Information update – Prescribed Examination Process

Information update – Prescribed Examination Process (15/11/2006)

At its meeting on 9 November 2006, the Architects Registration Board considered a number of proposals to amend the prescribed examination process, following a review to assess the effectiveness of the process after 18 months of operation.

Subject to further work in the area of re-examination and in the candidates’ guidance notes, the Board agreed that the proposals would go out to consultation in December. We shall be consulting our key stakeholders, consumer representatives and other organisations to ask for their views and/or comments on the proposed amendments, before they go back to the Board for final approval and implementation. The consultation documents will be posted on our website, www.arb.org.uk, so please keep it under a watching brief if you are interested in participating.

As part of the review, the Board also looked at the cost of the prescribed examination. Current Board policy, which is to be continued, is that the process should be self-funding to ensure that architects do not indirectly subsidise it through the annual retention fee.

Having taken account of all the components which make up the process, the Board approved an increase in the fee from £998 per part to £1,210 per part, in order to cover costs. The increase, which would take effect from

1 January 2007, is the first since the fee was introduced in April 2005. The revised fee will apply to all examination applications that are scheduled to take place after that date.

The Board agreed that it wished to investigate the viability of outsourcing the examination process. It therefore agreed to explore this with the higher education sector, with a view to bringing information to a future Board meeting on the feasibility of implementing such a proposal.

For more information on the proposals to amend the prescribed examination, and the prescribed examination itself, please contact ARB’s Registration Department on 020 7580 5861, or email them on RegistrationDepartment@arb.org.uk