Since their last meeting in May, our Board have been focussed on enhancing our governance structure and moving prescription of qualifications decisions swiftly through the system. In order to make progress as quickly as possible, the Board held two meetings in July.

The number of applications for prescription continue to grow. While the Board has been reviewing applications for qualifications that sit within the apprenticeship framework since last Autumn, it is recognised this new route provides institutions with opportunities to develop new and innovative ways of delivering qualifications in architecture.

Such proposals are now reaching the Board for consideration and approval. The Board carefully considers the risks and opportunities offered, including the checks and balances provided by employer oversight. They also ensure the proposals will comply with existing prescription requirements.

Further details about the qualifications the Board has prescribed for delivery as an apprenticeship can be found on our website here.

On 19 July, the Board received an update on the progress of our internal Governance Review, which included the outcome of the recent consultation on Board voting, a proposal to consult on a further change to our General Rules and recommended revisions to our committee structure.

You can find out more about this work in our Governance article. The Board is keen to see greater involvement of non-executives in all its Committees so also look out for the new opportunities that will be advertised in the early autumn.

Best practice for regulators is to continuously reflect on developing risk and appropriate use of resource.

In 2017 we began a routine review of our Criteria to identify enhancements that might be made to the established framework. Since 2017, a number of issues have developed including Brexit, fire safety in building design and climate change.

With this in mind, as well as the likelihood of further changes being required to the Criteria before any routine changes could be bedded in, our Board concluded at its July meeting that continuing with a routine Criteria Review was not an efficient use of resources and could potentially create unwelcome confusion for the sector.

We will use the learnings from the routine review to inform future activities and the Board agreed we should redirect our resources into a fresh and thorough look at the competencies architects require.

We will begin with targeted piece of work this year into two high priority areas of competence.

• How best to cover fire/life safety competencies within our Criteria
• How evolving expectations around climate change can be addressed through our Criteria

Finally, as part of our commitment to build stronger relationships with our stakeholders, our Chair recently visited four different architectural shows and had the opportunity to speak to members of faculty and students, and view students’ work. Alison will be building on this experience by meeting other stakeholders in the coming months.

Kind regards,

Karen Holmes

Registrar and Chief Executive
Architects Registration Board