ARB welcomes PPE Commission report on reforming practical experience in architectural training

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) today welcomed the publication of the Commission on Professional Practical Experience (PPE)’s report on architectural training, which outlines a bold and necessary transformation to better support future architects in gaining quality work experience.

Following extensive engagement with trainees, learning providers and practices across the UK, the Commission has concluded that too much responsibility and risk lies with trainees and that this undermines the quality of their work experience. The Commission makes three headline recommendations, calling on the regulator, learning providers, and architectural employers to take meaningful action:

• ARB should remove constraints to flexibility and innovation to lead sustainable change across the profession
• Learning providers should take a co-ordinating role in facilitating trainees’ acquisition of all the Competency Outcomes
• Significant improvements in workplace culture should be secured to strengthen how competence is gained

ARB has committed to implementing the Commission’s three headline recommendations. While detailed decisions on how to approach the individual actions under each recommendation are still to be made, the Board will fully consider the report’s proposals and explore opportunities to embed them within its existing programmes of work. The next steps will be announced this summer.

Alan Kershaw, ARB Chair, said:
“The Commission’s evidence is extensive in demonstrating that too much responsibility and risk lies with trainees on their route to registration, that this is not fair nor efficient, and that it must change. Its report provides a compelling vision for how to improve the experience of those trainees and the opportunities to create that change. Such a transformation will be fundamental to how future architects achieve the competencies they need to deliver high quality architecture. We are grateful to the Commissioners for the clear path they have set out for us now to consider and progress.”

 

Professor Sir Chris Husbands, Chair of the PPE Commission, said:
“This report is the result of extensive engagement with a variety of stakeholders, and it reflects a shared recognition that we must do more to support trainees on their journey to becoming architects. The current system places too much burden on individuals, and change is both necessary and possible. Our recommendations offer a practical roadmap for reform – one that requires commitment and collaboration from all parts of the sector. We’re encouraged by ARB’s positive response and look forward to seeing this work progress.”

Each recommendation is underpinned by a series of detailed actions and proposals. Some examples of the more detailed actions and proposals set out in the report include:

• ARB should routinely describe individuals who are in the process of completing their initial education and training as “trainee architects”
• ARB should set minimum standards for a new streamlined and standardised Record of Competency (ROC), which must be used by learning providers
• ARB should require all architects to undertake CPD on mentoring
• ARB should work with others, including professional bodies, to help consolidate and deepen links between providers and employers

Notes to editors

• Download the report
• View the PPE Commission terms of reference

About ARB

ARB is an independent professional regulator, established by Parliament as a statutory body, through the Architects Act, in 1997. We are accountable to government.

The law gives ARB a number of core functions:

• To ensure only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise as architects. We do this by approving the architecture qualifications required to join the Register of architects.
• To maintain a publicly available Register of architects so anyone using the services of an architect can be confident that they are suitably qualified and are fit to practise.
• To set the standards of conduct and practice the profession must meet and take action when any architect falls below the required standards of conduct or competence.
• To set requirements for and monitor the continuous professional development that architects must undertake, to provide assurance to the public about the continuing competence of the profession.
• To protect the legally restricted title ‘architect’.

Background to the PPE Commission

In 2023, ARB consulted on proposals for a new regulatory approach to how architects are trained and educated. As part of its reforms, ARB proposed removing the minimum two-year duration of PPE, but determined through the consultation that this would not necessarily address the problems that arise for those looking to gain the required experience. ARB therefore committed to revisiting its proposals with the support of an independent Commission.
The Commission was funded by ARB, and ARB provided the secretarial, technical and other support required by the Commission to carry out its work effectively. The terms of reference for the Commission are available her

Membership of the Commission
The PPE Commission was comprised of four commissioners, and was chaired by Professor Sir Chris Husbands.

Professor Sir Chris Husbands

As an educationist, academic, public servant and university leader, Professor Sir Chris Husbands has decades of experience in the education sector. Chris recently stepped down from his previous role as Vice-Chancellor for Sheffield Hallam University. As the Chair, he oversaw the Commission’s recommendations on how to improve fair and consistent access to quality practical experience and recommend new minimum requirements for PPE.

Felicity Atekpe

Felicity Atekpe is an Associate Professor and Director of Practice and Design of Practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture (BSA), University College London. Her academic research includes innovative pedagogies, which address the role of education, ethics and alternative routes to qualification and equitable urban landscapes. She has more than 20 years of experience as an educator and in her current role she provides academic design practice leadership for programmes across the BSA.

Polly Mackenzie

Polly Mackenzie is Chief Social Purpose Officer at UAL, having previously served as Chief Executive of Demos, which brings citizen voice and lived experience into public policy discussions. Her previous roles also include founding CEO of the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute and establishing the operations of the Women’s Equality Party. From 2010-2015 she was Director of Policy to the Deputy Prime Minister.

Peter Barker

Peter Barker is an architectural technologist by background and is a partner at Ryder Architecture. With over 40 years’ experience in practice and a focus on learning, research and development, Peter was a founding director of BIM Academy and brings a wealth of experience and interest that includes developing new routes into the sector, including the award winning PlanBEE programme and architecture degree apprenticeships. Founded in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1953, Ryder Architecture has teams across the UK and internationally.