Landscape Architecture MLA

The MLA programme is divided into four semesters of eleven weeks, with two semesters per academic year.

There are 9 courses across the two years of MLA:

• Five are design-focused where you will be asked to develop a landscape architectural project through various scales, from region to detail.
• Three are centered on contextualising design practice through theory, developing critical thinking and understanding technical dimensions relevant to the discipline.
• You can also choose one elective across available courses in the Edinburgh College of Art and the University of Edinburgh.

Specific course briefs vary from year to year to respond to student feedback, our changing context and opportunities for collaboration. As a guideline, the two years of the MLA are structured as follows:

Year 1

In the first year of the MLA, the design, theory and techniques courses are designed to cater to both students with and without a landscape architectural background. The course briefs are written to cover the fundamentals of landscape architecture including:

• design methods and skills at a range of scales, from region to detail
• landscape interpretation and critical appraisal
• the fundamentals of geology, geomorphology, soils, ecology and climate, and how these shape landscapes
• fieldwork
• landscape architectural theory
• ethical and sustainable use of materials in landscape architectural projects
• inclusivity, diversity and accessibility
• technical skills and conventions
• representation and curation as tools for analysis, research, design and communication

The openness of the briefs also enables students with more experience of the discipline to sharpen their interests beyond those fundamentals. This is supported by individual tutorials which enable us to accompany you on your individual journey.

Year 2

In the second and final year of the MLA, your path with us culminates in a research-led design course through which you can position yourself as a soon-to-be Landscape Architect through a distinctive design proposal.

During this course you will work with your MLA peers as well as final year students from our MA and EMiLA programmes, creating a rich and diverse studio environment.

You will also have one elective course and one portfolio course through which you will reflect on your individual landscape architectural practice.

At the end of the programme, you will have the opportunity to stage a public exhibition of your final year work at the ECA Degree Show.

Teaching

Teaching on this programme is delivered through:

• field trips
• group and individual tutorials
• seminar discussions
• workshops

You will also be expected to work in an independent and self-directed manner between points of contact with tutors.

Design studios typically start with a short period of group work, through which you will learn to work collaboratively with others, before moving on to individual work through which you will grow your own design practice.

You will be encouraged to develop a design approach that involves thinking-through-making, which will be supported by instruction in drawing, model making and digital skills.

The studio culture is fundamental to our courses: we work, teach and make in the studio.

We promote a safe, inclusive and supportive peer-based learning environment in which helpful and constructive feedback can be shared across staff and students.

Assessment

On the MLA programme, you will encounter a range of assessment and submission formats including:

• presentation panels
• drawings
• models
• portfolios
• exhibitions
• reports
• publications
• essays
• verbal presentations.

Your work will always be assessed against clear learning outcomes which are shared with you at the start of each course.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

There is no work placement embedded in the four teaching semesters of the MLA programme.

However, you will have a long summer break between Year 1 and Year 2 from April to September during which you can choose to do a placement.

We have a large network of design practices and other landscape-related organisations in the UK, Europe and beyond which you can draw from to find a work experience opportunity aligned with your interests.

You can also apply to take part in our European Summer School which is hosted by one of our partners every year, and which alternates between the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

Joining our MLA programme will enable you to develop:

• A critical understanding and creative skills in the technical, theoretical and practical concerns of the discipline of Landscape Architecture at Masters level.
• An ability to read and understand a range of environments and landscapes at a range of spatial and temporal scales.
• A making-thinking practice enabling you to engage with and apply environmental theory to practical and site-specific contexts in a time of climate and biodiversity crises.
• A sophisticated ethically, socially and environmentally aware landscape architectural design practice.

Our graduates are sought after by landscape architecture design practices in Scotland, the UK and beyond with a 100% employment rate, often working in leading design studios.

We support you to move towards the type of landscape-related practice you are passionate about. Beyond landscape architectural design studios, your landscape architectural skillset can also be deployed in other contexts including:

• Planning
• Landscape advocacy
• Policy writing
• Conservation and rewilding
• Environmental activism
• Community engagement
• Landscape-related art practice
• Research

Examples of organisations our graduates work at or are affiliated with include:

• Connecting Threads, an ambitious cultural project in the River Tweed
• Glasgow and Edinburgh City Councils
• Harvard University Graduate School of Design
• NatureScot, Scotland’s Nature Agency
• Trees for Life, a charity working to rewild the Scottish Highlands
• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
• SUSTRANS, Scotland’s Active Travel charity

Field trips

Being in the field is key to landscape architectural practice. We see field trips as a fundamental learning tool, as well as an important opportunity to strength the sense of community within the programme.

All our design studios are grounded within a specific geographical context and start with a field trip to the study site.

MLA field trips include:

• Site visits to live construction sites to gain first-hand knowledge of the landscape construction process.
• Trips to case study sites to provide you with an experiential knowledge of places and to build your ability to read landscapes and projects in the field.

While study trips might be abroad if they support unique learning opportunities, we prioritise local field trips to limit our carbon footprint and to engage with the rich communities and landscapes in Scotland and the UK.

Edinburgh, and Scotland more broadly, have extraordinarily beautiful and dramatic landscapes, as well as pressing challenges to engage with such as:

• tensions around land ownership
• coastal erosion
• a complex post-industrial and post-oil legacy.

These issues and their associated landscapes will form some of the context of the course briefs and reflections you will develop during your time with us.

Campus facilities

As one of Europe's cultural capitals, Edinburgh offers an inspiring environment to live and study in, while being a short distance from many of Scotland’s dramatic landscapes.

During the programme, you will spend your time between a dedicated studio space, the ECA and University of Edinburgh facilities (including exceptional workshops and libraries), and the landscapes you focus on for your coursework.

• Edinburgh College of Art

Lauriston campus redevelopment

ECA are excited to be undertaking a capital redevelopment of ECA’s Lauriston campus over the next 3 years, from April 2024 to April 2027.

The project aims to maximise the use of existing space, improve accessibility, and create a vibrant campus that fosters collaboration and innovation.

The project involves refurbishing and repurposing various spaces across the Lauriston campus, including technical facilities, student and teaching spaces, and the relocation of the Reid School of Music from Alison House to the Lauriston campus. New social spaces, seminar rooms, and studios are being created to accommodate our growing community.

You can find more about the project at the below link:

Building work starts at ECA’s Lauriston campus | Edinburgh College of Art

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in landscape architecture or a related subject such as architecture, design, art, geography, planning, ecology, horticulture or other degrees which evidence content relevant to the MLA programme.

We also welcome applicants who do not meet these academic entry requirements. Your application will be considered on the basis of portfolio and/or relevant professional experience.*

To apply to this programme, you should have a strong interest in Landscape Architecture, an acute environmental awareness, and show creative potential.*

You must submit a portfolio of recent work as part of your application. Your portfolio should include the following:

• A CV. Applicants who do not meet the academic entry requirements listed above should use their CV as an opportunity to evidence other relevant experiences.

• A personal statement. This should include (but is not limited to) a 300-word summary addressing the following points:

  1. What is your field of interest within Landscape Architecture?
  2. How do you see your experience on our programme informing your approach in landscape architecture? You need to make direct references to this specific MLA programme in this part of your statement. Please use this as an opportunity to provide additional insights beyond the information available on our webpage.
  3. What are your ambitions following your successful graduation from this programme?

If you do not meet the academic entry requirements you should use the personal statement to articulate how your previous experiences (academic, professional and self-directed) have led you to Landscape Architecture, and why you feel this programme is relevant to your trajectory.

• A sample of your work. This should be sourced from your own work produced during a relevant first degree, relevant professional experience, or through extra-curricular activities or self-led projects. The work displayed in your portfolio should:

  1. Demonstrate creative skills.
  2. Showcase your potential ability to visualise your design ideas.
  3. Display design and/or socio-environmental work that clearly links to landscape architectural concerns.
  4. Evidence an awareness of place, communities and ecologies.
  5. Communicate your work through clear visuals and writing.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Additional costs

In the course of your studies, you will have the opportunity to engage with nationally or internationally based fieldtrips for which you need to cover the costs. Likewise, there are printing costs and material costs that need to be covered by each student, even if some financial support is given whenever possible at the programme level.

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan
  • family support
• personal savings
• income from work
• employer sponsorship
• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Featured funding

• Edinburgh College of Art scholarships

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding