involves the study of forces, has obvious uses in architecture but the researchers say that not all architecture students study it, and that some don’t even study Maths at A Level.

A Level Maths and Further Maths are currently being reformed. The reformed A Level will make the study of Mechanics compulsory, while the new Further Maths will enable students to study Mechanics further. The researchers say that it is vital that students are given appropriate advice when choosing what to study in the sixth form, and that students should not just rely on the subjects that universities explicitly ask for.

The Mathematics needs of prospective Architecture undergraduates appears in the latest edition of Research Matters, Cambridge Assessment's biannual research publication.

The research it is based on is just a small part of the largest ever study of its kind into the maths needs of undergraduates.