Bachelor of Arts Honours in Architecture
At its meeting of 27 October 2021, the Board decided that the above qualification should be prescribed for the period 1 September 2021 to 1 September 2025* 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:
- Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Bachelor of Arts Honours in Architecture (three years, full-time; four years, part-time) qualification should be prescribed for the period 1 September 2021 to 1 September 2025.*
- Prescription of the qualification shall be by reference to the Programme Specification – submitted with the application on 7 April 2020 – for the Bachelor of Arts Honours in Architecture (three years, full-time; four years, part-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 31 January – commencing on 31 January 2022 – the institution shall 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:
i. 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;
ii. Adequate systems are in place to ensure that all the Board’s Criteria will be met by students for the period of prescription;
iii. The institution’s resources remain as set out in the application and are adequate; and
iv. 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 should immediately submit external examiner reports to ARB upon receipt, rather than as part of their annual monitoring submission. In addition, examiners should provide an explicit statement on the adequate coverage of ARB’s Criteria and the appropriateness of the assessments to deliver both the Criteria and the learning outcomes.
The Board was confident that:
- The course proposal – including the educational aims, the intended learning outcomes, the assessments etc – has 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.
The additional condition is in keeping with Board practice when prescribing new Part 1 qualifications and will provide the Board with the opportunity at an earlier stage each year to monitor and be assured that the objectives for prescription and Part 1 Criteria are being met.
As the first cohort of the programme is, as of 2021, undergoing its first year assessments, the examiner will be required to confirm the adequacy of the institution’s assessment procedures following their initial review of the process.
* At its meeting of 27 February 2023, the Board agreed to extend prescription until 31 December 2028.
