European Masters in Landscape Architecture European Masters

The European Masters in Landscape Architecture brings together five internationally renowned schools of landscape architecture who centre their pedagogy on the development of world-leading design thinking.

EMiLA students spend their first and fourth semesters at their home school, and the second and third semesters studying Landscape Architecture at two of the EMiLA partner institutions in Europe.

As an EMiLA student, you will be immersed in three very different environments, enriching your perspectives on landscape architecture and your development as a future practitioner. You will gain from studying landscape architecture from technical, artistic and ecological perspectives, as well as through a wide range of scales in both urban and rural environments.

EMiLA graduates are sought after across a wide spectrum of practice contexts in Europe and have gone on to take up positions in some of Europe’s leading design practices.

Landscape architecture is a practice that relies on strong inter-disciplinary teaching and research in order to respond to the challenges of climate change and the associated demand for sustainable solutions to development. As a result, there is a specific need to understand and develop cooperation between European institutions and foster a transnational approach to the way it is taught and advance critical developments in the field.

The EMiLA Schools

• École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage, Versailles (France)
• Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh (UK)
• Fakultat fur Landschaft, Leibniz Universitat Hannover (Germany)
• Academie van Bouwkunst, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
• Éscola Technica Superior d’ Arquitectura de Barcelona, (Spain)

Accreditation

The EMiLA programme is accredited by the Landscape Institute UK and has affiliations to the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools and to the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

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.

An undergraduate honours degree in landscape architecture.

We will also consider your application if you have an undergraduate honours degree in architecture and a portfolio that demonstrates a strong interest in landscape architectural issues.

As part of your application you must indicate the institutions you would prefer to attend during the two semesters away from Edinburgh. Whilst we will take your preferences into consideration, we cannot guarantee that places will be available in your preferred institutions.

You must familiarise yourself with the language requirements of the partner institutions before you apply. It is your responsibility to ensure you meet the language requirements of your preferred institution/s before you begin your studies.

A portfolio of work is required as part of the admissions process. This should be a digital document covering a range of work from your own academic, practice or professional background. The portfolio should demonstrate your skill level and ability to represent your own ideas as they relate to the discipline of landscape architecture.

The portfolio should be around (but is not limited to) 20 pages and should include short explanatory texts.The PDF document should use page sizes and a layout that best demonstrates the qualities of your work. The filesize should be under 60MB.

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 7.0 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 100 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 185 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Unless you are a national of a majority English speaking country, your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start of the month in which the programme you are applying to study begins. If you are using an IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL, Trinity ISE, or Oxford ELLT test, it must be no more than two years old on the first of the month in which the programme begins, regardless of your nationality. (Revised 14 January 2025 to include Oxford ELLT.)

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

Landscape Architecture graduates are highly sought after in the UK. The UK government added landscape Architecture to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) in 2019 reflecting the skills shortage within the discipline.

The unique European perspective of EMiLA graduates means that they are highly sought after by international practices of landscape architecture and in international institutions as researchers or educators working at the advancing edge of the discipline.

EMiLA graduates go on to work in some of the most prestigious offices of Landscape Architecture in Europe.

EMiLA graduates are highly attractive to a range of non-governmental organisations and institutions that are dealing with our planetary landscape resources and the challenges they face in the climate and biodiversity crisis.

EMiLA graduates are well-placed to work in organisations that address but are not limited to:

• the climate and biodiversity crisis
• landscape planning
• advocacy and reform
• landscape change
• landscape design in urban and rural contexts
• conservation
• community led landscape transformations
• art practice within a nature or landscape basis
• landscape research.