Profession and Schosa join forces

The RIBA and Arb have joined forces with British architecture schools and student bodies to overhaul the education system in line with a new EU directive due to be ratified next month.

The news comes as the RIBA estimates that the average time for an architect to become registered is nearing a decade.

Former RIBA president Jack Pringle said “drastic change” was needed. “The part III is highly valued internationally but it takes too long to get qualified. The average length is just under ten years, that’s crazy, it can’t take that long to go into one of the poorest-paid professions.”

The EU professional qualifications directive is expected to pass through EU parliament in October and will be implemented by 2016. It is intended to make the system of mutual recognition of title among European countries easier, as well as aligning the length it takes to become qualified.

David Gloster, head of education at the RIBA, said the time taken to qualify in the UK had increased in recent years.

“There are a number of reasons for this,” he told BD. “Students spend five years in academic study, they’re busier in practice so find it harder to take on a part III course and finding the right job that works as a case study for p III is also hard.

“With the fee hike and the fact that practice is vastly different from some 50 years ago when the education system was designed, we have to modernise it.”

A meeting between the RIBA, Arb, Schosa and student bodies is due to held later this month.

Alex Wright, head of Schosa, said: “The change in EU regulation is a useful catalyst. We want a system that’s flexible and fair. It doesn’t necessarily mean it would be shorter but there should be different pathways that students can take.”

Earlier this year Terry Farrell, who is heading a government review into the industry, said the length of architecture courses and the cost of education was a priority for his team.

What the EU directive could mean

Under the new directive architects could be given an electronic ‘passport’ that would be instantly recognised by another EU country, where the professional wishes to establish themselves. UK pI and pII architecture courses could be shorterned in line with other EU countries such as Germany and other member states would be alerted if an Arb reprimand was issued.

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