Here Level 7 Architectural Apprentice, Elizabeth Akamo shares her experience of the Architectural Apprenticeship route.

"Working in a large studio and balancing university work is definitely not easy, but I’m enjoying the challenge everyday. I find myself learning everyday whether that’s listening to conversations happening around me or sitting down with my mentors or senior people in the Practice and speaking to them about projects. By having that real life experience, I am finding it easy to transfer to my university work. The main advice I would give to someone wanting to do an apprenticeship is to make sure its actually something you want to do. Being passionate about architecture and being passionate about design is what will make balancing the work life and study life easier.

Find the parts of the course and parts of work that you really love and use that as the driver. For instance, I really love community projects and focusing on people centric design, so I have made this the focus of my university work, and in working within the residential sector the two work really well together. The three main things I would advise are: Find the thing within architecture that you are passionate about, and find ways to connect your university and practice work. Network - anytime you enter a room full of architects and professionals just say something even if its just ‘hi’ as you don’t know what you could learn or gain from that person. Finally, show up and be yourself, because that’s the best way to get the most out of your experience and you’ll find your route."