BA (Hons) Architecture and the AA Intermediate Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 1)
At its meeting of 21 July 2021, the Board decided that the above qualification should be prescribed for the period 1 June 2020 to 20 November 2024* under Section 4(1)(a) of the Architects Act 1997 for the purposes of entry onto the United Kingdom Register of Architects.
Prescription is subject to the Standard Conditions set out in the Board’s Procedures, namely:
- The Architectural Association School of Architecture’s BA (Hons) Architecture and the AA Intermediate Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 1) (three years, full-time) qualification should be prescribed for the period 1 June 2020 to 20 November 2024.*
- Prescription of the qualification shall be by reference to the Programme Specification – submitted with the application on 22 November 2019 – for the BA (Hons) Architecture and the AA Intermediate Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 1) (three years, full-time) qualification. No change may be made to the title of any qualification, or material change to the content so defined within a programme specification (allowing for normal course development) without first obtaining the written permission of the Board.
- Annually by 1 December – commencing on 1 December 2021 – the institution will be required to provide the Board with information of the nature set out in Appendix 2 of its Procedures to enable the Board to see that:
- All its Criteria and the relevant requirements set out in Article 46 (or Article 47) of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive [2005/36/EC] have been attained by all students awarded the prescribed qualification;
- Adequate systems are in place to ensure that all the Board’s Criteria will be met by students for the period of prescription;
- The institution’s resources remain as set out in the application and are adequate; and
- All of the factors referred to in Sections 2.2 and 2.3 of the Procedures continue to be demonstrated, and any conditions of prescription continue to be met.
- The institution will ensure that appropriate procedures will be maintained so that all students undertaking a prescribed qualification are fully informed of the extent of the application of that qualification to entitlement to registration as an architect in circumstances in which the student lacks a required antecedent qualification, e.g. Part 2 without Part 1.
- Following each and every set of examinations, the institution shall be required to submit to the Board its pass lists of graduating cohorts who have received the prescribed award.
In addition to the Standard Conditions of prescription, the Board agreed that the following additional condition would be applicable to the qualification under Section 7.2 of the Board’s Procedures:
- The institution is required to submit explicit statements from each Part 1 external examiner – not just the chair of external examiners for Part 1 – every year confirming whether they were satisfied or not that all passing students receiving the qualification had met all of ARB’s Criteria at the relevant level.
The Board was confident that:
- The course proposal – including the educational aims, the intended learning outcomes, the assessments etc – have been designed with the clear aim of ensuring that all those who receive the qualification will have met all the Criteria;
- Systems are in place to ensure that all Criteria will be met by all students receiving the qualification for the period of prescription ; and
- The institution has adequate resources to maintain and, where appropriate, increase the achievements of students meeting all the Criteria.
Not all external examiners expressly confirm in their reports that ARB’s Criteria at the relevant level have been met by all passing students. In the event that the external examiners do not make explicit reference to students meeting ARB’s Criteria (General Criteria, Graduate Attributes, Professional Criteria as appropriate) in their annual reports, the confirmations required by the additional condition will provide assurance of this to the Board.
* At its meeting of 27 February 2023, the Board agreed to extend prescription until 31 December 2028. At its meeting of 22 July 2024, the Accreditation Committee agreed that the prescription expiry date of Part 1 qualifications should be updated to 31 December 2027 to reflect ARB’s published schedule for transition to accreditation.