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2025 was the first year in which all architects on the UK Register were required to comply with ARB’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Scheme.
The introduction of mandatory CPD was an important milestone for the profession. It followed recommendations made after the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the introduction of statutory provisions through the Building Safety Act 2022. The scheme reflects ARB’s responsibility to monitor the ongoing competence of architects and supports wider efforts to strengthen building safety, environmental sustainability, professional standards and public confidence in the profession.
We have now published a report on the first statutory CPD cycle. It sets out what the evidence tells us about how architects engaged with the new requirements, what they recorded, and what we have learned from the first year of the scheme.
2025 at a glance
architects made a CPD declaration
records reviewed on MyARB
%
initial MyARB compliance
%
MyARB compliance after case management
RIBA records reviewed as a 5% sample
median number of activities recorded in MyARB
mandatory topics
A strong start for the profession
More than 38,000 architects made a CPD declaration as part of the annual renewal process. The overwhelming majority ultimately met the requirements of the scheme.
Of the more than 38,000 architects who renewed their registered status for 2026 and submitted a CPD declaration as part of the renewal process, 21,003 declared that they recorded their CPD in MyARB, 15,279 declared that they recorded their CPD with RIBA, and 1,753 were accepted for deferrals and/or exclusions.
For architects recording their CPD through MyARB, initial compliance was 90%. Following case management and enforcement activity, this rose to 98%. A 5% sample of records from the RIBA platform showed initial compliance of 71%, rising to 95% following case management.
This level of engagement provides a strong foundation for the scheme. It demonstrates that the profession is taking its responsibility to maintain and develop competence seriously.
However, the first year also showed that high levels of eventual compliance do not tell us everything about the effectiveness or maturity of a CPD scheme.
Compliance rates (%)
CPD is about more than completing activities
Instead, architects are expected to undertake learning that is relevant to their own practice and development needs, reflect on what they have learned, and consider how that learning has influenced their professional practice.
The evidence from the first year suggests that undertaking CPD is already familiar to most architects. However, reflecting meaningfully on learning and explaining its effect on practice is less familiar.
The quality of reflection recorded by architects varied considerably. In some cases, records focused more so on the activity itself, without clearly explaining what the architect had learned or how they would use that learning in practice.
This does not necessarily mean that the underlying activity was not valuable. However, it can make it more difficult to demonstrate the value of that learning or its connection to professional practice.
As the scheme develops, we will focus on helping architects move beyond recording what they did and towards reflecting on what they learned and how it affected their work.
What did architects learn about?
The largest proportion of recorded activities related to:
- Environmental sustainability (24%)
- Fire and life safety (18%)
- Design (17%)
Environmental sustainability and fire and life safety were mandatory topics that all architects were required to cover.
The remaining activities covered a range of areas including the specification of products, business and practice, regulatory knowledge, ethics and other subjects.
Architects used a variety of learning methods. Formal training was the most common activity type across most topics, but architects also recorded peer discussion, self-directed learning, research, practical experience and teaching.
The median number of activities recorded on MyARB was four, compared with a recommended number of eight. However, the number of activities completed is not, by itself, a measure of the quality or value of CPD.
A smaller number of relevant and demanding learning experiences, which an architect has reflected on and applied in practice, may be more valuable than a longer list of activities completed simply to meet an administrative requirement.
Architects’ CPD activities by topic, as percentages of total (MyARB)
Making CPD valuable
Why good CPD matters
The greatest value comes when learning changes what an architect notices, asks, checks or does in their professional practice.
Purposeful CPD can help architects keep pace with changes in regulation, technology, materials and professional expectations. It can help them identify gaps in their knowledge before those gaps affect a project, strengthen their professional judgement and support them as they take on new roles or responsibilities.
There can also be benefits for practices. CPD can support collective learning, improve consistency, strengthen supervision and mentoring, and inform quality assurance and decision-making.
For clients and the public, a credible statutory scheme provides assurance that architects are taking responsibility for maintaining and developing their competence throughout their careers.
What good CPD looks like
However, purposeful CPD will often involve:
- identifying areas where you need to develop;
- keeping a flexible plan that responds to changes in your role, projects or professional responsibilities;
- recording learning regularly rather than reconstructing it at the end of the year;
- focusing on what you learned rather than simply describing an activity;
- considering how the learning has influenced, or will influence, your professional practice; and
- using a range of learning methods, including formal and informal learning.
Our priorities for the scheme
1.
Make the statutory requirements easier to understand
2.
Improve the quality of reflection
3.
Provide more timely and tailored feedback
4.
Turn aggregate data into useful professional insight
5.
Involve practices as well as individuals
6.
Evaluate impact, not only compliance
Read the full report
