The way forward for Part Time Study. A comparative study between the Mackintosh School of Architecture and the University of West England Part 2 Dissertation 2008 Lorraine Hickish Mackintosh School of Architecture | UK The Part Time Student has been a dying breed for many years now. The factors that have caused this shift are wide reaching and include the changes in our society, government and economy along with shifts in the construction industry myself.Part time students today tend to take the course on the Part time mode due to circumstance rather than choice. Changes on today’s society including factors of the rising levels of student dept will often force a student down the line of part time study. But part time study is far more like an endurance test than a positive learning experience. The students have to fight with being unable to offer their full attention to neither their workplace nor studies. This juggle is only agitated more by the lack of communication available between school and employer. At present there is a large issue with the number of students who gain their Part 1 but who never continue onto complete their Part 1 & 2. If the governing bodies wish to change this statistic architectural study needs to become more accessible. Part Time study does not make the subject more accessible for the student, but this can only truly work if the courses are changed. Credit based learning would allow some of the time a student spends in their office to count towards their yearly marks, unlike the present courses have begun to show up in locations around the UK with office bases learning allowing students to meld study and work, which can have a positive effect on both how the student learns, and what the university and workplace.Part Time study was how architectural teaching began and I believe that as our society comes full circle with regards to the views of the apprenticeship that its importance will once again move to the forefront. But if we wish it to be a positive way of study, a positive choice made by a student, we need it to change the way we study and the relationships we have lost between academia and industry must be forged with the help of the governing bodies. The Way Forward for Part Time Architectural EducationThe dissertation was selected for the following reasons1 It is well researched, organised and written from a wealth of personal experience, all of which imparts the document with intellectual depth combined with a sense of passionate concern. 2 The subject matter is highly topical and is the subject of much debate within the profession and the Schools of Architecture in a period in which alternative paths to architectural qualification are being explored within the context of a rapidly changing profession and construction industry.3 The arguments presented are forthright and thoroughly interpreted from factual information and interviews. Tutor(s)Mr Mark Baines