The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has today launched a public consultation on a new approach to UK registration for internationally qualified architects.
ARB is the professional regulator responsible for recognising the UK qualifications that enable people to join the architects’ profession, and setting international routes for those without UK qualifications. Registration exists to protect the public; ARB must ensure that standards of competence are maintained however professionals join the UK Register.
Having recently reformed how it regulates UK qualifications – which included updating the competencies that architects need to demonstrate – ARB is now overhauling international routes to UK registration to align them with its new approach to UK education and training.
Alan Kershaw, Chair of the Architects Registration Board, said: “The current route open to the majority of internationally qualified architects, the Prescribed Exam, is in urgent need of a complete overhaul. The assessment methodology used in the exam is outdated and complex, and candidates often report deep frustration with the assessment format and process. Our proposals aim to improve access to the UK Register by simplifying the examination process and removing unintended complexity and barriers.”
The proposed changes include simpler eligibility requirements and a single point of assessment, which will reduce the number of exams international architects need to take. ARB is also proposing to outsource the assessment rather than run it in-house, and is inviting potential providers to share their views on whether they could run the new exam.
In January 2024 ARB surveyed 194 internationally qualified architects. Three quarters (74%) of respondents received or sought out support or independent learning to adapt to UK practice. ARB therefore intends for the new exam to specifically target the knowledge gaps that internationally qualified architects have reported through the survey, as well as provide assurance around wider competencies.
The changes ARB is proposing would also apply to the UK Adaptation Assessment, which is the assessment undertaken by international architects seeking to join the UK Register through one of ARB’s international agreements. ARB has signed international agreements with counterparts in other countries, including, at present, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The UK Adaptation Assessment demonstrates that professionals are familiar with the UK context and ready to practise in the UK.
ARB’s consultation will close on Monday 6 January 2025, at which point all responses will be analysed and considered. The Board’s decision will be published in 2025. All ARB consultations can be found online at arb.org.uk/consultations/.
Figure: Proposed changes to the Prescribed Exam and UK Adaptation Assessment
NOTES TO EDITORS:
ARB
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 also has a duty to ensure that those who apply for registration without UK qualifications accredited by ARB have an equivalent standard of competence to those who enter the Register with accredited qualifications. This is set out under section 4(1)(b) of the Architects Act. ARB therefore also sets routes for internationally qualified architects to join the UK register. One of these is the Prescribed Exam, carried out under section 4(2) of the Architects Act.
ARB’s proposed changes to the Prescribed Exam and UK Adaptation Assessment
Competence-based assessment Assessment would be based on ARB’s Academic and Practice Outcomes (in place of the outgoing Criteria). It would assess equivalent competence and UK context-specific knowledge (instead of equivalent qualifications). Single gateway There would be a single examination gateway to the Register (instead of requiring two exams to prove equivalence to Part 1 and/or Part 2, and in addition, requiring a Part 3 UK-accredited qualification). Improved eligibility Simpler eligibility requirements would be based on qualifications that focus on architecture and meet ARB’s UK professional practical experience requirements (without reference to the number of years spent in education and training). Accredited providers ARB would accredit assessment(s) offered by providers, including any potential adaptation requirements such as preparation courses (rather than running exams in-house). Modern assessment format We would introduce an online gateway assessment of UK-specific knowledge and readiness to practise in UK context, which would be designed to also operate as the UK Adaptation Assessment. We would invite providers to develop the online gateway test and the subsequent competence assessment exercise(s) for ARB to accredit. There might be a range of formats of the assessment exercises, to increase options for candidates.
Internationally qualified architects survey
In January 2024 ARB surveyed 194 internationally qualified architects. Three quarters (74%) of respondents received or sought out support or independent learning to adapt to UK practice. The most common topics that respondents identified needing support with were:
UK building regulations and legal requirements (60% of respondents) UK planning (42% of respondents) Design codes and standards (23% of respondents)For questions and information requests, please contact the ARB Communications team at media@arb.org.uk
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