The university plans to close its RIBA Part 2-accredited Masters in Architecture and Landscape Architecture (MALA) course with effect from the start of the next academic year (September 2025), in a move that the course leader says would leave a big hole in [the schools] unique position in architectural education.Staff members who lead the MALA course were unaware it was being scrapped until November, the AJ understands.Sheffield University cited low uptake as its main reason for shutting the course, which has been running for 10 years, adding that the decision was made amid a wider backdrop of financial challenges facing the UK higher education sector.AdvertisementThe AJ understands course numbers have averaged less than six students a year following the Covid-19 pandemic, but that this number was expected to increase significantly following expansion of the universitys Architecture and Landscape undergraduate course (BA) this year.The MALA course is one of multiple postgraduate courses being scrapped across Sheffield Universitys Architecture and Landscape Architecture departments. Critics of the move complain at the lack of consultation which preceded the faculty-level decision.HLM Architects completed refurbishment of the Grade II*-listed Arts Tower in Sheffield, home to Sheffield Universitys School of ArchitectureA Change.org petition declaring an urgent appeal to prevent closure of the MALA course has been signed by more than 750 people, including existing students, alumni, and architecture and landscape professionals from LDA Design and Levitt Bernstein.Set up by Sheffield University Architecture and Landscape Architecture BA graduate Sam Penrose, the appeal accuses the university of going behind the backs of students in its decision on the courses future which it describes as disrespectful to the courses success and damaging for BA students who wished to continue onto the Masters.Penrose told the AJ the decision was a move made directly against my future. Calling for a proper and fair consultation about the future of the course with those it will affect, he added: Current students and alumni of the dual course couldnt be more clear in our unanimous and passionate stance against this decision.AdvertisementLevitt Bernstein director Jo McCafferty, who has been an external examiner for the MALA course and other Sheffield architecture courses since 2020, said the unique combined course is woven so closely together with the architectural undergraduate degree and its students, [that] it is a genuine strength of the school.Praising the quality of MALAs teaching and its focus on climate and sustainability, McCafferty added: This course should be expanded, valued, promoted and celebrated not cut.And Sophie Thompson, a director at landscape architecture firm LDA design, said she had personally recruited many excellent graduates from the MALA and Sheffields other dual courses.Thompson argued: These graduates stand out because of the interdisciplinary nature of their thinking and ability to work well in multidisciplinary environments. In this context I would strongly oppose this decision.MALA course leader Howard Evans told the AJ that the support for MALA from students, alumni and practices was fantastic to witness.Evans, who set up the course in 2015 to be a continuation of Sheffields then 15-year-old dual Architecture and Landscape undergraduate course, told the AJ: We were hoping to have a nice big celebration of 10 years of the dual Masters, and 25 years of the dual undergraduate. So this has rather come out of the blue.The course lead said he hoped the university would reverse the decision to close the course which has no pedagogical rationale and which will leave the School of Architecture and Landscape with a big hole in its unique position in architectural education.According to Sheffield Universitys website, the MALA course is still taking online applications for 2025 entry.But a spokesperson for Sheffield University said: Unfortunately we have seen a very low number of students register their interest in some of our postgraduate Landscape and Architecture courses, so we have decided to suspend recruitment to those particular programmes for 2025.We are very proud of our School of Architecture and Landscape, which is highly respected and has strong connections with the professions. We are still offering postgraduate courses in these fields.The spokesperson said Sheffield University regularly reviews its courses to ensure they meet the needs of students, industry and professions, and we often make changes to reflect this.They added that, in light of financial challenges facing the UK higher education sector, it was more important than ever to ensure we are offering courses that meet the needs of prospective students and employers.It is understood students currently undertaking the two-year MALA course will be able to complete it.Sheffield University told local newspaper The Sheffield Star in November that it was offering a voluntary severance scheme to staff across as part of plans to address a looming 50 million financial shortfall over the next two years.Architecture was among the top-performing courses and departments targeted by the redundancies, which also included Civil Engineering, Journalism, East Asian Studies, Materials Engineering and Information Management, the Sheffield Star reported.Comment: This decision has no pedagogical rationaleHoward Evans, director, Architecture and Landscape Architecture BA & MArch, Sheffield UniversityWhile there has been no official announcement confirming the courses closure, the students, alumni and practice support for MALA is fantastic to witness. When the course was set up in 2015, it was as a continuation of the dual degree programme which by that time had been running for 15 years.The dual programmes at the University of Sheffield have pioneered integrated learning in two of the most significant industries in the built environment sector.The programmes have professional validation from the RIBA, ARB and LI, making them globally unique. The programmes make the most of the close connections between two of the UK's most prestigious departments the School of Architecture and Department of Landscape to develop graduates that understand the specific language of both disciplines. MALA is now lauded by leading practices, the RIBA, the Landscape Institute and external examiners as being one of the most important courses in the country, due to its graduates ability to understand the built environment in a truly holistic manner.The course has positively impacted the single-honours peers who are increasingly understanding the place of landscape at the heart of climate resilient futures. It is hoped that we can reverse the decision to close the course, which has no pedagogical rationale and will leave the School of Architecture and Landscape with a big hole in its unique position in architectural education.