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ARB is the professional regulator responsible for setting the standards for registration as an architect. Registration exists to protect the public, so that anyone calling themselves an architect has the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours. ARB recognises (or ‘accredits’) the UK qualifications that enable people to join the architects’ profession, and sets routes for those without UK qualifications.
ARB is proposing a new route to registration for professionals who have partial qualifications, specifically, ARB-accredited Part 2s and Part 3s but no ARB-accredited Part 1. The proposed Registration Assurance Process will introduce a streamlined process through a targeted and proportionate evidence base.
Rather than sitting an assessment, or taking a bespoke course, ARB is proposing that if someone has worked continuously in the architecture sector for two years and a registrant can confirm that they have, this will provide reassurance that in addition to their accredited qualifications, they have shown readiness to practise in the UK safely and knowledgeably.
The change is designed to improve access to the profession by making registration available to those whose initial degree might be an international qualification, or a UK qualification that is not accredited. The new route is being proposed as part of ARB’s transition to its new education framework.
Alan Kershaw, Chair of the Architects Registration Board, said: “Registration ensures that everyone using the legally-protected title ‘architect’ is competent, fit to practise and meets the necessary standards to protect the public. Those without an ARB-accredited Part 1 qualification currently face a complex examination that often relies on evidence from degrees they completed decades ago. The new assurance process we’re proposing offers a more proportionate solution whilst maintaining the high standards of competence and professionalism the public rightly expects of registered architects.”
In creating the Registration Assurance Process, ARB is also proposing to improve the efficiency and evidence-base of two other routes by aligning them with the new process. These routes will apply to:
- qualified professionals who left the Register more than two years ago, or completed their final (Part 3 / Practice Outcomes) qualification more than two years ago (Route R), and
- professionals removed from the Register for failing to comply with ARB’s CPD scheme (Route C).
ARB believes these changes will ensure a consistent approach for all applicants and maintain high standards of competence on the Register.
ARB’s consultation will close on Monday 2 February 2026, at which point all responses will be analysed and considered. ARB will publish the Board’s decision before the end of 2026.
For full details of the consultation please visit our consultation page.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is an independent professional regulator, established by Parliament as a statutory body, through the Architects Act, in 1997. It is 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. ARB does this by approving the qualifications required to join the UK Register of Architects.
- ARB maintains 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.
- ARB sets 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.
- ARB protects the legally restricted title ‘architect’.
ARB is currently reforming architectural education and in the future, under its new framework, will no longer regulate undergraduate degrees. The new route is being proposed as part of ARB’s transition to its new education framework and will be a temporary route. Eligible applicants that fail to use the route whilst it is open during the transitional period will be able to apply for the Prescribed Exam instead.
For more information, please contact media@arb.org.uk.
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