Information on our operational performance is provided to our Board twice a year to help inform Board policy making. The latest report was presented to the Board at their meeting on 17 May 2019. The full report can be accessed on our website here (item 8).

In the meantime, here are a few facts and figures we thought might be of interest to you.

Register applications and admissions
We appreciate future plans can depend on a swift and successful registration as an architect in the UK. We’re pleased to say that in 2018 the average time taken to process a UK application decreased to six working days (from 7 in 2017).

We processed 755 EU applications through the automatic EU route to registration in 2018. The average working days to process an application decreased to 10, down from 11 in 2017.

The Prescribed Examination is a way for individuals to demonstrate their architectural qualifications are equivalent to ARB-prescribed qualifications. A total of 132 examinations were conducted in 2018. The overall pass rate for 2018 was 59%, compared to 58% in 2017 and 54% in 2016.

Professional standards
In addition to ensuring those on the Register are appropriately qualified, we help preserve public trust in architects by helping to maintain professional standards.

Serious concerns about architects are rare, but it can be reassuring to the public to know there is an independent body who can assess their concerns should an issue arise. Of the 174 formalised complaints we received in 2018, 126 were concluded without the need for further investigation. The Investigations Panel referred less cases to Professional Conduct Committee in 2018 than in 2017.

We know that being subject to a complaint can be stressful and we endeavour to resolve cases as swiftly as possible with due diligence. It took an average of seven weeks for our Professional Standards team to either refer a case to the Investigations Panel or to close the case. The target is 14 weeks and this was met in 89% of cases in 2018, up from 83% of cases in 2017.

Protecting the title
Raising awareness of the Register and how it can be used to check if someone is a genuine professional is one way in which we aim to reduce title misuse. In 2018 there were 350,788 sessions on the online Register, this is an increase of 14% compared to 2017.

In regulating misuse of the title ‘architect’ the objective of the ARB is to limit the harm as swiftly and effectively as possible. We aim to be proportionate in our actions and, depending on the circumstances, we may provide advice and seek assurance the breach will cease or pursue prosecution. In deciding whether prosecution is appropriate, we consider whether it is in the public interest and if there’s a reasonable prospect of success.

In 2018 96% of title misuse cases were referred to ARB’s Solicitor or closed within our 16 week target. There were four prosecutions (twice as many as in 2017) and all defendants were successfully convicted of breaching Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997. Of the misuse of title investigations concluded in 2018, 51% originated from architects, 37% from members of the public, and 12% from other sources or as a result of ARB’s own enquiries.