Executive Summary

Architecture students at the London School of Architecture faced an institutional merger with 92 pages of complex legal contracts they couldn't decipher. We analysed every page, verified information across 75+ sources, and published a complete risk assessment free online — revealing critical risks including potential 10% annual fee increases and zero liability protection during mandatory work placements.

The Challenge

Imagine committing to a £36,000 master's degree without understanding that fees could increase 10% each year, or that you have zero protection if something goes wrong during your mandatory work placement.

Students faced three critical documents — Student Terms & Conditions (18 pages), Academic Regulations (60 pages), and Refund Policy (14 pages) — all written in impenetrable legal language during a period of institutional transition. The contracts were technically 'transparent' but functionally opaque.

What We Discovered

Financial Risk Exposure

Our forensic analysis uncovered significant risks hidden in plain sight:

Legal Liability Gaps

The university completely disclaimed liability for practice placement injuries. Students bear full responsibility for workplace disputes, with no institutional insurance coverage and no IP protection for work created during placements.

Our Approach

Phase 1: Document Forensics

Clause-by-clause review of all 92 pages with risk categorisation (High/Medium/Low) and student-centric interpretation. We cross-referenced provisions across documents to identify inconsistencies and gaps.

Phase 2: Multi-Source Verification

Comprehensive research across 75+ sources including Government records (Charity Commission, Companies House), regulatory bodies (ARB, RIBA), industry publications, and professional networks. Every claim was verified against multiple independent sources.

Phase 3: Public Transparency

We created a comprehensive public resource with 10+ analysis documents, financial projections, risk matrices, and an institutional transition timeline — all published free online with complete source attribution.

Results and Impact

The analysis gave students complete visibility into their commitments for the first time:

The published analysis set a precedent for educational transparency, creating pressure for clearer documentation across the sector. Students could finally make informed decisions about their commitments.

Why This Matters

Educational institutions aren't deliberately hiding things — they're just not incentivised to make them clear. When you apply context-aware analysis to decode their language, you discover risks that students never knew they were taking.

This project proved that transparency doesn't require permission. Using only public documents, we created more clarity than the institution itself provided. The methodology is now replicable across any situation where complex documentation obscures significant financial or legal risk.

Key Takeaway: Information asymmetry isn't always intentional — but it's always fixable. When analysis understands user context, complexity becomes clarity.