Last month, we announced our proposals to modernise initial education and training for architects in the UK, in what could lead to the most significant reform of architectural education in fifty years.

The society we live in is constantly changing. To ensure that tomorrow’s architects are properly equipped to practice and respond to the challenges of tomorrow, we must ensure that they acquire the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to support safe, effective practice. In short, the right competencies. As the professional regulator, ARB is responsible for defining those competencies, and for setting the standards that architects must reach in order to qualify. We currently fulfil this role by setting Criteria and processes that institutions teaching architecture must meet in order for their students to qualify and register as architects. However, our evidence suggests that the existing educational model of Parts 1, 2 and 3 is inflexible and needs modernising. The current system has produced thousands of excellent architects, but it’s also created significant barriers to some people becoming architects at all.

Our vision for how we will modernise education and training involves developing a regulatory model that focusses on the outcomes required of an individual at the end of their initial period of education and training. We believe that the most important factor is what a newly qualified architect should be able to do – not how they got there. This means that we are open to considering different routes to registration, particularly those which might widen access to the profession.

You can read more about our vision here. 

The evidence which has helped shaped our thinking, and our plans for the new regulatory approach, are explained in more detail in an informative discussion paper.

We want your views on our proposals. Take part in our survey here. The survey will close on Monday 10th January 2022 at midday.