Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Architecture
At its meeting of 17 May 2019, the Board decided that the above qualification should continue to be prescribed until 30 September 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 University of Cambridge’s Bachelor of Arts with Honours Architecture (three years, full-time), Master of Philosophy Architecture and Urban Design (two years, full-time), and Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Architecture (one year, part-time) qualifications should be prescribed for the period between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2024.*
- Prescription of the qualifications shall be by reference to the Programme Specifications – submitted with the application of 30 November 2018 – for the Bachelor of Arts with Honours Architecture (three years, full-time), Master of Philosophy Architecture and Urban Design (two years, full-time), and Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Architecture (one year, part-time) qualifications. No change may be made to the title of any course or qualification or substantial 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 March – commencing on 1 March 2020 – 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 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] are being attained by students/candidates who have been awarded the qualifications prescribed; ii. adequate systems are in place to ensure that all the Board’s Criteria will be met by students/candidates for the period of prescription; iii. that the institution’s resources remain as set out in the application and are adequate; and iv. all of the factors referred to at paragraphs 6.6 and 6.7 of the Procedures continue to be demonstrated.
- The institution will ensure that appropriate procedures will be maintained so that all students/candidates 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/candidate lacks a required antecedent qualification, e.g. Part 2 without Part 1.
The Board was confident that:
- All students/candidates who had been awarded the qualifications since prescription of the qualifications was granted had met all the ARB Criteria;
- The institution had adequate systems in place to ensure that students/candidates awarded the qualifications met all the Criteria; and
- The institution should be able to maintain its ability to ensure that all students/candidates awarded the qualifications met all the Criteria.
* 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 the Bachelor of Arts with Honours Architecture should be updated to 31 December 2027 to reflect ARB’s published schedule for transition to accreditation.