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By the end of 2030 we will have established a framework of education and training that is understood and implemented by learning providers, is accessible and supportive to students and trainees, and equips architects of the future with the right competencies to be successful.
Why it matters
The architects’ profession is constantly evolving. As some architects leave the Architects Register because of retirement or career changes, other newly qualified architects enter the profession, bringing new skills and fresh perspectives. The education and training these future architects receive will shape the type of professional they become: the way they approach design decisions and the complex ethical questions they will often have to address; the way they engage with their peers and the public; and the professional culture to which they contribute. Over the last five years ARB has sought to modernise initial education and training by successfully reviewing the competency outcomes, setting new standards for learning providers and introducing a new accreditation model. Over the next five years, supported by the evaluation research we have commissioned, we want to assess the impact of these changes, embed the progress we have made and look to make further improvements where they are needed. The education and training future architects receive must equip them with the competencies to build a productive and economically successful profession and meet the challenges society face including building safety, climate change, emerging technologies and the shifting demographics of society.
Whatever path they take through their education and training, we want it to shape the best possible professionals to benefit the public through a better built environment. Many trainees will continue to qualify and join the register through a traditional route. But we know that non-traditional routes, such as apprenticeships, have not only proved popular with trainees but have delivered a high-quality education and training experience with academic learning and practical experience integrated. These diverse routes to registration are also consistent with our desire to enable greater opportunity to access the profession. We want a suitable path to registration to be available to anyone with the potential to be an architect, regardless of their background, connections, gender, ethnicity, or any other personal characteristics. We’ve seen practice-based routes internationally which, if adopted in the UK, could provide another alternative pathway and we think these are worth exploring.
Our focus
Our education role is set in legislation and we have a statutory responsibility, in the public interest, to ensure that the accredited qualifications of learning providers are of good quality and prepare future professionals for registration. We are delivering fundamental modernisation of architectural education. We are rolling out the new competencies architects need to demonstrate in contemporary practice and supporting through modern accreditation processes, and in the development of new style qualifications. Our education reforms were a key pillar in our previous Corporate Strategy, and we will continue to implement them throughout the transition period, adapting where necessary.
We are acutely aware that we are delivering these reforms at a time when higher education learning providers are experiencing changes in funding policies and structures, and have new challenges to which they must respond, such as the use of AI in study and assessments. There are also challenges in the profession, particularly around the culture in which trainees are gaining their work experience. The architecture sector covers all of the UK’s nations and regions, and is increasingly global. As professionals move between countries and deliver projects around the world, we need to ensure our regulation takes proper account of that wider global context.
Our five-year vision
- Trainees will have a better experience as they undertake necessary professional practical work, through pathways with improved practical links between learning providers and employers, with increased clarity about what experience they need to gain, and in a professional landscape that actively supports their development
- There will be an increase in courses designed to integrate academic theory and practice-based learning with accelerated routes to registration
- An increased diversity of routes into the profession will be available to suit different individuals, all of which provide confidence in the competence of future architects
- The modernised competencies we’ve introduced will underpin the education and training of all future architects so that they are equipped to protect the public, deliver well-designed built environments, and have a strong foundation of skills with which to face future changes
- Our quality assurance processes will be running effectively, using data and evidence to help ensure a good quality academic offering for any trainee or student on any accredited course
What we will do
- Conduct a post implementation evaluation of our new accreditation model with input from learning providers and trainees
- Evaluate the impact of our education reforms looking at key indicators around access and attrition, and using systematic feedback from trainees and others
- Provide support to learning providers who wish to develop new integrated qualifications or new models of delivery
- Bring together education providers, practices and contractors to consider the future roles of architects and what role there may be for specialisms
- Improve the practical professional experience of trainees by introducing a coordinating role for learning providers, introducing a record to help trainees track and demonstrate their experience, and delivering further supportive changes including published guidance
- Carry out an evaluation of the demand for and feasibility of work-based routes to registration as an architect in the UK, using desk-based research, considering existing models internationally and feedback from employers
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