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Prescription process: frequently asked questions

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ARB’s Procedures and guidance on meeting ARB’s Requirements - Frequently asked questions

This online leaflet sets out the most frequently asked questions about the prescription process. It is kept under constant review to ensure that the information contained within it remains relevant and up to date.

What is the Prescription process? How did the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications come about?

ARB is the body responsible for prescribing the qualifications in architecture that a person must possess if they wish to be placed on the UK Register of Architects under section 4 of the Architects Act 1997. In November 2002, after consultation with the RIBA, Higher Education Institutions, the Standing Conference of Heads of Schools of Architecture (SCHOSA) and other professional and statutory bodies, ARB approved a new set of procedures for prescribing qualifications. These new procedures came into effect on 1st September 2003.

In recent years, Higher Education Institutions have made great strides in putting in place robust procedures to assure the quality and standards of their qualifications. In light of this and as a result of a request from the RIBA, ARB reviewed its Procedures. A key hallmark of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications is that the ARB no longer takes part in visiting boards. Rather, it is the responsibility of Higher Education Institutions to present documentary material to ARB in applications for prescription to show that all students awarded a qualification are meeting all ARB’s Criteria. This material will typically include documents which Higher Education Institutions use for their own quality assurance purposes. Hence the documentary burden on institutions should not be increased.

What are the benefits of the process?

The benefits of the process are:

Who are the Key Contacts at ARB?

For general enquiries in relation to the prescription process, please contact Grant Dyble – grantd@arb.org.uk

If you would like more detailed information in relation to the process, please contact Emma Matthews –Ed Crowe – edc@arb.org.uk

What are the Basic Features of the Procedures?

ARB is fundamentally concerned with two things:

Who makes the application?

The Institution will make the application.

However, the School, if it is not the Institution itself, must agree with and approve the application before it is submitted to ARB.

Reference should be made to Section 2.7.1 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What information should an institution submit?

An institution is required to notify the Board of its intention to apply for the prescription of a qualification between 18 and 12 months before the date for which prescription is to commence.

Within two months of an institution notifying ARB of its intention to apply for the prescription of a qualification, an institution must submit information which assures the Board of the following objectives:

The Board will look to see that the factors listed in Section 2.5.2 of the Procedures are covered by the application submitted.

Each application must be accompanied by the ARB Application Form which can be obtained in electronic form from the ARB website. Alternatively, paper copies of the form can be obtained from ARB.

It is entirely up to the institution as to what information it decides to supply in support of its application. However, as a guide, Appendix One of the Procedures provides an outline of the types of information an institution may wish to consider submitting.

Members and officers of the Board are not able to advise on the specific documents that an institution should submit or on their content. However, officers, through the Planning Meetings, will be able to advise on the types of information an institution may wish to consider submitting.

Reference should be made to Sections 2.3.2 and 2.5 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What should the notification of an intention to apply consist of?

The notification need only be a letter which states that the institution intends to seek prescription, the name of the qualification/s for which prescription is sought including details of mode and length and in the case of a new or modified qualification, a programme specification. It would be helpful if the letter also specified the intended date of submission of the full application.

Reference should be made to Sections 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What should the format of the application be?

The format of the application and the supporting material being submitted is a matter for the institution. It may be a paper based application*, an electronically based application or a mixture of both but the application must be based on the Application Form. Material has also previously been submitted by way of a dedicated website. If documentation is submitted electronically, Word and PDF files are preferred. 

*Please note that from 1st January 2011, ARB will no longer accept paper-based applications or annual monitoring submissions.  After 1st January 2011, institutions must submit electronic applications and annual monitoring submissions, either via a dedicated website, via ARB’s on-line application form, or by Cd-Rom etc.

All material, including pdfs and Word files, should be clearly referenced and labelled.  Student work must NOT be submitted.

Reference should be made to Section 2.4.1 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

Does Candidate Course for Recognition Status exist any longer for ARB?

No. From September 2003, the ARB ceased to grant Candidate Courses for Recognition Status for courses seeking to gain full prescription.

Courses which are seeking to apply for prescription for the first time should refer to the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications and should follow the same application process as for the renewal of prescription for existing recognised course. However, Appendix Three of the Procedures should be referred to, since it provides a guide as to the types of information that an institution may wish to consider including in its application.

The RIBA has continued with a process of granting candidate course for recognition status.

What is a planning meeting? Is it necessary?
How does an institution arrange a planning meeting?

A planning meeting is the institution's opportunity to seek advice and guidance from the ARB officers on the process, how it works, the possible outcomes, the application, the submission dates and so on.

Planning meetings are optional and will be held at the request of an individual institution. They will normally be held at the institution. Planning meetings will normally involve two ARB officers. The institution must be represented by a member of the Registry/QA Department and the Head of Architecture. It is the institution's responsibility to ensure that these representatives are present. It will be at the institution's discretion to invite other members of staff from the institution to that meeting.

A typical planning meeting will last approximately one to two hours.

To arrange a planning meeting, the key contact within the institution should contact Grant Dyble – grantd@arb.org.uk, or Ed Crowe – edc@arb.org.uk

Reference should be made to Section 2.3.1 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What is the earliest/latest time an application for prescription can be made?

A full application must be received within two months after the notification of the intention to apply has been received e.g., if notification of an intention to apply is received on 1st April 2007, the full submission will be due by 1st June 2007 . If notification of an intention to apply is received on 30th September 2007 the full submission should be received by 30th November 2007.

Applications must be made no earlier than 18 months prior to the date for which the prescription of a qualification is sought and no later than 12 months prior to this date. For example, if prescription is required from 30th September 2008, notification of the intention to apply must be received between 31st March 2007 and 30th September 2007.

For advice on courses which are bound to the calendar year, an institution should contact Ed Crowe – edc@arb.org.uk  , or Grant Dyble – grantd@arb.org.uk

Reference should be made to Section 2.3.2 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What is the minimum/maximum amount of time that an institution can seek prescription for?

If the ARB Board is satisfied with the information it has received in the application and is confident that the objectives and factors listed in Section 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 of the procedures have been met, the normal period of prescription that will be granted for a qualification will be four years.

An institution is at liberty to request prescription for a shorter or longer period than four years. However, the institution must justify its reasons for this request and must therefore provide evidence in its submission that reflects this.

Is it compulsory to provide an RIBA Report as part of the submission to ARB?

It is at the institution's discretion to decide what it submits.

Appendix One of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications is only intended to provide some guidance as to the type of information that ARB would ordinarily expect to receive.

An institution may submit a report based on one or more visits by a body which includes professionals from both architectural education and practice and lay members. The report must state whether all ARB's criteria have been met by those who have received the qualification.

The submission of such a report is likely to be a key document in an institution's application, and ARB would normally expect to see that provision has been made by an institution to obtain such a report as part of its arrangements for quality assurance. This is because ARB needs to have confidence in the systems used by an institution to ensure that all students awarded the qualification had met all the criteria. The fact that an institution uses an appropriately constituted independent body to periodically review the work of students who were awarded the qualification against ARB's criteria, and otherwise consider matters of interest to ARB, would normally be a key factor in determining whether or not ARB had confidence in the systems used by an institution.

If the institution wishes to submit a report from a body other than the RIBA, then it will need to demonstrate that it had, and that ARB's Board can be expected to have, confidence in the membership of that body and in the procedures that were followed by that body in formulating the report. The report would have to clearly state and demonstrate that all students were meeting all of the Criteria, and that the body had confidence that this position could be sustained.

Reference should be made to Appendices One and Three of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What happens if an institution would like to submit an RIBA report but is unable to secure a visit in time for the application to ARB?

As the RIBA asked ARB not to be involved in visiting boards, this is a matter for the institution and the RIBA to resolve.

ARB is not involved in the scheduling and arrangement of visits. It is not responsible for the management of timing and production of reports resulting from RIBA visits. If it is an institution’s wish that it submits an RIBA report and that report is not available by the time of the full application, the institution may request an extension for its application. However, the granting of an extension will only occur in very exceptional circumstances and will not be a normal course of action. This request must be made, in advance of the full submission, to the Chief Executive and Registrar.

Reference should be made to Section 2.6.3 and Appendix One of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

Who is on the Prescription Committee? What is its role?

The membership will consist of no less than 3 appointed (lay) and 2 elected (architect) members of the ARB Board.

If any extension of the membership of the Committee is necessary it may include Board members or non-Board members. Any expansion of the Committee is at the discretion of the Committee but is notified to the Board for information.

The quorum for the Committee is 3 members, 1 of whom must be an elected member of the ARB Board. Refer to ARB’s website for current membership.

The role of the Prescription Committee is to oversee the implementation of the new Procedures for Prescription. The Prescription Committee also oversees matters relating to the Prescribed Examination, the Part 3 Oral and the Competency Standards Group.

Reference should be made to Section 2.9 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What information will the ARB Board consider?

The ARB Board will consider all relevant information for each application.

The entire application will be housed on ARB’s secure intranet site, which is password protected. All Board members have access to view the full application on this site. The Prescription Committee will scrutinise the full application. The Prescription Committee will prepare a confidential briefing note, which incorporates click links to the various key documents that the Board is recommended to particularly take into consideration when making its decision.

The material that the Prescription Committee deems to be appropriate may include the following:

Reference should be made to Sections 2.9, 2.10 and Appendix One/Three of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

How can institutions best demonstrate to ARB that a programme has been designed such that all students who receive the qualification should have met all ARB's criteria?

A key factor in determining whether or not ARB can be confident that all students who receive a qualification have met all ARB's criteria will be whether or not the learning outcomes against which students are assessed cover ARB's criteria in sufficient detail and depth. ARB will expect to see that institutions have carefully considered this matter, including seeking and acting on the advice of external examiners, advisers, and internal and external review bodies.

A document which cross-references or ‘maps' the learning outcomes of a programme against ARB's criteria is likely to be of great assistance to an institution and the Board in determining whether a programme and its learning outcomes have been designed to ensure that all students awarded a qualification meet all ARB's criteria. Institutions have also reported to ARB that they have found producing  a mapping document useful as it can demonstrate where any potential gaps or weaknesses in the coverage of the criteria may be so that these can be addressed.

If an institution chooses to submit a mapping exercise as part of its application for prescription, ARB would offer the following advice:

Reference should be made to Section 2.5.1 and Section 2.5.2 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What advice can ARB offer to an institution that wishes to make an application in the form of a website?

We have noted that some institutions are choosing to prepare supporting notes and evidence for submission to ARB in electronic formats, particularly in the form of a website.

Whilst ARB aims to be flexible in accepting information from institutions, this new form has caused us some difficulty due to the fact that when we are given a website address, the contents of that site are beyond our control and can change. In order to ensure that future applications and in particular, annual monitoring submissions, can be properly reviewed, we need to keep an audit trail of all documents submitted. To this end, we have instituted a system which will allow us to capture and archive websites submitted as applications for prescription.

Therefore, for those institutions wishing to make an application via a website, we would offer the following advice:

– Finalise the content of your application
Before making a submission via a website please ensure that each document and the submission itself has been finalised. A snapshot of your site will be taken by ARB and stored by ARB, just as if you had printed it out and sent it in an envelope. Any changes made after that snapshot date will not be taken into account unless you make a formal request for ARB to do so. ARB will use the snapshot version of the website in its considerations.

– Linking
When preparing a web-based content, please ensure that the site or section containing your documents relating to your ARB application is entirely self-contained . This means:

– Content Format
Please follow general good practice in the construction of your webpages. In the source of your page, text and headings should be constructed from text, not images.

Use only the following formats in your content:

Whatever content you have, please keep it as concise as possible. Use graphics sparingly and keep them small.

Ensure that your robots.txt file allows us to index your site
If the host on which your application document is housed contains a robots.txt file, ensure that it allows access to our system. Our system will identify itself as “ARBArchiver”. (For more information about robots.txt see www.robotstxt.org)

– Authentication
If you wish to password protect your site, you must use standard HTTP authentication only – do not use custom authentication systems based on sessions, cookies or other methods.

You may need to discuss some of the above with your University IT department.

If you have any queries in relation to the submission of your application in the format of a website, please contact the Qualifications Department.

What is Annual Monitoring?

Annual Monitoring is one of the Standard Conditions of Prescription. This condition will be attached to any qualification prescribed by ARB.

ARB’s Board needs to be reassured, throughout the period of prescription, that all students being awarded the prescribed qualification have met all the criteria, that the institution’s resources remain adequate and that any changes to the programme specification reflect normal development.

When will the Annual Monitoring process come into effect?

The Annual Monitoring process will be phased in as institutions renew their prescription. i.e., over the next four/five years. For example, if you are applying to renew prescription for qualifications from September 2008, the first submission for the annual monitoring process will be in the academic year 2008/2009.

When submitting an application to ARB, an institution will be requested to notify ARB, on the application form, of the time in the academic year when it would be most convenient to submit its annual monitoring documentation. ARB’s Board will take this into account when considering the application.

What information needs to be submitted as part of the Annual Monitoring process?

The Board will expect to see the following documentation on an annual basis:

Reference should be made to Section 2.11.1 (c) and Appendix Two of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

Are there any other conditions attached to the prescription of a qualification?

Yes. Each qualification that is prescribed by ARB will be subject to the following Standard Conditions of Prescription:

Reference should be made to Section 2.11 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications.

What information is made public once ARB has made its decision with regards to prescription?

ARB is committed to being open and transparent.

The ARB Board agreed at its meeting on 8th July 2004 that it would publish its decisions and the reasons for its decisions. The published reasons will be expressed in terms of the key factors outlined under section 2.5.1 of the Procedures for the Prescription of Qualifications and will not refer to any of the specific material which assisted the Board in coming to its decisions.

The Board will continue to publish a list of Schools offering prescribed qualifications, which includes details of the qualification’s title, and the prescription expiry date.

Guidance on meeting ARB’s Requirements

ARB’s Procedures state that, before renewing the prescription of a qualification, ARB has to be confident that all ARB’s criteria have been met by those who have received the qualification. ARB expects that reports from external examiners and review bodies will confirm that all students have met all the criteria. How can they do this if all the assessed work of every student has not been examined by them?

ARB does not expect that all the work of every student need be examined. In most cases it would neither be practicable nor desirable to do so.

A statement that all students have met all the criteria is an opinion, and not an explicit assessment of each piece of work by every student. It may validly be formed on the basis of a thorough examination of representative samples. Since those at the lowest pass levels generally have the most difficulty in meeting the criteria the samples should ordinarily include those at that and below that level (say 50% of the academic portfolios awarded the lowest, including the three very lowest passes), plus a robust sample of other work at higher levels to ensure that those students too have met all the criteria. (These numbers are only guides).

A reliable sample will be constructed with many factors in mind: the number of students, the quality, the effectiveness of mapping the criteria to the course, the validity of schemes for course work or of an examination in ensuring that compliance with all the criteria can be demonstrated by a student. Naturally, if the initial sampling so requires it may be necessary for those compiling the report to use their judgment and extend it or to carry out other checks before it can reasonably be asserted that all the students have met all the criteria. ARB will expect to see the basis upon which that conclusion has been reached, e.g. the method of sampling, knowledge of the criteria and the credentials of the person or persons making the report.

See ARB’s Good Practice Handbook for Institutions Seeking Prescription for further guidelines in relation to external examiners’ reports.

Institutions commonly require external examiners to confirm in their reports that standards are acceptable and comparable to those in other institutions. Are confirmations of this kind an acceptable alternative to a confirmation that all students are meeting all the criteria?

Given the key role that external examiners play in assuring quality and standards in Higher Education Institutions, ARB would normally expect to be given the views of external examiners as to whether or not all students have met all the criteria. This will be most evident to ARB if external examiners explicitly comment and confirm in their reports whether or not all students awarded the qualification have met all the criteria. Statements from external examiners about how they concluded that all the criteria have been met will be constructive in deducing that the assertion is well founded. Institutions should therefore make arrangements with their external examiners to achieve this. Statements that have commonly been used in the past such as that students have met acceptable standards or that the course results compare favourably with those at other institutions in the UK or elsewhere are unlikely to be regarded by ARB as an acceptable substitute.

How does ARB view institutional regulations which permit the compensation of and/or condonment of student marks?

ARB recognises that institutions are likely to have regulations in place for the ‘compensation’ or ‘condonment’ of failed marks.  These regulations are typically used in situations where an examination board has reasonable cause to increase a student’s mark in a particular module, from 35%-39% to a pass level of 40%, or where an examination board has reasonable cause to overlook a failed mark in a particular module, allowing a student to progress to the next level of study or to receive an award.

However, ARB has to be confident that all its criteria have been, and will be, met by all those receiving a prescribed qualification for the period of prescription sought by the institution. Clearly, an institution’s regulations relating to the compensation and/or condonment of modules may affect whether or not it is possible for students to meet all of ARB’s criteria on receipt of their award.

Therefore, institutional regulations will be of interest to ARB in that they will help to illustrate whether the processes of assessment and marking ensure that all those receiving the qualification will have met all of the criteria. 

Where compliance with all the criteria can be demonstrated by the passing of all key or core modules, a qualification is not likely to be prescribed if students are permitted to fail such modules and receive the qualification.  This is because all those receiving the qualification will not have met all of the criteria.  Therefore, an institution applying to have such a qualification prescribed/re-prescribed, may need to get such a regulation changed or may decide not to allow students the benefit of such a regulation, i.e., the institution may wish to state that all students must pass all modules of that qualification in order to ensure that the ARB criteria have been achieved.

In cases where institutions believe that the standards set at the lowest pass level in a particular module exceed the standards set by the criteria, it will be up to the institution to demonstrate to ARB, through reference to marking schemes and the opinions of independent individuals etc, that it can be confident that those receiving the qualifications have met all of the criteria.

If the qualification is structured in such a way as to allow students to meet the criteria across a range of modules, it may be possible for a student to fail a module yet meet all of the criteria because all of the relevant criteria will have been met in an alternative module.  However, if students are permitted to fail modules in this scenario, ARB will need to be confident that mechanisms exist and are rigorously applied to ensure that all students who have failed a module and received the qualification have met ARB’s criteria before it decides that the qualification should be prescribed/prescription should be renewed.  How this is carried out is up to each institution.  For example, it may be necessary for external examiners to interview such students and confirm in writing that all the criteria have been met by each student.  Such mechanisms should be clearly outlined in relevant course documents, and appropriate records kept confirming that such students have met all the criteria.

ARB is not concerned if students fail modules where these have no bearing upon students meeting the criteria and are not relevant to ARB being satisfied that its other objectives have been attained or will be attained.

Should ARB be notified of any changes in an institution’s regulations?

Institutions which offer an ARB prescribed qualification will note that prescription is subject to a series of standard conditions.  One such condition is that ‘annually and by a date set by the Board, the institution will be required to provide the Board with information of the nature set out in Appendix 2 [of the Procedures] to enable the Board to see that all its criteria are being attained by students who have been awarded the qualification prescribed…… .’

Any changes to the institution’s regulations for the compensation and/or condonment of marks could affect the Board’s confidence that all of the criteria are being met by all students gaining the prescribed qualification throughout the period of prescription granted.  As such, institutions are advised to notify ARB of any changes to the regulations surrounding compensation and/or condonment through their annual monitoring submissions.

How should qualifications prescribed by ARB be described in institutions’ publicity material, programme specifications, other course handbooks and UCAS listings?

Care should be taken to ensure that students are aware of the status of a qualification that has been prescribed by ARB, and particularly that existing or prospective students are not misled. This is important because it is possible that students may start a course of study which, at the time of their beginning the course, leads to a qualification prescribed by ARB but which ceases to be prescribed before the qualification has been awarded. As such, institutions are advised to make it clear to existing and prospective students that:

The institution should also ensure students are informed of the date on which the current period of prescription expires, e.g.,

‘University of Poppleton’s BA (Hons) Architecture is currently prescribed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB), subject to periodic review, for the purposes of entry onto the United Kingdom Register of Architects. Prescription is normally granted on a four-yearly basis subject to ARB being satisfied that standard requirements have been met. The prescription of this qualification will be due for renewal by 30th September 2008 as part of the four-yearly review cycle.’

It is also possible that students may be misled about the status of a qualification with ARB if it is recognised by other bodies (e.g. RIBA). For example, it is possible for a qualification to be recognised by RIBA and not ARB, though students may be unaware that this is the case. If an institution is to state that its qualification is recognised by other bodies, ARB expects that the status of that qualification with ARB should also be clearly stated. Care should be taken to avoid creating a misleading impression if there is reference only to one such body.

ARB has agreed with UCAS the wording for an optional flag relating to ARB prescription of an institution’s qualification in the generic entry. The wording for this flag is:

“This qualification is prescribed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB), subject to periodic review by ARB, for the purposes of entry onto the United Kingdom Register of Architects. For further information about ARB and the prescription of architectural qualifications see the Education section of the ARB website - www.arb.org.uk”

UCAS already offers institutions the option for school-specific entry profiles. ARB would encourage institutions to use this in order to raise awareness about registration and the fact that holding prescribed qualifications facilitates entry onto the UK Register of Architects. If a School’s UCAS page does not currently include an entry profile for the relevant architecture qualification, contact the Information and Development Officer at UCAS.