Program Overview

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Overview

Shaping places

Did you know that LSBU town planning graduates work all over the UK and internationally in both the public and private sectors? We have been educating British town planners on accredited Royal Town Planning Institute courses for over 50 years, and boast three contemporary Presidents of the RTPI among our alumni.

Our three courses will equip you with the technical and managerial know-how to be an effective town planner and prepare you to be a life-long learner, so that you may develop a successful career and rise through the ranks of your profession.

Town planning is a challenging and rewarding career. It is aimed at improving the places in which we live, work and play. It is about visioning the future and using the tools that your professional and vocational training gives you to realise and sustain that vision. It is dynamic, reacting to changes in society, the environment and political and legal frameworks in which people live their lives and development takes place.

It is not about telling people what their future environment will be like, but is about working with a wide range of stakeholders to bring diverse ideas, wants and needs together. Your people skills will be as important as your technical knowledge; town planning is a test of your all round abilities and gives you a deeply satisfying career.

The courses are fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute. This means that after graduation you can become a licentiate member of the RTPI. With two years relevant work experience (in some cases one year), you can apply to take the RTPI Assessment of Professional Competence exam and become a full member of the RTPI.

Why Town Planning at LSBU?

• No. 1 in the UK for overall satisfaction in Planning (National Student Survey 2018).
• Our courses have three specialist pathways including: Housing and Regeneration, Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobilities; and Urban Design.
• Our assessments reflect what a UK Town Planner does including field analysis, visioning exercises, plan making, mapping, data analysis, report writing, negotiations and presenting to peers and in pressured situations.
• We have a residential field trip in Semester 1 of Level 4 that introduces you to a range of planning issues in urban and rural context and gives you a common knowledge base and a chance to get to know other students and the lecturing staff.

Duration

You can enter the Degree Apprenticeship Chartered Town Planner at either Level 4 or Level 7. There are two courses at Level 7 including one specialising in urban design. See Modules for more information.

The Level 4 entry course lasts for 60 months taking you from first year undergraduate to Postgraduate level. The End Point Assessment must be completed within a year of completing the taught elements.

The Level 7 entry course lasts for 24 months and includes a formal dissertation or writing up of a major student-led project. The End Point Assessment must be completed within a year of completing the taught elements.

By the time you have successfully completed the taught elements and the End Point Assessment you will either be awarded the PG Diploma Chartered Town Planner (Level 4 Entry), the MA Chartered Town Planner or MA Chartered Town Planner (Urban Design) and you will be eligible for membership of the RTPI.

Advanced entry requirements are possible, but not normal. Those who seek this should first approach the course director of their preferred course.

Entry Level Requirements

PgDip Chartered Town Planner (Apprenticeship) (PT)

• A Level BCC;
• BTEC National Diploma MMM;
• Access to HE qualifications with 9 Distinctions and 36 Merits or;
• Equivalent Level 3 qualifications worth 106 UCAS points or;
• Level 3 Planning Technician Apprenticeship.
• Applicants must hold 5 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English, or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).

MA Chartered Town Planner (Apprenticeship) (PT)

• A minimum 2:2 degree, or equivalent, in an appropriate subject area, such as built environment and social science subjects. Applicants with a non-cognate degree and several years’ relevant work experience may be offered a place, if they can demonstrate a suitable level of specialist subject knowledge.
• Applicants must hold 5 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English, or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).

MA Chartered Town Planner (Urban Design) (Apprenticeship) (PT)

• A minimum 2:2 degree, or equivalent, in an appropriate subject area, such as built environment and social science subjects. Applicants with a non-cognate degree and several years’ relevant work experience may be offered a place, if they can demonstrate a suitable level of specialist subject knowledge.
• Applicants must hold 5 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English, or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).

Funding

The cost of the apprenticeship is paid fully by the employer (sometimes part funded by the government) through apprenticeship levy. The apprenticeship levy is a pot of money some companies pay into, which all businesses have access to spend on the training costs of apprenticeships. Companies fall into two categories: levy-payers (who pay into the pot) and non-levy payers (who do not). You can find out more in our Levy and Funding section, specifically for employers

The apprentice does not contribute toward the cost of study.

Bands

Apprenticeship standards are all assigned a funding band by the Government – these funding bands are the maximum amount the Government will fund via the levy towards a given apprenticeship standard. There are currently 30 funding bands ranging from £1,000 to £27,000.

Incentives

Employers with less than 50 staff sending an apprentice aged 16-18 will have 100% of the training costs paid by the government. All employers who employ an apprentice aged 16-18 on the first day of teaching will receive a £1,000 incentive from the government. You can find out more in our Levy and Funding section, specifically for employers.

Cost

You can find out the funding band for an Apprenticeship Standard on the Government website. To find out how much we are charging, please get in touch with us at

Field trips

The Level 4 residential field trip is included with the course fees (except subsistence). Local site visits in London may require you to pay local travel costs.

Careers

Employability Service

We are University of the Year for Graduate Employment for the second year in a row - The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, 2019.

At LSBU, we want to set you up for a successful career. During your studies – and for two years after you graduate – you’ll have access to our Employability Service, which includes:

• An online board where you can see a wide range of placements: part-time, full-time or voluntary. You can also drop in to see our Job Shop advisers, who are always available to help you take the next step in your search.
• Our Careers Gym offering group workshops on CVs, interview techniques and finding work experience, as well as regular presentations from employers across a range of sectors.

Our Student Enterprise team can also help you start your own business and develop valuable entrepreneurial skills.

A town planner’s role is to help stakeholders create a vision for what a place (city, town, village or countryside) may look like in the future, and then to manage and facilitate the design, development and conservation processes that enable this be put into practice.

Typically, a town planner will be involved in four key aspects of such place shaping. These all require stakeholder engagement including local communities, developers, infrastructure providers (e.g. highways authorities, electricity, gas, water), county, district and unitary authorities, government agencies (e.g. Natural England, English Heritage). The four main areas are:

• Policy and plan making including the collection and analysis of data and researched material, visioning and the management of the plan through the statutory processes of consultation, adoption and implementation.
• Development control, including the validation of planning applications, advice to the applicant, assessment of the application against the local plan and planning laws and regulations, the awarding or not of planning permission, preparation and appearance at planning inquiries, and potential taking an application through judicial review. This also includes negotiation of agreements between developers and the local planning authority to secure such non-commercial resources such as social housing, doctor’s and schools premises, road improvements and leisure facilities.
• Enforcement which includes using an array of notices to stop development, remove unlawful development and to ensure development meets the terms of the permissions granted. Such enforcement may mean engaging with the courts and judicial system.
• Conservation and management of heritage and countryside resources by working with resource owners, consulting on applications and help in negotiating management agreements, licenses and grant applications.

As a town planner, you will be engaging with a broad range of stakeholders and seeking often multiple outcomes for development schemes. You will use a range of skills and abilities you to play your role in shaping the places in which we work, live and take our leisure. These include negotiation, seeking compromise, making recommendations, enabling others to achieve their aims, communicating complex ideas and concepts to non-specialists, working within the law, and making ethical decisions.

The on-the-job element of your apprenticeship will give the opportunity to work and network with other professionals in the industry and begin to develop your network that can support you throughout your career. All of our apprentices become student members of the RTPI giving you access to seminars, publications and other professional opportunities.

Teaching and Assessment

Each of the Chartered Town Planner apprenticeship degrees gives you a strong mix of work-based and classroom-based learning. This allows you to develop not only your knowledge, but also your skills and behaviours to see you through your professional career.

Delivery

Teaching is by day release and reflective work-based learning. Apprenticeships start in September 2019 with a three day field based induction and includes a Level 4 field trip, site visits and analysis in London and summer schools in preparation for your major projects and end point assessments.

Assessment

Assessment of the degree apprenticeships is by coursework only. You will be expected to write essays and reports, research and analyse sites, interpret plans, compile plans and policies, complete portfolios, take part in mock inquiries and analyse the viability of proposals. All these are the task of the planner.

Gateway

Before undertaking the End Point Assessment, you will provide evidence of satisfactory completion of all aspects of the apprenticeship programme. To do this you must have passed all modules, completed your e-portfolio, personal development plan and continuing professional development plan. We will run a short summer school to help you prepare for the end point assessment.

End Point Assessment

The End Point Assessment is the final stage of your apprenticeship programme. During the EPA you will demonstrate the mastery of the skills, knowledge and behaviours developed throughout your apprenticeship. This will be done as a part of a professional discussion and submission of an evidence portfolio.

Modules

Level 4 Entry PG DIP Chartered Town Planner

Level 4

• Making Sustainable Places
• Planning History and Principles
• Development Management
• Plans, People and Processes
• PPM 1: The Professional Planning Environment
• PPM 2: Interpersonal Skills and Professional Behaviours

Level 5

• Environmental Change: Issue and Impacts
• Strategies, Visions and Design
• Planning for Housing
• Local Economic Development
• PPM 3: Plantech
• PPM 4: Community Engagement and Participation

Level 6

• Evidence Based Planning
• Real Estate Valuation
• International Planning Perspectives
• Cities and Representations
• PPM 5: Planning Practice Project (double module)

Level 7

• Planning, Politics and Theory
• The Making of Place
• Specialism – one from:
  • Housing and Regeneration
  • Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobilities
  • Urban Design Project
• Planning Law in Practice
• PPM 6 Learning from Best Practice in Spatial Planning
• PPM 7: Professional Profile

Level 7 Entry: MA Chartered Town Planner

• Planning, Politics and Theory
• The Making of Place
• Specialism – one from:
  • Housing and Regeneration
  • Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobilities
  • Urban Design Project
• Planning Law in Practice
• PPM 6 Learning from Best Practice in Spatial Planning
• PPM 7: Professional Profile
• Dissertation

Level 7 Entry: MA Chartered Town Planner (Urban Design)

• Planning, Politics and Theory
• The Making of Place
• Urban Design Project
• Design and Property Development
• PPM 6 Learning from Best Practice in Spatial Planning
• PPM 7: Professional Profile
• Dissertation